<p>I was wondering if you guys thought people that have an extra section of reading get screwed b/c it causes you to think harder. (or i guess math if you have a hard time w/ math).</p>
<p>wow that made me sound really dumb.</p>
<p>my question is...</p>
<p>Critical reading, and math for certain people, require more energy and cause more fatigue than the other two sections. hence, are people that have to take a 4th section of this part of the test at a disadvantage to say someone else who had extra grammar questions? (which uses very little brainpower & causes minimal fatigue).</p>
<p>Wow, that's a good question. I never thought about that. I guess I would think a person might be disadvantaged by that, but, like you started to say, different people are frustrated by different sections.</p>
<p>Maybe the CB thinks that if it randomly assigns different extra sections anonymously, each test-taker has an equal chance of receiving a section he doesn't want (I'm assuming that the world is evenly split among mathophobes, writophobes, and readophobes, and that the extra sections are evenly split among math, reading, and writing). In that way, CB wouldn't be consciously hurting any particular people, but it would be consciously doing harm to an indeterminate group of students.</p>
<p>Or, more likely, CB hasn't thought of it either :)</p>
<p>I've always thought, for whatever it's worth, that a lot of little things can cut against a person reaching their potential on the test. Uncomfortable chairs, small desks, and surly proctors would all be things that would disadvantage individuals within the group. I think this is probably one reason why CB lets you take the test as many times as you want--over time, with varying disadvantages applied in each test, an accurate picture of your "real" score should emerge.</p>
<p>I think it does. That explains my score. DAMN CB!</p>
<p>Definitely. I am in a better mood knowing that the "extra section" is math because it comes easily to me. However, plowing through another reading section makes me nervous and I expend more mental "energy" otherwise. I think it's a valid statement that the "experimental section" has an influence.</p>
<p>I agree and my d will definitely agree. Her weakest point is the CR. She says it zaps so much of her "mental energy" that it definitely has a negative effect on the remaining portions of the test. She's taking her first SAT in May, but as she is taking the Kaplan course, she has sat through about 3 practice tests already. Her CR portion has remained consistently low. We have come to the conclusion that her CR score is not going to change that much, so she is trying to approach the test by not letting the CR have a negative impact on the remaining portions of the test -like math- where she should do ok. We are hoping she has 1 or 2 math sections before she has any critical reading to do. If she has 2 reading sections after the writing portion, she feels she won't be able to concentrate on the math. She took the ACT in April and will take it again in June. She found the ACT test a lot less "mind numbing" than the SAT. My d is not the type of kid who willingly wants to take additional tests, but she is finding the SAT so draining and awful, she wanted to give the ACT a try. Her April results were ok and this was without hardly any studying. So she's hoping the June ACT results will be better. Good luck to all. Remember--this will soon be over.</p>
<p>I never though of that, i would definately say so, that is why I like the ACT so much better. I would love having an extra math section, but an extra CR, hell no!</p>
<p>think of it this way, the experimental WILL COUNT and then you'll be prepared</p>
<p>Absolutely the luck of the draw can hurt some people. Most of my students find the reading comp much more fatiguing, but for others its the math. Plus, while experimental sections tend to look just like scored sections with a comparable level of difficulty, they can be significantly more difficult (or even significantly easier.)</p>
<p>It's hard to develop and approach to the experimental sections since you don't know which section was experimental until the end of the test. You're not allowed to look ahead, of course, and count RC sections. So, I try to get my students to treat each section as a separate test. When you're done with a particularly hard section, just say to yourself "that was probably the experimental section, so I'm not going to let it psych me out." Move on and don't worry about what you can't change. And hey, if you say "that must have been the experimental section" 9 times in a row, so what. :) It still might have helped you focus on the section at hand.</p>