I've taken the exam three times and unfortunately I've kind of plateaued around like the high 150s, again like the same school, 150, 60, 60, 60, and I guess for me coming into this, this platform was trying to figure out a way to kind of break through from that plateau, kind of reassess how I've been studying and coming up with a new plan to hit that goalscore coming, you know, maybe June or August exam. Sure. Sure. Tell me a little bit about what you've done before.
I did some, I reached out to some people that I found on social media that kind of, you know, helped me create a study, they created a study clinic for me, but I still did don't work on my own self-study and it helped me increase like three to four points and then that's like I'm on 57 on the first attempt, but then I decided to go with a personalized tutor that didn't really necessarily give me the best advice unfortunately and I saw like a score drop and then from there that's kind of been my journey until I realized, you know, maybe I need to look at some additional avenues, additional platforms on how to really understand this test because that's probably where I faulted and how I was studying because I definitely did spend, you know, probably almost like a year. So I'm thinking more so okay, am I sitting the right way, you know, exactly, exactly, you want to make sure you're doing the right kind of work, it's working smarter, not harder, it sounds like ironically you got better support from random people online than you did from the tutor that you worked with though. So what was the bad advice that you got that wasn't working for you? I think for me it had to do with reading comp, reading comp for me has been my strong section and I think when I was working with this tutor he had very specific like methods, methods, methods that he specifically created for reading comp and for just entire tests overall.
So when I was, I was basically learning those new methods that were specific to him and when I tried to implement the most trial it was like I was trying to learn something completely new and for reading comp specifically I think he gave me the advice of like, you know, taking notes after like every single paragraph or something like that and when I did attempt number two, after I finished the first passage I realized that I blew through almost all my time and I had to, and I just abandoned the strategy midway through that section and I just, you know, did the rest of the section I think trying to implement his new rules on attempt number two was what kind of made me take a step backwards in terms of my studying plan. Right, gotcha. Okay, thanks for sharing that. Yeah, I mean reading comp in particular as a section is more personal than any other section of the exam you've been reading your whole life and so you have your own style, I'm a work for you may not work for someone else and vice versa and so we want to make sure that especially for reading comp we were really adaptive and flexible approach there are in contrast for logic games there are objectively good ways to approach games and bad ways to approach games in terms of diagraming styles.
So I will say logic games, like listen to what you're doing it, it's not clean, it's not efficient, it's not going to work and we'll test it out and prove it to you if you need but for reading comp in contrast people have different ways of reading, you know, that's and that's okay so I think that more than the particular technique they were recommending or obligating you to use was probably the biggest issue there. I want to help you craft a study plan zoom out a little bit here. So you said that you went online so people give you some guidance on a plan and that plan generally seems like you were pretty happy with it from what I gathered. Yeah, the study plan that they created for me was pretty standard.
To be transparent I did have trouble sometimes keeping up with it because you know like many others applying I work at a big law firm as a paralegal so ideally you know 93530 is a thing but there are times when you know it goes to 890-30, so I did follow the wagon a couple times in terms of doing a schedule but it was generally a solid schedule that I did see even get me to 160-161 you know a few times on some practices. So I would say yeah that schedule was pretty precise for the most part. Okay, good, good. So basically it's helping you structure your time outside of work and so you may fall behind sometimes if you actually work overtime which an okay goes off and have to do and so let me ask you this what's your target test date?
So honestly I was thinking either June or August but August might be more realistic because I really want to get like 170. So all this probably makes more sense. Nice so you've actually got quite a bit of time here. Nice, fantastic.
Okay so we're speaking now and if that's enough time to make pretty much anything happen and the fact that you're already scored you already scored high 150s you've touched into the low and 60s at points definitely suggest the potential for a top score. What's your goal? My goal is in the score? Yeah.
I think 170 is a solid goal score. Yeah yeah they're totally realistic so we just got to get you another 10-15 points. I usually recommend aiming for a little bit of a buffer just in case you've experienced a test day drop which happens sometimes if there's a tech hiccup or nerves or whatever so always safer to have more and who doesn't want more points right. So let's think about over the next several months we're talking basically beginning of March for at least three to five months or so given the foundation you've already established up to this point.
