Practice test fatigue?

[baal]

I got a 159 on the quantitative part of a Manhattan Prep practice test. I bought the practice test package, and this time the test (online) screwed up (probably my internet connection) so I wasted a bunch of time on the second quantitative section trying to navigate between questions, and thus didn't even answer 1/2 of the questions on the second section. I still got 159, mostly because I answered the first section almost perfectly. Frustrating, because I feel like I could have done even better had the navigation not screwed up.

Since then I've tried taking a practice test again (always sans essay), basically one a day, but now I'm missing even questions on the first (easier) section. I can't get above that 159 mark, which I got the first time when I didn't know how to budget time, and the second time when the test q's weren't loading.
It almost seems like there is an absolutely unavoidable form of test fatigue, where my mind simply won't perform up to par. I'm kind of stubborn, and so I try to force it, but it doesn't work.

Has anyone else noticed this and gotten around it? I feel like I need to forget about my performance on this test and rejuvenate my self-confidence and motivation or something before trying again.

[tommywallach]

Hey Baal,

We recommend student don't take a practice test any more often than once a week, and preferably even less than that. Taking practice tests will not help you improve your score. Practice tests are good for two things: diagnosing your current ability level, and practicing stamina/fatigue/timing. If you want to actually improve at content, you need to be practicing individual topics, both by learning new methods for approaching them, and drilling those methods on many questions in a row.

Hope that helps!

-t