Improving my blind review methods?

TheDeterminedC

I am trying to keep a positive hardworking attitude towards the LSAT, but this has been increasingly more difficult when my recent 4 PT scores after the CC slowly dropped to horrific all time lows.

Before starting the CC, my initial practice test was a 141 (ouch). I took the CC very seriously. I paused every video to do the question before hand, never skipped anything, and I have been working even harder during the current PT phase.

My scores for the PTs 36, 37, 38 and 39 are: 157, 153, 157, 150; BR: 167, 162, 161, TBD.

36: LR -11, LR -9, RC - 7, LG -5.
37: LR -11, LR -6, RC -12, LG -8.
38: LR - 7, LR -6, RC -12, LG -5.
39: LR -15, LR -8, RC -12, LG -6.

For my blind review, I go over every single question again, on a freshly printed PT and I look at the analytics thereafter. I dive deep into the questions myself first, then watch the videos for those questions that 1) I chose the wrong AC twice, 2) I chose the right AC initially and changed to an incorrect AC in BR and 3) the questions I successfully changed to the right AC.

For the last remaining questions (right both times), I will check to see if I was at all swayed by any of the other answer choices. i.e. did not eliminate an AC, or I possibly circled and erased an incorrect one. Ultimately, I am trying my best to not only learn why I chose the incorrect AC, but also why I did not choose the correct AC. I then strive to couple this mentality with solidifying the correct thinking I made when I picked the right AC twice.

I really spelled out exactly how I blind review so I could possibly get feedback from the community if I am maybe doing something wrong. It is a bit disheartening to see these scores after the hundreds of hours I have spent studying. Nevertheless, I am determined to do well and will not let this stop me.

Any suggestions on how I can improve my BR mechanism? What more could I add into this process?

Thank you all and sorry about the long post.

Alex

@TheDeterminedC said:
I am trying to keep a positive hardworking attitude towards the LSAT, but this has been increasingly more difficult when my recent 4 PT scores after the CC slowly dropped to horrific all time lows.

Before starting the CC, my initial practice test was a 141 (ouch). I took the CC very seriously. I paused every video to do the question before hand, never skipped anything, and I have been working even harder during the current PT phase.

My scores for the PTs 36, 37, 38 and 39 are: 157, 153, 157, 150; BR: 167, 162, 161, TBD.

36: LR -11, LR -9, RC - 7, LG -5.
37: LR -11, LR -6, RC -12, LG -8.
38: LR - 7, LR -6, RC -12, LG -5.
39: LR -15, LR -8, RC -12, LG -6.

For my blind review, I go over every single question again, on a freshly printed PT and I look at the analytics thereafter. I dive deep into the questions myself first, then watch the videos for those questions that 1) I chose the wrong AC twice, 2) I chose the right AC initially and changed to an incorrect AC in BR and 3) the questions I successfully changed to the right AC.

For the last remaining questions (right both times), I will check to see if I was at all swayed by any of the other answer choices. i.e. did not eliminate an AC, or I possibly circled and erased an incorrect one. Ultimately, I am trying my best to not only learn why I chose the incorrect AC, but also why I did not choose the correct AC. I then strive to couple this mentality with solidifying the correct thinking I made when I picked the right AC twice.

I really spelled out exactly how I blind review so I could possibly get feedback from the community if I am maybe doing something wrong. It is a bit disheartening to see these scores after the hundreds of hours I have spent studying. Nevertheless, I am determined to do well and will not let this stop me.

Any suggestions on how I can improve my BR mechanism? What more could I add into this process?

Thank you all and sorry about the long post.

As far as your BR goes, I think you are doing a good job.

This may be unrelated to BR, but have you spent time fool proofing the LG bundle?

I think that could be a big help, at least I know it has been for me. It appears your average is -6 between those 4 tests on games. Make sure to also fool proof any new games you encounter during BR if they gave you any trouble.

When you are going -15 LR and -12 RC, I think there is definitely some big picture learning to be done. Are there certain question types/RC passages that give you more trouble?

AllezAllez21

The LSAT process is hard and progress is non-linear.

I am a little confused by your attitude on the scores--you seem to have jumped from a pre-CC score of 141 to a post CC score of ~154. That's a 13 point jump, which is huge! That should be a cause for celebration. Okay, fine, you had a drop on the latest PT, but you cannot get discouraged about one test. It will happen. Double back with even more determination and go get your highest all time BR score. You simply cannot expect every test to be a higher score than the last.

You're not going to see a massive jump after each and every PT. You've got to grind it out.

