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So, I was reading this guide (https://gpqb.wordpress.com/2017/08/07/q ... ll-levels/) and I feel like my team ranks around the State Competitor/Nationals Playoffs Contender range. However, those sets are way too hard for a middle school. Now, I have 2 questions...

1) Top MS teams: Do you guys practice with PACE NSC, NASAT, and ACF Nats questions?
2) Will someone make a companion to this guide for MS teams?

The best general advice I can give you is that no single formula is going to work for everyone, and there's no streamlined guide that's just going to tell you how to be good or a contender. That being said NASAT, ACF Nationals, and NSC are all extremely different in difficulty and none of them are really going to help you do well at middle school level tournaments (there may be an argument to NSC to some degree for specific categories)

A hypothetical equivalent to this guide for middle schoolers uses the exact same study strategies but with easier tournaments. If you study to try to have success at a difficulty closer to (or even a bit above) MSNCT playoffs, you should be able to expect success at the harder questions of MSNCT, so like, consider studying some IS sets or regular difficulty HS housewrites.

Otherwise just uh, figure out what you're not getting or try to get an idea of what other teams can do to beat you and uh, just try to cover up those potential holes I guess?

quizbowlchamp1 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 28, 2024 8:43 pm So, I was reading this guide (https://gpqb.wordpress.com/2017/08/07/q ... ll-levels/) and I feel like my team ranks around the State Competitor/Nationals Playoffs Contender range. However, those sets are way too hard for a middle school. Now, I have 2 questions...

1) Top MS teams: Do you guys practice with PACE NSC, NASAT, and ACF Nats questions?
2) Will someone make a companion to this guide for MS teams?

No, we do not practice with PACE NSC or NASAT questions for two main reasons,
1.) They're too hard
2.) A lot of material on those is esoteric and unimportant for middle level competitions
(we usually practice with IS and IS-A sets)

My school has made it to nationals several times and here's what I have to say. First, we do not use those packets they are too hard. We study QB reader every day, do practice rounds, and read packets at practices (Wednesdays every week) and every week we write 3 QB questions as warmups for the practice, Hope This Helps!

The only packet on your list that is maybe worth studying is NSC and only since I know you play up sometimes - I think the highest that a middle school player should ever go is NSC