Can anyone help me create a study plan Forum

[chalhou1]

158 in october

RC- 9
LR- 18
LG-4

Going to start after I finish my personal statement. Should I just take practice tests or read the bibles? Will the bibles help if I already took a testmasters class?

[northwood]

get the LRB and read it cover to cover. Purchase 15 prep tests. Tear 5 apart and drill each question type. Then do timed sections ( use the lg and rc sections to keep your skills).

then use the last 10 prep tests for practice

EDIT: adjust number of tests accordingly.. do 2 a week until december, and use the rest for timed section work and drills

go drills( timed section work), prep test, review, drills ( section work 2) prep test ( review) off
rinse and repeat

[chalhou1]

do you think that is manageable for the december test?

[KevinP]

^
What is your goal score?

[chalhou1]

I just want to get into Ohio State, Indiana or Minnesota. So a 161-163. I think that's manageable

[northwood]

its manageable. you will have to give up your social life until the test, and spend every miute not in class, or dong class work prepping. If you can do that, then perhaps. How far off from your pt average were you? If you scored at the high range of your pt, then maybe you can squeeze a point or 2 by december. If you havent hit the wall, or were below your average, then who knows how high you will score ( most likely not 170 +) by then

[KevinP]

I just want to get into Ohio State, Indiana or Minnesota. So a 161-163. I think that's manageable

Yeah, this is definitely manageable. Foremost, you need to realize you have a little over a month to prepare so you have to work on the sections which will produce the most results.

For LR: Read the LRB very carefully and make sure you understand every word. And then read it 2 more times. Take PTs completely untimed and take as long as 1 hour on one question. If you still can't get the answer, take a break and come back to it later. Personally, I found writing them out and writing out all the answers absolutely beneficial. Your -18 in LR implies that you are suffering from accuracy. After you get LR down to -8 or so then start taking PTs timed and work on timing.
Note: because of the time constraint and the difference on newer tests, only use PTS 40+.

For LG: You can definitely get LG to a -0/-1 by the test date. Read the LGB bible and do all LG sections from every possible PT you can get your hands on. The older games are harder and will definitely help you master this section.

For RC: For this section, read TLS RC guides and look for strategies and experiment with them. Make sure to fully review the answers you got wrong and try to look for general patterns on RC. I REALLY REALLY found it helpful to write out the ENTIRE passage and all the questions, look up any vocabulary words I was unsure of, and make sure I understood why the correct answer was correct and the wrong answers were wrong.

I understand my advice is a bit abstract in one sense and specific in another so I can't guarantee it will work for you especially since I also make a lot of assumptions. I would definitely browse TLS guides and look for any methods you can use to improve your PT score. You should be PTing at 165-166 as a 3-point drop on the real exam is common. Best of luck to you.