What are your strategies with regards to time?
I'm thinking about a few possibilities (don't know if it's worth adding at the last minute like this) from my experience with practicing.
LG: Try to do the 3 shortest games first (usually they are easier) than the hardest game, which has the most questions.
A lot of people advise doing the one with the most questions first, but because they are usually the toughest ones, if you perform poorly and take too much time you are screwed with the other 3 LGs.
I feel for me, I'm more comfortable going as fast as I can to leave me the most time to finish the tough one. That way, your performance on the tough one does not affect your performance on the other logic games.
I'm also poor at working under pressure, if I know I have little time to finish the remaining games I panic and it makes me worse. This happened during the PTs with the stained glass, which was the 2nd one. I had very little time to finish the last two LGs, which were easier. I think if I saved the stained glass one for last I'd at least be more comfortable.
READING
It seems in my experience taking practice tests, I ALWAYS take too long on the first passage, and then look at the time and I have to be very urgent on the remaining 3. Not sure what the best method to stop this from happening is, after all, I will ALWAYS have a "first" passage even if I start with the last one.
LOGICAL REASONING
Do parallel/parallel flaw last ALWAYS, unless you can tell that it's pretty easy.
Timing strategies Forum
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CalAlumni
- Posts: 204
- Joined: Fri May 11, 2012 11:58 am
Re: Timing strategies
LG: Hard to tell by just giving a cursory glance which game will be the hardest so I just do them in order. In hindsight I'd leave the stained glass one for last as well, but I don't think I would have been able to discern its difficulty beforehand.
For me, in LG, I have a habit of dicking around for a bit trying to do hypo's in my head on certain questions, which usually doesn't pan out and always end up doing the hypos by hand. I have to remember not to do this b/c it wastes precious time.
LR: I always leave the parallel reasoning questions that appear from 14 and on to the end, if not I end up wasting too much time and have to rush near the end. I also glance at the clock every 4 or so minutes to keep myself on track.
RC: Focusing 100% on content, structure, viewpoints, etc. is crucial while reading actively...often times I'll revert to reading passively for just a second and will have to re-read a sentence or two which slows me down. Also, screwing around on a single question in RC can have disastrous consequences when you get to the last passage and realize you have only 5 minutes left.
For me, in LG, I have a habit of dicking around for a bit trying to do hypo's in my head on certain questions, which usually doesn't pan out and always end up doing the hypos by hand. I have to remember not to do this b/c it wastes precious time.
LR: I always leave the parallel reasoning questions that appear from 14 and on to the end, if not I end up wasting too much time and have to rush near the end. I also glance at the clock every 4 or so minutes to keep myself on track.
RC: Focusing 100% on content, structure, viewpoints, etc. is crucial while reading actively...often times I'll revert to reading passively for just a second and will have to re-read a sentence or two which slows me down. Also, screwing around on a single question in RC can have disastrous consequences when you get to the last passage and realize you have only 5 minutes left.
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square_peg
- Posts: 57
- Joined: Thu Jun 14, 2012 3:40 pm
Re: Timing strategies
LG: I usually do these order, but I need to get smarter about identifying the more time-consuming ones. Relative ordering is usually easy, followed by numbered ordering, grouping, etc. In the future, I'd save the really bizarre, unfamiliar one for last, if there is one.
RC: I slowly read each passage for content (2-3 min), without making annotations. Then I work through the questions. I'm usually on pace after the first two passages, but get bogged down in the third. I sometimes only have 5 minutes left by the time I get to the last passage, but I still do well on the last one. If I miss a couple questions, it's usually on the third.
LR: I spend about 15 minutes on the first 15 questions, or one minute per question. The remaining 20 minutes for the last 10-11 questions. Parallel flaws last. I usually have 3-5 minutes to go back over the ones about which I was unsure.
RC: I slowly read each passage for content (2-3 min), without making annotations. Then I work through the questions. I'm usually on pace after the first two passages, but get bogged down in the third. I sometimes only have 5 minutes left by the time I get to the last passage, but I still do well on the last one. If I miss a couple questions, it's usually on the third.
LR: I spend about 15 minutes on the first 15 questions, or one minute per question. The remaining 20 minutes for the last 10-11 questions. Parallel flaws last. I usually have 3-5 minutes to go back over the ones about which I was unsure.
