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I had been doing practice tests consistently prior to finishing the core curriculum. My diagnostic was "150". Since then, I have scored 155, 157, 154, and 157. Today, after finally finishing the core curriculum I took my first practice test and scored a measly 152. However, my blind review score was 163. While Logical reasoning is typically my strongest section(-4/-5), this time I performed very weakly as there was a bunch of questions in which the timer went off before I was able to answer. I personally think its because for a couple of weeks I hadn't been looking at any of the logical reasoning stuff as I was focusing on logic games which is typically my weakest section. I actually performed better on logical games that I usually do missing ten questions. While this is overall very low, it is an improvement for me. Is this a case of working to improve on my strength which is logical reasoning? I have roughly two months until I take the lsat in december. I have access to every lsat prep test ever made. What study routine do you think could help me achieve optimal performance?
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@jhaldy10325 what would be a consistent range? I am scoring between 153/154 and 159.... lol is that consistent?
Completing your first PT after the curriculum is a great accomplishment and I'd say it's pretty normal to not score fantastically once you finish. Yes you now know more but it's hard to take all of the information you gained and then apply it perfectly at first. You get better and better at that as you go on and take more tests and drill. One thing I try to focus more on is my BR score. This is what shows me my actual potential and understanding of the concepts vs. timing issues. For example, I scored a 155 untimed and my BR on the same test was 170. I was really proud of that 170 score because it showed me what I knew and learned from the CC. I could not have gotten that BR score without the CC. I should be scoring higher than that though which is where drills, practice and review. Congrats on finishing the course and I know you'll keep scoring higher :)
Thanks. Update, since taking this original test and scoring 152, my score since then has been 160 and then 159. I planned on taking the December lsat and my original score goal was 163. However, I only have a month left of prep and I know they tell you to score above your intended goal score multiple times before your ready to take the test. I'm going to keep prepping but at this point I planned on also taking the Feb LSAT.
99% chance that the 152 score isn't indicative of what you'll likely score on the next test. Awhile ago I score a 160 on one PT. Took 2 weeks off from PTing to focus on LG and a bit on RC. The following PT score was a 154. To no surprise, my LR score dropped slightly, as well as my RC score.
Take the next 2-3 days off from PTing, and drill all 3 sections. Then try to PT again.
@2859 I am glad to hear about your improvement. I think first focus on LG and max your score over there and then try LR you can read LSAT trainer RC chapter while you are working on LG and LR.
Update: I appreciate all of the great feedback. I practiced the time loop drilling for logical reasoning and it really helped me to develop a flow when answering questions. Before, even when I am fairly certain a question is 99% correct I still spent time thinking about it to make sure it was 100% correct. So I've learned to move on.
I only completed two logic games sections and one of the easy "acceptable situation" questions from a third question. All of the questions that I answered I got correct, but I left the other ones blanks instead of filling it in. On the logical reasoning section, I missed "Two" questions in the first one and three questions in the second one. I skipped an entire reading comp passage and missed a couple questions of the questions that I did answer but still managed to score a "160" which is my highest score yet. I've spent a lot of time drilling for logic games(despite my poor performance) and logical reasoning. I'm thinking of spending some time drilling for Reading Comp since I haven't focused on that section as much. Advice?
After you've done your br correctly watch the videos and find out what went wrong in each section, game, passage, and Lr question. Foolproof the games till you get them under time and all correct. Take a look at the passages in rc and find out how it's structured. Take a look at the questions and really dig deep to understand why four are WRONG and ONE is right. Type it out if you have to (highly recommended). Take your next pt when you're ready and do the same.
" Before you take another PT, try to learn everything you can from this one. Identify the weaknesses it exposed, and then study based on that information."
How do I make sure that I've learned everything there is to learn from the practice test? After blind reviewing, watching the explainations,then what? For logic games, I intend to redo the entire section until I can do it under 35
Mins with 100% accuracy. How do you review reading comp and logical reasoning?
