Self-study
LSAT HELP! Limited Progress
Hello everyone, I've been studying for the LSAT for about a year now and I am still struggling. I thought I would make this post to get some much-needed help from the 7Sage Community . I will do my best below to outline my struggles. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Background: I have had limited progress in the year. I took a diagnostic at 1:49 since then I have been only doing time sections and untimed sections. I have averaged about 15/26 correct but have gotten as high as 19/26
The issues
1. Timing: this has been one of the biggest issues with me when I do sections or questions untimed I get them right. Then when I do time sections, I make a little mistakes on easy questions usually, like question two or seven something like that usually 1 to 3 star questions.
And I know that I'm doing something different on drills versus when I'm doing timed sections, but I don't know exactly how to replicate this in my timed work
2. Diagnosis: I'm not exactly sure how to diagnose my own issues so what I've been doing is when I take a time to section any question that I miss what I do is for the next week I'll focus on that question this week was NA questions, and I really go through them slow, but I don't know a specific plan or specific set of actions to get better at the questions that I'm missing.
3. The stimulus: usually I do a pretty good job of understanding the stimulus when there's an argument, present understanding the gap and the reasoning, but then I get into the answer choices, and I struggle in the answer choices, especially with vague language and understanding what they say.
I'm just going all out here asking for your help everyone. I already put off going to law school for one year and I don't want to do it again. I have received much help from people on here and I greatly appreciate it.. I'm not opposed to getting a tutor and I'm wondering maybe if that's what it's gonna come down to., but also scared that what if I pay for a tutor and don't end up improving anyway. What has worked for everyone ? Like what are some specific things that I can do specific drills practices stuff like that because often I've gotten an advice before from people that seems to be very general like while you just need to keep practicing. I'm at a point where I think I've practiced a lot and I'm just feel like I'm spinning my circles.
Thank you everyone in advance for reading the long post. Also feel free to inbox me. I have posted on here before, and I lucked out and found a tutor or somebody with the same experience as me., that had some really valuable insight !!! Help please
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3 comments
If you’re doing well on untimed but not timed, then you need to learn to ignore the clock. Work at your own pace. imo it is better to take your time and get everything you try right + guess on the unfinished ones when the 5min warning comes on vs rushing through it and potentially making more mistake.
I also think it may be helpful to review your questions the same day/day after instead of so much later. It’ll be fresher in your mind and you’ll be able to better reference your original line of reasoning. I use a review checklist to make sure I understand: Why did I pick X answer? Why was it wrong? Why did I eliminate Y answer? Why id it right?
Have a strong prediction when you can going in. If you understand the argument and the question, create a simply worded prediction. Ideally one answer will fit it best. Confusing wording is part of the lsat, it is important to remember a lot of times that is intentional to throw it off. Every detail matters. Read carefully and understand each choice entirely. You should actively try to poke holes in each one. I know the approach changes slightly from question type to question type, but the principle still stands
If you haven’t really made progress in a year, something needs to change about your studying. It may be worth trying some different resources. Ultimately everyone has different learning styles. I have had friends have great luck with LSAT Demon. I’m still studying myself, but find it helpful to take sections alongside a buddy and review together so we can help each other understand our mistakes. I’m happy to do the same with you if you’d like!
@BaileyLuber @RahelaSami @EricHu @ZeSeanAli i thought I would tag the live class crew. You all always have so valuable insights in class your awsome, I'm throwing a hail Mary here for help.