I have an official 168 and am aiming for a 99th percentile in October.
For my 168 I didn't do anything right. No BR, no error log, no PT's. Since June, I've been doing everything right and now I am playing whack-a-mole with new issues that come up.
My diagnostic RC was a -2 (161). Now I am averaging -4.
My 168 was with standard timing. Since then I was diagnosed with ADHD and that gave me a good reason to retake. Now I have 150% timing and I'm suddenly running out of time.
I finally understand the type of evidence each question deserves, now I overthink things until I switch to a wrong answer choice from a correct answer choice. Over half my missed answers I had correct before switching away.
I am looking for someone to take a holistic view at my situation, including my error log (a document I made after BR explaining how I came to the wrong answer on timed, BR, or both) and 7Sage metrics, and in one session try to diagnose what is going on and how I can remedy it to have a shot at a score increase in October.
I am losing faith in myself and it seems every new strategy I try and every new concept I unravel just reveals a new problem that leads to the same outcome of never breaking 170.
9 comments
i feel you with the reading into things due to extra time and overthinking. i've found that creating timing guidelines and sticking to them saves you from overthinking while trusting your thought process, since you clearly know the right answers
try to get the first 10 done in 12 minutes since those are easiest and if you have your skills down you should be able to breeze through those. then give yourself like 15 minutes to do #11-18. 15 minutes for #19-25/26. 10 minutes left for review for any you had to skip, for example. make the timing a non-negotiable in your head, like reading every word for instance
@hellim Yes, I am trying to hide the clock and check it at Q13, Q19, Q22. I have to be better at moving on from a quesiton when I start spinning in circles
learning to skip has become the key for me, since i struggled with overthinking a lot. am still refining this. but i actually don't hide the clock so when i start to spin i can look at it and that's my cue to force myself to move on.
you have an official 168 man, that's incredible! don't give up on yourself, the difference between 168 and high 170s lies in your strategy which is totally fixable with consistent practice
"I finally understand the type of evidence each question deserves, now I overthink things until I switch to a wrong answer choice from a correct answer choice. Over half my missed answers I had correct before switching away." Also, as far as this goes, I had a teacher in high school tell me to never switch an answer unless you were 100% certain and there is evidence in the text. Usually your first answer is the correct one. There are a lot of times I choose one answer, then I overthink it, and choose the wrong one ultimately. You're not alone in that.
This sounds like a situation where a holistic review would be really useful, since the issue does not sound like a lack of understanding. I scored a 180, and much of my tutoring focuses on this kind of pattern: reviewing 7Sage analytics, error logs, timing, answer changes, and how you reason live to figure out why performance doesn't match your understanding.
The fact that you are often changing away from the correct answer is especially worth looking into. I would want to look at what is triggering those changes rather than add another strategy on top.
I offer a free consultation if you want to talk through it first.
Hey there! feel free to shoot me a text at (563) 217 0904. Have been tutoring 7 years :) I'm super casual about it so feel free to shoot me a text and we can do a call to talk about everything before starting something. See student feedback on my style in the comments of this other post https://7sage.com/discussion/62675/harvard-law-grad-7-years-teaching-the-lsat-taking-new-students
I had the same thing happen to me. I almost think it needs to get worse before it gets better. Sometimes we answer questions correctly based on bad logic. So as you are working through the correct logic your score may reflect a little lower due to you still working on grasping those skills. You may also be a little bit burnt out. Try taking a day or two off.
@AlyssaBuck I appreciate that perspective--it makes sense. I just hope I have enough time to round the curve for October
I'm sure that's possible! Maybe try finding your sweet spot of "time." Since now you get 150%, too much time can be hurting you and causing you to over think. I would try to find around how much time you can comfortably complete a section without being rushed, but also without going in circles on some more difficult questions. You don't want to burn yourself out on the first section and be so mentally tired to continue the other three. Sometimes running out of time helps and forces you to just move on.