[jalban1324]

I have BEC in about a week. I am pretty good with time management, but is there preferred approach if you are short on time with the WC’s? I am budgeting 2hrs. for MCQ’s. Therefore, 20min/WC. I am confident with my writing, but I am not fast. Is it better to complete 2 high quality WC’s or finish 3 mediocre ones?

A (05/23/12) 92
R (07/02/12) 77
F (08/29/12) 69 Retake 2/27/13 80
B (10/22/12) 79

[Anonymous]

My review materials (Becker) stressed that they don't grade content of the WCs for accuracy, rather format/spelling/flow. Usually, I can write well, but I need time…which is sparse on the exam. What I the day before the exam was practice writing a “go-to” introduction, topic sentences, segways between ideas, and conclusions. I had 1hr and 15 minutes left for the WC (when I took it in August 2012), I went through each WC and filled in my intro's, topic sentence for body, and conclusions (just so in the case that I was stressed for time–they had the 3 main parts). Then I went back and filled in the meat (gave examples, etc.) whether/or not I knew what I was talking about…it worked out for me, I finished right in the knick of time and left the exam feeling good..ended up with an 85! Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

Remember, one of the WC's is not being graded…your thought as to only doing 2 may be risky, bc what if one of them is the one that isn't graded…then you have 1 good one and 1 blank/crappy one. If you prep all your paragraphs like I did then you don't worry as much and can use the rest of the time to develop you idea's so that they all hopefully turn out a little better than mediocre…at least this is how I felt bc I am not speedy when it comes to BSing about things I am unfamiliar with. Also…remember to restate all the info in the question if you need filler!

[Anonymous]

I had about 1:15 left when I started my WC. I'm also a terrible writer and used every second of that time to write and proof read multiple times. I'd be wary of the “two HQ WC and ignoring the third” approach because if you pick the wrong two you're out 7-8 points right off the bat. So you're pretty much high stakes gambling with your grade.

Just practice whipping threw the MCQ as fast as you can and don't get hung up on some calculation MCQ you can't figure out. If your going to gamble anywhere that would be the place to do it. Even the worst writer shouldn't need more than 1:30 to produce 3 high quality written communications and if you know your material, 30 min per testlest is very doable in BEC…

Good Luck.

[jalban1324]

Thank you both for your replies. I don't know why I was not considering the pretest possibility. I will plan to complete all three. Hopefully I can build up some extra time from the MCQ's.

A (05/23/12) 92
R (07/02/12) 77
F (08/29/12) 69 Retake 2/27/13 80
B (10/22/12) 79

[Sandra]

I also completed my intro and conclusion paragraphs first for all three- then filled in the rest. I sort of jumped between the three a little bit. I had two questions that although not hard, were not something I knew $hit about so that made it harder. I ended up finishing all three, but had I run out of time I would at least have finished something for every single one. I know some people have better luck telling which one is pre-test. I had NO idea.

[Author]

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