Advice on Studying & Study Schedule

H.al1997

Hey everyone this probably one of the most repetitive questions you all might see on the fourm.

So I finished CC probably in February (a year before I had run through it once but never really PTd) and I started to just practice some problem sets and RC passages and had to take a break for about a month due to finishing up my courses. My goal and what I need is between a 161-165.

I just need someone to help me organize a study schedule and advise me on how to study as I do find 7sage daunting but helpful!

J_Clarkson

@"Cant Get Right"

FindingSage

First of all, don't be embarrassed of sharing your scores, asking for help is difficult but it at the same time it is typically the best way to make progress. Looking at your section scores, and overall scores you posted, I actually would not be taking practice tests at this point if I were you. Particularly with logical reasoning, it looks like you would be better focusing on understanding the fundamentals rather than focusing on speed or time pressure. It would like learning to play the piano. If you won't know how to read music and don't even know where the keys are, you certainly wouldn't try to play a whole song.
When you did the core curriculum, how did you do in the practice sets? Did you understand why the wrong answers were wrong and the correct answers are correct? I would be happy to try to help you.

H.al1997

@FindingSage Thank you! For the most part on the practice sets I did on CC I was getting maybe 2 or 3 wrong and sometimes its because I misread the passage and other times I usually narrow it down to 2 answers choices and end up choosing the wrong one. There are the odd practice sets were I will get none right but that is usually on the more difficult practice sets.
In terms of games on the practice sets I usually get 1 or 2 wrong and usually they are the MBT or CBT.
In terms of RC I just have to really focus and not get bored and I usually get 2 or 3 wrong, again unless the set is really challenging then I sometimes get the whole set wrong but usually I don't.

I hope this makes sense!

Cant Get Right

I definitely agree that PT's are not the right approach at this point. I think @FindingSage 's piano metaphor is really spot on. Right now, you need to be focused on learning your Major scales. This is probably a frustrating thing to hear, but another pass at the CC would make the most sense. You need to go through it with greater engagement; you get nothing for simply completing it. Many people "watch" the CC, passively viewing the content. Make sure you are studying, not observing. If it isn't tedious and difficult, you're not doing it right. If you don't cry from frustration at least once, lol, you're just not engaging at the level you need to be in order to really learn and internalize the lessons.

H.al1997

@"Cant Get Right" @FindingSage Thank you! In the past, going through CC I would watch the lessons and practice problem sets and by the time I get halfway through CC I feel like I have forgotten what I've learned. So for example, I would go through LR types (like Main Point, Causation, etc..) watch the videos, practice the onscreen questions and then maybe take 2 or 3 problem sets and move on and then by the time I'm halfway through the LR types about to hit LG, I feel like I haven't retained what I learned. I've realized that this method is inefficent because I have done CC twice and taken breaks in between because I was trying to finish up my degree. Do you have any advice or maybe know a certain user that I can ask on how to go through CC in a more effeicient way?

Cant Get Right

I think David @"Accounts Playable" is probably the model for this. You'll probably notice his explanations throughout the CC and comments sections everywhere. What I learned from David is that writing out reports on your work involves a much higher level of understanding. When I first began writing out explanations, I'd think I had something down completely only to find that I had absolutely no clue what to actually write. This was really groundbreaking for me. So my advice would be to follow David's example. Write out all of your thoughts. Articulate the lessons in your own words to really make it your own. I think that if all you had were David's notes, you could reverse engineer the entire CC.

You should also be stopping at key points to really memorize things that can't be done with a once over. So when you get to valid/invalid argument structures, you need to learn those backwards and forwards. Make notecards, make up your own arguments using the structures which clearly demonstrate intuitively the validity/invalidity of each argument. Same thing when you get to the common flaws. Make notecards, come up with your own examples, know them intimately and at a glance. These are just a couple of those spots, but there are definitely others.

So that's what I mean when I say engage with the material. Hope this helps!

FindingSage

@H_846507, Take some time to listen to some of the podcasts/webinars from top scoring students. Listen in particular to their journeys, how they studied, how they went through the core curriculum and what they did after.

I would then recommend going through the core curriculum again. This time, when you work on a practice set don't do it under time. For each question, make sure to separate the premises and conclusion and then try to answer the question. Go through each answer choice and write down or try to explain to someone ( if you can find a volunteer) why each answer is wrong or right. Then, check the answers and if you weren't actually correct listen to the explanation video but try to make sure you really understand why the right answer is right BUT also just as importantly, what attracted you to the wrong answer? Why is the wrong answer wrong? Ask, questions, there are a lot of people willing to help.

When you go through the core curriculum again, really take time when you get to the formal logic section and also the invalid and valid argument forms. You will see these show up in just about every type of question and you really want to not just understand but really be able to recall this even when these argument forms are presented as different words or complicated subject matter.

It sounds like you may be letting the answer choices drive your decision between an answer choice or two. I did this a lot as well and like you also found myself to seem to always pick the wrong one. How I changed this ( and I am still a work in progress) was really to focus on predicting the right answer choice, not as much in precise words but in what I am looking for.

How I am improving this is by really mastering my ability to recall argument forms, understand what the argument is doing and increasing my ability to recognize flaws quickly. I made flashcards a few weeks ago, based off of this post:

https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/7890/i-made-digital-flashcards-for-lr-concepts-enjoy/p1

I hand wrote the flashcards ( and am adding to them) and tried to use my own examples to really make sure I understand and reinforce the concepts. Since starting the flashcards I have gone back into the CC and have been going through the Method of reasoning questions, Flaw questions, parallel reasoning questions, parallel flaw questions ect and am making flash cards with examples. My goal there is to be able to read the argument and know exactly how the argument is proceeding or what the flaw is, before I ever look at the answer choices.

@"Cant Get Right" your podcast was actually the very first one I listened to. I had heard JY's logic game explanations and was driving to work and looking for something "productive" to listen to that wouldn't require me to look at the screen. I really identified with your journey, perseverance and desire to really master the test. There aren't many who would re take after scoring 170 but I understand why and could see myself doing the same.

H.al1997

@"Cant Get Right" @FindingSage Thank you both so much! I also guess that in terms of how many practice sets I should do (5, 10 or all of them), depends on how much I really understand and recall certain information for every question type.