Memory Method/How to approach questions

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• 1 Like

  BenjaminSF Alum Member Inactive ⭐

  February 2017 edited February 2017 457 karma

  After finishing the course, I found myself in a similar situation: do I save time by finding the answer I like, or do I read all the ACs just in case? I initially settled on reading all of the ACs.

  In the beginning phase of my PTs, this was extremely beneficial, as I often found myself attracted to easy confidence ACs, missing the more subtle but correct AC. This meant that my scores were higher than if I was not regularly reading all of the ACs. There were still some questions where my confidence in AC A/B/C was so strong that I just moved on, trusting that there was no way another AC could be more correct.

  As I got closer to my test date, I found that I was wanting to reduce my overall time needs. Having chatted with one of the Sages, he suggested that I try confidence drills, where I moved on from any question the moment I felt I had the right choice. It was very uncomfortable for me to trust in my instinct without checking the other ACs. Obviously, this did lead to some additional errors, but it also meant I was finishing every question in a section with over 10 minutes left. I had time to go back and check the questions that I didn't feel as confident in, and it left a ton of breathing room for those tough curve-breaker questions.

  My first confidence drills definitely had more wrong ACs, but as I became comfortable with skipping ACs at my discretion, I was able to find a happy middle ground where I was OK with taking a risk. For me, I avoided taking risks entirely, so I never built an accurate model of how consistently I could take a risk and also get a question right. Once I had tried both no skipping and all skipping, I learned to balance their use based on several factors of a given sections. Try doing this drill- take an old LR and complete it while choosing the first AC that you feel is correct. It can help you to get an idea of how safe skipping ACs will be for you.

  I think LR strategy is different for everyone, but for me, I look to the following factors to decide whether or not to skip ACs:

  1. How am I doing on time for this section? (If you are putting 5 mins into a question, then I'm guessing you would not have time to read every AC in the section.)

  2. Will I have time to come back to this question if I need to?

  3. Do I fully understand the question in its entirety?

  4. Do I need to re-read the stimulus?

  5. Does an AC match a prediction I had while reading the stimulus?

  6. How long are the ACs?

  In the end, skipping ACs is more of an art than a science, and it is something that I do based on intuition. To build that intuition, I practiced both forms until I had established strong confidence in when and how to implement them in different circumstances.
• TexAgAaron Alum Member

  February 2017 1723 karma

  Thanks @BenjaminSF, I'm just beginning this in the RC so I will definitely try that out. I just felt I was wasting precious time reading through other choices when I was pretty sure I had the right one (especially on the longer questions w/ long AC's). I'll give it a shot!
• 1 Like

  BenjaminSF Alum Member Inactive ⭐

  February 2017 457 karma

  @akeegs92 I apologize, I misinterpreted what your times meant and totally went toward LR!

  That being said, confidence drills can definitely be applied to RC.
• TexAgAaron Alum Member

  February 2017 1723 karma

  @BenjaminSF No you're fine! I can totally see where that applies to RC as well! I appreciate your help!
• Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  February 2017 27900 karma

  @akeegs92 said:
  So I am currently working on incorporating the memory method into RC and have had mixed results. I'm losing a lot of time on the questions portion. When y'all go through the AC's, once you find the correct one do you then skip the rest of the AC's or read the rest just in case?

  If you're losing time on the questions by adopting the memory method, that doesn't sound right. The memory method should accelerate you through the questions, not slow you down. It's all very much related to what @BenjaminSF was saying about confidence. You've got to approach the answers with confidence or you'll definitely run out of time from second guessing yourself. Trust your reading and retention and keep moving.
• TexAgAaron Alum Member

  February 2017 1723 karma

  @"Cant Get Right" I definitely see what you mean. I guess something clicked now because I did some of the problem sets doing just normal timing and I'm mostly under 8 mins (typically 6-7 min range) unless its a harder passage with the massive problem sets; I was at 9+ before.

  I'm only missing 1-3 and usually its a dumb mistake where I should have slowed down a bit on the question. I used the paragraph one line label along with incorporating underlining and circling key words which seemed to help a lot. Its only taking me about 3-3.5 mins on the passage now.

  I guess it helped haha. I definitely will keep brushing up on it though.
• 1 Like

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

  February 2017 27900 karma

  Those are great times actually. My target passage time is 4 minutes and I'm always happy if I come in under that. By finishing the passage in under 4, you're in great position going into the questions. Sounds like things are starting to come together, so keep at it and build consistency.
• 1 Like

  TexAgAaron Alum Member

  February 2017 1723 karma

  Thanks @"Cant Get Right". I think the adding the underling in helped me focus better and retain on top of the 1-line references for the paragraphs. I appreciate the help!