For those who took the same PTs 2+ times Forum

[TheLuckyOne]

I want to see not the improvment someone has made, but by how many scores students tend to improve just because they're already familiar with that particular test and have thouroughly reviewed it before.

For example, you've been studying for December test, took every PT up to 58. Failed. So come June/October you resume studying and start with say PT 50. What was the score difference between PT 58 taken 1 week before a failed test and PT 50 - 1st/2nd week you resumed studying (or the first few tests comparing to the last few)?

Thanks.

[blhblahblah]

What is this drivel?

[TheLuckyOne]

What is this drivel?

Ok.

Some retake PTs that we've taken some time before. The scores tend to be higher on a second attempt since this person is already familiar with that test. BUT, the score could be also higher because by the time that person takes that PT the second time, s/he has improved. So, I wanted to find out what is the score that most tend to get ONLY because they're already familiar with it, not because they've improved since the first attempt. That's why I was talking about the last PT taken right before the administration vs first PT taken a few months later, during the preparation for the next administration. Since these 2 should reflect the initial familiarity increase, not improvement made.

I'm not sure what's not clear, though.

[honestabe84]

I haven't really remember a whole lot. Some of the material seems a little familiar. I'm worried, however, that I may subconsciously remember some of the questions.

[blhblahblah]

It is difficult, if not impossible, to control for the factors your discuss (familiarty and true improvement) on re-takes.

I suppose if one took 1-58, did a full review of each, then, a week after doing 58, began in this order: 58, 1, 57, 2, 56, 3, etc., and noticed a significant discrepancy, one might be able to conclude that one of the factors played a greater role, but good luck finding participants.

[TheLuckyOne]

It is difficult, if not impossible, to control for the factors your discuss (familiarty and true improvement) on re-takes.

I suppose if one took 1-58, did a full review of each, then, a week after doing 58, began in this order: 58, 1, 57, 2, 56, 3, etc., and noticed a significant discrepancy, one might be able to conclude that one of the factors played a greater role, but good luck finding participants.

I'm not saying that those conditions are the only acceptable ones. My point is that if one resumed studying in half a year and started taking tests from the "10" book since these were the only ones this person has not taken yet and was improvement. So after a months or two of prep this person switched to new tests, it's likely that the score discrepancy is partially due to improvement in understanding of material, not because it's a retake. And at that point it's hard to say what is due to what.

I don't know what your issue is, but I've seen tons of students here who resumed studying with the test they've taken already and I know they had an increase in score ONLY because of familiarity. I just don't remember the exact difference.

[climbintolaw]

I have retaken practice tests. I tried to retake ones that were not as fresh in my mind but I definitely scored higher. I don't know how much higher though. The biggest advantage was on the games, of course, because I practiced the same games a lot. RC is definitely easier the second time around, but the questions may still be difficult. Retaking tests is worth it if your running thin on material or just to keep yourself in the flow on a low intensity day. The final score from these tests is not a reliable indicator of 'where you're at' overall though.

[honestabe84]

I ended up taking PTs twice not because I ran out of PTs, but because I ran out of recent tests. I figured that it would be better to retake newer tests than to just do older ones. I don't see that big of a difference. I may subtract a point or two from a test, but I'm pretty sure that I don't remember the test well enough to the point where my score is not a decent indication of my progress.

[TheLuckyOne]

Thank you, guys, for the input.
So few votes, though.
Looks like people do not retake PTs these days...