Differing Section Score But Same Overall Score.

Cynical Bean Counter

I swear everytime I improve in LR I get worse in RC. This keeps my overall score constantly in the same 3 or 4 point window. And when I do good in RC, my LR gets bad. All the while, my LG always stays the same.... Is this stamina related or are the tests made that if one section is easy, another is made harder?

For reference, by LG is always between -5 and -9 but my LR and RC always switch places with which one is -7 and which one is -17.

MTreigys

Yeah, there is some variance with regard to difficulty and sometimes the content of certain passages may just be more relatable to you. I had a run of PTs where there were seemingly many argument part questions, which I find to be one of my weaker questions, but then had little to none in a different streak of PTs, thus my score was higher for LR. Definitely a lot of factors but I wouldn't try to psych yourself out by assuming that a RC section will be hard since a LR section earlier felt easy and vice versa. Always go into each section with the belief that you can ace it. Confidence is key.

Matt Sorr

As @MTreigys alluded to, some sections are harder than others. Generally, if you're given an easier than average scored section, one of the other scored sections will be harder than average, making up for the difference. That's why you'll often find that if you do better than normal in one section on a PT, you'll do worse than normal in another. Though the advice may not sound groundbreaking, I've generally found that the best way to ensure you don't bomb sections just because they're harder is to really, really thoroughly review all difficult sections you complete. While it may be an ego-stroke to review an easier section and feel confident that you crushed it, you typically won't learn a ton from it. The harder sections are great review material because if you can really pin down what made certain games, questions, or passages more difficult than normal, you can learn how to deal with those same challenges in the future. That way, when faced with another harder section of the same type, you may have already seen some of the tricks that are thrown at you or you may have already planned for how to manage your time on harder sections.