So if you were starting from scratch I'd say it's a little bit tight but because you've done a lot already you're in a different situation so let's hold on specifically what are your areas that give you the most trouble at this point? So I would probably say logic games has always been my weakest section. I've been improving on it over time so for the most part I can never get I can never do complete all four games but as I just kept working on it I could get four games but I'm just not as consistent with it so like about like a practice test worst case scenario on logic games I could get like a minus 8 9 10 but then best case scenario I could get like a minus five and I think that at least thinking at it incrementally just getting to break the 160s I think I need to be more consistent at hitting all four of the logic games and then for a reading comp on a good day I can get like a minus 3 4 on a bad day like a 6 7 and logical reasoning just sometimes up in the air if I'm being honest sometimes I don't like I do well in some sections sometimes I don't necessarily know how I did well if that makes sense but in much reasoning I'm averaging let's say like a minus 7 or so you know minus 6 on a good day on a bad day minus 9. Okay so there's still some work to do in all areas right that's okay that's okay I mean you have time typically when someone's scoring below the 160s that means that there's still some room for improvement across the board it's rare that someone's getting perfect on algae and terrible on the others at that level which is actually good because you have room to move forward in each area you can have some variety in your study plan and when you say that logic games is an area of particular trouble to me that's fantastic news because this is elsewhere it's the most provable section it's the most perfectable section for the vast majority of people and so if we can even just boost your logic games score specifically you're going to see a big big increase and for those who score in the 170s they're typically getting perfect on games or close to it maybe minus one and then a few off on each of the other sections because reasoning and reading comp have those perceived ambiguities of language so I'd say start with logic games make that a disproportionately high area of focus for now you can adjust it later but for now I'd say focus on games primarily maybe you do 50 percent games and 2525 on each of the other sections excellent so what you say when navigating your platform I should primarily focus on like the logic game section or like crafting a study plan around logic specifically before okay okay exactly and so I'm not going to say do nothing but games for the next two months I would want you to get rusty I want you to have some variety in what you're working on as well and there's there's work to do in the other sections too but I would say if nothing else attend the live logic games classes attend the live logic game study groups watch the previous class recordings on different sections of logic games and aim to really figure out okay well is it ordering is it grouping is it combinations is it hybrids I mean see where you have the most trouble in terms of game types and focus there because anything's in out to use a certain type of game that you just know gives you trouble um that's a good question I think I think it might be the multi-layer games I think the standard sequencing I'm pretty good at in the standard grouping games but I think sometimes when you have those multi-layer game I remember outside once and there was a super multi-layer game where you have to do pairings and ordering within groups I think those type ones can be pretty challenging I think it was a number of the dissimilar but yeah I mean when you're dealing with elements of multiple game types simultaneously yeah that can be tough because you're juggling a lot of tasks at once and because it may not immediately seem like it relates to something you've done before mm-hmm then hindsight on review of course you can figure out hey you know what it wasn't really so bad you just need to make this one huge inference right so that's part of the posting analysis so useful everything seems easier in hindsight but by doing this enough the idea is that it becomes routine that you will be able to see it on test day and you can get fast enough that even if you don't always see the key inference up front if there is one you'll see it often enough that you have a time back where maybe you do two games super efficiently the other two you maybe you just end up approaching them in less than the optimal way but that's okay you have the time to deal with it so pacing becomes really important across the board as you transition queueing time to work closer to test day for now since you've got some time I would focus on accuracy first okay just focus on accuracy focus on understanding take as long as you need review in depth and then in a few months you can focus more on timing something I appreciate it yeah yeah of course so I'd say logic games from now but also spend a good amount of time on logical reasoning reading comp as well don't neglect them come to the live classes if you can watch the records I mean for those who aim for 170 plus like and get there they really end up reversing themselves in this as much as possible so if you have downtime at work do you work in the office or remotely it's hybrid so when we come in when we come out okay cool so during your commute you you bring your books if you can or you listen to the podcast if you can you have your books in the way it works somewhere and you have a downtime