<p>What just happened??!</p>
<p>Just took a practice test (without the essay, because I'm already good at it and I absolutely loathe it)</p>
<p>The only prep I've done since last week was a little basic math with my tutor.</p>
<p>M: 680 (640 last week!)
R: 690 (Down from 780..?)
W: 800! (up from 720!) I didn't do the essay, but I aced the MC part, so unless I get <9 (which I haven't), its an 800. </p>
<p>EDIT: This is Practice Test 3 from the official CB book, in case anyone was wondering. </p>
<p>So I checked reading thrice, although the low score didn't come out of the blue... I actively felt it was harder while taking it, and skipped a few more questions than normal because I genuinely had no idea. I did, however, ace one of the sections, which just makes the whole deal even weirder.</p>
<p>Any insight/ideas/reassurance? Taking it in May and June and I'm worried about this kind of inconsistency</p>
<p>First, great job on the writing! And it’s not a fluke because W and M can move up a lot in a short period of time because it’s very rules based stuff. You learn it well and it applies to all problems. CR is not so much like that, so I do agree that it seemed a bit strange. But there are some ideas as to possibly why… First, was the original 780 from the official CB book as well? Second, what kinds of problems did you miss? mainly sentence or passage questions? </p>
<p>If the first score of 780 was from a non-CB book, then I would take another CB test to see what I get. </p>
<p>If you were missing mainly sentence comp questions, then there you have it. you were lucky the first time and came across more vocab that you happened to know. If it’s mainly passage then look closely to see what KIND of passage questions (I know you may be thinking who cares? I got a freakin 780 the last time, i didn’t miss any barely anything, but just stay with me for a second). Were they mainly questions involving vocab? A lot of people don’t realize that vocab can play a big factor even in the passage portion. If you said no to the above, then it could be the problem I had because I’ve had very similar problems to you as well. For me it was all about subject matter. If it was science related factual stuff, then noooo problem. but when it was stuff that felt like Pride and Prejudice type writing style. I get lost. I just don’t get any of the little witty remarks and to me it’s just “lost in translation” So that could be the other thing. that you just ended up with passages that were personally harder for you to understand. </p>
<p>So what’s the solution for that? if you are working with a tutor already that’s great. Have him/her show you not only where the answer lies in the passage, but also the road map for getting from point A to B. How are you supposed to have thought through this question? where were the hints that led you closer to the answer and then finally arrive at it, etc.</p>
<p>Thank you so much macrohard!</p>
<p>Both were from the BB, and I actually sat down today and did an entire CR section in one go to try and redeem myself, and I got 760-800! Every question I got wrong (both times) was a specific line-reference passage question, so I went ahead and did some reading on strategies, and I think it helped a lot. </p>
<p>Mainly though, I think last night might’ve been a case of being cocky from the previous week… I just need to make sure that doesn’t happen come May 5th :)</p>
<p>Thanks again!</p>
<p>You’re welcome. And I’m glad that there was a good reason for everything and that you were able to solve it. Good luck on the test!</p>