doing PT in two days? or at one go.

[kor591]

hey guys.
i've been taking the PTs for the last week or so.
currently averaging around 165ish. 163-167

I usually do each PT in two days instead of doing the whole thing at one go.
Planning to take the LSAT in Feb, so would like to take it slow till december or so by doing just two sections a day and reviewing them.
Beginning December, I 'll take a full test every two days and will review each pt.

Does it seem like a good idea?

[parsley]

You can't use the scores from a two-day practice test as any sort of indicator...

[polaremu]

do one or two full practice tests in test conditions to get an idea of your score. Then you can study by doing individual sections or half tests. 

[kor591]

oh i c..
i guess i should take a full test at one go to see where i'm at now.
i'll do that this weekend.
But. why is that so?
maybe the factor of getting tired??
I never knew that would be such a big deal.
oh well..

thanx for the input guys!

[Phone-a-thon]

On two differing days, your mind will be working differently.  And if you're not taking a full test in one go, you're also not taking the stamina factor into account and your mind isn't being forced to be in full-test-mode, thereby making that score not really a good indicator. 

*But that's not to say that doing timed sections isn't valuable.

[cbm_flyer]

Absolutely because of the fatigue factor.  You're already taking a shorter PT that the real thing due to the lack of an experimental section (unless you sub in).

Plus, you can't really evaluate your score vs. state-of-mind, what you ate, how you felt, etc., over two days.

My $.02 is only split up the tests if you absolutely *have no other choice*, and even keep that to a minimum.  I once had to split up 1 single PT over 3 days--it was the best I'd scored to date, and, of course, nearly useless as a predictor.

Good luck!!!

[cbm_flyer]

Why are you doing so many PTs?  Are you studying at all?  You probably could get better use of your time by spending that hour each day just going over practice problems, past tests, etc.  You're still missing questions, so why not aim to get them all right?  As for an indicator of your score, I agree that you have to take a full PT to get a good idea of your score.  After that, I'd say lay off the PT's until Dec.  Keep studying, but there's no use repeatedly taking PT's and repeatedly getting questions wrong.  Your goal should be to study, occassionally take the PT's, and see a rise in your PT score.

Good points.  I'm going to adopt that as my "master plan" from now on.

[jpiesel44]

I have hectic hours, so I have to split up tests as well.  However, I usually take an older PT, section at a time, during the week. On weekends, I take 2 full PTs with experimentals subbed in.  I usually figure out how I would have done based on my individual sections, but I take that with a grain of salt, since its usually 3-4 points above what's listed in my profile.

[kor591]

wow lots of 2cents!!
thanks to all.^^

i've got all the PTs out so far and i was planning to take the first 20 section by section or 2sections a day. Each day i review the mistakes that i've made and redo the problems that i got wrong. I believe this is helping me a lot since my individual sections have improved during the past week or so. I'm trying to get used to the questions and their intricate "traps" which i'm starting to recognize. IMO, by practicing as many questions as possible, you get to "know" what the wrong answers look like and why they are wrong. oh well.. i'm just a newbie

The other 30 PTs, I will take the full test 2-3times a week and the rest of the week review them. This is my plan starting December.

Nemore inputs???

Thanks guys seriously!!

[flyaway]

I agree generally with what people have said here, but I do think that taking full PTs is valuable as more than just an indicator.  I'm doing a lot of full PTs (I'm a Dec. taker) because I want them to feel like the back of my hand, in terms of stamina and timing.

I am definitely always going back and studying what I've done wrong, but honestly, if you are scoring very well, there aren't enough missed questions to spend hours of time on.

Going through the bibles is a good way to study when you don't want to do another full PT, though.  Even if you're reading about something that's not a question type you tend to have trouble with, it can help solidify concepts in your mind.

I also feel that the more RC sections I do, the easier they become.  I really disliked that section at first, but I've really improved and don't find it particularly taxing anymore. 

And with LG... I used to have timing issues with it, so I feel like I really have to keep doing timed LG sections on an almost daily basis to be sure that I'm not falling back into old habits or losing whatever it is that has caused me to speed up (better diagramming and inferences, I guess).