Closing the gap between my BR and timed sections is something I also struggle with right now. But seeing that your timed score is consistently much lower, I think spending less time worrying about timing and focusing on accuracy just like you do on your BR sessions can allow you to improve.
One important thing to remember is that every question is worth 1 point - doesnt matter how difficult it feels. If after even 90 seconds on a question you find yourself stuck or lost, I'd recommend you flag it, make the best guess you can, and move on. You're likely gaining so many points on BR because youre actually getting time to pick up points on those questions that are easier for you. Learn to keep your momentum going through each section so you can pick up those easier points, and save more time at the end for those more difficult questions.
Full PTs can be beneficial still once a week or so to build stamina, but focusing on timed drills or even untimed sections to practice getting comfortable with a pace that works for you can help. Use your time wisely and I think you'll notice you pick up more points.
I used to PT in the 150s with 170+ BR, and I was able to break out of that and finally enter the 160s, and now the 170s. To answer your questions:
Admittedly, this is something that I occasionally still find myself doing. Even so, the best strategy is to just choose the best possible answer choice you can, and if it's been 90 seconds, to just flag and move on. Something that helped me out a lot was utilizing the elimination feature. Anticipating answer choices can also make you save time, as well as recognizing reoccurring patterns in flawed answers. For example, maybe its outside the scope of the argument, it's irrelevant, is too strong, too weak, etc. One thing to drill into your head: it's always better to get 1 question wrong than self sabotaging yourself down the road and forcing yourself to scramble to answer every question
I would say to continue blind reviewing always, and to do a combination of drills, sections, and one PT a week. Also, don't feel ashamed about talking with ChatGPT or some other AI, including the built in 7sage AI in order to get some other objective opinion on what you should do in your timeline. If you find that PTs are stressing you out, and are doing you more harm than good, consider going one week without them. I personally don't think you should stop them altogether, since it seems like you need that practice with execution, especially with your test approaching fairly soon.
The single biggest change that worked for me was recognizing my mistakes; when you BR, have a LSAT wrong answer journal (i recommend lsatjournal.com) and dive deeply into why you got the question wrong, what about it was so tempting, and why the correct answer choice was unappealing. As well, familiarize yourself with patterns across both correct and incorrect answer choices. Lastly (and this was very important to me) aim to finish the first 10 questions of the LR sections in 10 minutes or less. Doing this paces yourself , especially since the first 10 questions are easier, already setting the pace for a more successful section.
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns, but you got this!
Thank you so much for taking the time to share this. It is honestly a huge relief to hear from someone who was sitting right where I am—stuck in the 150s (or lower, in my case) with a 170+ BR—and actually broke out of it.
Your point about self-sabotaging the rest of the section over a single stubborn question hits home hard. I am definitely guilty of letting one hard problem cascade into a total section meltdown.
I really like your advice about aiming to bank time early (getting through the first 10 questions efficiently), using AI, and keeping just one PT a week while focusing heavily on execution, timed sections, and error logging. I'll definitely look into the wrong answer journal approach, too.
Thank you for the encouragement and the tactical advice—it really helps clear the panic a bit!
@SP630 Of course! I cannot recommend enough to use the wrong answer journal, it will help you identify and visualize reoccurring mistakes you keep on making, and flaws in your behavior. Make sure to take it seriously as well, as in, put the answer u chose, the correct answer, why u thought it was correct, then explain why its wrong, as well as the correct answer, why that is correct and why you didn't choose that at first. Doing this will be very crucial in preventing you from repeatedly making subconscious errors in your reasoning, and will undoubtedly help you achieve your goal!
@SP630 To be honest, I don't wanna promise you anything but I do believe it is possible. I was having the same issue you were, having a decently size gap between my tests and BR, and after implementing changes, and studying more consistently (my studying was not too consistent ) I was able to see a big jump from 165 in May 15 to 174 on July 18. With my LSAT also coming up rather soon, part of me was also worried about closing the gap , especially since I aim for a 170+ and didn't get a PT that score until recently, and my LSAT is August 8. So in my opinion, I believe it is definitely attainable to at least see big jumps in your score, and try your best not to let the close timeline pressure you. Trust the process, learn from your mistakes, look at explanations, make sure for every question you got wrong, you understand why the correct answer is correct. Over time you'll subconsciously learn these patterns and be able to easily eliminate ACs right off the bat.
Blunt advice would be to sign up for a later test!! That's a lot to improve in a month. I don't want to crowd your comments section with conflicting advice with that of people who've already commented, but bottom line is I wouldn't waste an official lsat attempt if I'm 20-30 points below my goal score. Obviously anything can happen and I don't know the limitations on your situation in terms of when you have to take the test by, so best of luck, but if possible, I would reschedule!! This is a test of pattern recognition that is best ingrained across months and months of consistent & intentional study.
