June 2014 Retakers Forum

[FlyingNorth]

Thinking PT today. Been drilling so far, but I think I might hit one PT a week so as to monitor progress, see where my weaknesses are etc

How many packets have you completed?

[jk148706]

Thinking PT today. Been drilling so far, but I think I might hit one PT a week so as to monitor progress, see where my weaknesses are etc

How many packets have you completed?

All of MBT and NA. Also have done some point and games.

[Learn_Live_Hope]

There is a school of thought that you don't want to wait until the last part of studying to introduce the newer PTs, as the style has definitely changed over the years. Personally I am doing late 40s, 60s, then 50s.

I did misread the general premise of your first comment, however

Hm...I guess, but I don't necessarily agree with it. If you take latest PT's first, and then drill etc., how are older tests able to asses where you are as you get closer to the test administration If such material will not be presented at official test. It seems like a false assessment.

[jk148706]

Just wrapped up PT59.

I HAVE seen this test before, but it was last September. Still, I might have benefitted from seeing the test previously (though I don't specifically remember the questions; in fact games and RC looked brand new to me).

Also, I took this PT as only four sections. I did not include an experimental section.

Needless to say, I don't particularly find this performance representative of my ability.

That said here's my breakdown.

LG: -1
LR1: -0
LR2: -1
RC: -2

179.

I lol'd when I saw the score, bc it simply reaffirms my belief that I should NOT be looking at PT score as the best indicator of how I will perform on test day. I got lucky going -2 on RC and -1 combined on LR. I blind reviewed and stuck with all the answers I had bc I thought they were the BEST answers, but I certainly wasn't more than, say 75% sure on many of them.

Anyway, I think I will stick to doing maybe one PT a week for the next few weeks, while primarily focusing on drilling.

Anyone else making progress today?

[Aristocat]

Good luck everyone! Checking in here

Failed hardcore in Feb (2013) and got a 155. I've been studying since December and I'm PT'ing (11 and counting so far) in the 162-165 range, although I would like to hit a 170+ to be a lock more or less at HLS.

Using/have used:
Manhattan RC/LR
Powerscore LG/LR
Cambridge complete LG (tests 1-70)
7-sage game reviews
PT's (one per week for now, simulating testing conditions)

We can do it!!

[rebexness]

There is a school of thought that you don't want to wait until the last part of studying to introduce the newer PTs, as the style has definitely changed over the years. Personally I am doing late 40s, 60s, then 50s.

I did misread the general premise of your first comment, however

Hm...I guess, but I don't necessarily agree with it. If you take latest PT's first, and then drill etc., how are older tests able to asses where you are as you get closer to the test administration If such material will not be presented at official test. It seems like a false assessment.

Many of us are well into and/or past the drilling phase.

Specifically, by the time I hit 60s, I will be drilling only those weaknesses that come up during exam. This is why I do 40s-60s-50s.

[FlyingNorth]

Just wrapped up PT59.

I HAVE seen this test before, but it was last September. Still, I might have benefitted from seeing the test previously (though I don't specifically remember the questions; in fact games and RC looked brand new to me).

Also, I took this PT as only four sections. I did not include an experimental section.

Needless to say, I don't particularly find this performance representative of my ability.

That said here's my breakdown.

LG: -1
LR1: -0
LR2: -1
RC: -2

179.

I lol'd when I saw the score, bc it simply reaffirms my belief that I should NOT be looking at PT score as the best indicator of how I will perform on test day. I got lucky going -2 on RC and -1 combined on LR. I blind reviewed and stuck with all the answers I had bc I thought they were the BEST answers, but I certainly wasn't more than, say 75% sure on many of them.

Anyway, I think I will stick to doing maybe one PT a week for the next few weeks, while primarily focusing on drilling.

Anyone else making progress today?

Nice job. Yeah reusing PT's is always a tough indicator of improvement, nonetheless that's a solid score.

[ZGr88n]

Just wrapped up PT59.

I HAVE seen this test before, but it was last September. Still, I might have benefitted from seeing the test previously (though I don't specifically remember the questions; in fact games and RC looked brand new to me).

Also, I took this PT as only four sections. I did not include an experimental section.

Needless to say, I don't particularly find this performance representative of my ability.

That said here's my breakdown.

LG: -1
LR1: -0
LR2: -1
RC: -2

179.

I lol'd when I saw the score, bc it simply reaffirms my belief that I should NOT be looking at PT score as the best indicator of how I will perform on test day. I got lucky going -2 on RC and -1 combined on LR. I blind reviewed and stuck with all the answers I had bc I thought they were the BEST answers, but I certainly wasn't more than, say 75% sure on many of them.

Anyway, I think I will stick to doing maybe one PT a week for the next few weeks, while primarily focusing on drilling.

