I have seen huge increases in my LR score once I stopped looking at my watch to see how much time has passed when doing a timed section. I noticed I was unnecessarily looking at the watch every 2-5 minutes, which was slowing me down drastically. I now try to complete the first 10 questions in under ten minutes and this allows me to go at my own "normal" pace. I sincerely believe this has helped me. Try it out especially if the ticking clock is freaking you out.

Other than that, doing untimed drills on specific question types that you are struggling with may help as well. Like @paulmvbenthem537 mentioned, it's all about knowing the fundamentals. I would review the CC on any specific question types that are giving you trouble.

Interested!

Interested! Message me!

I feel ya

@akikookmt881 said:

Hi @jennybains774,

My advice is: don't be greedy. When you're getting better, you aim for more points and you end up losing the questions you should be getting. So don't aim for more.

I remember that you only need a score above 160. I know you are getting better, but at this point, you should only think about the score you actually need, so aim for -7 per LR section. With -14 for both LR sections and -10 for RC, you can be in the 160s. You have to be strategic about it. You don't need to answer all the questions.

There is not much you can do until the test. So you should fully review PT78 (watch J.Y.'s videos, do some write-ups in the comment section) and believe that you can do this.

Good luck! :smile:

Thank you @akikookmt881

You are definitely right! I think that my greediness to increase my score may have played a role on that section...

I do need a 160, however I have been scoring -12 on RC still :(

So I have been trying to improve LR as of right now since not much can be done to improve RC with only days away...

Thank you so much for your advice!

@gregoryalexanderdevine723 said:

I mean, if it's the only time it's happened, by definition it is an outlier.

Don't freak out, that's the worst thing you can do right now. You said yourself that you usually score 18 or 19 per section.

What did you get when your BR'd it?

That may give you some insight into why you scored so low.

Did you do a normal warm up? Was anything different about this section compared to how you normally take them?

I got a 14 on BR. Which is definitely my worst BR score on LR in a long time!

Maybe I was over confident? I honestly can't think of anything else other than that. I thought it was like any other LR section I have already done... hard obviously but not enough to get a 9...

@dipanchenko724 said:

@jchamberlainf946 said:

What question types are you struggling with? Do you notice a specific pattern? Does any particular subject matter in a passage seem to give you extra difficulty?

The answer to any of these questions will help all of us give you much better advice. Using JY's memory method got me out of a slump in RC and brought my average RC score up to -1/-2. Have you done the RC part of the CC yet?

To add to this, if you have already done all the RC stuff in CC, it might worth going over some lessons again to make sure that you are approaching questions methodically and correctly (i.e. going back to the text when you need to, not going back when you don't). This would be even more important if looking at your Analytics, you have question types that you struggle with more than others.

Another thing would be to try experimenting with different reading styles. If you are currently taking 2-2.5 minutes to read the passage, you could try spending a bit more time reading, or do the opposite if you are spending a lot of time in the passage.

Memory method is also obviously great, if you aren't using it yet.

I usually take about 4 minutes per passage and aim for 4 minutes on questions.

I haven't taken 2-2.5 minutes to read a passage, but do you think that helps? I feel like for questions I need to refer back to questions... I usually don't have enough time to reread that area to confirm the passage. @jchamberlainf946 I have tried to eliminate answer choices before rereading the passage again to confirm my chosen answer choice. I have already completed the stuff on RC in CC, however the newer RC sections are giving me more trouble for some reason.

I do struggle a bit more with the comparative passages @dipanchenko724, hence I complete them last but I average -3 for each passage.

I definitely struggle with questions based on tone, weaken questions, inference based questions or specific detail questions for the most part @jchamberlainf946 .

How much time do you guys spend on reading the passage and on answering questions? I spend about 4 minutes reading the passage, perhaps I should spend less time on the passage since it doesn't leave me enough time to refer back to the passage to confirm answers.

@sunnytsao313794 said:

@jennybains774 said:

Here's my two cents:

I like to watch my favourite tv show before I start a PT. This honestly helps me distract myself from the anxiety and it's safe to say, it has actually worked for me!

I also started to work out more often and take breaks where I aren't constantly focusing on studying for the LSAT out of stress. It's all about your mindset to be honest. If you have been scoring fairly consistent in regards to your target score, just believe in yourself on test day to achieve that score.

I hope this helps!

Good luck!

You do want to make sure you are doing something before your PT you can replicate on test day though. So with the TV example, you would have to watch TV long enough before the PT that you could watch it and get relaxed before the test on the actual day too.

It's no good to practice getting relaxed in a way you can't on the real thing.

I don't watch it right before a PT, but it definitely clears my mind especially if I do a PT first thing in the day prior to touching any other studying materials.

It's all about mindset to be honest. Whether that includes watching a TV show or listening to a motivational speech or even doing confidence drills before a PT.

I wrote the December test and I had a huge panic attack. Nonetheless, my score has only increased ever since I focused on my mental well being as a opposed to studying for 8 hours a day.

I have definitely seen a drastic increase in my score.

Here's my two cents:

I like to watch my favourite tv show before I start a PT. This honestly helps me distract myself from the anxiety and it's safe to say, it has actually worked for me!

I also started to work out more often and take breaks where I aren't constantly focusing on studying for the LSAT out of stress. It's all about your mindset to be honest. If you have been scoring fairly consistent in regards to your target score, just believe in yourself on test day to achieve that score.

I hope this helps!

Good luck!

POE is my best friend for questions that I can't predict.

Thanks for the post! I definitely feel a bit less anxious now knowing I am not alone. February test here we come!

Good luck!

