Last 14 days of study..

mayonnai5e · Posted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 11:01 am Post subject: Last 14 days of study..

Stacey,

What do you usually recommend your students do on the last two weeks of their study?

Thanks in advance.

Stacey Koprince · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 2:27 pm Post subject:

Last two weeks are generally for review, not major new learning.

T - 2 weeks:
- make sure your pacing is solid
- review your educated guessing strategies
- do a thorough analysis of your strengths and weaknesses
- use that analysis to decide your priorities on the test, eg
... DO spend a little extra time, if necessary, on questions that are in your "strength" category
... Be quicker to pull the plug, when necessary, on questions that are in your "weakness" category
... DO NOT spend extra time on questions that are in your "weakness" category
... and so on

1 week to go: take your last practice test, trying to implement what you decided above

Spend the next 3 days going over that test and figuring out what you did well (so you can repeat that) and what you didn't do well (and how to fix that). Note that "how to fix" doesn't mean - I don't know how to do all of these problems so let's learn how now. You aren't going to learn much detail with only a few days to go. Instead, you should tell yourself "That's one of my weaknesses - I should have recognized that and let the problem go rather than wasting a lot of time on it" and "How should I make an educated guess here?"

Spend the last 3 days reviewing pacing, high-level strategies, and educated guessing. Adjust your "strengths and weaknesses" plan, if necessary, based upon your results on the last test.

Day before: no more than 60-90 minutes of high-level review. Relax that evening, have a good dinner, get a good night's sleep - all the obvious stuff.

The day of, about 30-60 minutes before the test, do some VERY easy practice problems in your area of strength (math or verbal). Just do some from the low numbers of the OG - and DON'T look at the answers (don't even bring them with you). You're just warming up your brain here, not trying to learn anything.

And plan something to do afterward, no matter what you get - meet friends or family for a drink or food. Just acknowledge that you accomplished something, even if you don't get the score you want that first time out.

Good luck!

mayonnai5e · Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 2:47 pm Post subject:

That is some excellent advice right there. Thank you!