WOW! For a while my post was tagged for spam/blocked and I didn't realize it had gone up! My fault for not checking...
SOOOOO...guess what, I did it! I hit 710 (42V-96% and 44Q-63%). BUT, it was on the third try. My second attempt was actually quite demoralizing, my score dropped to 640
. Anyways, third times a charm!
After my second attempt I nearly gave up. I had put everything into studying. I was highly stressed and my routine was very strict. I had even given up going out on weekends and anything that I thought would impact my performance, including alcohol. I don't want to make excuses, but I also think that having to take the exam 1.5hrs away from my house didn't help (local center ws booked). That is 1.5 hours driving in a car and stressing out about the test! I highly recommend testing nearby in a place that is familiar. 2nd exam=over studying/stress and bad testing center.
What I realized is that perhaps all this added stress was taking away from my studies. I also thought that it was time to bring in further professional help, and I signed up for knewton. The 50 point guarantee or your money back was too good to pass up, it would effectively take me to 710. I signed up for the course and worked through most of it over about 1.5 months.
I revamped my study routine and began working exclusively on knewton in the comfort of my living room, often times reclining on my couch to watch videos and run problems. I would do 30-1hr at a time and than go ride my bike or go for a run and then hit the course again. I took my studying less seriously and balanced it with things I enjoyed doing and as a result my stress decreased. I didn't even do the prep exams on the course, only the homework and quizes! I worked on it all of the way up to the day of my test. Bottom line, I did not stress and I balanced the studying out with fun things.
I scheduled the test for a Tuesday afternoon. I worked a regular work day on Monday and took Tuesday off. I rolled out of bed about 1.5 hrs before the test and looked over some notes. Ate a breakfast with eggs and prepped some snack food for the test including green tea and a protein shake. On the drive over I actually knew that I would get a 710, very strange right? The test was at the same test center as my first test and the exam administrator recognized me.
Test went very smoothly and I didn't drink too many liquids
. During breaks I took a big gulp of protein shake and had a sip of green tea.
When I saw the 710 flash I threw my hands in the air and I was smiling so much it hurt! The administrator asked me if I was happy with my score for which I remarked: 1 yr of studying finally paid off! 420 to 710 baby!
Thank you to everyone on this forum and knewton! My R2 applications are in and i'm awaiting good news. Fingers crossed.
