I would first like to hear from anyone who has already taken the LSAT about strategy/time management. Was there a certain way that you practiced, or did you have a certain strategy going into the test, but then sat down to take it, and something went wrong? I guess I'm wondering if there are certain management strategies that one should have really nailed down to avoid any crisis situations. For example, I practiced with an analogue watch for the first time the other day, and I didn't even get to the last 5 logical reasoning questions, which has never happened before. Glad that didn't happen on test day.
Next - on my first diagnostic test I scored a 150. From there I went to a 157, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, then 163 (I'm not kidding, it really happened that way). Ideally I want a 167, but it seems like during my study sessions I'm stuck at around 162/163. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to improve upon time management in the final month of studying? I'm wondering if I should go back to what I did in the beginning, and have a few study sessions where I do everything untimed. But maybe this is a waste of precious final-month study time. Please let me know any ideas?
Lastly - on my first diagnostic I got 11/23 on the logic games.. So I tackled logic games first in my study plan. After a month of studying just logic games, I was getting 18, 19, or 20s out of 23. Once I got 23/23. But now, it seems like I'll either get a 21/23 or I will completely bomb the section and get 15 or 16. Has this happened to anyone else? These test makers drive me crazy. I decided I couldn't risk getting a 15 on test day, so I've embraced the strategy of focusing most of the time on just 3 games. This way I pretty much guarantee about an 18, and then I'll spend a few minutes on the last game and pray I get a couple of them right, putting me at 20. With only a month left to go, this strategy seems like a rational way to go, but it still kind of bums me out that I'm not going for a perfect LG score. I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on this.
Thanks everyone for your input and advice. I took a day off and I think it helped. I also have been extra strict about the timing, and came up with timing plans for each section. The LR sections in particular have improved. It's strange, when I move through the first 13 questions quickly, in about 13 and a half minutes, I tend to do better on those 13 questions than I would have if I spent 17 minutes on them. I think someone like me, who is naturally terrible with standardized tests, it's better to move fast through those easier ones, because you don't give yourself the chance to over-analyze things and confuse the crap out of yourself. Anyway, I'm back up to a 167. But I'm still nervous about something going wrong on test day and scoring way below my ability.