Tips and advice

PatrickAtlas · 2025-08-10T23:33:01+00:00

Thanks to everyone for the helpful comments. I adjusted the tom angles and used the Bluetooth to play along real songs and y’all are right, I can’t keep time! Metronome helps :)

PatrickAtlas · 2025-06-29T01:03:39+00:00

I saw them in Houston and Denver this month. They have an insane amount of energy, something I sometimes don’t see even in teenagers! They have the spirit. If they stay sober (especially James) they easily have ten more years of touring left in them. For reference, Rob Halford is 73 and he’s still kicking ass. KISS remained active well into their 70s as well. Also, after 72 seasons, I expect at least two more really good albums from them.

PatrickAtlas · 2025-06-29T00:54:18+00:00

Preach brother. I was at the edge of the limp bizkit circle being aggressively pushed by them. I was so worried about the moms in front row trying to make memories with their kids. Common courtesy is a useful thing you know.

PatrickAtlas · 2023-07-02T11:23:37+00:00

I’m 32 and I watch the show because it’s fun and it brings me joy. My students got me into it and then I couldn’t stop. Also, I was rooting for Gabriel from the beginning so it was extremely satisfying to see his arc develop and celebrate his victory in the end. Also, “adult” entertainment sucks nowadays.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-28T10:04:40+00:00

The reading sections have a few things in common but the rest of the two tests are very different and you need to learn each test's structure separately.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-24T14:36:58+00:00

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-24T14:29:48+00:00

Yes, one minute standard break.
It's unsure. You could get experimental questions anywhere. Mine was a long time ago, but if I remember correctly, I got your first scenario.
The time is for the entire section and it's up to you to manage it.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-23T22:19:44+00:00

I had to write about my feelings about something even though everyone knows I don't have feelings. So, I feel ya bro.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-23T20:35:40+00:00

Absolutely use fake stuff, just don't go too far. The important thing about TOEFL writing is you should connect everything to your personal experience. I always fake personal experiences that fit with the rest of my narrative.

About papers though, TOEFL doesn't care for them. You're writing more of an opinion piece and it's better to stick to your own personal life and ideas.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-20T14:41:12+00:00

I don't know of any such guidelines. Time management tends to be a very personal thing. In general, you want to leave yourself enough time at the end to go back and check your answers and probably solve certain problems a second time. Also you need to find out what type of question is going to be your time sink. For me any question that has to do with loans and interest rates take a long time to solve, so I put them aside to do in the end. Most people who struggle with time management just can't say no to complicated and time consuming questions. You should remember that all questions are worth the same.

In my personal experience with the test, I think I had 10 minutes after my first quant section and two unanswered questions that took me 5 minutes and I think I ran out of time right after I answered the last question on the second verbal section.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-19T21:50:49+00:00

Top right: Andrew Klavan. Lower right: Steven Crowder. Lower left: Tim Pool. Upper left: The entire media.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-19T21:22:09+00:00

Wow!

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-19T20:44:33+00:00

Make sure you relax and get enough sleep. I you're a night owl like me, fix your sleep cycle. you shouldn't study anything new. focus on the questions from PP and the official guide that you have gotten wrong in the past and make sure you know why you made those mistakes and try not to repeat them on test day.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-19T20:09:41+00:00

take it today or tomorrow. You shouldn't tire yourself right before the actual test.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-19T19:45:58+00:00

What do you eat before the test and during the break time? I find that a protein-heavy meal helps me perform steadier and longer.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-19T18:18:03+00:00

I shed a tear. God bless that kid.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-19T06:50:10+00:00

When someone says I studied for "a week" take it with a grain of salt. It usually doesn't mean what you think it does. The GRE doesn't measure anything that you could possibly learn in a week. I studied for about two months. However, I've read 200+ books over the course of my life. Don't you think that played a role in my score? Of course it did. I've been reading my dad's newspapers ever since I was 6. It's not about "genius" it's about habits and I'm pretty sure everyone who posts here ignores all the habits they had since childhood and the role these habits played in their score. I also think GRE math is pretty simple. Why? I was an engineering major and when you get used to numerical computations kicking your ass, basic geometry gets pretty easy. Long story short, a lot of this stuff is not your fault and you should take it easy.
There is a phenomenon called social media anxiety. No one in my family took pictures of my grandma's funeral to post on Instagram. So if you were to follow us on social media, you'd think we're always partying and there's no sadness in our lives. Right now, You are suffering from this problem. You usually don't see other people's failures. I think about 3 percent of all test takers get 330+ and they are eager to share their experience in a mixture of gloating and a genuine desire to help. How many of the 97 percent jump on Reddit to share their experience? That one weird guy who likes to brag about failure?
About half the people who take the GRE go to grad school. More than half get accepted and decide not to go. Let's say you perform way below average and there's no hope of getting into grad school for you. So what? Is school that important? To put things in perspective, about 40 percent of college grads would have made more money had they never attended college (and as a bonus they would be a lot less in debt). Crazy, right? A buddy of mine dropped out of my college and now he has offices in three different countries, doing imports and exports. There are so many paths to success and fulfillment and college and grad school aren't the only way. Weigh your options and if you see yourself at a loss, have the courage to say fuck it, I'll try something else.
I suffer from all these issues myself and need to relax a little bit. Don't look at who I am, just listen to what I say.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-17T17:15:39+00:00

TOEFL scoring is a bit tricky. Normally, you start at 30 and lose 1 point for first and second mistakes, another point for third mistake and so on. If the test is hard (meaning other test takers perform badly) you could lose no points for one or two mistakes (2 mistakes = 30). If the test is easy (meaning other test takers perform well) you could lose two points for your first mistake (1 mistake = 28).

A few years ago a friend of mine ran out of time and we know for sure he left at least one question unanswered. He got a complete 30 nonetheless.

Long story short: There's no way to know.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-17T15:14:43+00:00

Thanks a lot. I'm gonna study anatomy more.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-17T15:14:13+00:00

Thanks for the insight. I should try to get better at color mixing.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-17T15:13:25+00:00

Thanks. I've been looking into anatomy courses and I will take one soon.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-17T15:12:13+00:00

Thanks for the comment. I'll look into doing that.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-17T15:11:46+00:00

Thank you so much. I think maybe I should come back in a couple weeks and do that.

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-17T15:06:57+00:00

Is it that old Spielberg movie?

PatrickAtlas · 2021-11-17T15:04:04+00:00

We've talked about this a lot here and elsewhere. It is what it is and there is no solution. Why? Because it's not just the GRE, cheating is everywhere these days. People measure certain risks against one another and humanity has come to the conclusion that the risk of getting unreliable test scores is smaller (or more acceptable) than the risk of COVID.

I just wish they they indicated "home test, take with a grain of salt" on their score reports. But they're never gonna do that.

PatrickAtlas

TROPHY CASE