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• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  August 2016 edited September 2018 23929 karma

  @Jimmyjatt
  
  15 prep tests is a good amount to get you to September. So I wouldn't worry too much on that front.
  Make sure you get acclimated to the 70s, many people say that they tend to be different from the older tests. I can't personally speak on it because I haven't gotten anywhere near there yet.
  
  I also think retakes are very useful. So keep doing those for sure.
  
  Should you ration some PTs for a retake? I am curious about this too.
  
  Also, have you drilled from 1-35?
  
  Either way, try to do some of those if you can get your hands on them.
• crazyloed Alum Member

  August 2016 105 karma

  i need help with retention as well
• 1 Like

  danielznelson Alum Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  August 2016 4181 karma

  If you are able, I would acquire the older tests you haven't touched to give yourself extra material outside of the 15 PTs you have now. While the older tests may be written differently and may occasionally not have as neat stimuli, the logic is the same, and these tests will afford you plenty of practice material to stay on your game without sacrificing the PTs you have left. If you're still at a stage trying to retain information in your first read, among other things, the older PTs are especially useful to you. If nothing else, they will allow you to build good habits for LR and the other sections, of course.
  
  Having 15, untouched PTs a month-and-a-half before your test date is pretty solid, in my opinion. As @"Alex Divine" mentioned, definitely familiarize yourself with some of the PTs 65 and up. I'd take 4-5 of them at least, with a few ideally left untouched in order to save in case of a retake, though I don't it would be a big deal to not have any left.
  
  In between PTs, definitely use old (as in previously used) and old (as in 1-35) for practice. You may get inflated scores, but the point is to learn the material and learn from your mistakes, many of which will be ones you didn't even make on your first go on previously used PTs. Speaking from experience, I wish I would have incorporated retakes into my studying much sooner.
  
  You're in a great spot, honestly. Even two, new PTs a week would leave you some left over by September, and you may very well not need a retake (let's hope for that!).
• Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  August 2016 27902 karma

  How close to your goal score are you? 15 fresh PTs is plenty, but whether or not you should be taking them depends on your performance relative to your goal, not the amount of tests left. If you’re scoring 10 points below your target score, you do not need to be PTing period. You need to use your previous PT performances to identify your weaknesses and focus on developing those skills. Once you feel like you’ve mastered all of that, only then should you start PTing again. If you’re scoring at about your target score though, 15 is plenty and you can take them.
• runiggyrun Alum Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  August 2016 2481 karma

  @"Cant Get Right" makes an excellent point - it all depends on how far you are from your target score. If you're already there or slightly above, keep PT'ing 2 a week and you won't run out of material. It's important to get into those 70's sooner rather than later, especially if you struggle with timing in LR - I found the 70's LR not necessarily more difficult in terms of the logic, but quite a bit more time consuming with longer, hairier stimuli. If you are close to your target scores on newish tests, I'd say you don't need to save all that much material for a retake - if you score substantially below your potential, you will know it's not lack of knowledge but a failure of executing under pressure - you can work on shoring that up with retakes.
  If you're not in the ballpark on pre-60's tests and you find that your scores drop even further once you move to the 70's, you'll need to be thinking long and hard about taking September at all, because you'll be almost guaranteed a re-take (and 7Sage is big on not wasting takes).
  
  As far as drilling, I wouldn't cannibalize fresh tests for drills - just drill retakes (or really old tests) with shorter time constraints. If you're only missing a couple in BR, you probably need to work on you timing/skipping strategy. It's probably not a matter of "retaining the stimulus" but rather of underconfidence picking your answer or not enough practice quickly eliminating wrong answers. Try to make yourself go 25 in 25 ( this includes skipping, so you don't actually have to answer 25 questions, just go over them), then take another 5-10 minutes (5 for retakes 10 for fresh) to go back over questions skipped/questions circled for review. This will make sure you don't miss any softballs because you ran out of time, and it would force you to pick your answer and move on - this can sharpen your "trap spotting" instincts quite nicely. And you'll have 10 minutes on a fresh test to attempt the hardest questions without worrying you won't finish the easy ones.