Search for Post-CC Direction

Nabintou-1

Hi all:

So I'm currently experience a bit of a loss of a sense of direction, post (completing) the core curriculum. I finished about a month ago and immediately began fullproofing afterwards. I definitely think it's helped a lot, especially with getting me more comfortable with LG (my weakest section). I took a break from FP a week ago in order to dodge burnout, and began reviewing LR lessons from CC in preparation for PT'ing. I'm planning to officially kickoff PT'ing this weekend. In your experience, would you say where I'm headed is a good idea, or, would you recommend I do otherwise---if so, please share. (*Note: I haven't taken any PT since completing the CC and FPing for ~ a month)

Thanks in advance!

Victor Wu

Hello,

I finished CC not too long ago and have put much thought into this question. Hopefully, I’ll be able to give you some ideas. I took a PT after CC just to see how far I’ve come and how much more I have to go. My goal right now is to feel really solid when I take a single section, whether it be LR, LG or RC. Also, of course, I’m trying to increase my BR score. So, here’s my basic schedule:
Day 1 AM: LG section, then redo; redo LG section from last week
Day 1 PM: Drill any weaknesses, then BR (CC stuff)
Day 2 AM: LG section from yesterday
Day 2 PM: LR/RC section untimed, then BR

I basically alternate that. For now, I’m trying to do 4 section PT’s whenever I feel I am ready to reassess where I am. I spend a couple of days BRing the PT, then I jump right back into my day1 and day2 schedule.

Let me know if you want me to clarify anything.

keets993

Hello, there is also this wonderful webinar that discusses successful and not-so-successful strategies following the completion of the curriculum: https://7sage.com/webinar/post-core-curriculum-study-strategies/

I think it ultimately comes down to two broad aspects:
Knowledge and application. The knowledge is what you build up during the CC and BR process. You reinforce the right reasoning and eliminate wrong reasoning. The application comes into play during timed and even untimed sections. You implement skipping strategies, learn to be comfortable with not being 100% comfortable, trust your diagrams, etc.

Have you taken any timed or untimed sections of RC or LR since completing the curriculum? I ask because I think one of the toughest things about LR - aside from time - is just seeing those 25 questions. We're so used to having the q-stem labelled in problem sets and in the lessons. Also, we're not used to having to switch from a flaw question to weaken to main point to flaw to an rre and so forth. Same with RC, you can build up your endurance to doing 4 passages, just as you have been building up your endurance to LG.

Of course, that's not to say avoiding PT-ing because that's also where practice comes in. I'd just say try to not focus too much on the score you get post-CC-ing. I think a lot of people, including myself, think of that PT as magical, as if it's a manifestation of all our months hardwork but it's not. It's just the first PT of many. For most people, it won't be at the goal score or anywhere near it and that's okay. Because we've worked on increasing our knowledge but not our application. I'm not trying to be discouraging, just stating that personally, I know I placed a lot of emphasis and importance on that first post-CC PT and could only focus on the negative, not the positive.

Nabintou-1

@victorwu this is really helpful, think I'm going to give it a shot. Thank you!

@keets993 Gotcha. Yes, that makes a lot of sense. So question then, if you could go back, would you have not taken a PT immediately post-CC and instead waited to do more drilling/practice/FP'ing? Or, was it a helpful indication of where you stood (knowledge wise)?

keets993

@Nabintou I think personally, I would've done more drilling and practicing. The first time I finished the CC, I just jumped into a practice test without even fool proofing because I was so short on time. But had I just done untimed or timed sections, I would've known where I stood knowledge wise based on BR. And I could have fixed some things easier than others - fool proofing, drilling LR weakenesses, warming up properly. I mean these are all things you do after you take a PT anyway but I would've been more prepared or realistic about what my PT score would've been.