(Blunt again sorry) I'd be careful of letting chatgpt gaslight you into thinking "your issue isn't content" and your "underlying logic and comprehension are there." If you are scoring in the 140s, your issues are in fact content, underlying logic, and comprehension. It's great that you are more accurate on blind review. Maybe start emphasizing untimed practice so you can close the gap to the those BR scores without the aid of potentially knowing your chosen answer was incorrect. By taking sufficient time on each question to arrive at a confident answer, noting your mistakes, and being very intentional to not make them again, the time you take to arrive at answer confidently will come down over time! I promise it will, but the emphasis is on over time. Forcing yourself to cram for a test like this may not be productive.
Blunt advice - you’re not even remotely close to being ready to write in September. if you hoping for a high 160-170. You will never get THAT lucky on a test. It’s not going to magically click under timed conditions on test day.
Blind review is helpful as it offers some insight into what you really know. But during blind review how many times did you just switch that 50/50 to the other option? How many times did you justify that if you had more time you would’ve selected this answer? The test gets a lot easier when you blind review and now it’s only 4 options to choose from and 3 of those turn out to be absolute garbage. We just switch our answer and tell ourselves we understand.
With that being said. Keep pushing and you will get to your goal score. Stop Trying to force a 30pt gap its only adding to your anxiety and pressure. You also don’t even need to complete the sections to get 160s. So you can save on the time pressure you feel by only completing 16-20 questions. But your accuracy still has to be near perfect for those. AIM to do 10 questions then 15 then 20. Stop focusing on doing all 25-27.
Like seriously - go take a full test or section and do 10 questions then 15 and 20 max. Guess the rest. I bet you will be in the high 150s.
wish you the best of luck and hope you do get the score you’re looking for!!
I've been similar to you - timed sections were consistently in mid 160s, and finally getting to my actual BR in low 170s on timed sections. Honestly the 7sage AI tutor is the one who pinned these and their nicknames, but they also came from reading my Wrong Answer Journal notes too. It has worked for me to focus on these (and again, these are my specific problem-points, might not be the same for you):
Fixing "Correct - then Flip" : I'm a strong second guesser of my own abilities. One of my worst culprits is the "Correct-and-flip" pattern where I answer what I know, panic from self-doubt that it might be wrong, and then re-click a trap. Have to learn to trust my logic skills better. Especially true for the beginning of a section where questions are lower difficulty.
Avoid the "Time Vortex" : Like others have said, you have to bail on a tough question after 60-90s to avoid sucking time from ones you could have gotten right. Go with your gut, flag and move on. And don't keep thinking about that question on the next one!
Skip and Flag Strategically : Absolutely know your weakest question types. (For me it's dense conditional reasoning or math driven questions). "EXCEPT" Questions and Parallel Reasoning are also just big time sucks. I usually completely skip them at first glance. I want my time at the end when I don't feel rushed to go to my weakest questions. Even if you don't get enough time at the end for these and miss them anyway, the goal is to avoid the time vortex and secure points on questions you already had time and got right.
The "Anchor Rule" : If you selected an answer you feel confident on but still have some panicky-doubt about it, I say to myself I'm not allowed to change my answer unless I can prove exactly why my original is wrong and another one is right.
Don't "Over Flag" because of doubt or panic : If you end up having a third of the questions flagged because you just have self-doubt about the answer, you're not going to remember which ones actually need your attention.
"Answer Reset" - If you read a question and none of the answer choices seem like they could be right - Stop, Start Over, and re-read the stimulus. Then re-evaluate every answer again. Don't get stuck trying to "prove" to yourself that a possible answer is right. You can get tunnel vision and completely miss the right answer. These can also be ones you choose to Flag and Skip. Coming back with fresh eyes can help a lot.
Stop doing BR and strictly focus on timed test. There's skills that you can only learn while doing it timed. Like relaxing and not let the clock claud your judgment. Prioritize questions if you don't understand it after 90s move on. Not only because you are waisting time but also buzzing your brain and you need to stay fresh. Breathe and relax, the more timed test you do, the better control of yourself you will have
First off you’re doing great! Now do you have a wrong question journal? If you do really analyze why you got it wrong if you are able to adequately explain why you answered the question incorrectly to where someone else understands how to avoid that same mistake, helps a lot with confidence and allows you to recognize those types questions on other PT’s and avoid making those mistakes.
14 comments
Closing the gap between my BR and timed sections is something I also struggle with right now. But seeing that your timed score is consistently much lower, I think spending less time worrying about timing and focusing on accuracy just like you do on your BR sessions can allow you to improve.
