Advice on timing and learning from BR...?

lady macbeth

The difference between my actual timed score and my blind review score is a very big gap. Even from 157 to 165-8 (respectively). Timing is my main weakness. My goal score is a 170+. If I plan to take the September LSAT, which gives me roughly three months from now, what can I do to better my endurance, speed, and accuracy? How many simulated prep tests a week? I will be studying full time this summer and taking a couple online classes at my university, but not working –– so I anticipate having a lot of time to study if I'm not working for my online classes.

How many simulated practice tests had you all done when you began breaking into the 170s? etc.

In between practice tests, I usually drill games, the 10 copies I have of each one from PT 1-35. I still have plenty more copies! Anyways, I need as much advice as possible so please enlighten me, guys!! xx

nessa.k13.0

Hi @"lady macbeth" !
How many PTs you take depends on your issue with timing. For example, if you need to practice managing your nerves under timed conditions, then you may want to take at least one PT a week. If your main issue with timing is understanding then you probably want to focus on mastering weaknesses rather than taking more PTs.

There isn't really a magic number regarding the number of PTs it takes to break into the 170s. Maintaining (and increasing) that level of accuracy once achieved is another matter entirely. You could take a PT that exploits your weaknesses more than the one before and note a drop in your score. Instead, I would focus on eliminating problem areas. Are there certain kinds of arguments, question types, and sections that get to you more than others? Do you write up explanations of the questions that you get wrong to further your understanding? You can't go faster when you get tripped up or don't understand some concepts as much as others. First focus on understanding, deepening the level of analysis in your BR process, and then increase the number of PTs you take.

lady macbeth

@nessa.k13.0 I think I have a pretty good handle on the main concepts and that my issue is the nerves that come under timed conditions. I do hone in more on assumption questions and descriptive flaw. I always just feel so stubborn and nervous when it comes to skipping/guessing during timed PTs.

currently I am taking 1-2 PTs a week. But I'm just unsure how to go about increasing my endurance, time and accuracy. Should I only be taking 1 a week? or more? I have no idea! lol I just want to break into the 170s in PTs so I will be more able to on test day.

lady macbeth

I feel like I'm at the point where my rate-limiting step is test day performance as opposed to content-mastering.

nessa.k13.0

Hmm so for nerves are you working on something that will either help decrease your level of nervousness or the amount that it affects your accuracy? Have you tried meditation? Have you noticed that perhaps looking at the clock makes you more nervous because you are more conscious of time running out? If so perhaps you should try looking at the clock after you finish a page or every two pages (depending on your internal sense of time passing). I would definitely implement a good skipping strategy and practice getting comfortable with skipping. Perhaps try practicing on old sections.

I don't think you should take more than 2 PTs a week. You don't want to burn out. You also can't just force your way into the 170s. You have to get better at your understanding of your missed questions so you don't fall for the same things again. In BR, try to notice and track trends in the assumption and flaw questions you miss (during timed conditions and in BR). Do arguments with specific features trip you up (correlation, causation, embedded clauses, referential phrasing, numbers and percentages etc) in those question types? Nailing your weaknesses is going to give you both better timing and accuracy more than cute looking strategies will. For now, I would take 1 PT a week to close the gap between your timed score and your BR score. Aim to be scoring anywhere from 3 to 5 points higher than your goal in August. You'll have time to focus on endurance later. I think it's best to focus on your weaknesses now when you have time to absorb nuances in concepts, assumptions, and flaws. Those are things it is going to be much harder to go back and fix later on.

nessa.k13.0

@"lady macbeth" said:
I feel like I'm at the point where my rate-limiting step is test day performance as opposed to content-mastering.

Sounds like you are saying nerves prevent you from getting to 168 under timed conditions. Definitely try meditating regularly. Check out this webinar for other ideas to manage stress and anxiety https://7sage.com/webinar/managing-stress/

Even if it is just nerves impairing your accuracy, you would still be much better off mastering your weaknesses. I say that because your top BR score is 168 which is under your goal score. You are aiming to get a score that is 2 points higher than your BR score, but under timed conditions. Your best bet of reaching your goal is improving your understanding of the LSAT (BR score) above 170 and in doing so mastering more concepts. You sound focused and driven you can definitely do this!

Sami

@"lady macbeth" said:
@nessa.k13.0 I think I have a pretty good handle on the main concepts and that my issue is the nerves that come under timed conditions. I do hone in more on assumption questions and descriptive flaw. I always just feel so stubborn and nervous when it comes to skipping/guessing during timed PTs.

I think its great that you identified a conceptual weakness but I love that your BR score is 10 points higher so that tells me your section strategy is off. I think you confirm my suspicion when you say you are nervous at skipping during timed PT's.

I want you to try confidence drills. I think for people who have a high BR score but don't have a good section strategy this can help close the difference. Take an LR section you have done awhile ago like at least 2 months if not more. Do not use a fresh section since its a drill. Set a timer and I want you to go to the next question as soon as you even think you have the right answer. Be reckless in skipping. Skip hard questions. Your goal is not to score high, since you have already taken this section. Your goal is to skip recklessly as soon as you even think you have the right answer or you encounter a hard question that will slow you down. You should have plenty of time left at the end even 15 minutes which will help you come back to the ones you skipped or circled. Take a note of how you did.

If you did amazing that's how reckless you need to be to score high on LSAT. If you scored pretty bad, take another section you have done before do the same thing. But this time bring your recklessness down just a tiny bit. Do that until you find your sweet confidence spot. Mine is at 60% confidence. If I can even feel 60% confidence or if I think yeah this is the answer I no longer read the rest of the answer choices and I am pretty much always right. So see where your spot lies.