Mike_Ross

@keets993 said:
Hello, there is also this wonderful webinar that discusses successful and not-so-successful strategies following the completion of the curriculum: https://7sage.com/webinar/post-core-curriculum-study-strategies/

I think it ultimately comes down to two broad aspects:
Knowledge and application. The knowledge is what you build up during the CC and BR process. You reinforce the right reasoning and eliminate wrong reasoning. The application comes into play during timed and even untimed sections. You implement skipping strategies, learn to be comfortable with not being 100% comfortable, trust your diagrams, etc.

Have you taken any timed or untimed sections of RC or LR since completing the curriculum? I ask because I think one of the toughest things about LR - aside from time - is just seeing those 25 questions. We're so used to having the q-stem labelled in problem sets and in the lessons. Also, we're not used to having to switch from a flaw question to weaken to main point to flaw to an rre and so forth. Same with RC, you can build up your endurance to doing 4 passages, just as you have been building up your endurance to LG.

Of course, that's not to say avoiding PT-ing because that's also where practice comes in. I'd just say try to not focus too much on the score you get post-CC-ing. I think a lot of people, including myself, think of that PT as magical, as if it's a manifestation of all our months hardwork but it's not. It's just the first PT of many. For most people, it won't be at the goal score or anywhere near it and that's okay. Because we've worked on increasing our knowledge but not our application. I'm not trying to be discouraging, just stating that personally, I know I placed a lot of emphasis and importance on that first post-CC PT and could only focus on the negative, not the positive.

This is so right. Totally agree. Thanks for sharing!

Too often I think people jump right into PTing sooner than needed. I did feel post CC, that by the time I got to the end, I had already forgotten some stuff in the beginning! Accumulating the knowledge isnt the same as applying and reinforcing it for sure.

Victor’s schedule sounds great

Currently, Post CC, I am FPing LG 3 days a week and going through all the LR questions I flagged by drill type. The idea is to warm up before taking untimed and timed LR sections. The goal is to worry about getting good before getting fast, then buildings test-taking stamina through timed sections, before attempting any full PTs

Nabintou-1

@keets993 @Mike_Ross super helpful; thank you both!

Nabintou-1

@Mike_Ross which PTs are you using for LR drilling?

Also, does anyone have any experience drilling RC, if so, what does it look that?

Mike_Ross

@Nabintou said:
@Mike_Ross which PTs are you using for LR drilling?

Also, does anyone have any experience drilling RC, if so, what does it look that?

Hi! After re-using the CC drills, I plan to do untimed and timed sections for 36-50. Then PTs 60-83 here we go!

(in between, I plan to do timed sectional drills for 51-59)

keets993

I'd suggest drilling LR by starting at PT17 because that's when the video explanations begin, if you have access to it. Of course you can scour the forums for explanations or ask your own questions for the earlier PT's. I think doing earlier PT's that may have questions covered in CC or problem sets may be useful in their own sense, because while you may remember the stimulus, if you don't remember the answer choice it's a good guage to see whether your process and reasoning is solid. For the tests after 35,
you can save a specific set of PT's for PT-ing and use the others for drilling since there's so many PT's out there.

I think for drilling RC, just read the paragraphs and make your own low res summaries and ask yourself questions about what you read. And familiarize yourself with the subject matter. Then try to answer as many questions as you can without referring go the passage and just try to rely on your summary. Then you go back and read the passage and answer any remaining questions. With RC, the annoying thing is that the answers are all in the passage. Which doesn't sound like a helpful answer at all but you have to get better at understanding the structure of the passage and engaging with the topic of the passage.

I also want to add that you should flirt around with notation techniques to figure out what works best for you because some people use almost 0 notation whereas others mark up their entire passage with different legends that work for them.

Adam Hawks

@keets993 I think you've posted a good strategy for post-CC work.

@Nabintou Just keep in mind these are suggestions and eventually you will find out what works for you and you'll work with your own system. Just make sure you know what strategy you need to do per game, question type, or passage type and start slowly until you develop mastery. Don't focus on timing until you've developed that mastery, otherwise you'll find yourself fumbling and stumbling around.