Redoing Prep Course

[cdbaker97]

Hello,

I have been studying for about a year or so and I’m stuck in the mid- high 150s. My biggest struggle is reading comp (I usually go -10/-13 on the passages). I had a tutor before and it wasn’t a good fit so I’m going to hire a new tutor to help me with reading comp.

With that being said should I go through the powerscore online course again in my student center before the November test? How many hours per week is the homework? I’m scared of burning out since I’m going to test once a week as well.

Thank you

[atierney]

Hello,

Firstly, I would indeed suggest reviewing the material from the PowerScore course. It is probably the most valuable resource in terms of providing a framework by which to view the RC section (and beyond). Secondly, in terms of how many hours to study, I would suggest an hour per day as good metric by which to start off reviewing in preparation for the exam.

There's a very slim margin between overstudying and not studying enough, and often times this margin is going to be defined not only at the individual student-level, but also dependent upon that student's goals for the exam. Suffice it to say, sufficient practice is absolutely essential; however, burdening yourself with the pressure of constant is not only not essential, but actually severely detrimental to the overall exam score. I think that going over passages daily, as well as occasional full-length, ensuring that you are getting practice with each question type is more than enough to optimize your potential on this exam. The exam tests reasoning ability, of the kind that is innate to the human cognitive capacity, especially at the college level. This reasoning ability should be watered daily, but, like most household plants, the greater danger is in overwatering, rather than withering from neglect.

Let me know if you have further questions on this.