Self-paced
Hello all! I am consistently getting about sixteen questions correct on logical reasoning sections. I typically get two to three wrong within the first 15/16 questions but then I tank in the last ten. I feel like I am not improving on those harder questions and I haven't been able to identify why that is.
I am currently doing timed sections and untimed drilling. My accuracy is usually anywhere from 70-75 percent on the questions that I get to and I on average score a 15/16. However, I usually don't get to about the last five.
If anyone wants to share any advice or have any study tips that significantly helped them I'm more than open to hearing them. Any help is much appreciated.
Thanks & happy studying to everyone!
Edit: I tried to implement everyone's suggestions in a timed LR section (mostly skipping questions that were eating up my time and going back to them) and was able to get to all of the questions. I also scored a 17/25 and received a 17/25 for my accuracy as well. Thank you everyone!
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12 comments
I had a tutor help me with this! You can try doing a timed section doing the first 15 within 35 minutes and leave the last 10 blank, then without looking at your score do the last ten in blind review. After you're getting all 15 correct, do 16 within 35, then 17 within 35, etc. until you reach all 25 within 35.
You can also see if you have any mistakes coming misreading question stems with True/False, Except, NOT, Without, Agree/Disagree, for a quick point boost!
Also, timing will come naturally, I promise! Everyone struggles with timing, even high-scorers. But once the language and diagramming starts to flow immediately, you'll eventually be able to make time for the last 10.
@haena That's really interesting. I've never heard that strategy before thanks!
Hi there,
I’d think about this as two separate issues as accuracy and timing. Since you’re missing 2–3 questions in the first 15 or 16, I’d recommend starting there. Those early questions are often more straightforward, so picking up those points can really help your score before you even start thinking about finishing the whole section.
When you review, don’t just look at the question type. Try to figure out why you missed each question. Was it because you misread the conclusion? Did you misunderstand what the question was asking? Maybe you picked an answer that was too strong, or missed a key word like “some,” “most,” “unless,” or “only.” Or maybe you got stuck between two answers and chose the one that seemed more tempting. Once you know the reason behind your mistakes, it gets a lot easier to know what to work on.
For timing, try practicing skipping questions a bit more aggressively. If a question feels confusing after your first read, or if you notice yourself rereading the same answer choices again and again, just mark it and move on. Remember, you don’t have to do the section in perfect order. Sometimes one tough question in the middle can eat up time that you could use to get two or three easier questions right later on.
Also, try not to assume that the last ten questions are all super hard. There are often some very doable questions near the end, but you might be getting to them when you’re low on time or energy. The goal is to grab the questions you can get with confidence, skip the ones that are taking up too much time, and circle back to them later if you have time.
One thing that can really help is to review not just the questions you got wrong, but also the ones that took you a long time or felt uncertain. Even if you got them right, slow answers can still hurt your timing if they’re costing you time on other questions.
So here’s what I’d suggest is that to first, focus on cleaning up those early-section misses. Then, work on building a stronger skipping strategy. After that, practice getting to more questions under timed conditions. You don’t need to be perfect at every hard question to improve from -9 or -10. A lot of your progress will come from better review, smarter triage, and making sure you’re not losing points on questions you could have gotten right.
@Asma Thank you for the advice I will definitely try to implement skipping questions that eat up my time. How do you suggest that I clean up those early section misses? Just by reading more carefully?
Hi, I really hope this helps because it did to me. If you are scoring around -9 I think you can improve just by doing a quick diagnosis of how you are performing. Here are the three VERY important questions I think you should ask yourself to get you to a better score:
Don't even think about any stimulus. When you look at the question, do you know exactly what type of question it is? Necessary Assumption? Main Conclusion? Most Strongly Supported?
If so, do you know exactly what the specific task is for each type of question? Do you have any problems succeeding the task?
Do you know exactly why you are getting those questions wrong? If so, why is it? Are you misreading the answer choice? Do you not know what to do?
-> I have been studying the test for quite a while now, and I improved by 10 points once all the three questions were unequivocally answered. Not only should you review the questions you missed, you also have to understand why you are getting them wrong. If you have that clearly in your mind, then it gets easier to build a strategy accordingly
Good luck!
@Daisy228 Thank you for taking the time to respond! How do you recommend I understand why I am getting a question wrong? I think that's what I'm really struggling with.
@afgriffith1469 If I share what I did, I tried to write as accurately as possible on why I was getting these questions wrong on my Wrong Answer Journal. While I was reviewing all the questions, I realized that the reasons why I was getting such questions were redundant. For instance, I was having a hard time finding what the assumption was in weakening/strengthening, and I was constantly misreading the answer choice in main conclusion. When I saw that there was a pattern in my mistakes, I made a database to put down why I was getting answers wrong and that helped me improve a lot in terms of avoiding little mistakes(that saves you some points)
It kinda looks like this for reference.
I don't think you have to do this, but in my experience I was really sucking at it(like I started with a 139) so I really had to figure out what the problem was and this is what I chose to do. My point is that you really have to know what mistakes you are making so that you can make a game plan accordingly
@Daisy228 I just made myself a wrong answer journal based off of this one. Thank you so much for all of your advice!
something my tutor told me is that typically the hardest questions are in the middle. so the moment you get stuck skip questions and go back to them. the last questions are typically easier as well he told me so you figure you would much rather get the easy questions right and guess on the hard ones than spend your time on the hard ones and have to rush through the easy ones. granted not every test is like that but he said for the most part that is the structure. easier in the beginning, hardest in the teens, easier at the end. he also told me the LSAT is made to punish linear thinkers. So if you just go through each question one at a time do not skip or anything you are only hurting yourself.
@CalebTurner That's very interesting I haven't heard that before. I will try skipping questions that I get stuck on and go back to them with any time that I have left over. Thanks for letting me know!
@afgriffith1469 always just throw an answer down though. Do not leave it blank. because you would much rather have A answer than have no answer at all.
@CalebTurner Right, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for your advice!