Self-study
I'm almost 3 months into my studies and my best PT is 159 untimed. Any tips on improving LR stamina and speed? I start disassociating after the first section and my focus just plummets. I can't even attempt timed PTs yet; I have never finished a section and attempted all questions. Any study tips or ways to improve focus and not experience cognitive overload? I'm trying to slowly build it up and focusing on fundamentals but wondering if there's ways to speed up the process.
For context, my diagnostic was 139 so I know I'm improving. My biggest issue isn't understanding every question but maintaining focus and processing information efficiently for multiple sections. Did anyone else struggle with this? What can help build endurance and transition from untimed accuracy to timed performance?
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I definitely struggled with stamina and speed during my preparation as well, so you're not alone. First, congratulations on moving from a 139 diagnostic to a 159 untimed—that's a substantial improvement and shows that your understanding of the material is getting stronger.
For context, I earned a 170 on the LSAT (approximately the 97th percentile) and a 515 on the MCAT (approximately the 91st percentile). One thing I learned from preparing for both exams is that endurance is a trainable skill, just like logical reasoning or reading comprehension.
A few things that helped me:
Prioritize accuracy before speed. If you're scoring 159 untimed after only three months, I wouldn't rush the timing process. Speed tends to develop naturally when your reasoning becomes more automatic.
Build endurance gradually. Instead of jumping straight into full timed PTs, I would do one timed section, then two timed sections back-to-back, then three, and eventually a full exam. Treat focus like a muscle that needs progressive overload.
Review why your focus drops. When I felt mentally exhausted, it was often because I was overanalyzing questions. Thorough blind review helped me identify which question types I was spending unnecessary mental energy on.
Practice skipping strategically. One of the biggest breakthroughs for me was realizing I didn't need to solve every question in order. If a question felt unusually difficult, I would flag it, move on, and return later. This preserved mental energy for easier points.
Simulate real testing conditions. Once your fundamentals are solid, start taking sections under strict timing with minimal distractions. The discomfort is part of the training process.
Focus on consistency rather than marathon study sessions. I found that shorter, highly focused study periods produced better results than forcing myself through hours of exhausted studying.
The fact that you're not finishing sections yet doesn't concern me nearly as much as the fact that you've already gained about 20 points from your diagnostic. That's evidence that your understanding is improving. In my experience, timing problems are often easier to fix than comprehension problems because timing usually improves as pattern recognition becomes more automatic.
If you're already at 159 untimed after starting at 139, I would view your current challenge as an endurance issue rather than an intelligence or capability issue. Continue strengthening the fundamentals, gradually increase timed work, and give yourself time to adapt to the cognitive demands of multiple sections. Many strong LSAT scorers go through exactly the phase you're describing before timing starts to click.I definitely struggled with endurance early on, so you're not alone. First, going from a 139 diagnostic to a 159 untimed in about three months is significant progress. That tells me your fundamentals are improving, which is the hardest part.
I earned a 515 on the MCAT (approximately the 91st percentile) and a 170 on the LSAT (approximately the 97th percentile), and one thing I learned from both exams is that stamina is a trainable skill just like logical reasoning.
What helped me most was separating accuracy training from speed training. I didn't worry about timing until I could consistently understand why every correct answer was right and every wrong answer was wrong. Once my accuracy improved, I gradually introduced time pressure instead of jumping straight into full timed sections.
A few things that helped:
• Build endurance progressively. If a full section feels overwhelming, do 10 questions timed, then 15, then 20, then a complete section. Treat stamina like increasing mileage when training for a race.
• Review more than you test. Most score gains come from deep review. After every LR set, identify whether missed questions resulted from reasoning errors, rushing, misreading, or loss of focus.
• Practice active engagement. While reading a stimulus, force yourself to identify the conclusion, evidence, assumptions, and argument structure before looking at the answer choices. This keeps your mind engaged and reduces zoning out.
• Learn to skip strategically. High scorers do not necessarily answer every question in order. If a question is consuming too much time, mark it and move on. Returning later is often more efficient than fighting through cognitive fatigue.
• Simulate test conditions gradually. Once you're comfortable, start combining sections back-to-back. For example, do two LR sections consecutively before attempting a full PT.
• Focus on consistency, not speed. Speed is usually a byproduct of pattern recognition. As you see hundreds of arguments, common flaw patterns, assumption structures, and reasoning types become automatic.
Most importantly, don't be discouraged that you aren't finishing sections yet. A 20-point increase from 139 to 159 shows you're already making meaningful progress. In my experience, many students try to force speed too early. Building strong fundamentals first often leads to much larger long-term gains when timing is introduced.
