10 in 10 and so on

georgiana001

I am curious to gain some insight on how fellow sagers trained themselves into answering 10 questions in 10 mins and how you worked up to 15 in 15 and so on. Was it mainly drills or through timed PTs?

Sarah889

It's a combination of both. The key is to 1) make identifying the the argument parts of each stimulus second nature; 2) get familiar with the types of flaws they exploit for their questions so that you begin looking for the right answer instead of eliminating the wrong ones; 3) identify your weak areas and drill to the point of nausea so that when you come across these problem questions during a timed PT, you're going at them with guns blazing because you already know how they're trying to trick you.

Drills are the best way to accomplish these 3 things, but obviously timed PTs reveal weaknesses that drills don't always reveal (like score anxiety, fatigue, etc.). Depending on where you are in your studies, spend some time drilling until you've got 10 in 10, then 15 in 15 (accurately) and after you've achieved those goals, incorporate those strategies into your timed PTs.

Alex

@georgiana001 said:
I am curious to gain some insight on how fellow sagers trained themselves into answering 10 questions in 10 mins and how you worked up to 15 in 15 and so on. Was it mainly drills or through timed PTs?

I did both in order to train myself for this type of timing. In the beginning, I was doing more drilling with timed sections sprinkled in. As I began getting better, I did less drilling and more timed sections.

Identify questions that slow you down. The LSAT isn't just about training for accuracy, but speed as well. So when you review your LR sections, examine which question types you might get right but you take longer on. Then you want to research how to do these more efficiently by returning to the CC perhaps and revising the lessons as well as the drills.

Also you need to be willing to skip the harder questions that may suck up your time more aggressively. It doesn't mean you're giving up on them permanently, but if you want to go fast you need to keep yourself in the zone. I can do 15 in 15 and generally skip about 3-5 per LR section that I have time to return to.

NotMyName

to add to what's been said, i trained myself to skip long before i got trapped in a fishing expedition. usually, if you answer a question in a minute or less, you nailed it nuts to bolts -- there's a good chance you saw past all the tricks and hunted for what you knew was the right answer. or conversely, you knew vaguely the shape of the right answer and when you found it, you knew it.

my first run through a test, i aim for zero internal debate. if i answer a question, its because i know it's the right answer. the second pass are for questions i've narrowed the answers down to 2 or 3 and can most likely get right. the third pass are curvebreakers and i'll miss some of those.

Seeking Perfection

On logical reasoning, I started out about that fast. But that was because except for a few of the LR types my intuition was already really good.

In my opinion, if you literally have to diagram you are wasting time. Once your intuition is good enough, you won't have to diagram more than a couple questions that you are not sure of a test. So I would try not diagramming as much as possible during PT's and then would rigorously diagram each question in blind review to build your intuition.

I thinking drilling is probably only useful to the point where you can recognize the type of question. This will help you remember tendencies in each type of question. After that I don't see what drilling in LR does for you that prep tests with blind review don't.

The whole 10 in 10 or 15 in 15 thing should just sort of happen once your intuition is sound. It's a byproduct of LSAT putting most of the easy questions first. You shouldn't be consciously rushing. Thinking about rushing is a distraction. So don't force it.

As to skipping questions, it probably can be useful if you are willing to accept there is a chance you won't get to all of the questions. I never had to make such a compromise on LR. But if you do it would magnify the effect of the LSAT putting easier questions first. You need more time left for the harder questions that you skipped.

I do all the questions in order and then circle back through to any I wasn't absolutely sure of. Usually, I still have extra time and check to make sure I didn't make a bubbling mistake before gathering myself for the possibility that a turn of the page will reveal the games.

TheMikey

drilling a crap ton basically

you just gotta notice patterns is what it really just is.