Timed vs BR

lmekahel

I'm pretty frustrated right now with my scores. When I BR I score in the 170's. But under time I score between the range of the high 140's to high 150's depending on the test specifically which logic game I get. But I'm consistently doing bad on Logical Reasoning under time. When I have all the time in the world I get around 3 wrong per section. But under timed conditions I can get up to 22 wrong both sections combined. What should I do?

The 180 Bro_OVO

Hey!

Some of the Sages will likely be able to give guidance. But in my part, I know that's incredibly frustrating, but that's still a good thing. It shows that you understand the material, but you just need to work on speed. And likely, it will just take time for you to become more familiarized with the test/concepts . As that happens, your speed will increase.

Cant Get Right

You're definitely in a good place. Looks like you've got a pretty solid foundational understanding, although you do need to get LG to a point where it doesn't matter what kind of game they throw you.

On LR, are you running out of time, or are you getting to everything and just can't answer correctly?

BinghamtonDave

I actually was in an identical spot over the course of my studies. It has taken me a ton of work to get out of it and even more work to remain out of it. I needed over 700 games from the 1-49 set to get comfortable with my game skills. From personal experience, my BRs for the entire exam were often -3 across all 4 sections, but I would be scoring -9 in games, -10 in RC etc timed. The first thing I really focused on was getting my games to a manageable -2/-3: something I could live with temporarily and build on. It took a ton of work, but in my estimation you should set a goal according to your time schedule and focus on getting games to a manageable -3/-4 level. This is essentially a "damage minimizing" strategy. Develop pacing and skipping skills through this process. Develop these strategies as they suit you and build on them moving forward. This is an important skill in the development of each section. Although I don't always get a -0 on the LG section yet, I never get more than a -4.

As for LR, it is a work in progress. Remember, with high level test takers: things "click" on the easier questions and they save time. This skill comes with practice, review, repetition and familiarization with problems.

Good luck and if you have any issues don't hesitate to reach out
David

Sami

@lmekahel said:
When I BR I score in the 170's. But under time I score between the range of the high 140's to high 150's depending on the test specifically which logic game I get. But I'm consistently doing bad on Logical Reasoning under time.

I think this is an issue we all go through and for me what has worked in the past, and I am still working on raising my timed score to match my BR score, is my analysis. So during BR, I don't just write why a certain answer choice is correct and why this one is wrong, I also write down what my thought process was when I selected this wrong answer choice over the right one. Then I force myself to write a paragraph about how I would handle this situation differently in future. So I pretend I am back mentally where I was during timed PT, and I try to stop and re-write what and how I should have gone about it. This doesn't mean that the issue is fixed 100% of the time, but over time that same mistake will start decreasing and you will start seeing your score rise. : )

lmekahel

@"Cant Get Right" I'm getting to all of them but I don't answer them all correctly. I had a couple tests where Id spend more time on the beginning ones and didnt get to the last 4, but I did worse off. I also noticed that the ones that I'm overly confident with on the PT's I tend to miss and I just completely misunderstood the stimulus under the pressure of time.

@"The 180 Bro_OVO" @Sami @BinghamtonDave @jkatz1488
Thanks! The advice is really helpful!

I'm wondering if any of you spent/spend more time practicing Logic Games or Logical Reasoning.

As of lately I've been doing timed test and going over all the sections, but this month I'm spending any extra time I have reviewing Logical Reasoning. I'm wondering if you guys recommend switching it over to Logic Games, and focus on mastering Logic Games on the side.
When I BR for Logical Reasoning it takes me 2 or 3 hours per section. I write down on the excel a summary of what I got from the stimulus, what I think is the conclusion, what type of question stem it was, what concept stood out to me while reading it (basically a prediction of how I feel I would approach it ), I then write why I think each answer choice is wrong or right. @Sami I'm definitely going to take your advice and "write a paragraph about how I would handle this situation differently in future and try to stop and re-write what and how I should have gone about it."


Last month I mastered a big chunk of the grouping games and certain sequencing games. But I stopped to also try to catch up with Logical Reasoning.

I'm just so confused how to prioritize my time. Should I stop PTing and just focus on getting -0 work on Logic games. Should I continuing PTing and practice on the side?

dennisgerrard

I have similar situation with you. My thought is to drill early LG( before 25) and do timed LG section. Meanwhile you can do LR by type to find your weakness and pay attention to the specific LR type which you need improvement.

lmekahel

@dennisgerrard Yeah. I think I might just do that and stop taking PT's until I completely master the first 25-35 Logic Games As for LR, besides Point of Disagreement and Agreement, there's not one question that I consistently do bad on, it usually has to do with its difficulty level. I'm thinking I'll just focus on practicing under timed conditions and just use the first 35 tests and BR those ones and master that before I start taking on the newer PT's.

Cant Get Right

@lmekahel said:
I also noticed that the ones that I'm overly confident with on the PT's I tend to miss and I just completely misunderstood the stimulus under the pressure of time.

Yeah, for me, this usually meant that I wasn't as sharp and focused as I need to be. It was a big problem and I went to extreme measures to guarantee that I took each test at peak mental and physical capacity. I made a very strict routine to ensure that I always had enough sleep, that I'd eaten the right things, that I'd exercised to get my blood pumping, etc. As long as I kept to my schedule and stayed in top form, I never made these errors. So make sure you're feeling good and alert when you go into a test.

A lot of times, misunderstanding a stimulus is a product of a complex grammatical construction. So make sure that you are breaking down the stims grammatically as well as logically.

A consistent 170's BR would suggest that you've got a firm understanding of the fundamentals. You've just got to execute them more effectively. If your misses come from overconfidence errors, figure out the underlying issue. When you can address those errors effectively, that's when you can develop highly aggressive pacing strategies and buy yourself extra time to break open the really tough ones.