Struggling with timing

Pink Dust

Hey guys,
So I just wanted to get some feedback on how I should approach my issue.
I took my first timed LR section and scored only 10/25 (I only got thru the first 15questions and then guessed for the rest because I ran out of time)
However, on BR, I got 21/25. I have been going thru the core curriculum for about 6 months on and off, and made sure I really understood everything before even taking a timed section. I had plans to take a full PT36 (this weekend) but thought maybe I should take a timed LR first to get a feel for how it is before I dive into a full exam. I just feel really let down by this to be honest. I have been putting in so much work every single day (drilling, practicing, watching the videos, practicing logic). I do see improvement because on my diagnostic i got 8/25 timed and only 10/25 when I tried to BR it without any knowledge of the LSAT.
I am really struggling when it comes to timing myself. I find that I cannot read as fast, and I often reread the stimulus when timed to get a good grasp of what it is telling me.
I also took a timed PT of games section. I froze on the games where I couldn't diagram. However, when BR, I was able to do really well on that section. I practiced a lot for LG too, constantly doing games, watching videos for hours and hours. I just find this really upsetting.
I have been studying on and off for the lsat and now full time for it. I am registered for the June exam.
What I want to ask is, at this stage should I just keep BR and practice timing myself? Or go back to the CC?? I have also read thru the LSAT trainer and reviewed the CC twice (second time just skilling thru the materials).
I feel like I have a good grasp of the core material, i'm just struggling to apply it when timed. I would really appreciate any feedback on what I should do.
Thank you

TexAgAaron

I hear you on the struggle to read effectively and quickly on LR; that section has always given me trouble speed wise. I think from what I can tell, you are getting stuck on the time sinking questions that just eat up precious seconds. I don't know how well you do with skipping, but if you don't, I suggest you start skipping. You can't let a passage that keeps losing you eat up your time when you could be using that to answer easy questions that are worth the same amount of points.

There are plenty of questions on each LR section that are quick and easy but you'll never get to any of them because they are on the second half of the section. Give yourself the chance to obtain those points. Trust me, those harder questions will still be there waiting for you on the second pass.

My other point is accuracy before speed. Your BR is encouraging. You definitely know your material. At this point, it seems like you just need repetition under timed conditions to increase your speed. I know for me during my CC, I've always tried to time myself on the problem sets to give myself a sense of time and find where I'm at.

Take a deep breath and trust yourself! You obviously know the material pretty well. Having a good mindset and knowing that you understand how to break down whatever they throw at you is very big as well.

Hope this helps! You got this!

TimLSAT180

I'm sure a lot of people on 7sage know what you're going through (including me), and really there's no need to be upset about it! Don't let the score of a single timed individual LR section bring your hopes down. You've just begun to dip your feet into the deep waters for the first time after having practiced several techniques and forms in the kiddy pool, and now you're expecting yourself to swim like Michael Phelps! Let's take a deep breath and slow down here. First of all, as much as you don't want to hear this, a wise sage on 7sage once told me: "Theoretically speaking, if you have a good grasp of the fundamentals, then there should be no problem with the application of your knowledge on actual questions". I know it sounds idealistic and I'm not trying to contradict you in any way, but I think it comes down to the issue of knowledge vs. mastery. (See Jonathan Wang's discussion about this! highly recommended!) Just because we know the fundamentals doesn't mean that we have mastered them. Read Jonathan's discussion and this will make much more sense.

I would advise you, first of all, to not give up and be upset. You should be proud of yourself for having come this far already. Also, I personally think it's a good idea that you're doing timed individual sections before going into simulated 5 section PTs. You want to make sure that any gaping flaws in your knowledge of the fundamentals is fixed before going into the PT phase. In fact, I'm also done with my second round of going through the CC, and now I'm doing timed individual sections. Guess what? I also suck immensely. But I'm not upset because if gaining the LSAT was easy, everyone would get a 170+. But, everyone doesn't get a 170+, therefore it's not easy to gain the LSAT. Okay wow I digress, sorry about that.

