Starting LR towards end of section Forum

[nothingtosee]

I'm still working through the LRB (about 3/4 through), have RC on lock, and lots of work to do on LGs.

But one thing I'm noticing about my LR sections is that about half of my misses are coming from question 19+. I'm going to try a few tests where I start at q. 19-25, then do 1-18. I'm aiming for 180 (why aim for anything else?[last two PTs are 171 and 170, I have done a total of 5 PTs]). Is there anyone who uses/has tried this strategy?

Results?

[TheMostDangerousLG]

I skip the "third fold" of Qs and do Qs 19-26 before 15-19. I finish with at least five minutes left. Worth trying, but to be honest, if you aren't far into LR studying, it's not even relevant at this point. Make sure you have the technique and info down, and then worry about timing.

[Ixiion]

As long as you don't misbubble, I don't see a problem with that! Honestly that's the ONLY reason I don't do it -- because I *know* I'll F it up and misbubble if I don't start at 1, lol. So give it a shot.

[Otunga]

Some sort of strategy of doing the more difficult questions first may be beneficial at first. But I'm thinking that once one becomes a LR master, that doing the more difficult questions first is unnecessary. Then again, studying for this test is very idiosyncratic, so who knows.

[Trajectory]

Ive been thinking about this for awhile because I can go -3 on LR sections and all 3 mistakes come from 18-25. Its very frustrating. I always try to remind myself before the test to pay extra close attention to details and such around question 18 and up. But always fail to remember when the time comes. My misses vary, no specific question...literally just 18-25. Those questions dont seem different to me than say 13-17. The only thing I cant think of is that by then I dont have as much time so I feel the pressure to move even quicker and I guess accuracy fails me.

[TheMostDangerousLG]

As long as you don't misbubble, I don't see a problem with that! Honestly that's the ONLY reason I don't do it -- because I *know* I'll F it up and misbubble if I don't start at 1, lol. So give it a shot.

Good point. I recommend bubbling at the end of the section.

[mindarmed]

This is definitely a credited strategy.

[Humbert Humbert]

Manhattan's strategy (which I found to work very well) is to do 1-18/19/20 in regular order, and then go from 25/26 backward to 20. The idea behind it is that the last two or three problems (23-25ish) are typically noticeably easier than 18-22(ish), and therefore you are better off making sure you get to the easier problems and get those points first, and then move to the harder questions/points last.

So it looks like:

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,26,25,24,23,22,21,20,19,18

By the time I took the test, I would have about 15 minutes left for the final 5-6 problems, and about 10 minutes for the final 2 or 3.

[Clyde Frog]

Manhattan's strategy (which I found to work very well) is to do 1-18/19/20 in regular order, and then go from 25/26 backward to 20. The idea behind it is that the last two or three problems (23-25ish) are typically noticeably easier than 18-22(ish), and therefore you are better off making sure you get to the easier problems and get those points first, and then move to the harder questions/points last.

So it looks like:

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,26,25,24,23,22,21,20,19,18

By the time I took the test, I would have about 15 minutes left for the final 5-6 problems, and about 10 minutes for the final 2 or 3.

That's a good idea

[nothingtosee]

Is it true that the last two are a bit easier?

[agglomeration]

Manhattan's strategy (which I found to work very well) is to do 1-18/19/20 in regular order, and then go from 25/26 backward to 20. The idea behind it is that the last two or three problems (23-25ish) are typically noticeably easier than 18-22(ish), and therefore you are better off making sure you get to the easier problems and get those points first, and then move to the harder questions/points last.

So it looks like:

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,26,25,24,23,22,21,20,19,18

By the time I took the test, I would have about 15 minutes left for the final 5-6 problems, and about 10 minutes for the final 2 or 3.

I read the Manhattan LR book and didn't see anything about this in it. Did i completely miss it? Could you direct me to where you found it. BTW i have the ebook version.

[Pneumonia]

Is it true that the last two are a bit easier?

usually, at least in my opinion. i do the same strategy: working backwards from 26 after completing the third fold.

[Clyde Frog]

Is it true that the last two are a bit easier?

usually, at least in my opinion. i do the same strategy: working backwards from 26 after completing the third fold.

Yes, but let's say that there are only 25 questions, then what do we do? Do we still bubble 26 or not? What if there are only 24 question?!? This is too much pressure for me.

[jingosaur]

I've tried every crazy LR strategy when it comes to the order of reading the questions. I ended up just going straight through 1 to 25/26. If time is an issue, I definitely feel like it's best to get the first 12 done first because they are the easiest questions and generally take less time to do.

One strategy that kind of worked for me was to skip the longest questions after question 12. Normally, between 1 and 3 questions are super long and take about 3 minutes to do (think parallel reasoning, apply the principle, etc.). They normally appear between questions 17 and 22. If you skip over only those and finish and then go back, you should have plenty of time and mental capacity to get all of the other questions at the end of the section correct. If you have time trouble on the remaining long questions, read the answer choices from E on up because they normally bury the answer at the bottom of the answer choices so that you have to read through them all.

[Humbert Humbert]

Manhattan's strategy (which I found to work very well) is to do 1-18/19/20 in regular order, and then go from 25/26 backward to 20. The idea behind it is that the last two or three problems (23-25ish) are typically noticeably easier than 18-22(ish), and therefore you are better off making sure you get to the easier problems and get those points first, and then move to the harder questions/points last.

So it looks like:

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,26,25,24,23,22,21,20,19,18

By the time I took the test, I would have about 15 minutes left for the final 5-6 problems, and about 10 minutes for the final 2 or 3.

I read the Manhattan LR book and didn't see anything about this in it. Did i completely miss it? Could you direct me to where you found it. BTW i have the ebook version.

I took the in-person course - that's where it was discussed. Not sure if it appears in the book. According to Manhattan, the rationale for why the last few are easier than the 18-22ish section is to help distinguish test-taker A, who makes it through the first 22 problems with enough time to tackle the final 3, from test-taker B, who finish 22 problems and then guesses on the final 3. If the last 3 were as hard, or harder, than 18-22, you might not see a substantial difference in test-taker A and test-taker B's scores. By making 23-25 easier, it's much more likely test-taker A will get those right than test-taker B (who guessed), which therefore helps distinguish A from B.

That's how I remember the reasoning behind it - maybe one of the Manhattan guys on here can clarify if I worded that poorly.