This will help you close the gap between your BR score and actual score because you will have a good second.

currently I am taking 1-2 PTs a week. But I'm just unsure how to go about increasing my endurance, time and accuracy. Should I only be taking 1 a week? or more? I have no idea! lol I just want to break into the 170s in PTs so I will be more able to on test day.

I think 2 PT's is honestly too much unless you are scoring in 170's and even then its a lot. Slow down. Do more drills, build confidence and understanding and take PT's when you feel you are ready to try what you have learned in drills and put it to test.

AllezAllez21

So much good advice from @"nessa.k13.0" and @Sami !

I just want to jump in and emphasize that with a BR score of 165-168, and a goal score of 170+, you definitely want to keep learning and reinforcing concepts. There is still room for growth as far as foundational knowledge goes. Dive as deep as you can into problem areas. Quality is better than quantity. You can't rush yourself into a 170+ by taking more PTs. You've got to really wrestle with your weaknesses.

All the timing advice is great, but if you can push your BR score to 175+ then I am certain your timed score will rise by several points too. You want to get your BR score as close to a consistent 180 as possible.

lady macbeth

@Sami @"nessa.k13.0" @AllezAllez21 Thank you so much for the great advice, guys! It really puts me in a more motivational/positive mood to read.

Sami, your confidence drill sounds optimal and I'm going to try it and keep doing it until I see the gap closing further. Also, if I do really badly during the confidence drill, then where do I go from there? Hone in on my weakness/wrong answer choices and repeat with another drill until I see progress? After that, would it be wise to up the ante with more practice tests a week?

I tend to spend hours on BR, which I think is what really helps me bring my BR score up so much higher, which is good I suppose. I seem to approach the questions themselves with confidence, but it begins to wane when I get stuck and become stubborn on skipping –– which affects my attitude for the following questions! ah!!

breathes I can do this.

Sami

@"lady macbeth" said:
Also, if I do really badly during the confidence drill, then where do I go from there? Hone in on my weakness/wrong answer choices and repeat with another drill until I see progress? After that, would it be wise to up the ante with more practice tests a week?

So if you do badly during a confidence drill, I wouldn't worry about it so much. Hopefully you'll see that you do know these questions based on your previous timed score and Blind review data. Try not to focus on learning during these drills. Your focus is to train your mindset for these PT's to be confident.

I tend to spend hours on BR, which I think is what really helps me bring my BR score up so much higher, which is good I suppose. I seem to approach the questions themselves with confidence, but it begins to wane when I get stuck and become stubborn on skipping –– which affects my attitude for the following questions! ah!!

Definitely try confidence drills. Also our BR score will always remain higher than our timed score because of the timing aspect. The real question is how do we close this gap. We can do it by building greater understanding and a better timed section strategy - a big part of it is having the confidence to skip. The confidence can only come from you first proving to yourself that you can skip and still get questions correct not the other way around. So try to see where your ideal confidence lies with these drills. You can't expect yourself to have this confidence during a live PT without even first proving to yourself that you will get questions right.

nessa.k13.0

I love your confidence drills advice @Sami ! I definitely want to echo what you said about closing the difference between your BR score and a timed take coming down to understanding and building building a good strategy. This is definitely key for building good habits that lead you to unconsciously skip and analyze questions during timed sections.

Cant Get Right

@"lady macbeth" said:
what can I do to better my endurance, speed, and accuracy?

Lots.

1. Like @AllezAllez21 said you do need to increase your BR score. Ultimately, speed comes from understanding. Until your BR is consistently above your target score, you have more work to do in solidifying your fundamentals. If you can't do it with unlimited time, you can't do it under timed conditions--even with a great pacing strategy. Make sure you're doing a good BR and writing out explanations: logical and grammatical breakdown of stimulus, detailed explanations of why each answer choice is either right or wrong.

2. You've first got to diagnose your timing issues. Until you can see exactly what you're doing wrong, you won't be able to fix it. Film your timed drills and review the footage to gain an objective perspective. Use a stopwatch to account for every second, and fill in a spreadsheet with how much time you spent for each question. This should let you clearly see the areas where you really got bogged down and fell into time sinks. Learn to avoid those and to keep moving. If you're stubborn and nervous about skipping, you've just got to get over it. Skipping confidently is an absolutely essential skill of almost every high scorer. If you can't learn to move on, you're going to continue to struggle. Everyone deals with the same anxiety about this at first, so you're definitely not alone.

3. Confidence drills, which @Sami explained very well.

4. Once you're consistently finishing with extra time, learn to use that to maximum effect. Marking questions differently based on your level of confidence is an important part of being able to quickly recognize where your best returns on time are likely to be.

How many simulated prep tests a week?

Probably just 1 for now. Make sure you're taking the time to work through the issues the PT exposes before you move onto the next. You've really got to go for quality over quantity here.

How many simulated practice tests had you all done when you began breaking into the 170s? etc.

Maybe about 30 for me, but everyone is different. This would have been a lot quicker if I had studied well from the start and not rushed through tests without taking the time to study and learn from them. I made a lot of mistakes starting out. Most of these mistakes were made for the sake of what felt like moving quickly. They really just slowed me down and wasted valuable PTs.

In between practice tests, I usually drill games, the 10 copies I have of each one from PT 1-35.

This is great. Make sure you're not neglecting LR and RC. Unless you've gone -0, you have mistakes to identify and learn to avoid.