Do you ever feel lost in your studying...

LSATcantwin

Today I sat down at work after my normal morning routine. I logged into Cookie Clicker, 7Sage and Reddit and got ready to start my day. I get to work really early to study for the test, so after everything was set up, I started trying to decided where to focus my studying for today.

I just can't do it! I feel like I am in such an odd place with the test and I feel directionless. I know which sections are my weakest sections. I know that one hard LG or RC passage can destroy my score. I know harder LR questions will trip me up and yet I feel like I have no real grasp on how to improve.

I'm pretty consistent with my sections;

-1/2 LG unless a hard game makes it -5
-6 LR typically with the first section -4 and the second -2
-4 RC unless there is a passage that I have no interest in....(looking at you art....)

Which gives me a score between 165 and 172ish on any given day.

I am super happy I've made it to where I am. I know plateaus can be broken, I've done it before, and you guys have shown me that it is possible with all your awesome stories. I am not done though. I want to get better, I just don't know how.

I know this is vague, I know there probably is no real answer to this problem I'm having other than sucking it up and figuring it out. I just feel very directionless right now. In the past I've always felt like I knew how to improve, and where to focus. Now I just feel like I am spinning my tires in the mud, and not gaining any significant traction on the test.

Thanks for reading, 7Sage is really the best! It's a group of people who understand me. If I had said any of this to most people in my life they'd say....

"Well it can't be that hard, just memorize the important stuff."

It aggravates me that they don't understand the struggles we have with this test!! Thanks for letting me vent.

http://orteil.dashnet.org/cookieclicker/ for anyone that doesn't know what cookie clicker is

Alex

I'm sorry to hear you're feeling lost

All you can do is your best and you know what to do to improve and break that plateau and I know you have it in you. Think of how far you've come from when you first started!

As far as feeling lost, yeah, I can relate to feeling this way from time to time. It's not uncommon that I feel as though a curse of learned helplessness has been cast upon me for the reasons you've outlined above. A hard game or RC passage could theoretically tank my score, and I feel a bit lost as a result. I also think right now you're going through a bit of a plateau and those suck and are ripe for cultivating these feelings.

Just remember that at the end of the day this is a test. You can always retake if it comes down to it and you have to let go of the variables you can't control and do your best to prepare. Sure it's an important test, but there's more to life than tests and law school. Mental health is one of those things so of you feel like after work today you might just want to eat some ice cream and read a good book, then take the night off.

When it comes to getting better at the level you are scoring at, I think part of the key to improvement is becoming your own teacher. I'm guessing you have a good grasp of the fundamentals and are struggling with a few question/game types that likely have some common thread running between them. This is when it becomes hard to find to find answer externally and usually requires some serious introspection. It may also be that you would benefit from some one-on-one tutoring as well.

I hope you feel better soon and have no doubt you'll break this plateau. Keep your chin up!

TheMikey

Sorry to hear. I def 100000% know how you feel. Just keep at it, it sucks but in the end it will pay off!

nathanieljschwartz

Right there with you @LSATcantwin. Im also between 167-173. For me the mistakes i make are just stupid and arbitrary. I misread this, didnt understand that. Blah blah blah.
I feel you on the hard RC and LGs. Those could knock me off my game.
How is your skipping strategy?
For me, i was fine with skipping but was still missing questions. I realized that it had nothing to do with my skipping but rather with my ability to go back and make the most of my banked time. This, i think, may take just as long as any other phase of prep to remedy. Head up and best of luck to you!

LSATcantwin

@nathanieljschwartz said:
Right there with you @LSATcantwin. Im also between 167-173. For me the mistakes i make are just stupid and arbitrary. I misread this, didnt understand that. Blah blah blah.
I feel you on the hard RC and LGs. Those could knock me off my game.
How is your skipping strategy?
For me, i was fine with skipping but was still missing questions. I realized that it had nothing to do with my skipping but rather with my ability to go back and make the most of my banked time. This, i think, may take just as long as any other phase of prep to remedy. Head up and best of luck to you!

Would you hate me if I said I don't use a skipping strategy....I'm stubborn, like really stubborn. So during a test I HATE leaving a question without feeling like I have a solid answer. It drives me insane. I've worked with a tutor and he saw me do an LR section timed. He noticed that I don't write as much on the test as his other students, and he seemed to suggest that a lot of it is taking place in my head. He called me a turtle basically lol I am slow and steady with my questions. I do POE way too often but don't feel confident enough in myself to abandon it. Any time I do abandon it, I feel confident, and then the next answer was the right one. I just didn't read it and moved on.

I also make those mistakes you are talking about. My last test had a question that said "which violates the principle" so of course not paying close enough attention, I picked the AC that SUPPORTED the principle......WHHHYYYY lol

nathanieljschwartz

Lol @LSATcantwin hilarious! (quite sobs) i did the same thing with an EXCEPT question yesterday.
That stubborn feeling is precisely what i had until i was able to convince myself that if i put together a proper plan of attack and to prioritize what to do with the banked time on my second round.
I found that once i was able to get a strategy that actually helped me answer questions i had skipped i wasnt as reluctant to leave a question.
Takes abit of tweaking, when i started i was skipping 7 or 8 which i find to be too much.
But now i can count on missing max 2 a section.
The key isnt figuring out which questions to skip. Rather to find a notation strategy that helps you efficiently return to the questions that you have the highest probabilty of getting correct.
In RC if youv got a decent idea whats going on, but the overall MP isnt apparent, consider skipping it and doing it last.
In LG maybe do the local questions before the the more general, global questions.
WARNING: try this on timed sections BEFORE a full pt.

After speaking with David CGR, i came to realize the importance of knowing how confident you are w/ a question and then moving on. And if not marking it for a return

I thank G-D errday that we are scoring in such a high range, but the struggles become so much harder to identify and correct it can be frustrating.

Rooting for you bud!!!

sakox010

LOL what is the Cookie Clicker thing? Does this help you with the LSAT or something?

LSATcantwin

@sakox010 said:
LOL what is the Cookie Clicker thing? Does this help you with the LSAT or something?

Haha has nothing to do with LSAT at all. It's a game I log into every day and let run while I am at work checking on it every once and awhile. It's just part of my routine