Thanks for all the great advice. The time Loop app is really effective in helping me to complete logical reasoning questions within time.
Nothing about this seems at all out of the ordinary to me. You're more or less scoring within a consistent range. Great advice above. Before you take another PT, try to learn everything you can from this one. Identify the weaknesses it exposed, and then study based on that information. When you feel like you've addressed those weaknesses, then take your next PT. It will likely expose new weaknesses as well as show you that old weaknesses have not been addressed as fully as you may have thought, and the whole thing starts over.
Considering you took multiple PTs before completing the curriculum, you seem like you may be a little over eager to PT. Take it slow. You learn very little from PTing and you will plateau very low if you're not taking the time to learn from your PTs. Right out of the curriculum, I think one a week is probably all you have time for.
Anyway, don't worry about your scores in general or the one low score in particular, especially right out of the curriculum. It's hard, but you've got to emotionally detach from your PT scores. A low score simply means more opportunity to learn. If you take the time to learn, your scores will rise. If you don't, they won't. So worry about learning.
Seconding ALL the wonderful advice above!
Make sure to do a thorough BR and really understand why you chose the wrong answer choice as well as why you eliminated the wrong answer choice.
@2859 I was in a similar situation as you, after finishing core curriculum and taking a PT my score dropped below 150. From your post my best advice would be do not waste PTs. Make sure you are BRing all the question you got wrong before checking J.Y explanations. Build up your internal time clock to get a feel how long 80 seconds really take. You can do so by taking LR sections from PT 1-35 and do them individually while using a timer with loop countdown function. Set the timer on 80 seconds and 25 loops when it is past 80 seconds circle the question choose an answer choice and move on, come back to the question if you got extra time at the end of the section. For more timing advice I refer you to our timing guru @jhaldy10325
Personally I find it very helpful to max my LG score within a short amount of time using an approach which is based on many great advices on this form my suggestion is that while you are working on your timing implement this approach as well. I am a ELS student and started LG with -16 and managed to reach -2 to -0 using this and I do not see any reason why you would not be able to do it faster than me. After fool proofing LG Bundle, take LG sections of PT 1-35 under time and watch J.Y explanation after completing each section but this time when you watching focus mostly on how he teaches to perceive the right answer choice (instead of brute force) and try to implement his suggestions on the next section.
Do not get bog down on one question (take a hint if possible) but if you find one super difficult and you are confident about your master game board, skip the question answer others in that particular game then come back to it use your other set ups you drew; if nothing works finish the section and if you have extra time come back to it. The ultimate goal is to be able to systematically answer any questions so when under exam pressure you just follow your system. You need to develop a system that works best for you. The system I am trying to follow is like
1- read the question set up the sketch try make obvious inferences
2- check answer choices
3- If still confused take count of the items write them near questions and go through the rules one by one make inferences
4- check answer choices
5- If still stuck, SKIP the question
6- After I have done all other questions I will take another try at it by only checking the question against all of my sketches (I do not try to make inferences again unless I already finished the section)
Pacifico Logic Games Attack Strategy
https://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/2737/logic-games-attack-strategy
J.Y fool-proof guide
https://classic.7sage.com/lesson/fool-proof-guide-to-perfection-on-logic-games/
Online Stopwatch with Loop-countdown
http://www.online-stopwatch.com/loop-countdown/
I hope this helps you
Hey,
I think the best advice I have ever gotten is don't focus on your score, focus on learning and understanding. And also to be grateful for getting a question wrong because a weakness exposed and worked on during a practice test is one less weakness you'll have on the actual test day.
I know this is hard to actually feel. I have also definitely have had and still sometimes continue to have like a five point drop compared to my avg test score on certain tests. At that point all I can do is to use that test to work on my weaknesses.
I really like that you are scoring 10 points higher in your blind review. Are you skipping over hard questions fast enough so you can answer quickly all the easy ones and score near your current capability of 163?