So just bombed my fourth PT and I think it's about time I reevaluate my timeline and goals in here. Mid 160's is my target but I can't seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel here. So far my PT have been embarrassing at best. My initial diagnostic was 146. I've taken PT 36 - 39. So far I've gotten 133 (Didn't even think that was possible), 141, 146, and 147. I started the course in April and finished a couple of weeks ago and just started PT. Thing is, my BR has been comparably much better, in fact, probably right where I'd like to end up at. I've BR at 150, 156, 168, and 162. On RC I'm averaging -11.5 on LR I'm -14 and LG I'm -17. On BR for RC I'm -5, on LR I'm -7, and LG -8. A lot of these are really brought down by my first test where I pretty much locked up like a deer in headlights. But still, I'm thinking tempted to start from scratch here. Thing is, when I come back for BR, even for the ones I get wrong on BR, I'm seeing very clearly where I was wrong and most of the time, the right answer is the one I struggled with debating for. It leads me to believe there is something that's sunk in. I just don't know if this means I should continue PT and BR to a greater extent to work on timing and understanding the stimulus quickly, or if I should come back to the fundamentals of the course again before taking any more exams. Even since my first PT I've noticed a difference, especially in LG where I am at least completing a couple of games, but I'm nowhere where I thought I would be with 60 days until October. At this point, I'm thinking I should push this out till December. I'm already working full time and I'll be starting school at the end of this month. If anyone could help me gauge the mess I've made here, it'd be much appreciated.
Comments
Kudos, by the way, for recognizing that you need to reassess your situation.
I'd say you're right in thinking that December would be a better bet at this point for reaching your target score, but even so I'd recommend to keep prepping like you're still planning to take October. Also if it's financially possible I'd try and cut way back on work hours.
Take some more tests, thoroughly BR, and be modest about what you know. If you see a particular type is giving you real problems, then think about going back through the curriculum. But there is no shortcut to achieving a higher score and no substitute for practice.
Just to be clear- I do not think it's a good idea to continue taking PTs in your current situatuon. Why waste PTs and/or reinforce faulty fundamentals when you have the option to step away and reexamine the concepts?
Another 6 PTs with only incremental improvement or stagnation is going to feel demoralizing. A little time spent reviewing and reinforcing concept followed by a return to PTs and a jump in score is going to energize and motivate you. You've gotta think end game. It feels good to keep taking PTs because there appears to be forward momentum but it's not a sound strategy in the long run.
You really hit the nail on the head there. I think that is honestly why I'm in my current situation. I rushed past drilling to get to tests, without having the basics down. I think @nicole.hopkins document would be great to use for drilling.
So I guess my biggest question to you would be, at what point am I prepared to begin PT again. I mean, I already made the mistake of thinking I was prepared, which clearly I am not. How would you gauge that criteria?
When you're getting a percentage correct that you're satisfied with on the problem sets in the curriculum or in ones you create yourself, then you should be ready to PT. This is trickier to gauge based off self-created sets since they're unlikely to be representative in terms of difficulty but you get the idea.
I can't/won't name a certain percentage since this will vary.
If you scroll a little bit down the page, you can see a list of questions sorted by type for PTs 1-59. I wouldn't recommend using anything newer for drilling any way, so this should be all you need. Good luck to you.
http://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/2737/logic-games-attack-strategy
Also, when doing LG, you should be competent enough to know whether you're 100% right or guessing pretty much 99% of the time (exceptions happening rarely for misreads/diagramming error), so therefore you should be circling any of those iffy ones and you should not be getting any questions wrong in LG during BR. Confidence errors should not exist in LG with the aforementioned exception. It might also be helpful for you to BR the entire LG section of every PT you take and then you should be getting every question correct because there is no excuse not to when you can resort to hours of brute forcing until you arrive at the right answer. If you fix your LG, you're talking mid-high 150s with your present skill set for other sections. I'd take a week to fix your LG, then PT again and see where you're at and use those analytics for LR. I wouldn't worry about RC, it will come along naturally as your LR improves and you become a better reader. I think people spend way too much time trying to unlock the secrets of RC or figure out the best ways to improve when the best way to improve on RC is to understand the macro level approach you must use during LR sections. Analyzing all that reasoning structure in LR will pay huge dividends in RC so just let it happen and don't worry about going crazy trying to read the Economist and all that other stuff people like to suggest.
Wish me luck, everyone. I'll report back with results. Of course, if anyone sees any glaring defects here, please feel free to let me know!