Hello everyone, my dream school is University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, and their median LSAT is 160. I have been studying using 7Sage since January, and my goal score is a 160; however, I received a 155 on the October test. I realistically only have 12 days left to study and 5-6 hours each of those days. I have taken 12 PTs total; on 7 I received a 160-165 (165 being my highest and only scored once), and on 5 I received 155-159. The more recent PTs have been the most difficult for me and that is when I would score in the 150s. I really, really want to reach my goal in November, and I'm trying to find ways to study efficiently. I dont know if it is realsitic but all I can do is continue to study for November.
For the October test, I spent the few days prior to my test meditating and truly clearing my mind, and it actually helped my test anxiety- I honestly think I might have been too calm during my test, which could have affected how I approached questions, maybe?? I'm not sure, but I just want to focus on studying since I don't think test anxiety was my issue.
So for the next 12 days, I am planning to only focus on newer LR and RC sections as well as drill my priority question types. I do think that the older tests were easier and probably inflated my score, which is why I want to focus on the newer ones that are more similar to current tests. I still have 2 recent PTs left, so I really want to take those. I have always been uncomfortable with RC, so I want to drill as many passages as I can just to feel comfortable with it. I also usually spend a large majority of my time reviewing wrong answers, but honestly, for these next 12 days I think it would be more beneficial to practice more than review.
I really don't know what else I can do, so any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!
2 comments
Hi there! I agree with your strategy to drill priority question types, and I'll add another idea: instead of just doing targeted drilling for question types, see if you can identify 2-3 other small goals that are more nebulous. For instance, maybe you struggle with reading closely under time pressure, so you could make reading closely a goal. Or maybe you often fall into trap answers, so identifying trap answers & why/how they're tricking you could be a goal. Maybe you want to get speedier while maintaining your calm, and drilling at 90% or 80% time is a goal! Whatever you notice yourself struggling with the most, pick out a few goals that connect to those struggles and drill with the aim of improving at those goals. You're not just drilling to increase accuracy, but with a specific goal in mind to work toward. For question types, your goal should be to improve your ability to analyze the question using that specific question process, or identify common trap answers, or clearly justify your answer, etc. These intermediate goals will help you reach your end goal, which is of course to reliably increase your accuracy.
I would definitely recommend taking those PTs, but don't just drill RC endlessly beforehand if you're uncomfortable with it! Like for LR, identify the things that make you feel uncomfortable with RC, and work on those specific things. Trouble seeing the author's POV? Drill passages with the aim of just understanding how the author feels. If you struggle with particular passage subjects, drill those with the goal of becoming more comfortable with learning terms on the fly, or organizing/analyzing difficult subjects in a way that makes sense to you. Whatever drilling you're doing, make sure you have a clear goal in mind and aren't just drilling endlessly. And I know you mention that you review, so continue to always blind review, and then review after that too! Make sure you know not only why you got incorrect questions wrong, but also why you got the correct questions right (this is especially true when you got a question right but weren't 100% sure of the explanation).
Don't give up on reviewing wrong answers, because when done right, that can help you even more than drilling will. Drill, review, reflect on how your goal went, and come up with action steps and modify your goal for your next drill. I really caution students against endless, un-targeted drilling, because it leads to more frustration than benefit. So focus your drilling on clear goals, review and reflect as you go, and best of luck!!
@Josephine Thank you so much, I was defintely going into drilling with only the goal of accuracy but Im going to be more mindful of my drills now- thank you!!!