Scores on Retakes

westcoastbestcoast

Hi guys,

I recently retook the PT 71, which I originally took on October of last year. On my first take, I got a 159 but I didnt BR that exam. On this recent take I got a 169. With the exception of having some problems seeming familiar, the questions still felt new to me and the Reading Comprehension section of this particular pt seemed just as hard as when I first took it. How much do I discount my score considering it was a retake? Can I still use this PT as a measure that my skills have since increased?

Jonathan Wang

There's no exact way to discount. I wouldn't use it at all if you have other tests in that general range that were completely fresh. Barring that, and assuming that the result is not completely out of whack with what you're doing on other, fresh tests, just take it as a confirmation of improvement and go about picking your performance apart as normal. The number isn't the important part anyway, it's understanding what you still did wrong.

If you insist on assigning a number, I would err on the side of chopping off more points than you think is reasonable. There's nothing wrong with estimating a bit on the low side aside from a slightly bruised ego; far more important to ensure that you're not overestimating.

Cant Get Right

Yeah, like Jonathan said, the score really doesn’t matter. What matters is your understanding of the test and the logic upon which it is built. If you didn’t BR it the first time, there’s still a lot to be learned from the retake.

westcoastbestcoast

Thank you for the response. My most recent fresh preptest was 166, which was PT C2. And my performance for the PT 60s were in the low 170s, but since they were retakes I will be taking those scores with a grain of salt. I'm assuming the BR scores matter more, especially for a student like myself who is running thin on fresh preptests? My BR scores have mostly been at the mid to high 170s, and a few 180s.