We're about 7 weeks out for the August LSAT, and I'm aiming for a 175+, but my BR seems to be consistently 175 but not ever higher. The questions I miss are mostly solvable under non-timed conditions. But on the back end of a section I seem to lose the presence of mind to solve these tricky questions, and in that moment they feel impossible. Does anyone have any advice on keeping up that mental clarity?
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The same thing happens to me. But I started to notice that this phenomenon got a whole lot worse when the first two-thirds of a section took longer than average. At that point, I've used more energy and have less time for the trickiest questions. Practically, this means you need to get as good as possible at the early questions. Not just getting them right, but getting them right quickly and without expending much effort. And then when taking PTs, getting through the first 15 as quickly as I can. Then, mentally, my LR section has begun with hopefully about 20+ minutes left for 10 questions. When I get in that situation, I feel much more mentally prepared for the end of the section. So, maybe it's more about practicing making the easier questions easier, so that the harder questions aren't as hard. The good news is it looks like you're fully capable of doing this, since you only got 1 question wrong on the back half of the test. That makes me think it's less of a burn out issue, and more of a consistency with timing issue.
@AriVilker1 Thanks for the reply! I think you're right, in one section (S2) I felt like I had no time and was forced to rush through the questions, and barely had enough time left, and I scored -5, and then the next section it felt like I had all the time in the world, and I had almost 2 minutes per question for the last 10 or so, and that relaxed feeling lead me to score -0 on that one. I don't know how much of it was that it was an easier section, or whether it was just my timing.
@JEB I also find it tricky sometimes to separate the difficulty vs. the timing. The way I've thought about it is that they feed into each other. When a section is easier, you start doing better on timing, which makes it easier, and the cycle continues. While you're taking a live test, you can't control how challenging a section will be. The part of the cycle you can control to some degree is standardizing how quickly you move through the test, mitigating early increases in difficulty. Then, you're at least facilitating half of the cycle and putting yourself in a good position. Of course, that's easier said than done, but that's at least my mental framework for approaching LR sections.
I think a drill that could be helpful for you is a "Last 10 in 10 minutes." The initial goal with this drill isn't necessarily to get every single question right, but to practice moving through difficult questions under timed pressure. This both trains you to stay calm, and to focus in on the important details more quickly. It also helps with testing fatigue. Doing these regularly could improve your accuracy towards the end, and you can start off with 15 minutes and work your way down if 10 minutes feels too hard to begin with.
I'm noticing that you got more wrong on the earlier sections however, which suggests that it's not simply a fatigue issue. You could consider doing some tricky questions as a warm-up before, so that by the time you get to them on your PT it doesn't feel totally new.
I would also consider collating all the questions you're getting wrong on your PT and redoing them in a drill in a week or so. You may remember the answers to some, but likely not all. If you later get them right, this shows that it's more of a timing issue, but if you still get some wrong this could indicate that you need to take a different approach to certain questions.
Lastly, make sure that you're keeping a thorough Wrong Answer Journal and really digging into your thought process for the questions you get incorrect.
You're in a great place, and well-positioned to get that 175+, so keep going and good luck with studying!
@LowriThomas Thank you, I'll certainly try those ideas, I have identified that under timed pressure I stop diagramming hard conditional questions, and thats my most common miss, so I've been practicing those.