ALWAYS Do MUCH Better on 2nd LR section in PT's - WHY?! Forum

[rubydandun]

Who else has experienced this? And why is this so? Not only do I do MUCH better on the 2nd LR, but I finish with 2 minutes left (vs. barely finishing in the 1st section) I've boiled it down to these possibilities:

1.) I'm more "warmed up" by the time I get to the 2nd LR, and the juices are flowing/the text is easier to process

2.) I'm so fatigued (esp if it's the 4th or 5th section) that I don't have the jittery "OMG is it B or C? C or B?" thing going on that wastes time in earlier sections, and just go with my gut.

3.) Coincidence - I've rule this out because this phenomenon has happened in around 7 straight PTs, each with dramatic differences between the first and 2nd LR (think -6 and -0, -5 and -1 etc).

My plan is to do 15 LR problems and a RC passage on gameday right before I walk in. Might risk fatigue but...clearly a warmup benefits me greatly

[JD2014]

I think being warmed up is huge. I did logic games in the cafeteria of a county college while everyone else waited in line, then walked in when the line died down. Of course, they read the directions to you verbatim, so your warm-up advantage will diminish. You'll also need to find a place to throw out whatever prep book (or photocopy of a prep book) you made before checking in.

One test prep stategy that worked for me was practicing test-taking from a cold start. I would get up in the morning and take one 35 minute section before going to work, another on my lunch break, and a third at the end of the day. The focus wasn't so much practicing those specific sections but in being able to immediately dive into a test at a scheduled time instead of after doing a warm-up section and sort of mentally bracing myself.

[seancris]

In some PTs I've noticed that there seem to be distinctively easy and hard LR sections, particularly in some of the earliest PTs (7-20 or so). My scores in those sections used to be something like 18-22, or 17-23 or something along those lines.

My most recent PTs have me scoring 24-23 and 23-22 and the like.

Not sure if this is due to my own improvement or a change in test content from earliest PTs to later ones.

[incompetentia]

The warm-up idea sounds like it should work for you, although you do want to test this out at least 2-3 times beforehand to see if it provides the results that you are looking for.

[boosk]

I have a question regarding this.

I think I def benefit from a warm-up, but how much time should I leave between my warm up and a PT in order to simulate gameday? how long will I be waiting on testday with no chance to warm up?

[incompetentia]

I have a question regarding this.

I think I def benefit from a warm-up, but how much time should I leave between my warm up and a PT in order to simulate gameday? how long will I be waiting on testday with no chance to warm up?

Depends on your testing center. I waited about an hour and 15 minutes, including filling out the information sheets and listening to instructions, and I think this was not out of the ordinary.

[CurbYourEnthusiasm]

I've noticed this trend as well. I'm almost positive the 2nd LR is just made easier, if that makes any sense to you. Almost everytime I take a test, I do much better on the 2nd LR. Not only that, but my timing is remarkably better. You can certainly make the case it's because of the 'warm up,' but I also noticed in the 2nd LR the stimulus seems to be less convoluted, which would lead to getting to the answer quicker.

[rubydandun]

I've noticed this trend as well. I'm almost positive the 2nd LR is just made easier, if that makes any sense to you. Almost everytime I take a test, I do much better on the 2nd LR. Not only that, but my timing is remarkably better. You can certainly make the case it's because of the 'warm up,' but I also noticed in the 2nd LR the stimulus seems to be less convoluted, which would lead to getting to the answer quicker.

Agree 100%. I took PT 53 today, finished a minute early -3 on LR1. On LR2...-1 with 6 minutes left WTF?

[lawyertobe1]

Try swapping the LR sections the next time you do a PT to see if the second one is really made easier or not.