Self-study
I've been studying for about a month and a half and am planning on testing in june and possible again in august. The most recent preptest i took, i got a 157. I feel like I'm not studying correctly. Additionally, I feel like fatigue was a big factor. Any advice? My dream school is UF and my GPA is above theirs but their LSAT median is 169.
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7 comments
How are you studying currently? What makes you think it is not correct?
You may still just be early in the process, so don't feel too discouraged! I can help give specific tips if you share how you've been studying!
@haena I wateched all the funidmentals videos but once I got into the specific "Logical Reasoning" and "reading comp" sections, I found them a little difficult to follow/I found myself saying "oh this is intuitive" and not fully paying attention, so I moved to just drilling and blind reveiwing and that has led to improvements, especially in RC. However, my biggest enemy right now is fatigue and time especially for the RC. After 2 sections, I feel like I have to read paragraphs over and over again to understand what it's saying. When it comes to sections, I'm getting roughly 4 wrong per section on LR and around 8 or 9 wrong on RC but that number jumps up significantly when I take full tests
@EKiene That sounds great! Are you keeping a WAJ for LR?
I took a peek at your analytics, have you taken more full PTs? It's been recommended to me to average around one full PT a week, so that I can build stamina and strategize for the full four sections. I used to skip it, but now I also use the one minute between sections to close my eyes, clear my head, and take deep breaths. During the break I also take the full fifteen minutes, stretch, use the restroom, and eat a snack. Fatigue is very normal, and it will require full PT practice to learn how to push through it (but don't overdo it!).
For RC, I try to treat it as a longer LR question. The questions are very similar, the challenge lies in being able to parse through difficult text or niche jargon. The best advice I can give/have seen online for RC is to cut back on social media and other short-form content, and to instead replace it with more reading. Reading literature, newspapers, academic journals, etc will greatly improve your speed and comprehension. I find that the errors I have from RC are misreading things or running out of time. If you spend a minute longer dissecting the passage, you can answer each question more quickly and confidently.
Approaching RC is also really similar to LR. Identify the argument, find the pieces of evidence that support it. Identify the tone of the passage, and extrapolate the author's strategies. Is she using analogies? Is she using comparative examples? Is she referencing another established source? Is she referencing a survey, or a study, or another culture? It will feel clunky and awkward at first, but with practice it will come naturally to you for each passage.
It's a good sign that you are doing well on the individual sections, and putting it all together is just another step of practice! To get at least a 169, you will need to get around 65/75 correct, or -10. Between doing the full PTs for stamina practice, I would continue to focus on the individual sections during the week. If RC is a particular challenge, continue to do timed and untimed RC practice. Timed to practice strategy, and untimed to practice accuracy.
You can also try to get your LR as close to -1 or -2, so that you can afford -8 or -9 on RC! It all depends on each person :-)
Wishing you luck!
@haena Thank you so much! This is super helpful!
@EKiene Also what is a WAJ
@EKiene Wrong Answer Journal! Here are some helpful links from 7Sage:
https://7sage.com/blog/wrong-answer-journals-and-you
https://7sage.com/blog/building-a-wrong-answer-journal
There's no right or wrong way to making a wrong answer journal - I personally believe that as long as I am doing some sort of review, I am still gaining the benefits of deep review. I don't keep at WAJ for RC, but it's helpful for LR to keep track of repeated mistakes or common question types that I get wrong. A WAJ is just a place for you to reflect on what went through your mind while answering questions and how to improve going forward. Even if your errors come from misreading a word or rushing through answer choices! It helps you gain insight to the types of errors you are making.
@haena thank you!