BR PTs

emli1000

Usually when I BR a PT I do every section. I always circle the ones I know I'm not 100% sure about but when I BR I go through the entire PT and write out my reasoning for every single answer choice. It's time consuming but it makes my brain work and do what I've learned throughout the course. So it's kind of a win-win situation. Once I finish BR I watch every single video explanation even though my reasoning is exactly as the video explanation, but I feel that if I skip questions I may miss something important lol so I watch every video. Is this recommended? Or should I just focus on those questions that I'm missing instead? Has anyone else done this before?

Nilesh S

@emli1000 I'd say if you have the time then do it... later on in the process i.e. closer to test day this will automatically reduce... I usually did not do this for the ones which I knew straight off the bat... but if there was EVEN the slightest doubt, I'd go to the video...

emli1000

@"Nilesh S" yes, I've noticed improvement on Flaw questions by doing this and seeing the patterns used.... OR maybe it was from the trainer =/ lol

blah170blah

That's GREAT that your reasoning is exactly as the video explanation. If you have the time, reinforce what you know, review what you missed. It will further solidify your logic to the point it becomes second nature (like dissecting arguments in the comments section :-p)

Nilesh S

@emli1000 haha good going... your hard work is paying off.

emli1000

thanks, maybe it's because JY lives in my head when I'm doing BR. I wish he was there more often when taking timed PTs lol. I see. I should mostly focus on what I missed instead since the others are kind of second nature already?

blah170blah

Mhm, exactly

nicole.hopkins

@emli1000 is my role model

emli1000

@nicole.hopkins gee thanks!

inactive

I love seeing all of our Mentors pitch in and help out each other. n.n

mpits001

This is something I wish I utilized back when I was studying for the Dec. exam. I wanted to get through most of the LG bundle before taking new PTs though. I've always been one to want to reexamine every question, BUT I thought it was just me and would be a waste of time. Good to know I was wrong . Awesome work!

Jengibre

I like it! I think I'll start watching more videos, even for questions that gave me no trouble. As long as it's not taking time away from studying in a more effective way (which it certainly doesn't seem to be), this thorough BR process will likely help solidify understanding.

shine.on.me

I need to do this. I've started writing out reasoning more and it seems to be helping. :-)

nicole.hopkins

From everything I've read, this is THE step (or the missing step in many cases); for me, I'm hovering between 165-170 — and I'm convinced that BR is going to be the key to breaking into the 175-180 range. Yes, more practice under 30 min per section limits; more LG practice to master the various "clones" or game prototypes; and need a more solid/comprehensive understanding Of conditional logic and argument structure (when I miss in LR and RC this is typically the pain point).

BUT ... Let me say that I've only noticed the latter most point because of BR! And I think that final piece of learning is the key conceptual area in lacking. But I literally had no idea about that until I 1) did our Saturday night BR group (set up by @emli1000 ) and 2) have started systematically doing BR on my own.

Right now I only have time to BR the wrong answers but once my schedule shifts I plan on BR for everything. It will be interesting to see how much improvement comes from the first stage versus the second stage.

Also--I think part of what is effective in the BR process is writing itself. I might try weaving the answer choices into a more narrative form (like a paragraph as if I were writing an essay on the topic). Has anyone tried this approach?

blah170blah

@nicole.hopkins This is what I'm doing right now and I can say that it is AMAZING. Having to write out why the wrong answers are wrong and the right answer is right really forces you to break down the argument taking place in the stimulus. After doing this several times, my logical reasoning improved immensely. I'm trying to do this consistently for RC to improve my RC score as well.

GSU Hopeful

I tend to take it a step farther. I do each test (I'm only on my fourth) under timed conditions. Once I'm finished with it, I put it to the side and print out the same test. This time, I will go through it in it's entirety untimed and write my reasoning for each question. It takes a good while longer, but seems to be working for me since it shows the questions that I just have no understanding of. I guess the only difference is I'm going through every question again, not just the ones I struggled with in the event my reasoning is completely off.