Is timing important While drilling?

sabrina333

Hi everyone,
I was wondering if any of you set a timer while drilling out of the Cambridge question type packets? I tried to on question types like Sufficient and Necessary but I end up usually going over time anyway...

brna0714

You could set a stopwatch (counting up rather than down), that way you can keep track of time and have goals in mind but not restrict yourself. The most important thing while drilling, IMO, is learning the concepts. If they're taking you longer than other questions, you may need to review that portion of the curriculum before you re-drill and then repeat as necessary until they become quicker for you.

nicole.hopkins

Earlier in my prep when I was more focused on drilling, I did as @brna0714 mentioned: used the stopwatch app on my iPhone (the "lap" button specifically) to record how long I took for every.single.question. Then I'd write the time elapsed for each in the margins (also still do this for RC/LG read through/set up and questions).

It's really important to stay in control of the clock—meaning, to know exactly what 1:20 feels like, what 2 minutes feels like, and when to move on. You have to develop an internal clock for the actual test/PT's because obsessively watching your analog will waste even more time than you may already be spending on the questions. You only really want to *have* to check your analog at certain benchmarks: after Q10, Q15, and Q20 (for LR).

So, yes. Timing is very important for drilling—not to be able to do everything fast (this will only come with much time and practice) but to do everything well and to track how long it's taking you to do that. Your times WILL improve—or rather, they *must* improve. The degree to which this is true depends on your goal score. If your goal is a 170+ then you must answer all LR questions at an average of 1:20 per question with over 90% accuracy.

sabrina333

@brna0714 @nicole.hopkins ok I'll do that instead thanks guys!

emli1000

Yes, timing is very important. At first, for every 10 questions I would give myself 20-25 mins... After a while I was able to reduce that time to 15 mins. But at first I wasn't worried about timing but still wanted to keep track of it.