I think you mentioned that you have trouble understanding the passage/stimulus the first time around. I had an issue with this too, and I think a concept called "active reading" is what you should look into. You can PM me for more information about this, but there are also other sages who can elaborate on this (@danielznelson). I also think you should see where you're spending too much time when going through the questions. This is referring specifically to test-taking strategies, and many sages have given advice saying that it's good to do 10 in 10, 15 in 15, 20 in 20. Yeah this is all good, but just to rid of you some confusion, what you're trying to do is grabbing 10 questions (not necessarily the first 10 questions) in 10 minutes, 15 questions in 15 minutes, and so on and so forth. Anyhow, I believe you when you say that you have a good grasp of the fundamentals, but I think you should work your way to mastering them now. I'm also registered for the June test, so best of luck to us both!

Alex

@TimLSAT180 said:
I'm sure a lot of people on 7sage know what you're going through (including me), and really there's no need to be upset about it! Don't let the score of a single timed individual LR section bring your hopes down. You've just begun to dip your feet into the deep waters for the first time after having practiced several techniques and forms in the kiddy pool, and now you're expecting yourself to swim like Michael Phelps! Let's take a deep breath and slow down here. First of all, as much as you don't want to hear this, a wise sage on 7sage once told me: "Theoretically speaking, if you have a good grasp of the fundamentals, then there should be no problem with the application of your knowledge on actual questions". I know it sounds idealistic and I'm not trying to contradict you in any way, but I think it comes down to the issue of knowledge vs. mastery. (See Jonathan Wang's discussion about this! highly recommended!) Just because we know the fundamentals doesn't mean that we have mastered them. Read Jonathan's discussion and this will make much more sense.

I would advise you, first of all, to not give up and be upset. You should be proud of yourself for having come this far already. Also, I personally think it's a good idea that you're doing timed individual sections before going into simulated 5 section PTs. You want to make sure that any gaping flaws in your knowledge of the fundamentals is fixed before going into the PT phase. In fact, I'm also done with my second round of going through the CC, and now I'm doing timed individual sections. Guess what? I also suck immensely. But I'm not upset because if gaining the LSAT was easy, everyone would get a 170+. But, everyone doesn't get a 170+, therefore it's not easy to gain the LSAT. Okay wow I digress, sorry about that.

I think you mentioned that you have trouble understanding the passage/stimulus the first time around. I had an issue with this too, and I think a concept called "active reading" is what you should look into. You can PM me for more information about this, but there are also other sages who can elaborate on this (@danielznelson). I also think you should see where you're spending too much time when going through the questions. This is referring specifically to test-taking strategies, and many sages have given advice saying that it's good to do 10 in 10, 15 in 15, 20 in 20. Yeah this is all good, but just to rid of you some confusion, what you're trying to do is grabbing 10 questions (not necessarily the first 10 questions) in 10 minutes, 15 questions in 15 minutes, and so on and so forth. Anyhow, I believe you when you say that you have a good grasp of the fundamentals, but I think you should work your way to mastering them now. I'm also registered for the June test, so best of luck to us both!

Well said!

@Shivani I totally know the feeling(s) you're experiencing. I would recommend to do some older practice LR sections. Also, have you implemented an effective skipping strategy? Learning to skip questions no lie added 3 points or so and took me from missing -6/-7 per section down to -4. So the power of skipping is necessary for doing well with timing on LR.

Pink Dust

wow, thanks everyone for the helpful and encouraging feedback! I really appreciate it. Especially since my score had me feeling really down!
I did try skipping, but just reading slowly and rereading stimulus ate up my time. On the BR I had a clear mindset and was able to answer everything to the best of my ability, but when timed, that seems impossible to do.
I'm gonna keep at timed section and try to improve speed and accuracy before moving into full PT.