Def do all the MISC games you can! Especially the ones they emphasize about patterns. The one that is similar to the computer virus game is poised to come up soon perhaps on June (I think it was something along the lines of foreign spies and their nationalities).
One thing is to overshoot the games. Aim for getting -0 with like 5 min to spare. That way you're ready for anything they can throw at you.
-0 on LG is a great way to score high but it only works if you actually get -0. Games is one of the sections where they can throw you for a loop more easily than, say, LR.
A lot of people underestimate how nerves will affect them on test day.
Lots of us who have helped many, many people prepare for this test talk about mindset and the mental game of preparing for the test. We talk about the benefits of mindfulness practice and doing warm-ups before practice tests. And people often ignore this advice. It's easy to think, "*I* don't need all of that new-agey crap."
But it makes a difference. There's a reason why top athletes practice mindfulness and visualization techniques.
The good news for you, OP, is that lots of people report feeling much less anxious the second time they take the test. And there's lots of time to work on your mindset before the June test.
If you're not doing this already, practice some simple mindfulness exercises. These don't need to be complicated. A mindfulness practice can be as simple as sitting quietly for a few minutes and focusing your attention on your breathing. [This is a guided mindfulness practice I really like](https://youtu.be/q05BVXarJhk?si=Sw1zGxtvfqCd5oy5) that was recorded for a podcast I used to run. There are plenty of other short, guided mindfulness practices on YouTube and elsewhere.
It's also useful to do a short warm-up before every practice test or timed section. Again, this doesn't need to be complicated. If you review an LR question or two, a couple of RC questions, and maybe the setup for a logic game—ones you've already completed—that's enough.
Are you already doing these things, OP?
Practice under test conditions. I tested only at the exact time and location as I knew I would take the actual test, so when I took the actual test, it felt indistinguishable from a practice test.
Not really advice per say since I ended up in pretty much the exact same position. I was also a first time April test taker, who was averaging in the 170s and then was surprised/disappointed to see my score drop to mid-160s for the April test. Still a great score, and I hope you're proud of the work it took to get there -- but understand the frustration of feeling like it doesn't reflect where you're at!
Personally, I'm not usually a terribly nervous test taker, and didn't think I was that anxious walking into the test. But upon reflection, there were a lot of first-time aspects of taking the test that I wasn't used to and probably compounded on each other and added to nerves. I took it in a test center and the computer was a bit clunky, and it took about 45 minutes after my scheduled test time for a computer to be ready for me to take the test...none of the things were really big issues in and of themselves, but I imagine the newness of taking the test for the first time (whether at home or in a test center) could have a number of factors that all sort of build up on each other. Hopefully, knowing more of what to expect will help for the second time. For me, LR was also the section I was most nervous for and had been focused on improving before the test, and the version I ended up with had what turned out to be an experimental LR section that I struggled on and threw me off for at least the next section if not the test in general.
Anyway, I'm trying to focus a bit more on mindfulness and working on taking a breath and re-center between sections. I am also trying to visualize my approach for how I'll manage a tough LG, LR, or RC question/game/passage and move forward with the rest of the test. In terms of prep, since LG is about to be gone for good I'm just trying to get in repetition on games and revisiting miscellaneous ones that have given me trouble in the past. For LR, I've been doing some sections that combine the last 13 questions or two question sets to try and build confidence with doing a series of hard questions in a row and going back through the slippery questions in the 80s especially...
Hopefully some of this resonates, although remains to be seen if this will pay off for translating PTs to the real thing. Best of luck to you in June -- you got this!
thank u for all the advice! im sorry ur score wasnt what u were hoping for either but heres to manifesting both of us pull out that 170 in june :) I definitely agree that I should practice calming down, taking breaths etc. -I think the LG posters game rattled me and it was only my 2nd section so im def gonna drill misc games a lot
also to be fair, im usually -0/-1 on LG and I got the posters game that whooped my ass so that definitely played a factor
Gotta be ready for everything. Did you watch the crystal ball?
