Top scorers - how long does it take you to blind review, and why?

CinnamonTea

Hi all (and particularly top scorers)

My questions are these:
1. How long does it take you to blind review a full PT?
2. If over 2.5 hours per section, what are you doing that is taking up so much time (and probably clearly working for you, considering you are a top scorer?)

Note: please see how I blind review below.

Here is my process: I go all the questions I've circled with a clean copy, write out explanations (including my analysis of the stimulus and why each answer choice is right or wrong, in my opinion); I then check JY's video, see why I choose the right/wrong answer, if the answer is wrong I write where I went wrong and what I can do to avoid that in the future, and any takeaways from the question. At the very end I check my analytics to see if there are any questions I got wrong and did not circle for blind review and then I repeat the process mentioned above for those questions. Even after I do all of this, it only takes me about 2.5 hours per section (approximately). I've heard some top scorers say they spent around 6 hours per section (=30 hours per PT), which prompted this post on 7sage.

dennisgerrard

Interested. Answer this question once I get 170s:)

JustDoIt

Honestly...it depends on how many questions I circle so LR can be quite variable ranging from 1-4 hours. LG...30 minutes unless there is a killer game. RC is about 2-4 hours bc it's my weakest so I take a long time on it to try and get better.

I really don't do hardcore review questions I'm confident in anymore. It's a not the most productive use of time in my opinion bc there's other things I could be working on. If I think I got it, I'll trust and move on. I kinda believe this is how BR should be anyways bc you'll be more shocked by your confidence errors. I've also become quite good at recognizing my mistakes, so BRing doesn't take too long anymore. But if something trips me up at all, especially the second go around, I'll spend a decent amount time on it.

Granted this is only the test itself. I've been doing some other things lately that take much more time.

theLSATdreamer

this is a good discussion i can learn a lot from this, my goal was to start studying to after a week break from june lsat, and do a month of 1 prep a week but im not a high scorer so i take my time doing BR, i'll go over every question, then I plug them into the computer and the ones i got wrong both times i put aside the one i got wrong the first time i read again and reasure myself of my train of thought, the one i got wrong the second time i try to analyze where my train of thought failed me, and then the ones i got wrong twice i watch the video explanation, and later in the week after they are no longer fresh i redo them with a blank question set no writing at all on them, i know it seems as if i would get them all correct but we forget them so it goes back to train of thought and during the week I do LG days where I do just games then RC days and LR days so they get mixed in my head with others i've done. right now im enjoying my break taking this weekend off, then back to it

JustDoIt

Also, I spread it over one to three days. I think it's important to let things digest and comeback with a fresh, emotionally detached mindset.

Cant Get Right

Well, it depends on the exact nature of your question. How long does it take me now that I'm a top scorer; or how long did it take me on my way up? Now, it doesn't take me long at all, but it's not that my process has changed from what it used to be. The difference is that the number of questions I have to review is way less. One of my final tests before my test day, I didn't have any questions circled by the end of it. There was not a single question on the entire test that I didn't feel confident on, so I didn't have a BR. A couple of confidence errors brought my score down to a 179, but that score confirmed that my confidence had been earned. But that's a completely different story from what it used to take. Your process is really similar to mine: fresh copy, written explanations of both stims and ACs, analyze how I went wrong on my errors, determine what I need to do to avoid making the same error again, and then similarly review confidence errors. That's a really good process, so if it's taking you 2.5 hours, then that's probably how long it should be taking you. I did have times where particular questions bogged down my review--I was pretty stubborn and kind of refused to move on until I really was confident I 100% got it. This could lead to some really long sessions, but these were infrequent. I think 2.5/section is probably indicative of good practices in most cases, so keep doing what you're doing!

CinnamonTea

Thanks @"Cant Get Right" !