Time Constraints

[boo]

Anyone else have big variations in practice test scores when you are under the time crunch vs not?

If I practice with a countdown timer of 35min I find myself rushing and finishing in 31-32, and scoring poorly (~160)

If I practice without a countdown timer, I find I typically finish around 35-37, but end up with scores around 170. 

Any tips besides just continuing to do practice exams? At this point I'm considering taking the latter approach and accepting I won't answer every question, but the ones I do look at have a good chance of getting them right

[Ben]

It sounds like time management is a bigger issue for you than anything else. If you're finishing early under time constraints, you need to (thoughtfully, not indiscriminately) spend more time on tough questions. You'll need to learn to take a deep breath and focus without panicking on the odd question that takes you more time than you'd like. If you're hitting 170s in 37 minutes or less, the skill is there, so try and trust yourself and know that you'll make up for that lost time on questions that are easy and take 30 seconds. 

You can also just "brute force" an improvement in your speed by drilling individual sections at 30-31 minutes instead of 35. If you go that route, you should do at least two sections per session (I would honestly just do full tests but YMMV) so that you stay accustomed to focusing for more than a short period of time. You should also be ready to be patient with yourself, because your scores will suffer at first. A lot of people I know really didn't like this method, so if it stresses you out more than anything, drop it, but it worked well for me.