When did you see your biggest improvement? Forum

[zephyr36]

This is for people who have already studied and taken the test.

Now that the Oct. test is a little over a month away, I am realizing that my scores are not quite where I want them to be. I'm pushing for 170+ (hopefully at least 172), and right now I'm averaging 168 on my practice tests. My biggest flaw is LR where I'll miss anywhere from -3 to -6 a section. I've done my best to target specific question types, but I feel like it comes down to missing key words and not necessarily missing the fundamentals explained in the LR bible.

Any chance I can significantly improve LR to -1 to -3? If it matters, my average RC and LG are around -3 for each.

[Knock]

This is for people who have already studied and taken the test.

Now that the Oct. test is a little over a month away, I am realizing that my scores are not quite where I want them to be. I'm pushing for 170+ (hopefully at least 172), and right now I'm averaging 168 on my practice tests. My biggest flaw is LR where I'll miss anywhere from -3 to -6 a section. I've done my best to target specific question types, but I feel like it comes down to missing key words and not necessarily missing the fundamentals explained in the LR bible.

Any chance I can significantly improve LR to -1 to -3? If it matters, my average RC and LG are around -3 for each.

Drill it a lot, work on your timing, I think you can get it down to a consistent -3/4 or less misses a section. That should push you over 170. It took a ton of PT's until I actually have been able to score consistently well on LR.

Look for the "trick" of each question. It's not really a trick per se but it's a lot of times key to answering the question.

Also, go fast on the first 15 question so you have lots of time and don't have to rush the last 10.

[zephyr36]

Sounds good. My timing on LR is pretty good. I can consistently get the first fifteen in around fifteen minutes. I just took Prep test 45 and scored a 167, so I'm hoping to see a good bump in the next few weeks as I start taking the more recent tests.

[Knock]

Sounds good. My timing on LR is pretty good. I can consistently get the first fifteen in around fifteen minutes. I just took Prep test 45 and scored a 167, so I'm hoping to see a good bump in the next few weeks as I start taking the more recent tests.

I am right with ya. Took Pt 46 today. Thought it had hard LR sections actually, so see how you do.

That's great you sound like you have your timing down. You just got to drill so it becomes automatic. One thing I wish I would have done too, looking back on it, is avoid taking PT's back to back to let my brain digest the information.

Also review your PT's! are you reviewing them and if so what is your reviewing system?

Any particular question type your missing a lot? I used to have a lot of trouble with assumption questions, until I found out something that wasn't in the PS LR Bible, that there 2 types of assumption questions: necessary and sufficient assumption questions. I only miss assumption here and there now. I did 3 LR sections today and I only missed 1 question, and it was assumption. Although it was a pretty tough one.

[zephyr36]

Sounds good. My timing on LR is pretty good. I can consistently get the first fifteen in around fifteen minutes. I just took Prep test 45 and scored a 167, so I'm hoping to see a good bump in the next few weeks as I start taking the more recent tests.

I am right with ya. Took Pt 46 today. Thought it had hard LR sections actually, so see how you do.

That's great you sound like you have your timing down. You just got to drill so it becomes automatic. One thing I wish I would have done too, looking back on it, is avoid taking PT's back to back to let my brain digest the information.

Also review your PT's! are you reviewing them and if so what is your reviewing system?

Any particular question type your missing a lot? I used to have a lot of trouble with assumption questions, until I found out something that wasn't in the PS LR Bible, that there 2 types of assumption questions: necessary and sufficient assumption questions. I only miss assumption here and there now. I did 3 LR sections today and I only missed 1 question, and it was assumption. Although it was a pretty tough one.

I would say that Must be True and Parallel Reasoning give me the most trouble. I haven't been drilling though, just taking more sections. I have access to the Kaplan explanations for all of the tests, so I've been reading that as review.

[Knock]

Sounds good. My timing on LR is pretty good. I can consistently get the first fifteen in around fifteen minutes. I just took Prep test 45 and scored a 167, so I'm hoping to see a good bump in the next few weeks as I start taking the more recent tests.

I am right with ya. Took Pt 46 today. Thought it had hard LR sections actually, so see how you do.

