@ppcoelho1 said:
Hi, I was wondering if most of you add a 5th section to your PTs, and if so do you take those sections from unseen PTs or from old ones?
Yes, I think it's important to have our PTs resemble the test we will ultimately take as closely as possible.
I might use PTs 42-51 for all my experimental sections. I figured these are still ~90% similar in vibe to the newer tests. I didn't want to pull apart the more new tests (52-81) that are a pretty good facsimile of a "modern test". And the tests below 42 I had more or less set aside for drilling. I might just end up using the PTs from 1-35 though...
Note that this approach may not be best for everyone. When I took PT36 coming out of the CC, I realized I actually wasn't all that far from my score goal and felt comfortable basically only setting aside PTs 52-81 (will be 82 by the time I sit for my test). If your score is still quite a bit aways from your ultimate goal, you may want to consider setting aside all of the tests from 36-81 and maybe just re-using older tests as your experimental. In my estimation, experimental sections are really just to help you build mental stamina and endurance to get through 5 sections. At least that should be their primary function. So it's not the end of the world if you have seen a few of the questions before in the CC or while you were drilling problem sets.
I add a section from a similar date PT. That means that every 4 PTs I take, I get an additional PT complete. I think it's the most realistic way to go about it and it also allows you to complete more PTs.
Comments
Yes, I think it's important to have our PTs resemble the test we will ultimately take as closely as possible.
I might use PTs 42-51 for all my experimental sections. I figured these are still ~90% similar in vibe to the newer tests. I didn't want to pull apart the more new tests (52-81) that are a pretty good facsimile of a "modern test". And the tests below 42 I had more or less set aside for drilling. I might just end up using the PTs from 1-35 though...
Note that this approach may not be best for everyone. When I took PT36 coming out of the CC, I realized I actually wasn't all that far from my score goal and felt comfortable basically only setting aside PTs 52-81 (will be 82 by the time I sit for my test). If your score is still quite a bit aways from your ultimate goal, you may want to consider setting aside all of the tests from 36-81 and maybe just re-using older tests as your experimental. In my estimation, experimental sections are really just to help you build mental stamina and endurance to get through 5 sections. At least that should be their primary function. So it's not the end of the world if you have seen a few of the questions before in the CC or while you were drilling problem sets.
I set aside 36-41 so I could use 42+ for PT
I add a section from a similar date PT. That means that every 4 PTs I take, I get an additional PT complete. I think it's the most realistic way to go about it and it also allows you to complete more PTs.