The Official December 2014 Study Group Forum

[The Avatar]

Haha thanks. Anyone else have incredible trouble with this PT? The worst part is that it felt totally fine during the fact - especially LR2. It wasn't until grading that I realized that I pissed the bed. LG was ridiculously hard too, especially G4. Ugh, this isn't good.

I wish I had been ready to take it in June rather than Sept. I would take a pattern game any day over the difficult LR in PT 73. This test was very deceptive in that people predicted a curve as less as -10 and were shocked when they actually got back their scores. I only missed 3 in LG though, 2 in the third game (15, 16) I believe, rated difficulty 5 on 7sage and a rule substitution question. If you are strong in LG and do not panic when seeing how long the games are taking you, there is no reason that you should not have still done well. RC was difficult and LR even more so.

[dasani13]

about to start 71

[santoki]

i feel as if there should be a TLS phone app...itd be a hit

[zxbn579]

i feel as if there should be a TLS phone app...itd be a hit

Yeah I'd be on da line 24/7

[pta]

Post removed...

[scandk]

Crap I was gonna take 72 today and 73 on thursday as my last test, but I think, based on what people are saying, I'll take 73 today, and 72 on thursday. I don't want to walk in to the test with shattered confidence. But I still wanna see dat deceptive RC.

[IsThisForReal]

Which one would you recommend during the 15 minute break?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001Z ... UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006W5 ... UTF8&psc=1

I think you're overthinking this.

[nlee10]

Which one would you recommend during the 15 minute break?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001Z ... UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006W5 ... UTF8&psc=1

I think you're overthinking this.

Cliff bar

ETA: In my response, the cliff bar has a bit more calories (especially some sugar) which will hopefully last you for the last 2 sections + writing. If you are super sensitive to sugar, then I'd reconsider. But a little sugar rush usually does it for me.

[santoki]

Which one would you recommend during the 15 minute break?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001Z ... UTF8&psc=1

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006W5 ... UTF8&psc=1

all im bringing is a handful of almonds in a ziploc and maybe a piece of beef jerky

[Ron (PowerScore)]

Can anybody here help me out with PT 70, RC #5? I don't get how B can be the right answer for 5, when it says right there in the passage that CJD is inevitably fatal in the absence of any effective therapy. How are we to assume that there is no effective therapy?

Answer choice (B) is correct for the same reason that (E) is incorrect. Scientists don't fully understand how the pathogens reproduce. Without that understanding, it is reasonable to conclude that the author believes there is currently no effective therapy for "preventing the cascade process by which affected prions reproduce themselves," which is what the authors says contributes to CJD being inevitably fatal.

Hope that helps.

Ron

[Ron (PowerScore)]

Haha thanks. Anyone else have incredible trouble with this PT? The worst part is that it felt totally fine during the fact - especially LR2. It wasn't until grading that I realized that I pissed the bed. LG was ridiculously hard too, especially G4. Ugh, this isn't good.

I wish I had been ready to take it in June rather than Sept. I would take a pattern game any day over the difficult LR in PT 73. This test was very deceptive in that people predicted a curve as less as -10 and were shocked when they actually got back their scores. I only missed 3 in LG though, 2 in the third game (15, 16) I believe, rated difficulty 5 on 7sage and a rule substitution question. If you are strong in LG and do not panic when seeing how long the games are taking you, there is no reason that you should not have still done well. RC was difficult and LR even more so.

I just finished working through all of the LR2 questions from September. Happy to help if people have questions.

Ron

[jw316]

Today and 2 more days/3 if you count Friday. I haven't been able to get to as many PTs as I would have liked to and really focusing on sections to get my timing and pacing down. Taking PT 59 in a minute but what are the absolute MUST take PTs before Saturday? Even if I have to break them up into sections I want to make sure I use these last few days wisely.

[Rigo]

[GreenTee]

Finished up 73 this morning with LG and LR2. I went -2 on LG because I derped and messed up an inference on game 3. Up from -4 in September, but it should have been -0.

LR2 is definitely a tough section overall, but I think it's mostly because it's 26 questions and all of the hard/time consuming questions are clustered in the beginning. I went -4 on test day, with all my misses in the last 5 questions, when I was rushing to finish. Today I went -1. Missed Q21 (parallel) because I was working quickly and misread the stim.

Pretty happy with my performance overall. I managed to pick up 10 points on the retake, from a raw score of 83 in Sept to a raw score of 93 this time. I know it's not the same as taking it as a full PT, but because this test is such a WTF-train, I'll allow myself to be happy about this.

Yesterday: RC -4, LR -1
Today: LG -2, LR -1

[santoki]

Today and 2 more days/3 if you count Friday. I haven't been able to get to as many PTs as I would have liked to and really focusing on sections to get my timing and pacing down. Taking PT 59 in a minute but what are the absolute MUST take PTs before Saturday? Even if I have to break them up into sections I want to make sure I use these last few days wisely.

if youre all in then id say the most recent ones, just so you can see any "trends" and familiarize yourself with the "new age" of the seventies.

[santoki]

Finished up 73 this morning with LG and LR2. I went -2 on LG because I derped and messed up an inference on game 3. Up from -4 in September, but it should have been -0.

LR2 is definitely a tough section overall, but I think it's mostly because it's 26 questions and all of the hard/time consuming questions are clustered in the beginning. I went -4 on test day, with all my misses in the last 5 questions, when I was rushing to finish. Today I went -1. Missed Q21 (parallel) because I was working quickly and misread the stim.

