When should you start doing full timed practice exams?
I have been doing 20 and 30 question blocks and doing alright at them. Not sure when to move up to a full one under proper timing.
Part of me thinks I should wait until I know the material better. Part of me thinks that is exactly the wrong instinct.
6 replies
Accepted answer
Second one. Do one now.
You are not ready and that does not matter, the score tells you what to fix and you still have three months to fix it. Do it in october and you find out the same thing with no time left.
It will be a bad score. Fine.
Fine. Doing one Saturday. I will report back and it will probably be embarrassing.
Reporting back. 61 percent, ran out of time with eleven left. It was awful and it was also the most useful thing I have done so far, so you were right.
Do the whole thing properly when you do it. Same start time you will have on the day, phone in another room, no pausing to look something up in a way you would not be able to. A practice exam you paused twice has taught you nothing about pacing, which is the main thing you are testing.
Pacing is the thing. I knew the material fine and still ran out of time on my first full one, because I burned nine minutes on one question early and never recovered mentally.
The fix is a hard rule you decide in advance. Mine was two minutes, then flag it and move. No negotiating with yourself in the moment, because in the moment you always negotiate.
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