a break if you ever do get in time there if you have the option to say no to overtime try to say no to overtime and stick with the else if you can just for now correct you're right and of course really aim to own the review process not just to look at the answer key and say oh I get it now or look at an explanation and just let that carry you you know you got to engage actively with this and that's part of why it can really be exhausting to study thoroughly because you're articulating your own thought process and figuring out what uniquely led you into a particular trap for example all right thank you just really helpful yeah yeah of course what else would it be useful for you to cover for us to cover together what questions do you have anything you want me to clarify the next main the next main question would be you know what are some best tips you have for crafting a study plan on our own using like the platform I guess that's something I've been trying to like figure out yeah sure sure so given that you have some work to do in all areas I would actually say that the foundational section of the course provides you with a pretty good rough outline I wouldn't say you should follow it to the letter because you've been through this before you like order basic order in games if you feel pretty good about for examples the multi-level that you need more attention to so I would say skip the basic focus on the multi-level and then don't just stay in the foundational though since multi-level gives you trouble you could watch the brief three-minute summary in foundation of the foundational section of course but then go to the relevant section in workshops in workshops you can search by it was a search bar at the top you can search at multi-level and you'll find all the previous full-length classes we've done on multi-level games and so each day watch one or two of those complete the related game review it in depth on your own excellent okay we'll do something good thank you and then would you say when I'm crafting it what type of timeline should I do should I you know do like a month long to or should I do all up until I take the exam or well we'll need to check in and adapt along the way we can't say now end of February early March what you're going to need in May or in June and then if you end up deciding to go for August instead of June that will naturally require adjustments of course generally speaking as you get into the final month before the exam it's basically full-length exams review in depth but also targeting your week areas so if even the month before the exam you say you know what I really want to work on necessary assumption questions then you can do that you can carve out 10 15% of your time to focus exclusively on those but we can't say yet where you're gonna be in May or June or July or August so for now I'll say just for the next month 50% of your time on logic games targeting the specific types so I'd say based on what we discussed multi-level and then games that can find elements of multiple game types but you can also dig into logical reasoning types that you need but overall I'd say for now based on what you shared I would do 50 25 25 with games as the emphasis excellent thank you my final question is is anything that you think I should be specifically working on to kind of prepare take best advantage of my next 30 minute coaching call that I have a few about like two weeks or so yeah sure I would say between now and then come with a list of particular question types that give you trouble that could be anything of course and also have an idea of not only question types but also certain struggles you might face around pacing or endurance or approaches those are all fair game excellent thank you I appreciate it no of course I sense your dedication I sense your deal just I know that you'll make the most of these calls I would also say not only with me but also the live classes take full advantage of the live classes they're happening almost every single day and so if you see there's a there's a logic in this class every week of course and so if you see that there's a multi-level ordering game or a combination game on the agenda show up ask your questions do the game in advance not where you'll be in a better position to ask really targeted specific questions you can also ask not only about the game but also about not only about just how to get it right but different ways of laying it out or different ways of making inferences and say okay well if you didn't make the inference upfront then how could you approach it so problematize the different approaches because there's not just one way to do a game right I know sometimes I'll do a game and you know I'll get it done in let's say nine minutes and then I'll watch the video that's actually in seven minutes and it was a completely different approach and I missed I could have shaped off like 90 seconds there's often little efficiency hacks here and there in terms of reusing previous diagrams right or doing more in making more inferences up front or being being deliberate you know not just going by brute force A3 doesn't really better within that yeah thank you I appreciate it yeah of course my pleasure well it's great to meet with you any questions you need anything at all just shoot me an email I'm happy to help we'll do enjoy the thanks for tuning into the show please subscribe if you haven't done so already to be notified of new episodes as I release them and feel free to reach out if you need anything at all so you feel with your prep I'm happy to help however I can in the meantime I wish you all the best and take care