If you're already scoring 159 untimed, I would continue prioritizing accuracy and gradually increasing timed exposure rather than rushing into full timed PTs before you're ready. The endurance and processing speed typically improve as your understanding becomes more automatic.
@PrateekDevulpally Saving this! I also do decently on untimed, but as soon as that timer starts, I feel rushed and can't read as thoroughly. I'm taking my first round in June and am terrified, but plan to retake but. didn't really have a plan for improving my time. This will help immensley.
@ErinThames Thank you, Erin! I completely understand how you feel. I remember experiencing the same thing early in my preparation—untimed work felt manageable, but as soon as the clock started running, everything seemed faster and more stressful. One thing that helped me was realizing that timing is a separate skill from understanding the material. It took time and repetition before the pace started to feel natural.
For me, gradually increasing timed practice rather than forcing full exams right away made a big difference. The more exposure I had to timed conditions, the less intimidating the clock became. I also found that focusing on accuracy first helped build the confidence needed to work more efficiently later.
It's completely normal to feel nervous before your first official administration, but remember that this is only one step in the process. The fact that you're already identifying timing as an area to improve puts you ahead of many people because you can work on it strategically. Keep building your fundamentals, trust the work you're putting in, and give yourself permission to learn from the experience. You've got this, and I'm rooting for you!
Try doing timed sections to build your stamina. Maybe one RC one LR then slowly do more. Your stamina will build up as your brain adapts to it. Give yourself grace to not get all questions timed. Aim for 15/25. Then 18/25. Then 20/25 and so on.
You might have to slowly build up the stamina. Do a 10 question drill in 18 minutes. Reduce time or increase difficulty as you see score improvement. Build up to more questions. Take the section but maybe give yourself 45 minutes instead of 35. I wouldn’t do it untimed for too long though. Slight time pressure might ease you into it. That’s what I’ve had to do as well. Good luck!! :)
I struggled with maintaining focus due to brain fog + ADHD and what helped me for practice tests was making a routine to really wake up my brain before:
Full night of sleep if possible (8-9 hours)
Morning exercise - I need to do something high intensity (run/spin class) to really get my heart rate up to wake up my brain, but a brisk walk may work, jumping jacks, run up and down the stairs, etc.
High protein meal with healthy fats and fibre - make sure you aren't eating meals that cause a big crash while you're studying, aka simple carbs and sugar
Warm up brain with short drill of easy questions
PT tips:
Close your eyes and take a couple deep breaths when you feel yourself losing focus/not processing the words you are reading.
Another trick is to read the stimulus/passage at talking pace, hover your mouse over the words, and/or highlighting the words
Move around during 10 minute break as well - quick set of jumping jacks/push ups, splash face with cold water
To be honest I would not do full untimed PTs. Untimed drills for sure, especially focusing on drills for your weaker areas, but always do PTs timed. Untimed PTs take way too much time. Try stacking 2 sections (1 LR 1 RC or 2 LR) back to back - untimed at first if you need to, but try doing this timed to build up stamina. It is better to try to get as many questions as you can in 35 minutes and then do the ones you don't get to in BR. This allows you to see what questions are taking you too long, where you can speed up, etc. The final goal is to get the first 10 questions in 10 minutes. Another strategy would be to do timed sections starting out at 45 min, then 40, then 35.
You have to learn to guess and move on when a question is taking too long, it is part of the strategy, even for 170+ scorers! A score for an untimed PT will not be an accurate assessment of where you are at, part of the challenge is the timing.
Another trick is to do timed speed drills of easier questions or certain question types - try setting it to 1 min/question or even less. This will build your confidence over time and force you to notice patterns (really good for PSA and SA types as you can spot the correct answer fast).
Everyone is different so what helped me may not help you, but I hope some of this helps! The main thing with getting faster and building stamina is practice! It takes less brain power and less focus for easier questions after you have spent a lot of time drilling, then this frees up your energy to tackle harder ones. It gets easier I promise!
@angantous thank you! Will definitely give this a try
As someone with chronic migraines and brain fog, this is definitely something I struggle with as well. I've found two things that help with it.
1) Going question by question. It's not about rushing and finishing every section but doing the most you can as accurately as possible. When I was scoring in the 150s changing my focus to be solely on the accuracy of the question I was doing vs. the section/PT as a whole I was taking is what helped bump me into the 160s.
2) Whenever I feel myself struggling to process what I'm reading, I stop, close my eyes and breathe to recenter. Try to reconnect to the specific question you're on with a clear brain. I have found that taking the extra time is worth it if it saves me from re-reading the same thing over and over without it fully clicking.
Also, maybe try taking it step by step. Get comfortable at doing one timed section, then two, then three, then a full PT.
@Hannah2026 I appreciate this, thanks!