Drop After Core Curriculum

Harriet _Specter

Hey 7Sage fam,

I just finished the core curriculum, and it felt like a big accomplishment! It took me three months, and things were starting to click in the lessons and drills. Then yesterday I started taking on some real sections, only to do considerably worse than before I started studying three months ago. Before studying at all, I was getting -6-7ish on LR sections, and now I'm at almost double that...help! Is this normal? What am I doing wrong? I really hope this is normal and I didn't waste 3 important months of study time

tlpalmer98

I definitely do not think you wasted your time! The curriculum is great info and I doubt it could ever cause you harm, so please don't look at it that way.

Are all other factors constant between your -6ish sections when you started vs. now that you are done with the curriculum? Were they timed before and are they timed now?

Timing pressure can add a lot of additional stress at first that can make your scores drop. It will take a little bit of time to get your pace down to where you don't feel anxious to rush through the questions.

Are you flagging questions you are not 100% about and meticulously going through them in blind review after?

One or two bad PTs or a bad drilling day every once in a while is not uncommon to my understanding. My first timed PT was considerably worse than the rest. It's OK, you are not doomed to repeat a bad day.

You may be getting burnt out! Maybe take a day or two to relax and reset and then approach it with a clear head.

jordylsat

I experienced similar after I finished the core curriculum. I was expecting a boost and did not get it. My experience has been that I need practice applying the concepts before I truly learn them. . . so when I get a problem wrong now, I know where to go back in the curriculum to see what I need to learn or understand better in approaching these questions. It will all make sense the more practice problems you do. I am at a point now where I have to just put the pen to paper and crank out practice problems... I have done the core curriculum from 7 sage and read a book ... all of which I learned a lot from and are the correct tools to help me solve the problems, but I have to learn to USE the tools. Don't give up! Your hard-work will pay off.