notes for myself to improve my study habits

• keep pting regularly to build stamina. if you have extra time and are overwhelmed, take a ~45 second break to just relax before checking your answers.
• blind-review practice tests. mark all questions you are unsure on, before you see your score, answer these again untimed, then compare.
• for hard rc passages, repeat back to yourself in simpler words. replace confusing technical terms with easier ones, e.g. it's not necessary to remember the species name, just that it's a fish.
• don't overthink the easy questions, save time for the harder ones. finish the first 10 in 10
• for lr, evaluate the author's argument, for rc, smile and nod boys. it's a waste of mental bandwidth to crit the author when you're trying to understand their perspective
• rc = look for pivot words, the author's voice, practice dynamic pacing. understand the purpose of each paragraph. main point answers should be true and accurate in scope (not overemphasizing one section).
• read the stimulus and answers extremely carefully. one word can reverse the meaning.
• research your qualms! if an answer seems wrong at first but you're not sure if they mentioned it, double-check the passage for details.
• review analytics, see which types of questions you get wrong the most and why. watch lectures and drill these questions, scaling in difficulty.
• when reviewing mistakes, make sure you understand why the right answer is correct and why the others are wrong. consider using the rubber duck method of explaining like a tutor why you got it wrong, so you're forced to understand before moving on.
• consider choosing easier rc passages first to warm up before doing the most difficult ones.
• get better at recognizing when to diagram. for example, parallel argument is more likely to require it than parallel flaw.
• arguments by analogy = to strengthen, how do we make this a more fair comparison? to weaken, what is a potential meaningful difference?*
  • *this also applies to resolving paradox questions
• consider starting to read extremely dense / difficult material to improve rc. e.g. the economist
• don't be overly caffeinated when taking pts OR the real test, the stress can make you jittery and make it harder to focus
• anticipate anticipate anticipate, when reading rc, guess what framework the author is using. when answering lr, imagine some possible answers before you check the options