Experimental Section Necessary?

pjanderson5

What do you guys think of taking just the 4 section PT with either no breaks or a short 5 minute break after section 3? Is the experimental section really needed if you have the stamina? Also, it would save wasting sections I haven't used yet. Your thoughts are appreciated!

amj521001

If you do want to try taking PTs with experimental sections, how do you add them in? I'd like to do a PT that is as close to the real thing as possible, but I don't know how to add an experimental section in without accidentally showing myself what the sections are and what order they come in. Do you just plop a random set of questions in the middle of your test and then not score it?

jdawg113

IMO the best way to prevent knowledge of the sections would be to have a couple of PT's printed out and have someone else take a section out of one of the PT's and throw it into the mix of another along with whiting out/removing anything that would give it away(section #, page#...)

danballinger5

Personally, I don't think the extra section is necessary. You will have the focus and energy required come test day, trust me. It's like Christmas morning for a child; you have trouble falling to sleep the night before, but will shoot out of bed amped for the day.

I'm just doing my 4 section PT's with no break this time around. That should give all the stamina I need. I think people worry to much about having enough stamina to complete the most important test they will take in their life.

Though I would recommend that you do not hydrate too much before the actual test. If you have a strong urge to go to the bathroom during the second section, you're SOL.

turnercm

i've used really old preptests as experimental sections before (pre-PT 36), but I don't anymore; it ends up just being another section that I have to blind review, and I'd rather focus on more recent test material.

However, it might be helpful if you just do a few PTs w/experimental sections (you don't even have to grade them). I also like @danballinger5's idea. You throw a break in there if you're worried about momentum being an unfair driving factor during practice.

Vriver01

Would it be useful to do all experimental sections as logic game sections? I'm starting full on PTS in the next couple of days and was wondering if integrating old game sections or redoing the ones we did during the course would be helpful. Kind of like re-enforcing the fool-proof method.

_FIDELIO_

you definitely want to put in an experimental section. I might even recommend occasionally putting in a 6 section. @jayswims this is a great strategy.

jdawg113

@Vriver01 I would say not necessarily.... the day of the test is a mystery, you could have two RC... back to back... I would say unless you avg -0/2 on 2/3 sections than extra practice on your worst section wouldn't be terrible but I would suggest mixing it up. and if you just realllllyyy need the extra practice on LG than just drill more LG outside of your PTs
@_FIDELIO_ thanks lol

Vriver01

thanks for the suggestions @jayswims