LG Anxiety

rajanjc92

Logic games used to be like another language to me but it has gotten to be my best section as of now. However, when the clock is ticking, everything i know about LG seems to go out the window. When I BR my test (during untimed conditions of corse), all the inferences that i should have made under timed conditions come to me almost instantly. Its extremely frustrating that I can do them but the pressure of time prevents me from performing to my full capability. I imagine it is because one can reasonably anticipate what the RC and LR will entail but with LG they can really throw anything at you. Does anyone else have this issue? Any tips or advice would be appreciated. I really want to get LG down pat as i'm taking the lsat next week (Feb 4th). Freezing up on LG is dramatically bringing my score down from what it can be even though I feel most prepared for it.

Q.E.D

I have to confess it's unsettling to know a sufficiently weird LG can easily knock me out of my target range. I can just picture turning the page to G4 with 7 min left - perhaps I was off pace in G1-G3 - only to find a "miscellaneous" game everyone's sure to moan about later on. I'm pretty much planning for that scenario, so I'm aiming for a 3 to 4 point margin over my target score in the PTs. I find it easier to relax if I just accept it.

Alex

Yeah - I can relate to the LG anxiety a lot. I usually just remember that they are paper and ink and can't actually "hurt" me. And that no matter what they throw at me, it's just a "game." It can't be THAT harder than the last harder one we all go on about how hard and harder it was. I've been around the law school online forums for almost 8 years -- nothing has changed except LG is throwing in some new stuff. No need to let that anxiety get the best of you

rajanjc92

Thanks guys, yea i just blank out when time is thrown into the equation idk why. it gives me the most stress cuz i realize that it kind of is the "make it or break it" section for me

Alex

yeah, that used to get to me a lot too. I'm still working through it though. Day-by-day my man!

BinghamtonDave

What has worked for me is more and more practice. With practice comes familiarization, with familiarization comes a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the games. For odd games we might have very little to work with as far as previous games, so our approach might have to be malleable. So when approaching odd games, I have found it imperative to read precisely what I am given. I then take a second to abstract out what it is I am doing on the game: are offices being taken off a board of availability in a draft-like scenario in which we need to decide the order in which certain elements pick? Are workpieces being passed from person to person in a specific way? Is a computer virus being passed from one element to another in a way in which we have to fulfill certain obligations? As JY says in the lesson for PT 77 Game three: "what is the action?" You first step with odd games should be to find that action.
I then follow the rules rigorously. These two things are really all we have when it comes to odd games and if done correctly, can really limit any major damage to our score.

My first piece of advice is to try to get clear on what the actual game is. Easier said than done, I know, but if a game trips you up in practice, review and redo the game, ask question in the comment section of the game if you want to, reach out to any number of us on the forums. When you redo a game, try to see exactly what it was you did wrong: then add that experience to your arsenal, building a larger and larger repertoire of skills to approach games with next time.

With odd games you might have to MacGyver something together as far as a set up and pushing out inferences. It might not look incredible and it might not be perfect, but your job is to get questions correct and limit the damage. To this goal, practice strategies of skipping and collecting the points contained in games around the odd game, this might yield you 18/23 points before you even get into the odd game. Collect what you can before you dive into an odd game. With the bulk of the points behind you and in the bank, you enter the odd game needing a 3/5 or 4/5 to really do well on the section as a whole.

The skill of finessing an LG section to get the most out of it is something that for me came with a ton of practice.

I hope this helps:
David

K 440244

I have found that taking a second to step back and calm my mind through some meditative breathing, then I start thinking about each individual variable, can this go first? last? where can it not go? If I put this one here, what has to go next to it? what can't go next to it? and much more... then if I hit a block here, I start asking myself these questions making up an individual game board for a problem and plugging in some of the answer choices. I have found that asking myself a ton of little questions, even though I think I am losing precious time, is better than hitting a road block because I start to think "too hard" about a game.

Q.E.D

I like these occasional threads on the strategic and psychological issues around the games section, departing briefly from the details of any particular game or game type. It's a learnable but unpredictable section, so the focus (for me) eventually centers on building adaptability and crisis management skills.

@BinghamtonDave I've gained considerably from your occasional comments on LG. Thanks for your contribution.

@"Alex Divine" Your "8 years" are very evident in your comments, which range across all aspects of the process from test prep to obscure application problems. Thanks for sharing.

Alex

@"Q.E.D" said: Yeah, man you pick up a lot of things in that amount of time! Glad to be of any help.

@"Alex Divine" Your "8 years" are very evident in your comments, which range across all aspects of the process from test prep to obscure application problems. Thanks for sharing.