Self-study
I am starting to get a little discouraged by this exam. I have been practicing rather consistently the past couple of months (started a full-fledged study plan about four weeks ago), but I am consistently doing worse on my PrepTests (went from 162 to 161 to now 159). Starting to feel like things aren't clicking. I feel like I have a solid grasp of fundamentals which is why I am only doing practice, but things are trending in the wrong direction. I am really frustrated. Not sure what I am doing wrong here
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2 comments
This was happening to me for a while, and what helped me get out of it was these two things:
Like yomi said, not overdoing it. I felt an immense self-pressure to be constantly eating, breathing, and sleeping the LSAT. This was not helpful. In fact, it was harmful. Setting realistic goals and actually taking the breaks suggested by 7sage (or a slightly longer break when really burned out) was helpful.
Wrong answer journal. For some reason, I put this off for a while. Once I started doing it, I started to see the improvements in my scores. Even if I didn't fully understand what I did wrong, attempting to explain it was helpful. People do this in different ways, but for me I do this format:
-I quickly ruled out answer choices x (for this reason), y (For this reason), and z (for this reason). This left me with (what I chose) and (correct choice). I originally chose what I chose because ____. Upon review, the correct choice is correct because of _________.
You can do wrong answer journals a ton of different ways, and different people find certain methods most effective. This is just what works for me.
When you are receiving your PT scores, are you reviewing the incorrect questions? Also, if you have been consistently studying for the LSAT, you may be burning yourself out. I would reduce the time studying (like from 4 hours to 2 hours) for a week to allow yourself some space for revaluation. Focus on the drills, but more importantly, see if you are able to explain, aloud, your reasoning for picking an answer to a friend (or a rubber duck).