Pretty happy with my performance overall. I managed to pick up 10 points on the retake, from a raw score of 83 in Sept to a raw score of 93 this time. I know it's not the same as taking it as a full PT, but because this test is such a WTF-train, I'll allow myself to be happy about this.

Yesterday: RC -4, LR -1
Today: LG -2, LR -1

id be happy with a -8 on test day

LR2 i got 11, 12, 13, and 14 wrong. as i was grading i was about to flip some poops

[koala-fy]

Finished up 73 this morning with LG and LR2. I went -2 on LG because I derped and messed up an inference on game 3. Up from -4 in September, but it should have been -0.

LR2 is definitely a tough section overall, but I think it's mostly because it's 26 questions and all of the hard/time consuming questions are clustered in the beginning. I went -4 on test day, with all my misses in the last 5 questions, when I was rushing to finish. Today I went -1. Missed Q21 (parallel) because I was working quickly and misread the stim.

Pretty happy with my performance overall. I managed to pick up 10 points on the retake, from a raw score of 83 in Sept to a raw score of 93 this time. I know it's not the same as taking it as a full PT, but because this test is such a WTF-train, I'll allow myself to be happy about this.

Yesterday: RC -4, LR -1
Today: LG -2, LR -1

Congrats GT! That's so awesome. I'm especially impressed by your LR2 score. I somehow messed up ones that were so obvious when I just looked at them again.

PT73 really sucked. Are we expecting the tricky LR to continue?

[GreenTee]

LR2 i got 11, 12, 13, and 14 wrong. as i was grading i was about to flip some poops

Were you pushing for 15 in 15? That's probably what did you in. As off-putting as it was to do this, 73 LR2 was a 15 in 20 kind of section. I don't think we've ever seen a section like that before, where the last half goes way faster than the first. It caused me to freak out on test day, but I was expecting it this time, which is probably why I didn't choke.

The lesson I'm taking away from this: Take the time to answer time consuming questions, even if they're in the beginning of the section. If you're not at 15 in 15, the section was probably designed that way.

[santoki]

LR2 i got 11, 12, 13, and 14 wrong. as i was grading i was about to flip some poops

Were you pushing for 15 in 15? That's probably what did you in. As off-putting as it was to do this, 73 LR2 was a 15 in 20 kind of section. I don't think we've ever seen a section like that before, where the last half goes way faster than the first. It caused me to freak out on test day, but I was expecting it this time, which is probably why I didn't choke.

The lesson I'm taking away from this: Take the time to answer time consuming questions, even if they're in the beginning of the section. If you're not at 15 in 15, the section was probably designed that way.

yeah thats the biggest takeaway i got from it. when i get into 15-in-17 territory i start rushing a bit without even realizing it. its a precondition that needs to go- patience is key!

[GreenTee]

Congrats GT! That's so awesome. I'm especially impressed by your LR2 score. I somehow messed up ones that were so obvious when I just looked at them again.

PT73 really sucked. Are we expecting the tricky LR to continue?

Thanks Koala! The weird thing is that there really weren't any killer questions in LR2. I think what threw everybody off in this section was the timing irregularity I was describing above. LSAC did a really cruel thing. They gave us a 26 question LR section with the hardest questions clustered in the beginning. When I see a 26 question LR section, I instinctively want to rush through the first few pages to make time for that extra question at the end. If you tried to do that on this section, it killed you.

But this is absolutely a trend in 70s! Everyone needs to watch out for this on test day. 72 LR2, for example, had the guppy strengthen question and the auto accident weaken question (disguised as a flaw question) in #8 and #10, respectively. Neither of those questions were absolute killers, but if you were rushing, you'd definitely fuck them up. So keep your eyes out for tricky questions early in the section, and don't be afraid to spend time on them.

[unodostres]

69 today. Great number. Positive thoughts, positive energy.

[santoki]

69 today. Great number. Positive thoughts, positive energy.

180 incoming

[tommypickles]

.

[GreenTee]

62 - 170
63 - 170
65 - 170
66 - 170
67 - 169
69 - 170

I then got a score of 166 on PT 70 last Thursday I had really bad anxiety afterwards and took a day off. I then tried to remain as calm as I possibly could be when I took PT 71 yesterday, and made a freaking 176! So I have no idea if these two tests were flukes because they are such extremes of each other. I know it is far out of reach but do you think I can potentially reach at least 172/173 on test day? This was my first time breaking 170. I feel like I can do it again the two 166 tests are making me feel trippy

That's some crazy consistency right there. I was really consistent with scores like that before Sept, but clustered around 171, with a few outliers slightly higher and slightly lower. Honestly -- and of course I don't want to freak you out -- you're much more likely to score below your PT average than above it. I'm sure you know this, as a retaker.

I experienced the infamous five point test day drop in Sept. Really consistent 171 PT average --> 166.

Do everything you can to stay focused and calm on test day. That's really all anyone can tell you. Best of luck!

[The Avatar]

Honestly I'm much less stressed and more relaxed than before, not because it is my retake but more so that I am confident of doing better than how I'd performed on PT 73. LSAC seems to have screwed over a lot of us who are taking the test this year, compared to previously years because I find the 60's much easier. Even December 2013 with a -14 curve was easier.