Delaying and hoping to make big RC improvements

Pride Only Hurts

So I was set on the Sept test but unfortunately my PT average is right around a 164-165 at the moment and thats well short of the 170 I need to be confident going into the test. I've already seen an 18 point improvement from my diagnostic score but I know I still have a lot of room for improvement.

I'm currently averaging around -8 on RC and thats what's really killing my score. Is it smart to dedicate a whole week to drilling dozens of RC passages? I know this helped me a lot with logic games but I'm wondering if the same approach can work with RC. I haven't really figured out the proper approach for RC because my scores don't really follow a clear trend. I suck at inference questions and typically go -1 or -2 on BR.

Sam Tyler

Edit: I wrote a response but realized after I didnt properly understand your question. I think for these next few days, you should do full tests unless your confident in your stamina. If you are, feel free to emphasize RC, it's really a question of your own comfort. Another possibility is to do the brutally unfun strategy of back to back RC. It had the advantage of helping you build stamina while focusing on your weaknesses. Its not going to stimulate a real test, and it wont help build your confidence, but as long as your okay not doing well at first it could be a way to maxamixes your remaining time. Make sure on the Thursday you do some easier stuff tho, and Friday you allow yourself to relax

Pride Only Hurts

@"Sam Tyler" said:
Edit: I wrote a response but realized after I didnt properly understand your question.

That's my fault I just realized it didn't mention I'm pushed back my test date to November. That being said, I have lots of time! Have you tried the Brutally unfun strategy of back to back RC?

samantha.ashley92

Is your problem with time or accuracy?

Pride Only Hurts

@"samantha.ashley92" said:
Is your problem with time or accuracy?

I think it depends. I definitely haven't developed a good skipping strategy for RC like I have with LR so if I end up with 7 mins left on the last passage it's usually because I got caught up with one or two questions.

I typically go -1 on hard passages while drilling outside of the PT. But I usually only drill 2 passages at a time so maybe its doing 4 passages in a row that gets to me.

samantha.ashley92

Oh, developing a good skipping strategy is so important! Even if you skip one question on each passage, and really spend your time on the other questions, you're at -4. That cuts your wrong answers in half. I would try practicing with different skipping methods and seeing what works best for you.

Pride Only Hurts

@"samantha.ashley92" said:
Oh, developing a good skipping strategy is so important! Even if you skip one question on each passage, and really spend your time on the other questions, you're at -4. That cuts your wrong answers in half. I would try practicing with different skipping methods and seeing what works best for you.

Yeah totally gonna spend the rest of today testing this out. I think cutting the score down to -4 through skipping and proper timing is possible.

samantha.ashley92

I agree! It's worth taking the time to see what works best. Also, you may need a different strategy for comparative passages, so keep that in mind.

Pride Only Hurts

@"samantha.ashley92" said:
I agree! It's worth taking the time to see what works best. Also, you may need a different strategy for comparative passages, so keep that in mind.

Yeah I haven't fully decided on how I want to approach those. JY's method makes sense but seems time consuming.

samantha.ashley92

I would try to see if you can approach the questions after reading both passages. If you're forgetting too much or getting confused, try reading one passage and then looking at the questions... and then, of course, go to the second passage.

Sam Tyler

@"Pride Only Hurts" said:

@"Sam Tyler" said:
Edit: I wrote a response but realized after I didnt properly understand your question.

That's my fault I just realized it didn't mention I'm pushed back my test date to November. That being said, I have lots of time! Have you tried the Brutally unfun strategy of back to back RC?

I have. I find RC really awful and draining, it really was miserable just doing RC over and over again but it definately helped me improve. I would do two RC, 15 min break, and then two more RC, and then BR + grade.

Cant Get Right

I did what you're talking about, kinda a fool proofing for RC. It helped a lot, so I'd definitely recommend it. And drill full sections!

keets993

Just wanted to comment that I'm in the exact same boat.