has anyone else experience this? when i just fly through LR i wind up scoring consistently better

bwrc1992

the last few times i've done LR i've just tried racing through the questions and you know what. i've found my score to be significantly better. i've gone from -11 to -3/-4 the past few days. as an added bonus i typically have 6 or 7 mins to review my answer choices.

i don't trust this method, but i'm wondering if i just over analyze the answers.

any thoughts?

liuyolanda

I experienced the same thing. But I define racing through as avoiding unnecessary rereading, staring sth blankly or spending tough questions longer than 1.5min ( will come back for it). One important thing is that racing through is not rushing through, and it must be based on a scientific thinking, elimination procedure rather than some blind intuition.

hrjones44

I wonder...i hate spending time on questions, re reading and whatnot, the worst is when u put one answer down, then change it, and then your original was correct all along.

emli1000

I've noticed this too. Not sure if it's a good thing. Hmm.. Might be a different outcome on test day.

[Deleted User]

What do you mean by "racing through " ? Do you read everything?

lbalestrieri

That's exactly what I do. I go through the questions fast enough so that I have 6-7 min at the end to go back over questions I wasn't sure about - I do this instead of spending more time on those questions initially. I find coming back to them with a "fresh(er)" eye helps me to get them right. I average about -3/-4 on each LR section

emli1000

@lbalestrieri so you read the questions first?

bwrc1992

@emli1000 yes, i personal read the each question but rather i tend to go with my instincts and react quicker if when i'm going through the questions at a faster pace

ddakjiking

With everything said, I would be careful on the newer tests, especially of the PT 70+. The difficulty of the questions have been spread out so now it's very possible to see one of the toughest questions of the section early on say #12 or something.

emli1000

@bwrc1992 makes sense.

Nilesh S

if it works for you its good... You are going faster (even if it is a conscious effort) because things are clicking in your mind... you are not necessarily able to map out whatever is happening in your mind but you are able to go thru the mental process and make those leaps correctly. It is the coming together of all the prep you have been doing so far. Go with what you are doing.

lbalestrieri

@emli1000 I'm not sure I understand what you mean. In terms of approaching each individual question, I follow the 7sage approach - meaning I read the stem, then the stimulus, then eliminate answer choices, then choose the correct one. But what I meant was that I go through each one fairly quickly - if I am unsure about an answer choice or am stuck between two I pick what I think is the best answer (just in case I don't have time later to come back to it) then I put a star next to that question so I know to come back to it. I get through LR with between 6 - 8 minutes left over. At that point I "redo" the questions that I've starred - basically giving myself a chance to BR them before time is up. I usually work backwards when I do this since the more difficult questions tend to come last so I know those are the ones that I've most likely gotten wrong. Like I said, I feel approaching those questions for a second time after I've gotten my mind off of them and on to other questions helps me to get them correct. I hope this makes more sense as to what I meant!

shane.mcglashen

I've come across the same thing. For one reason or another, I develop confidence by moving more quickly throughout the exam. I feel as though when I'm getting backed up per question, the time pressure incrementally builds up towards the end of the test and gets to me. I run out of time/confidence to get particular questions I would have otherwise gotten right, wrong. I've found that as of recent, I keep the idea that I can always come back with a fresh mind after I finish all of the questions in my back pocket, rather than trying to 100% figure it out right then and there. I've been finishing LR sections with 8 minutes +/- to spare, and use that time to go back and do either unseemly long q's I skipped to complete or review q's I was unsure of.

harrismegan

Might be because you spend way less time second guessing yourself good for you.