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Where to go from here?

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 10:37 pm
by vracovino
Hey all,

I'm prepping for the September test and have been studying for about three months. For the first 2 and a half months I studied by doing deep drilling of each question type and working through the Manhattan LR book and Powerscore LG book (as well as utilizing the 7Sage explanations.) About two or three weeks ago I transitioned into a the PT/ Section Drilling phase. I started off with PT 45 and scored a 167. My next two scores which I took all that week (I wasn't properly reviewing at this time) then dropped very slightly, about a point or two each.

My most recent test was the June 07 test today, PT 51.5, and I scored a 159. There were misses all over- -5 LG, -6 LR, -3 LR, -9 (!!!!) RC. Granted- the comparative passages bothered me a bit as I had not seen them yet, but it was still overall a very poor showing.

So my question is- where do I go from here? It appears that my performance has either dropped due to poor, recent studying habits, or that my first few scores were just not indicative of where I'm at in actuality. My studying recently has consisted of Taking a PT, Reviewing that PT the next day, followed by a few days of drilling timed sections (which I heavily review) until I take another PT. My misses don't really correspond to any particular question type.

Should I buy the Trainer and work my way through? Should I go back and drill individual question types again? Should I just keep on practicing with timed sections? Any guidance at all would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Re: Where to go from here?

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 10:40 pm
by ilikebaseball
vracovino wrote:Hey all,

I'm prepping for the September test and have been studying for about three months. For the first 2 and a half months I studied by doing deep drilling of each question type and working through the Manhattan LR book and Powerscore LG book (as well as utilizing the 7Sage explanations.) About two or three weeks ago I transitioned into a the PT/ Section Drilling phase. I started off with PT 45 and scored a 167. My next two scores which I took all that week (I wasn't properly reviewing at this time) then dropped very slightly, about a point or two each.

My most recent test was the June 07 test today, PT 51.5, and I scored a 159. There were misses all over- -5 LG, -6 LR, -3 LR, -9 (!!!!) RC. Granted- the comparative passages bothered me a bit as I had not seen them yet, but it was still overall a very poor showing.

So my question is- where do I go from here? It appears that my performance has either dropped due to poor, recent studying habits, or that my first few scores were just not indicative of where I'm at in actuality. My studying recently has consisted of Taking a PT, Reviewing that PT the next day, followed by a few days of drilling timed sections (which I heavily review) until I take another PT. My misses don't really correspond to any particular question type.

Should I buy the Trainer and work my way through? Should I go back and drill individual question types again? Should I just keep on practicing with timed sections? Any guidance at all would be appreciated.

Thanks!
I wouldnt buy the Trainer. There's just over 5 weeks left. Figure out your weaknesses and drill.

One thing that I think is helping me is that I'm doing 12 RC passages a day (3 35 minute sections). I've developed a pretty consistent notation system that works for me, and I can definitely see patterns in some of the ?'s

Re: Where to go from here?

Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2014 10:49 pm
by RunnerRunner
First off, don't let the -9 on RC freak you out: when I studied, even once I started consistently PTing in the 170s I could still randomly drop a ton of points in that section. I'd say the best thing for it is increasing your volume: hit as many RC sections as you can over the next few weeks, you'll start to develop your own rhythm and strategies which are different from what you might see in a book but work better for you. For the rest of it, I'd drill by question type. Good luck!