How will I sleep tonight...

Interested!

@jkatz1488955-5 I found this on a different discussion: https://quizlet.com/142715075/lsat-lr-strategies-by-question-type-flash-cards/

These potential strategies might help when approaching different question types, I personally find it really helpful to review these when I forget. I also made a google doc outlining different methods for specific questions based off of how to approach "Question type" videos in the CC.

@gregoryalexanderdevine723 said:

I would recommend making sure you have a solid and consistent approach to RC. Develop your own notation style if you use one.

Then I would practice doing timed RC passages (maybe 1-2 per day) and then BR them immediately afterwards and write your own explanations. This helped me to see some pretty big improvement!

I haven't found a notation style yet. I feel like I can't fully absorb the information if I write too much... what has worked for you? I was able to read the passages without making any notes and answer the questions on the older passages but the newer passages consist of a lot of inference based questions....

I have heard some people write the low resolution summaries only and that works for them.

@rochishatogare811 said:

No problem!

I recommend you drill the PTs you've already done for practice, starting from the oldest one. Retake the RC section timed, then do the outline for BR. If you can record yourself that would be great, since you can see how you're using your time.

Then, as usual, take new PTs. I would focus on the newer PTs (60s+) that include the comparative passages. If you think you might retake then make sure to save a few. Honestly, RC is RC, any passage from past exams is good practice. :)

And yeah, that's tough! I used to have the same problem -- I'd spend too much time on the first passage and not finish the section.

It's okay to look back at the passage occasionally, but you want to invest enough time up front (like you would for LG) so that you can rely on your memory. A good ball-park is 3:30 to 4 minutes for the passage, with another 4 or so minutes for the questions.

When going through the passage, I read a paragraph, then take 15 or so seconds to summarize the paragraph. Then I go on to the next paragraph, read, remind myself of my summary for the first paragraph then add on the summary for the second paragraph. I repeat this process through the rest of the passage. At the end, I consider the main point, the author's tone, then do a super quick structural (low-res) summary. So everything you would do untimed, but now you're doing in your head.

When answering questions, don't immediately jump back to the passage to check an AC. First finish going through the ACs and crossing of whatever you can from memory. If you've spent enough time up-front, you might not even need to go back to the passage. Otherwise, with the remaining ACs, check against the passage. If it's taking too much time, circle the question and move on and come back after finishing the section.

Thank you! I will definitely redo the passages I have done in the past, I have never thought to do that before!

What about for detail questions or inference based questions, would you circle them and come back to them or try to quickly go over them and circle it if you don't get it from memory? I feel like I have trouble really absorbing the information on my first read. I find it a struggle to answer the inference based questions or the detail questions... Takes forever to go back to the passage and find the detail, which is why I probably lose time to finish the last passage.

Any tips on how to improve memorize the passage? I tried to use JY's method, but unfortunately it honestly hasn't helped me much...

If you are just starting out, I would flash card question stems, valid/invalid argument forms, conditional logic indicators, quantifiers, flaw types...

I found this on a discussion post a while back: https://quizlet.com/LetsHigh5/folders/lsat-info-strategy-stack/sets

Hope that helps!

@rochishatogare811 said:

If you saw a drastic change in the 60s and 70s, is it possibly the comparative passages that are throwing you off? Most of us approach them differently than we do the other passages.

I use J.Y.'s method where I read Passage 1, then go through the questions, crossing of ACs that I know are incorrect and answer questions I can from just my knowledge of the first passage. Then I repeat this process with Passage 2. It's similar to what you would do for an Agree/Disagree question in LR.

If it's a more generic drop that doesn't have to do with this particular passage type, then I think drilling is a great idea.

If you're attempting new passages, I recommend at least using a stopwatch/lap function for when you finish reading the passage and start answering questions, so you have a good sense of how long it's taking you.

For passages you've already done, untimed practice is great! I recommend creating an outline like the following:

For each paragraph:

low-res: less than 10 words

high-res: 1-2 sentence summary

key words: words that indicate a change in subject, specific POVs, author's tone, etc.

For the entire passage:

main point

author's purpose

author's tone

I usually do a passage a day, and this has really helped me improve on my accuracy in RC since I'm able to sift through all the details to the crux of what the passage is saying faster.

I actually wrote up an example outline for someone in this post, if you want to see it in detail: https://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/14071/advice-for-isolating-rc

Let me know if you have any questions, but I hope this helps! :smile:

Thank you for the detailed response! I will definitely try this out. Which PTs would you recommend drilling for RC passages, especially since I have limited time? Also, how do you allocate time towards passages when doing timed sections? I have found that I take about 10 minutes on one passage, sometime more which is why I usually can't finish the last passage at all. I find myself rereading the passages when I approach the questions...

I took 2 days off when I was scoring lower than I previously was. I wasn't completing 4-6 PT's a week but I also felt the burnout since I have been studying 40+ hours a week. Today, I did a LG and a LR section and my score reflected what I had been scoring previously. My scores definitely increased. I would honestly take the week off and if you really feel like you can't stay away or you won't feel as confident going in to the exam... you can always write on PT maybe on Thursday and see how it goes? I would say take Monday-Wednesday off along with Friday.

You clearly know your stuff so I think you just need to take a break. It honestly helped me out a lot.

Good luck!

I call burnout!

Honestly, the same happened to me so I took off two days because I was freaking out so much that any studying that I was doing was pretty pointless. I was going -11 on LR... before it was -6. Let's see what happens tomorrow and hope this mini break helps!

Definitely time, but I would try to get myself used to diagramming and drawing key inferences as well!