What packets should I study?

New high school teams looking for advice should post here.
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VinaiRachakonda
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What packets should I study?

Post by VinaiRachakonda »

Hey all,

My schools is trying very hard to improve at quizbowl, and some advice I have read is the necessity of pouring through packets. So far we have gone through stuff like old MD spring packets and 2013 Prison Bowl. But as an intermediate level team, what are some must-read packets on the archives?

Thanks
Vinaichandra Rachakonda
Eleanor Roosevelt High School Quiz Team
Class of 2016
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Good Goblin Housekeeping
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Re: What packets should I study?

Post by Good Goblin Housekeeping »

1991 Wisconsin ELVIS
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AKKOLADE
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Re: What packets should I study?

Post by AKKOLADE »

VinaiRachakonda wrote:Hey all,

My schools is trying very hard to improve at quizbowl, and some advice I have read is the necessity of pouring through packets. So far we have gone through stuff like old MD spring packets and 2013 Prison Bowl. But as an intermediate level team, what are some must-read packets on the archives?

Thanks
Almost any HSAPQ ones, LIST, NSC if you're up for a challenge, ACF Fall (easier than NSC, probably).
Fred Morlan
University of Kentucky CoP, 2017
International Quiz Bowl Tournaments, CEO, co-owner
former PACE member, president, etc.
former hsqbrank manager, former NAQT writer & subject editor, former hsqb Administrator/Chief Administrator
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Re: What packets should I study?

Post by High Dependency Unit »

I would say Prison Bowl, LIST, and GSAC are annually very good. LIST is probably the easiest of the three, prison bowl the hardest. 2013 BHSAT was a fantastic regular difficulty set, but I wouldn't recommend 2012 (I don't know about other years). Harvard Fall is good if you want slightly more difficult questions. If you want to go a step beyond that there is PACE NSC.
Michael Borecki
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zachary_yan
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Re: What packets should I study?

Post by zachary_yan »

It seems like it would be good idea if the difficulty level of each packet set on the archive was marked (so labeled as novice, regular, nationals or whatever). Also, I'm just wondering what exactly "highly recommended as practice material" is supposed to mean? I'm assuming it's referring to the quality of the writing as tournament question material, but in that case I could imagine that any packet from like 2005 onward would be as good as any to just pick up stock clues.
Wayzata '13
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bmcke
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Re: What packets should I study?

Post by bmcke »

Ted Gan made a pretty nice difficulty index.
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Re: What packets should I study?

Post by mithokie »

The Difficulty Index is pretty good, except, I believe that NASAT is meant to be regular college difficulty. I know when we practice on NASAT sets we drop a handful of toss-ups per round, while we nearly never drop a PACE question in practice by the give away.
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Theodore
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Re: What packets should I study?

Post by Theodore »

mithokie wrote:The Difficulty Index is pretty good, except, I believe that NASAT is meant to be regular college difficulty. I know when we practice on NASAT sets we drop a handful of toss-ups per round, while we nearly never drop a PACE question in practice by the give away.
Thank you, that's been noted. I appreciate the constructive criticism, and encourage others to email/PM (don't want to derail this thread) me with comments on missing and mis-categorized sets as well.

To answer the question of "What packets should I study?", I would recommend practicing on a variety of difficulty levels, aka not just regular high school difficulty. Always try to push your comfort zone and play on sets a bit more difficult than what you're accustomed to. Once a week (or more!), play on the highest difficulty that does not frustrate you (e.g. if it's difficult to the point where it isn't fun and demotivates you, tone it down a notch).
Ted (Ze Feng) Gan
The Pennsylvania State University, 2025
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Carleton University, 2019
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Former Executive Member of the Ontario Quizbowl Association (ONQBA), 2015-16
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AKKOLADE
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Re: What packets should I study?

Post by AKKOLADE »

I think you should consider breaking sets out in terms of difficulty by year; for example, HFT is usually a hard regular HS set, but in 2012-13 was pretty close to an IS set; Prison Bowl started out pretty easy, then inflated in difficulty, etc.
Fred Morlan
University of Kentucky CoP, 2017
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Re: What packets should I study?

Post by Stained Diviner »

zachary_yan wrote:It seems like it would be good idea if the difficulty level of each packet set on the archive was marked (so labeled as novice, regular, nationals or whatever). Also, I'm just wondering what exactly "highly recommended as practice material" is supposed to mean? I'm assuming it's referring to the quality of the writing as tournament question material, but in that case I could imagine that any packet from like 2005 onward would be as good as any to just pick up stock clues.
The bolding of highly recommended sets has not been updated well. At this point, it means absolutely nothing.
David Reinstein
Head Writer and Editor for Scobol Solo, Masonics, and IESA; TD for Scobol Solo and Reinstein Varsity; IHSSBCA Board Member; IHSSBCA Chair (2004-2014); PACE President (2016-2018)
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