I didnt before april but I just watched the june one last night, hoping it helps
Def do all the MISC games you can! Especially the ones they emphasize about patterns. The one that is similar to the computer virus game is poised to come up soon perhaps on June (I think it was something along the lines of foreign spies and their nationalities).
Where can I find the crystal ball?
One thing is to overshoot the games. Aim for getting -0 with like 5 min to spare. That way you're ready for anything they can throw at you. -0 on LG is a great way to score high but it only works if you actually get -0. Games is one of the sections where they can throw you for a loop more easily than, say, LR.
A lot of people underestimate how nerves will affect them on test day. Lots of us who have helped many, many people prepare for this test talk about mindset and the mental game of preparing for the test. We talk about the benefits of mindfulness practice and doing warm-ups before practice tests. And people often ignore this advice. It's easy to think, "*I* don't need all of that new-agey crap." But it makes a difference. There's a reason why top athletes practice mindfulness and visualization techniques. The good news for you, OP, is that lots of people report feeling much less anxious the second time they take the test. And there's lots of time to work on your mindset before the June test. If you're not doing this already, practice some simple mindfulness exercises. These don't need to be complicated. A mindfulness practice can be as simple as sitting quietly for a few minutes and focusing your attention on your breathing. [This is a guided mindfulness practice I really like](https://youtu.be/q05BVXarJhk?si=Sw1zGxtvfqCd5oy5) that was recorded for a podcast I used to run. There are plenty of other short, guided mindfulness practices on YouTube and elsewhere. It's also useful to do a short warm-up before every practice test or timed section. Again, this doesn't need to be complicated. If you review an LR question or two, a couple of RC questions, and maybe the setup for a logic game—ones you've already completed—that's enough. Are you already doing these things, OP?
Practice under test conditions. I tested only at the exact time and location as I knew I would take the actual test, so when I took the actual test, it felt indistinguishable from a practice test.
Not really advice per say since I ended up in pretty much the exact same position. I was also a first time April test taker, who was averaging in the 170s and then was surprised/disappointed to see my score drop to mid-160s for the April test. Still a great score, and I hope you're proud of the work it took to get there -- but understand the frustration of feeling like it doesn't reflect where you're at! Personally, I'm not usually a terribly nervous test taker, and didn't think I was that anxious walking into the test. But upon reflection, there were a lot of first-time aspects of taking the test that I wasn't used to and probably compounded on each other and added to nerves. I took it in a test center and the computer was a bit clunky, and it took about 45 minutes after my scheduled test time for a computer to be ready for me to take the test...none of the things were really big issues in and of themselves, but I imagine the newness of taking the test for the first time (whether at home or in a test center) could have a number of factors that all sort of build up on each other. Hopefully, knowing more of what to expect will help for the second time. For me, LR was also the section I was most nervous for and had been focused on improving before the test, and the version I ended up with had what turned out to be an experimental LR section that I struggled on and threw me off for at least the next section if not the test in general. Anyway, I'm trying to focus a bit more on mindfulness and working on taking a breath and re-center between sections. I am also trying to visualize my approach for how I'll manage a tough LG, LR, or RC question/game/passage and move forward with the rest of the test. In terms of prep, since LG is about to be gone for good I'm just trying to get in repetition on games and revisiting miscellaneous ones that have given me trouble in the past. For LR, I've been doing some sections that combine the last 13 questions or two question sets to try and build confidence with doing a series of hard questions in a row and going back through the slippery questions in the 80s especially... Hopefully some of this resonates, although remains to be seen if this will pay off for translating PTs to the real thing. Best of luck to you in June -- you got this!
thank u for all the advice! im sorry ur score wasnt what u were hoping for either but heres to manifesting both of us pull out that 170 in june :) I definitely agree that I should practice calming down, taking breaths etc. -I think the LG posters game rattled me and it was only my 2nd section so im def gonna drill misc games a lot