One important thing to remember is that every question is worth 1 point - doesnt matter how difficult it feels. If after even 90 seconds on a question you find yourself stuck or lost, I'd recommend you flag it, make the best guess you can, and move on. You're likely gaining so many points on BR because youre actually getting time to pick up points on those questions that are easier for you. Learn to keep your momentum going through each section so you can pick up those easier points, and save more time at the end for those more difficult questions.
Full PTs can be beneficial still once a week or so to build stamina, but focusing on timed drills or even untimed sections to practice getting comfortable with a pace that works for you can help. Use your time wisely and I think you'll notice you pick up more points.
Hope this helps and good luck!
I used to PT in the 150s with 170+ BR, and I was able to break out of that and finally enter the 160s, and now the 170s. To answer your questions:
Admittedly, this is something that I occasionally still find myself doing. Even so, the best strategy is to just choose the best possible answer choice you can, and if it's been 90 seconds, to just flag and move on. Something that helped me out a lot was utilizing the elimination feature. Anticipating answer choices can also make you save time, as well as recognizing reoccurring patterns in flawed answers. For example, maybe its outside the scope of the argument, it's irrelevant, is too strong, too weak, etc. One thing to drill into your head: it's always better to get 1 question wrong than self sabotaging yourself down the road and forcing yourself to scramble to answer every question
I would say to continue blind reviewing always, and to do a combination of drills, sections, and one PT a week. Also, don't feel ashamed about talking with ChatGPT or some other AI, including the built in 7sage AI in order to get some other objective opinion on what you should do in your timeline. If you find that PTs are stressing you out, and are doing you more harm than good, consider going one week without them. I personally don't think you should stop them altogether, since it seems like you need that practice with execution, especially with your test approaching fairly soon.
The single biggest change that worked for me was recognizing my mistakes; when you BR, have a LSAT wrong answer journal (i recommend lsatjournal.com) and dive deeply into why you got the question wrong, what about it was so tempting, and why the correct answer choice was unappealing. As well, familiarize yourself with patterns across both correct and incorrect answer choices. Lastly (and this was very important to me) aim to finish the first 10 questions of the LR sections in 10 minutes or less. Doing this paces yourself , especially since the first 10 questions are easier, already setting the pace for a more successful section.
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns, but you got this!
@AndyTzul
Thank you so much for taking the time to share this. It is honestly a huge relief to hear from someone who was sitting right where I am—stuck in the 150s (or lower, in my case) with a 170+ BR—and actually broke out of it.
Your point about self-sabotaging the rest of the section over a single stubborn question hits home hard. I am definitely guilty of letting one hard problem cascade into a total section meltdown.
I really like your advice about aiming to bank time early (getting through the first 10 questions efficiently), using AI, and keeping just one PT a week while focusing heavily on execution, timed sections, and error logging. I'll definitely look into the wrong answer journal approach, too.
Thank you for the encouragement and the tactical advice—it really helps clear the panic a bit!
@SP630 Of course! I cannot recommend enough to use the wrong answer journal, it will help you identify and visualize reoccurring mistakes you keep on making, and flaws in your behavior. Make sure to take it seriously as well, as in, put the answer u chose, the correct answer, why u thought it was correct, then explain why its wrong, as well as the correct answer, why that is correct and why you didn't choose that at first. Doing this will be very crucial in preventing you from repeatedly making subconscious errors in your reasoning, and will undoubtedly help you achieve your goal!
@SP630 To be honest, I don't wanna promise you anything but I do believe it is possible. I was having the same issue you were, having a decently size gap between my tests and BR, and after implementing changes, and studying more consistently (my studying was not too consistent ) I was able to see a big jump from 165 in May 15 to 174 on July 18. With my LSAT also coming up rather soon, part of me was also worried about closing the gap , especially since I aim for a 170+ and didn't get a PT that score until recently, and my LSAT is August 8. So in my opinion, I believe it is definitely attainable to at least see big jumps in your score, and try your best not to let the close timeline pressure you. Trust the process, learn from your mistakes, look at explanations, make sure for every question you got wrong, you understand why the correct answer is correct. Over time you'll subconsciously learn these patterns and be able to easily eliminate ACs right off the bat.
@AndyTzul
Thank you for the vote of confidence. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain your experience, good luck on your LSAT!
@SP630 Of course man! At the end of the day we are all in the same boat: trying to conquer the LSAT! Thank you!
Blunt advice would be to sign up for a later test!! That's a lot to improve in a month. I don't want to crowd your comments section with conflicting advice with that of people who've already commented, but bottom line is I wouldn't waste an official lsat attempt if I'm 20-30 points below my goal score. Obviously anything can happen and I don't know the limitations on your situation in terms of when you have to take the test by, so best of luck, but if possible, I would reschedule!! This is a test of pattern recognition that is best ingrained across months and months of consistent & intentional study.