For LG, if you're still over -3 on the section, I recommend doubling down on fool proofing. Keep doing games from PT1-35 over and over and over.

As for your overall BR method, it seems fairly thorough on face. I'm not sure what exactly you mean by "dive deep." I will say that it helps tremendously to literally type out the whole breakdown of the problem. There's a massive difference between thinking thoughts and being forced to articulate them. When I BR a problem I had trouble with, I write out the conclusion, the premises, then how those connect, then what I should be looking for based on the question type, then why each answer is correct or not. Forcing yourself to literally write it out does wonders for slowing down and understanding. Here's a template:

Question Type:
Conclusion:
Premise:
What I am looking for:
A) Right/wrong. Reason:
B )
C)
D)
E)

Also, I think there is still plenty more you can get out of the CC and drilling. If your BR is below 170, then look at your analytics to see what concepts you don't have down rock solid. Do you need to go back and drill logical indicator groups more? Have you memorized all the generic types of flaws? Are you clear on support/conclusion relationships? What about intersectional inferences? Questions like these might help you reveal gaps in the fundamentals.

Mostly, be kind to yourself. The LSAT is a beast, and it's a long journey. You will improve.

TheDeterminedC

@"Alex Divine" said:
As far as your BR goes, I think you are doing a good job.

This may be unrelated to BR, but have you spent time fool proofing the LG bundle?

I think that could be a big help, at least I know it has been for me. It appears your average is -6 between those 4 tests on games. Make sure to also fool proof any new games you encounter during BR if they gave you any trouble.

When you are going -15 LR and -12 RC, I think there is definitely some big picture learning to be done. Are there certain question types/RC passages that give you more trouble?

I have yet to fool proof any games. I think now would be a perfect time to start really drilling the inferences. Thank you, Alex, I totally forgot about fool proofing!!!

My weak spots are Flaw, NA, PSA, RRE and SA.
Yesterday I went back to the NA questions in the CC and that seemed to help a bit.
On the other hand, RC I feel incredibly lost the entire time, regardless of the passage type and/or difficulty. This is owed to the fact I probably do not read as much as I should. It won't hurt to read the trainers and such that I have seen you comment about other RC posts.

Thanks Alex!!!

TheDeterminedC

@AllezAllez21 said:
The LSAT process is hard and progress is non-linear.

I am a little confused by your attitude on the scores--you seem to have jumped from a pre-CC score of 141 to a post CC score of ~154. That's a 13 point jump, which is huge! That should be a cause for celebration. Okay, fine, you had a drop on the latest PT, but you cannot get discouraged about one test. It will happen. Double back with even more determination and go get your highest all time BR score. You simply cannot expect every test to be a higher score than the last.

You're not going to see a massive jump after each and every PT. You've got to grind it out.

For LG, if you're still over -3 on the section, I recommend doubling down on fool proofing. Keep doing games from PT1-35 over and over and over.

As for your overall BR method, it seems fairly thorough on face. I'm not sure what exactly you mean by "dive deep." I will say that it helps tremendously to literally type out the whole breakdown of the problem. There's a massive difference between thinking thoughts and being forced to articulate them. When I BR a problem I had trouble with, I write out the conclusion, the premises, then how those connect, then what I should be looking for based on the question type, then why each answer is correct or not. Forcing yourself to literally write it out does wonders for slowing down and understanding. Here's a template:

Question Type:
Conclusion:
Premise:
What I am looking for:
A) Right/wrong. Reason:
B )
C)
D)
E)

Also, I think there is still plenty more you can get out of the CC and drilling. If your BR is below 170, then look at your analytics to see what concepts you don't have down rock solid. Do you need to go back and drill logical indicator groups more? Have you memorized all the generic types of flaws? Are you clear on support/conclusion relationships? What about intersectional inferences? Questions like these might help you reveal gaps in the fundamentals.

Mostly, be kind to yourself. The LSAT is a beast, and it's a long journey. You will improve.

Aww, this awesome. Thank you! I will start practicing writing out tough questions in BR. I find that, on difficult questions at least, I am down to two answer choices. This is exactly what I have been missing to help me think through this cognitive block when I am in this situation. Definitely using this.

As for LG, I will start the fool proofing. I am looking forward to the days where I see a -0 on a consistent basis!

I will take your insights on the attitude for this test. 4 months to go, so I will need to take a beath and realize how for I have come. Allez, THANK YOU!!!!

Dean Toast

Question Type:
Conclusion:
Premise:
What I am looking for:
A)

C)
D)
E)