Lower scores during Timed

[mgravoso]

I'm not quite sure if this has been dealt with before. During untimed practice tests, I have -4/-5 on average for LR sections. When I do timed questions, I get anxious and suddenly I can't think clearly and I get ahead of myself. In turn, I have -6/-8 during timed sections. I tried to do the questions individually first, and then by 5s, and then by 10s and I still can't make a big improvement during timed. I honestly have no idea how to go on. I'm one month away from the September test and would like to get some help.

Overall, I score around 160-163 on PTs but I would like to increase my score a bit more to ensure I get into the school I want.

[ohthatpatrick]

There might not be an actual solution, since the time limit is intended to be aggressively short. It's not meant to give all of us sufficient time to carefully process everything we're reading. It's meant to "squeeze out" most people in order to reward the fastest readers/thinkers.

When you're doing the test untimed, how much time are you using to get through a 35 min section?

- Make sure when you review questions, you can articulate why the right answer is right and why the other four are wrong. Too often students are able to get to the correct answer but can't precisely say why other answers are wrong. The better you get at explaining what's wrong with wrong answers, the less anxiety you have on a test, because you can more confidently reach the threshold of "Yes, I know I like my answer".

- When you practice, seize the opportunity to bank some time on questions that lend themselves to specific pre-phrasing.
MAIN CONC
SUFF ASSUMP
PRINCIPLE-SUPPORT
easier examples of Flaw, Inference, Necessary Assumption

- Try doing the first 10 LR questions in 10 mins. Then ramp that up to 1st 15 in 15 mins.

If you can master that brisk-but-controlled pace early on, where we trust our gut and confidently pick correct answers without too much analysis, then we build ourselves a 20 min cushion for the final ten questions, by which point our speed will have definitely declined.

- Do lots of timed practice, both to inure you to the feeling of being timed and to practice cutting corners / gambling slightly / etc. in order to get a good answer at all 25 Q's.

- Try doing untimed LR sections (once or twice a week), for which you try to write down your predicted correct answer, BEFORE you ever look at answer choices. Getting better at prephrasing adds confidence, saves time.

Good luck!