That's great you sound like you have your timing down. You just got to drill so it becomes automatic. One thing I wish I would have done too, looking back on it, is avoid taking PT's back to back to let my brain digest the information.

Also review your PT's! are you reviewing them and if so what is your reviewing system?

Any particular question type your missing a lot? I used to have a lot of trouble with assumption questions, until I found out something that wasn't in the PS LR Bible, that there 2 types of assumption questions: necessary and sufficient assumption questions. I only miss assumption here and there now. I did 3 LR sections today and I only missed 1 question, and it was assumption. Although it was a pretty tough one.

I would say that Must be True and Parallel Reasoning give me the most trouble. I haven't been drilling though, just taking more sections. I have access to the Kaplan explanations for all of the tests, so I've been reading that as review.

That's good, but the act of writing/typing it out is really, really helpful. I would pretty much say it is mandatory. Every single one of your misses (RC this is less important imo but definitely for LR and LG), write down the stimulus, question stem, why the answer choice you put was wrong, and why the credited response was credited. This should help you a lot.

Also, must be true are pretty straightforward, you should be able to improve on them. Just look for what absolutely, has to be true according to the presmises and conclusion of the argument. Throw away all outside information, and any answer choices that could be true, or can't be true. Pretend the world doesn't exist beyond the stimulus, and only use the information from in it.

Parallel reasoning can be tricky at times. Try and match the conclusions to knock out a answer choice is true. If the stimulus is very strong, like "all", answer choice conclusions that are "some" "most" etc. are out. You should be able to knock out at least a couple, and that should make it more manageable and less time consuming. Reviewing and writing out the mechanics of the argument is especially helpful for parallel reasoning questions, in my opinion.

[Nulli Secundus]

Ok the great cheat for all must be true questions: The credited answer is "E".

Kidding but just look for the least absolute thing, "At least some of the time" "For at least some people" etc and you ll be golden

[Knock]

Ok the great cheat for all must be true questions: The credited answer is "E".

Kidding but just look for the least absolute thing, "At least some of the time" "For at least some people" etc and you ll be golden

^ That's good advice. Think about it as you're a publicist and on your tip toes or something. You want to say only what can be completely supported by the facts, and has to be 100% true no matter what.

[zephyr36]

I appreciate all the advice. I have been a bit complacent about writing/typing out wrong answers, but I definitely think that I will need to start doing that. Even if it only gives me a 2 point bump it will be well worth it.

[zephyr36]

I just wanted to see if my original question could be answered: when did everyone experience their biggest bump in scores? I'm still stuck around 167/168 and I'm really shooting for a 170+. Does the biggest improvement come in taking PTs every other day (which I've just begun) or when reading the books/doing individual sections?

[St.Remy]

I just wanted to see if my original question could be answered: when did everyone experience their biggest bump in scores? I'm still stuck around 167/168 and I'm really shooting for a 170+. Does the biggest improvement come in taking PTs every other day (which I've just begun) or when reading the books/doing individual sections?

My biggest improvement happened during the first few weeks of prep, when I really dove into the test and started prepping seriously.

[zephyr36]

I just wanted to see if my original question could be answered: when did everyone experience their biggest bump in scores? I'm still stuck around 167/168 and I'm really shooting for a 170+. Does the biggest improvement come in taking PTs every other day (which I've just begun) or when reading the books/doing individual sections?

My biggest improvement happened during the first few weeks of prep, when I really dove into the test and started prepping seriously.

I saw a pretty big improvement then too. I've just hit the high 160s plateau and I'm trying to see if most people end up overcoming that.

[odoylerules]

I was plateauing in the high 160's, got a 170 on an proctored Kaplan exam. Didn't do nearly as well on the June test as I'd wanted, so I picked up the bibles, and now I'm averaging a 172.

I think the most important thing is minimizing careless mistakes on the LR. Although every now and then I'll get a very tricky question that I get stuck on, most of the questions I get wrong are because I didn't read carefully, or fell for a "shell game" trick. The only solution is to take lots of tests, and to review them carefully, and try to fully understand each problem you got wrong. Then understand your mental path that led to the wrong answer, and then fix it. Also, while of course you want to finish easier problems quickly, I found that going slowly actually improved my scores significantly