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Related Discussions
Weekly PT's after the CC
Hi Everyone,
I'm working my way through the PT, and wanted to get some input on a question regarding doing 2 weekly PT's, as my schedule suggests.
I currently work full time, so the only realistic timeline I have for doing PT's is the weekend, during the middle of the week I'm too mentally drained to do a full PT.
Originally I thought I would just do a PT on Saturday, then a PT on Sunday - and BR both of them during the week. The value to that being, while there might not be much improvement from PT to PT on any given weekend at least I'll have more data on where I'm weakest and have enough time to work though a BR. The downside being I'm not sure how much time this will leave for additional drills on areas I'm weak in.
The other thought I had was to do one PT over a weekend, BR it the rest of the weekend/early in the week and then drill areas I'm weak on until the next weekend and repeat.
Has anyone been in a similar situation, would love to hear some feedback on which strategy would most likely be more effective.
Comments
Two PT's per week is probably too many. I'd say one per week is even ambitious. Taking two PT's on back to back days will be a waste of good material and time that could be spent toward a better BR and PT cycle.
Check out the webinar (if you haven't already) https://7sage.com/webinar/post-core-curriculum-study-strategies/
^this provided me with a clear-cut plan of attack for my studying. Hope it helps.
One PT a week is more than enough especially right after the core curriculum. I would actually suggest not putting down on the schedule a weekly or bi-weekly PT schedule. This is because unless you start out with a really high score there is a lot of work to be done in order to improve between PTs. Blind review alone is just not enough. Use the knowledge you gained from your last PT about your weaknesses to do drills and things like revisiting the core curriculum to increase understanding for fundamentals, arguments, and questions. Draw parallel arguments for questions you missed or took to long to answer. See if you can find other arguments like that in older PT and many more. There is so much you can do to improve from one PT to the next. This can easily take up more than a week especially if you work full time. But your score increase depends on you doing these.
Taking a PT bi-weekly or even weekly says the focus of the prep is on taking PT's rather than learning and testing what you learned on a PT. I can honestly say that its hard work just to address all the mistakes you make in drills and review in a single week for a one PT -add two and I can assure you that you are not getting everything out of that PT. Take the PT only when you feel that you want to test out everything you worked on during your review and drills. So if that happens to be two week, then that's the right call. Then use that PT to figure out where you are weak in and work on addressing those issues again before you take the next PT.
I don't think you need multiple PT's to figure out what you need. Try the analytics tool on 7sage to give a rough idea on where you need to work most on.
I also love that you are addressing the point about not being sure how much time this will leave for additional drills. To improve people often underestimate the improvement that comes from thorough drilling and using old materials and tend to see taking PT's as the solution.
I would say drill and review till you feel you adequately addressed your weaknesses. Then as you near the end of your task list, find an open time slot to take the next PT.
Thank you everyone! This has been very helpful
I tried doing back-back PTs and it never worked well. My brain would fry without the spacing, such that the second exam was not consistent with any stand alone PT. If you could do a Friday night and a Sunday then it might be okay, but you have plenty of time to get enough PTs under your belt before your exam. Best of luck!
I think it heavilly depends on where your score is starting. If you start of scoring really well it can make sense to go through PTs quite fast. If you are missing less than 10 or 15 questions per test, it is hard to pick up on trends within each section based on just one test. In that case, two a weekend might make sense.
If you are starting out with a score that is lower you should get plenty of material and mistakes to analyze from just one test.
If you want to do two tests in one weekend you can always try taking them back to back. This has the added benefit of training you so you won't get tired on the real test. Instead of simulating the experimental section and having a break in each test, just take all four sections of each test in a row with the break in between the two tests. Then you can use Sunday either as a day of rest or to start your blind review and the drilling based on it. I'm a little biased since I did this two test in a row double nearly every Saturday during my prep for my retake, but I think it can be more beneficial to have high intensity study days followed by restful days. People do this with real exercise and though the mind is certainly different, I think this might be one of the ways where training it is analagous.
Edit: I forgot to mention if you are worried about burning through PTs, you could always make one of the two PTs an old one. It will still give you practice and help endurance, but would serve as a less good diagnostic.
Your description of 1 PT on the weekend, BR, and then drill in between is exactly what I did and it worked really well. I think 1 per week is just right, because it will help you gauge progress and get you used to the endurance needed for the test. I don’t think more than 1 per week is necessary or even helpful.
1 PT per week doesn't so too ambitious but might I ask where you are starting from? What is your diagnostic like and what are your problem areas?