Discussions

ayeshaq54923

Joined: Apr 2025
Subscription: Free

ayeshaq54923

Friday, Dec 25 2020

I used to be in the same boat as you, and after trial and error and talking to many LSAT experts, here’s what worked for me:

If you’re spending that much time on the first half of the section, chances are that you have conceptual issues. The best way to improve that is to take sections untimed, but track how long it takes you. Review each question you got wrong and try to resolve your conceptual issues as you press yourself to move from, say, 45 mins to complete a section, to 40, to 35. Once you’re down to 0-5 untimed, then move onto timed sections.

That’s because there are two different hurdles of the LSAT: concept and timing. You must conquer concept before you conquer timing-- that is to say, you will NOT be able to fix the timing issue unless you fix the concept issue.

Make sure you get the concepts down fully. Do the sections untimed to learn them and ensure that you actually do, instead of just reading the answer and explanation and moving on. If you find a common thread in incorrect answers, or even if you have difficulty identifying why you got a question wrong, do the 7sage lesson/ read the passage in whatever book you have / etc. then come back and try to answer it yourself. You've got to be able to find the path to the solution without watching an explanation video or visiting a forum.

tl;dr: The prerequisite of finishing the test with decent accuracy & within the time allotted is a thorough grasp of the the concepts of LR.

LSAT · Unusual LG Personal Issue

ayeshaq54923

Sunday, Jan 03 2021

@ said:

I was like this for a long period of time @ -- for me personally, I think nerves were destroying my ability to settle in during timed sections. I found giving myself more structure/strategy was really helpful.

Personally, I peak at games 1 & 2 before deciding which one I'll do first. This allows me to tackle the game that will build my confidence (and save the most time), then I'll proceed to the next game. I treat games 3 & 4 like this also. It's a way of ensuring that I'll build confidence going into the most difficult game. So essentially I have two "mini" LGs sections. I like the structure of it. For some reason, it keeps me calm.

I definitely don't have all of the answers, but I hope this helps!

I just tried this method, and finished a section in 25 mins with no incorrect answers! It is definitely too soon to say whether this method fixes the problem, but you're so right that peeking at the other games helps to alleviate anxiety and structure the section in a way that is conducive of my game type strengths. Thank you!

LSAT

•

Sunday, Jan 03 2021

ayeshaq54923

Unusual LG Personal Issue

I've been studying for the LSAT for several months now. The section that is the most inconsistent for me is LG-- sometimes, when the games are relatively easier, I'll fly through them and get them all correct. Other times, if they're more difficult, I will get seriously frustrated and mess up that game OR I can overcome it and get the questions related to that game correct. It's really no telling.

I tried to do the foolproof method to fix this issue. I think I've foolproofed at least 15 whole sections of LG already, and those games I can get -0 in, no problem. But every single time I do a new section and a game is harder than usual, I will completely mess up the whole section. When I go back and do it again-- even without reviewing it or watching the video-- I will be able to fly through it with no incorrect answers. I know this is a strange problem, one that I'm assuming comes from test-taking anxiety, but does anyone have any advice on how to handle it? Has anyone else had this problem?

LSAT · How to break past -4 in RC

ayeshaq54923

Monday, Nov 02 2020

For me personally, moving from -4 on RC (pretty close to what I started out with) to -2 or less consistently was simply a matter of approaching the passages a little differently. I did a lot of research about different methods people used to successfully tackle RC, and there is truly such a wide variety of successful methods out there because different things work for different people. Here's what I did:

Recapping author's attitude/ main conclusion of paragraph/ link to other paragraphs. At the end of each paragraph, I would stop and quickly ask myself: What was the purpose of this paragraph? What's the author's attitude (I would imagine the expression on their face as they were typing the paragraph in question) and did the attitude change from previous paragraphs? How does this link to the other paragraphs? This may seem like a lot and that it'll add significantly to the amount of time you spend on the passage, but it's kind of like prephasing in that it'll pay off dividends later. You also don't get tripped up by the ACs when you inevitably encounter question stems similar to these later. It's also worth mentioning that I didn't run through a checklist of all these questions, sometimes I would forget one or two, and that would work out fine, too.

Reading for structure, not detail. Before implementing this, I found that I would always run out of time/ finish in the nick of time at the end, which would put me in a rush for the hardest questions that I'd flag for the end. I also usually didn't have time to go back and double check my answers. When I started reading for the structure of the argument instead of focusing on minute details, I saved plenty of time and actually started doing a lot better on many questions— including the detail oriented questions where you have to go back and reread/recall a specific portion of the passage. I think that RC passage writers will often throw in irrelevant, confusing, and quite frankly, distracting details hoping that they'll trip you up. So it's better to devote less time to processing the details in your initial read of the passage, and coming back to them later for detail specific questions.

These were two methods which really worked wonders for me—but I recommend scouring RC advice posts and experimenting with the advice offered there. We all have different reading and information processing styles, and slightly modifying yours to whatever makes your brain function better and more efficiently could make that final difference and help you overcome the plateau. Don't give up! You're doing exceptionally well— and I'm sure you're going to show the LSAT who's boss. Best of luck!