Stop PTs in favor of LG drills?

marcosmcqueen

Since my first diagnostic I've done respectably on RC and LR pretty consistently, generally -0 to -4 (-2 most common result on LR, -1 most common on RC). There's absolutely room for improvement, but I feel like I'm doing respectably well.
My LG scores, on the other hand, are an absolute train wreck. I don't think I've ever made it through the entire LG section under timed conditions. Under timed conditions I generally get -10 or even worse. It's an absolute disaster.
Outside of timed conditions I can generally work my way through every game without too much brain damage. Without a timer I rarely miss any LG questions.
I've completed the curriculum. I've done most of the problem sets, I've done all of the LG from about 2/3 of the tests using @Pacifico's fool proofing method. In recent weeks I've preceded the fool proofing with a timed drill of the section and then proceeded on to fool proofing each game individually.
I'm signed up for the June test. I am consistently scoring between 164 and 167 on my PTs (blind reviews now consistently above 175). My goal would be to break 170 on test day.
At this point my calculation is that the best use of my time is increasing my efficiency on LG. I appreciate the value of PTs. I also recognize that I have room for improvement in each section. It seems, though, that further improving LR and RC would demand a great deal of time. Even if I did so, I would still only give me an outside shot at 170 given my poor LG performance.
It seems to me that LG offers the lowest hanging fruit and the greatest potential for improvement.
My tentative plan, then, is to stop doing PTs (or at least cut from two per week to one) and instead just drill the heck out of LGs.
What do you think? Is it madness to consider abandoning PTs? Should I scale back on them and beef up my LG drills? Should I carry on as I have been?

danielznelson

If you're firm on June, it's important to keep up PTs, though maybe cutting them back to once a week would be beneficial, especially for the sake of saving them for future prep. I would pair LG drilling with a PT or two a week, and since you're typically scoring 100% on untimed LG sections, you clearly have the logic down. But I would work to improve your time on individual sections (not sure if this is a part of the fool proof method you mentioned) by doing entire sections, not individual sections and BRing/fool proofing from there, perhaps doing individual sections. Again, I'm not sure of @Pacifico's method, unfortunately, though from what I know, it's legit.

If you're consistently not finishing in time on sections you've already done, don't move on until you've nailed down the time with those. There's not much sense attempting to make the time limit on new games if you can't even meet the time limit on games you've done before, whether your last attempt was a day ago or a year ago.

If you've pretty much always had enough time for sections you've already done - even with sections you haven't seen in a very long time - your lack of speed with newer tests may be more psychological at this point. If that were the case, a break from LG could help, though that would be at the risk of postponing your test in order to get back in a groove of drilling LG and PTing, along with fine tuning your speed as well as your performance on the other sections.

Cant Get Right

How do you account for the discrepancy between your -0 untimed LG drills and your -10+ timed sections? Obviously time is a big factor, but I don’t think that’s enough to explain that kind of a swing. So what happens when the clock is ticking that makes you fall apart on your Games?

marcosmcqueen

Thanks both for your thoughts. Your questions and suggestions are really appreciated. I think I agree with you that there seems to be a significant psychological factor.
On my last PT. I was able to work through the first game and felt fairly comfortable. When I finished the game and looked at the clock, however, I realized I had spent 15 minutes on a fairly easy game.
I moved onto the second game where I started to dope out sub-games before realizing that it would probably be of little help. This always stresses me out as I have little confidence in my ability to juggle the various rules on the fly. I finished the game in about 9 minutes.
I finished the third game (with the exception of a rule substitution question) in about 7 minutes. Reviewing game during BR I quickly realized that I had created an extra universes that was not actually correct. Fortunately, the extra universe didn't actually cause me to get any questions wrong. It did, however, take time to create and almost certainly cost me time while processing the individual questions as I was looking through an additional game board.
By the timeI was finished with this last game I had only a few minutes left to take on the last game. I didn't finish any of it's questions. I actually would have been better off doing the alternative rule question from game three because it took me about 15 seconds during my blind review.
It is, to be honest, a bit of a blow to the ego to think that I'm cracking under pressure. I work in a job where an ability to work calmly under pressure is the single highest virtue and it's a virtue with which I've always credited myself. I've long believed myself to be someone who, when the heat is on, has ice water running through my veins. Time to step back from that ego-driven assumption and get under the hood for some emotional tinkering.

Cant Get Right

When you drill, are you just doing it untimed or are you using a stopwatch to keep track? My method is to drill untimed but keep a running tab of how long it takes me. I write out the target time with the drill time for each take and track my progress. This teaches me pacing in addition to Game mechanics. The game is not fool-proofed until I am completing it accurately and under time.

marcosmcqueen

The first time I tackle them I'll do the four games with a 35 minute time limit, as if it were a test. After doing that I'll then proceed to fool-proof each individual game using a stopwatch to see how long I take. I'll do it until I can consistently complete it under time (at least four times, possibly more), then repeat it the next day and again a week later.

MrSamIam

For June, you may as well PT and fool proof. If you're sitting the September or December administration, I would stop PTing altogether until you are solid on LG.
Unfortunately, I had to do the same thing recently. Prior to the curiculum I was doing fairly well with LG and RC. Finished the curriculum and took a PT in preparation for the BR group. I don't know what happened, but I tanked the LG section and performance was suboptimal on LG (at no fault of the curiculum). I've been drilling the two for the past week, and it seems to be helping.

cmelman95

You sound like me several months ago --- almost exactly, actually, even with respect to PT scores. I pushed my Feb date back to June so I could take like 6 weeks to just do LG and then start doing PTs again, minimizing the tradeoff I had to make between drilling and PTs. 171 and 175 are quite different scores. If possible, I'd push off till September and work on LG for the next month or so.

marcosmcqueen

I appreciate all the feedback. You have me seriously considering postponing. My plan was to give it The Old College Try in June and then re-take in September if I fell short of 170. As I said, I'm trying to set my ego aside and make a reasoned decision. I'll keep pondering this. Please feel free to add thoughts if you have any. I am humbly reading and considering every sentence that's been posted.

marcosmcqueen

I am still considering postponing. I'm going to drill again tomorrow and keep plugging away. I noticed during my drills today that I missed the first of skipping, which is; Do It. I realized that while I am quick to skip problems in other sections I tend to get bogged down in the LG section, spending too much time on a question. The other things I noticed were wasting time building out useless game boards and failing to slow down and read every word of a question. The word "Except" can be kind of a doozy if you miss is...