hovering around 166

Comments

• skaplan9190 Alum Member

  September 2016 137 karma

  Forgot to mention that my BR I'm getting max -1 total so usually 179/180
• nessa.k13.0 Inactive ⭐

  September 2016 4141 karma

  Have you used analytics to see what question types you miss the most? I had a hard time getting to 170+ in my PTs and I got over it by drilling on every q type that I got wrong to make sure I wasn't missing any of the mechanics on the difficult questions. When I went back to taking entire PTs my performance was much better. It also helps to give yourself a time less than 35 minutes when practicing questions (like 25) because when you go back to taking fully timed tests you have more time to go back to those questions you were uncertain about. For RC what helped me was reading more dense articles on the subjects that I frequently missed questions (examples: The Economist, The New Republic, American Scientific, The Journal of American History). I hope that helps!
• skaplan9190 Alum Member

  September 2016 137 karma

  Thanks @nessa.k13.0 I'll give those a shot. I have checked the analytics but it seems my weak areas are pretty spread apart and vary pretty significantly from test to test, but maybe that just means I need to do some more question-specific drills in general to solidify my process.
• 1 Like

  Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  September 2016 edited September 2016 27901 karma

  Your only hope is in eliminating your timing issues. With that BR score you need to fly through LR. 25 in 25 at least. You really don't have time to get comfortable with a new pacing strategy, but it's all you can even attempt at this point. Go through LR with so much confidence you border on recklessness. If you've only been PTing for three weeks, you're probably going to make some errors that you could have avoided with more exposure to PTs, so you just have to see if the trade off is worth it.
  
  At this point though, I generally don't think there's really anything anyone can do to improve their score. Time's up. Especially breaking through the mid 160's plateau into the 170's. That takes months, even a year or more, not weeks; and even then there's a lot of really smart, driven people that fall short. Try out the accelerated pacing strategy and maybe things will click. That's all I know to even try at this point, and it's a big risk.
• 3 Likes

  stepharizona Alum Member

  September 2016 3197 karma

  @"Cant Get Right" said:
  At this point though, I generally don't think there's really anything anyone can do to improve their score. Time's up.
  

  I would disagree, especially if timing is an issue. There is still 14 days to work on full preptests and a timing strategy. I've seen too many 7Sagers (and others) fix timing in the last 14 days and gain 2-6 points to say there is nothing can happen now. You said you have a hard time skipping, you just need to realize you are costing yourself points by staying with a bad question. Really focus on that.
  
  Check the problems you have missed for themes (is there a certain flaw you fall prey to?)
  
  Will you for sure improve the 4 points you need? No, no one can guarantee that, but also don't think there isn't anything you can do. Add in 5th sections tests, do the best you can to nail down your timing. Do not go overboard but stay focused. Time is up in 14 days.
• Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  September 2016 27901 karma

  Yeah, it's definitely not impossible, it would just be atypical. Most people are about where they're going to be. The timing issue definitely provides you with an opening, I just worry this close to time.
• midna_twili Free Trial Member

  September 2016 56 karma

  @stepharizona said:
  you just need to realize you are costing yourself points by staying with a bad question. Really focus on that.
  

  This is very true, especially for LR. If you skip correctly you should get through the whole section well and have time to look at the trickier questions again. The sections are almost always designed to penalize people who do not skip the 2+ minute questions properly.
  
  And for timing, work on going through the easier questions quickly and don't waste time to verify your answers if you prephrase well. Timing issues usually mean you are either too slow on the easy questions or that you fail to not get bogged down in the difficult ones.
• skaplan9190 Alum Member

  September 2016 137 karma

  @"Cant Get Right" @stepharizona and @midna_twili Thanks for all the input. I think those are solid suggestions on the timing strategies and trying to figure out where my weakest areas are. I imagine, just as for everyone else, it's about finding and then sticking with and a strategy and I think I tend to skip around trying to figure out which ones work without staying consistently with any particular one, which at this point isn't helping. I also think I do tend to spend more time than I need on the easier ones checking to make sure the answers I didn't pick are for sure out. I guess it's a confidence thing perhaps. I will definitely put all these great suggestions to practice this week while doing my remaining PTs and BR. Again, thank you!
• 3 Likes

  skaplan9190 Alum Member

  September 2016 137 karma

  Quick update - took PT 74 this morning after drilling on pacing the last couple of days and brought my score up to a 168. Hopefully can keep that up! Thanks again for all the encouragement and suggestions. Happy studys!