Thanks everybody! I really appreciate it. Here's my old scores
July, 29 2010
PA 25
QR 16
RC 15
BIO 17
GC 17
OC 17
TS 17
AA 16
I dont remember the percentiles because in all honesty, I was so pissed off when I left the testing center that I literally crumpled up the print out they gave me n left if on the grass as I walked to my car. I studied for about 8-10 hours a day over the summer, had no life, and shut a lot of people out. I found out that that is not the way to go about it (for me at least). There needs to be a balance, an equilibrium so to speak.
This time around I tried to spread out the studying and only allowed myself about 3-4 hours a day at most because I was studying on top of staying on track with my grad work. Also, when studying at 10pm on a friday night and friends called wanting to go out, I did what I wanted and went out and had some fun. It helped keep me sane. Heres my breakdown that went with my new scores at the beginning of the post.
PAT: The only thing you need is CRACK PAT. This is so similar to the real thing it is ridiculous. For some reason I was always just naturally good at this section and it came very easy so i studied the least for this. My scores were the same for both tests.
QR: Math Destroyer. Achievers tests were actually pretty decent too. Ive never been good at math and could really care less about how to do a combo or permutation. Dont expect to just do a test and feel like you have it right. I went through the whole book and picked out problems that were on the same topic (like homework in high school) and worked through them until i had a good feel.
RC: CRACK READING. This helped me a lot with the tone and inference questions. Topscore and Achiever were great for representing the actual passages though because they were more science based and had a lot of SND questions.
BIO: I was a bio major with a chem minor. Also, im in grad school right now studying physiology so this semester alone a good refresher course for me. This section was very straight forward. No tricks at all. I was lucky because I actually had quite a few questions on physiology. I used Cliffs AP Bio. Read the book over the summer and took detailed notes. I didnt do any studying for this section until about a week before my test. Just looked over all my previous notes and read the whole book during that week. I was actually pretty happy because I read a chapter that I had neglected right before I went into the test and sure enough, there was a question straight from it lol.
GC: CHADS VIDEOS and DAT DESTROYER!!! You need these materials. Chads videos are only $30 a month and trust me, they are worth it. He does a great job of pointing out what you need to specifically know and other things that arent so important. Also, gives great short cuts to figuring out problems that would have originally taken me twice as long.
OC: Once again, CHADS VIDEOS and DAT DESTROYER. know your SN1/SN2/E1/E2 reactions front to back. Get a good feel for basicity, acidity, who is the best nucleophile/electrophile etc.
The reason my scores from july were pretty weak is because...well....plain and simple.....I choked. I walked in there stressed out, had test anxiety, and was scared out of my mind. It was weird because I never stress out over tests. It caused me to over think things for minutes at a time to where on the QR section I had to guess on the last five questions within the last ten seconds of the test ending.
Going into my test the other day, I actually felt good about it. Came home early the night before, had a few beers with the roomies, and got to bed at a reasonable hour. My test wasnt until 2:30 so I didnt even set an alarm, just woke up when I felt like it, make breakfast, got on my way, and walked into the testing center determined to own that test......and it actually worked out in my favor.
Best piece of advice I can give is do what works best for you. If you have any doubts of being ready for your test, pay the $25 rescheduling fee and do it another day (beats paying almost $300 to retake it). Also, make sure to have some fun. A clear mind can go a loooooong way.
If anyone has any questions, feel free. Im an open book.