(Blunt again sorry) I'd be careful of letting chatgpt gaslight you into thinking "your issue isn't content" and your "underlying logic and comprehension are there." If you are scoring in the 140s, your issues are in fact content, underlying logic, and comprehension. It's great that you are more accurate on blind review. Maybe start emphasizing untimed practice so you can close the gap to the those BR scores without the aid of potentially knowing your chosen answer was incorrect. By taking sufficient time on each question to arrive at a confident answer, noting your mistakes, and being very intentional to not make them again, the time you take to arrive at answer confidently will come down over time! I promise it will, but the emphasis is on over time. Forcing yourself to cram for a test like this may not be productive.
Blunt advice - you’re not even remotely close to being ready to write in September. if you hoping for a high 160-170. You will never get THAT lucky on a test. It’s not going to magically click under timed conditions on test day.
Blind review is helpful as it offers some insight into what you really know. But during blind review how many times did you just switch that 50/50 to the other option? How many times did you justify that if you had more time you would’ve selected this answer? The test gets a lot easier when you blind review and now it’s only 4 options to choose from and 3 of those turn out to be absolute garbage. We just switch our answer and tell ourselves we understand.
With that being said. Keep pushing and you will get to your goal score. Stop Trying to force a 30pt gap its only adding to your anxiety and pressure. You also don’t even need to complete the sections to get 160s. So you can save on the time pressure you feel by only completing 16-20 questions. But your accuracy still has to be near perfect for those. AIM to do 10 questions then 15 then 20. Stop focusing on doing all 25-27.
Like seriously - go take a full test or section and do 10 questions then 15 and 20 max. Guess the rest. I bet you will be in the high 150s.
wish you the best of luck and hope you do get the score you’re looking for!!
I've been similar to you - timed sections were consistently in mid 160s, and finally getting to my actual BR in low 170s on timed sections. Honestly the 7sage AI tutor is the one who pinned these and their nicknames, but they also came from reading my Wrong Answer Journal notes too. It has worked for me to focus on these (and again, these are my specific problem-points, might not be the same for you):
Fixing "Correct - then Flip" : I'm a strong second guesser of my own abilities. One of my worst culprits is the "Correct-and-flip" pattern where I answer what I know, panic from self-doubt that it might be wrong, and then re-click a trap. Have to learn to trust my logic skills better. Especially true for the beginning of a section where questions are lower difficulty.
Avoid the "Time Vortex" : Like others have said, you have to bail on a tough question after 60-90s to avoid sucking time from ones you could have gotten right. Go with your gut, flag and move on. And don't keep thinking about that question on the next one!
Skip and Flag Strategically : Absolutely know your weakest question types. (For me it's dense conditional reasoning or math driven questions). "EXCEPT" Questions and Parallel Reasoning are also just big time sucks. I usually completely skip them at first glance. I want my time at the end when I don't feel rushed to go to my weakest questions. Even if you don't get enough time at the end for these and miss them anyway, the goal is to avoid the time vortex and secure points on questions you already had time and got right.
The "Anchor Rule" : If you selected an answer you feel confident on but still have some panicky-doubt about it, I say to myself I'm not allowed to change my answer unless I can prove exactly why my original is wrong and another one is right.
Don't "Over Flag" because of doubt or panic : If you end up having a third of the questions flagged because you just have self-doubt about the answer, you're not going to remember which ones actually need your attention.
"Answer Reset" - If you read a question and none of the answer choices seem like they could be right - Stop, Start Over, and re-read the stimulus. Then re-evaluate every answer again. Don't get stuck trying to "prove" to yourself that a possible answer is right. You can get tunnel vision and completely miss the right answer. These can also be ones you choose to Flag and Skip. Coming back with fresh eyes can help a lot.
Hope that helps!
Stop doing BR and strictly focus on timed test. There's skills that you can only learn while doing it timed. Like relaxing and not let the clock claud your judgment. Prioritize questions if you don't understand it after 90s move on. Not only because you are waisting time but also buzzing your brain and you need to stay fresh. Breathe and relax, the more timed test you do, the better control of yourself you will have
Hi!!
First off you’re doing great! Now do you have a wrong question journal? If you do really analyze why you got it wrong if you are able to adequately explain why you answered the question incorrectly to where someone else understands how to avoid that same mistake, helps a lot with confidence and allows you to recognize those types questions on other PT’s and avoid making those mistakes.
I have the same issues. I rescheduled to October
you'll need to start doing drills and sections under timed conditions, you have the accuracy now you need to practice with speed