Anyone else making progress today?

Solid score even for a retake. Congrats, and keep killing it.

[FlyingNorth]

Anyone spending their Friday drilling? Because I sure as shit am

[rebexness]

Anyone spending their Friday drilling? Because I sure as shit am

RC drilling.

/wrists.

[jk148706]

Anyone spending their Friday drilling? Because I sure as shit am

RC drilling.

/wrists.

How do u all go about drilling / reviewing RC??

[rebexness]

How do u all go about drilling / reviewing RC??

I either do full timed sections, or just multiple passages of one subject.
Some people swear by doing a stupidly high number of passages in a row to improve stamina.

[loomstate]

been doing 3 RC sections a week and reviewing the days in between. noticed improvement, I also feel much more comfortable

[ZGr88n]

Anyone spending their Friday drilling? Because I sure as shit am

Sadly I'm not, but I just got back from an ASD, so I'm pretty tuckered out.

[jk148706]

Anyone spending their Friday drilling? Because I sure as shit am

Sadly I'm not, but I just got back from an ASD, so I'm pretty tuckered out.

So u are retaking to maximize scholly $? Or are u sitting out a cycle? I'm interested in what June retakers are doing.

[ZGr88n]

Anyone spending their Friday drilling? Because I sure as shit am

Sadly I'm not, but I just got back from an ASD, so I'm pretty tuckered out.

So u are retaking to maximize scholly $? Or are u sitting out a cycle? I'm interested in what June retakers are doing.

I'm continuing this app cycle just like a normal (non-retaker) would. I'm just considering taking the June test to make sure that I don't leave anything on the table pretty much. At this point everything is still an option. For instance, if I get some really great offer that I can't refuse, I would likely quit planning on testing again in June. Otherwise, I'm going to retake in June and weigh my options based on my score (try to get off a waitlist with $, sit out a year, or just go to whatever school I decide to deposit at are all options). I just feel like there isn't anything that I could lose by retaking (except time).

[FlyingNorth]

I applied to a few schools this cycle but I'm planning on retaking June for next cycle.

[Learn_Live_Hope]

...

[jk148706]

Anyone spending their Friday drilling? Because I sure as shit am

Sadly I'm not, but I just got back from an ASD, so I'm pretty tuckered out.

So u are retaking to maximize scholly $? Or are u sitting out a cycle? I'm interested in what June retakers are doing.

I'm continuing this app cycle just like a normal (non-retaker) would. I'm just considering taking the June test to make sure that I don't leave anything on the table pretty much. At this point everything is still an option. For instance, if I get some really great offer that I can't refuse, I would likely quit planning on testing again in June. Otherwise, I'm going to retake in June and weigh my options based on my score (try to get off a waitlist with $, sit out a year, or just go to whatever school I decide to deposit at are all options). I just feel like there isn't anything that I could lose by retaking (except time).

I'm taking a similar route. I figure there is nothing to lose by taking one more time.

[jk148706]

Day off today. What's everyone else doing to study this weekend?

[ZGr88n]

Day off today. What's everyone else doing to study this weekend?

I am probably going to pound through 4 chapters of the trainer and drill.

[FlyingNorth]

Drilling all day again.

NA/SA and Unbalanced Grouping Games

[ZGr88n]

Just finished reviewing PT 53 and I don’t know what to think of the difference in my scores (what I bubbled vs. after the initial blind review stage).
Here’s a breakdown:
Actual Test:
Sect I (LR): -6 (19)
Sect II (LG): -3 (20)
Sect III (LR): -3 (22)
Sect IV (RC): -6 (21)
Overall: -18 (82)= 164

BR:
Sect I (LR): -0 (25)
Sect II (LG): -0 (23)
Sect III (LR): -1 (24)
Sect IV (RC): -2 (25)
Overall: -3 (97)= 179

Every question that I missed I had marked (for blind review) except for one RC question. This was the first test that I’ve taken since I tested in Oct. There was a few days in between my initial test and the BR stage. However, I just feel like that is a huge discrepancy between the two scores. Is anybody having similar experiences? Just about every one of the questions that I missed/had marked for BR (especially those non-RC) were easily fixed during BR, almost like they were silly senseless mistakes. Any thoughts on this? Also, this was my first time blind-reviewing, and I must say I like it.

[rebexness]

Are you doing actual blind review or are you correcting answers that you got wrong?

[ZGr88n]

Are you doing actual blind review or are you correcting answers that you got wrong?

I went through the ones I had circled (as in unsure or caught between two answers) and changed the majority of them, as stated above a lot seemed rather obvious whenever I read over them the second time during BR. Well if I screwed up BR then I guess that would explain the difference.