What is your LR strategy?

abella123

Hi everybody.
I scored a 143 cold (done in June 2017) but I don't really consider it valid because I was sleeping through Reading Comp and barely taking the tests seriously. Regardless, my strongest sections were LR and LG. LR is somewhat understandable for me. I know for sure I am to do very well in February by looking at the questions in terms of category + strategy. Thought I'd shoot and ask you what are your strategies for LR questions. You can either state one question or how you approach the section as a whole. I'm devising a plan for each question and will test it out through drilling a million of them. My latest practice test (back in like October) was 158. I've been studying half-ass, but seeing as I wasted my $ not taking the December test. I chose to study very hard since October. I've been on it and with now 6 weeks left to the test, I'm on full throttle. Right now I'm perfecting my logic games, but I'd like to dedicate the next two weeks on drilling LG and LR and perfecting the strategies for this. Then I'll do 1 week for perfecting RC and spend the last 2-3 weeks doing practice tests, working on weaknesses and drilling.

170+ or go home.

Thank you!

Alex

@aciss038 said:
Hi everybody.
I scored a 143 cold (done in June 2017) but I don't really consider it valid because I was sleeping through Reading Comp and barely taking the tests seriously. Regardless, my strongest sections were LR and LG. LR is somewhat understandable for me. I know for sure I am to do very well in February by looking at the questions in terms of category + strategy. Thought I'd shoot and ask you what are your strategies for LR questions. You can either state one question or how you approach the section as a whole. I'm devising a plan for each question and will test it out through drilling a million of them. My latest practice test (back in like October) was 158. I've been studying half-ass, but seeing as I wasted my $ not taking the December test. I chose to study very hard since October. I've been on it and with now 6 weeks left to the test, I'm on full throttle. Right now I'm perfecting my logic games, but I'd like to dedicate the next two weeks on drilling LG and LR and perfecting the strategies for this. Then I'll do 1 week for perfecting RC and spend the last 2-3 weeks doing practice tests, working on weaknesses and drilling.

170+ or go home.

Thank you!

Hey @aciss038!

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking, but my LR strategy are just 7Sage's strategies which you'll learn going through the curriculum and working problem sets. I just took it one question type at a time and used all of JY's methods. It's worked extremely well for me!

Your approach sounds like you might run into some problems. First, It seems to me like you're trying to learn through osmosis, or by by doing "a million" questions. I can tell you that's not likely to work very well. At the very least it will be inefficient. You don't need to do a million questions of anything to get better. (OK...ok...Maybe games. But I think half a million should cut it, lol) Always put quality over quantity. Prioritize time to review maybe 50 of XYZ question type over rushing to get 500 done. You'll learn a lot more that way!

Second, going from a 158 to a 170 before the February test will be a Herculean task. I'm not saying that it can't be done, but I don't think I've ever seen that kind of jump in that amount of time. The 15 point improvement from a 143 to a 158 is amazing, so congrats! However, those 15 points are very "low hanging" fruit. They're largely a matter of learning the basics and figuring out how the test works. The same cannot be said for the 10+ points you need to hit the 170s. The majority of those points come from some degree of mastery of the material, superb test taking skills and strategies, and hundreds if not thousands of hours of drilling and PT'ing/BR'ing.

Lastly, you mention that you're going to spend two weeks doing LR/LG and then a week "perfecting" RC, 2-3 weeks PT'ing and hammering weaknesses... All of that strikes me as a bit unrealistic/overly optimistic. Learning to perfect those sections/skills can take months of hard work, not a matter of a week or two. The thing is, the LSAT isn't a test where you're expected to just regurgitate what you've learned onto a piece of paper; it's a performance; a recital. It's a lot like learning ballet, playing the piano, or golfing. No matter how hard you try, short of extraordinary talent, those things can't be perfected in a matter or weeks. On the LSAT, you need lots of time to take PTs and blind review them to hone those skills.

All this to say: you may want to re-consider your timeline again if you're aiming for a 170. Then again, you know yourself best and what you're capable of, so do what you think is best.

Good luck

abella123

@"Alex Divine" said:

@aciss038 said:
Hi everybody.
I scored a 143 cold (done in June 2017) but I don't really consider it valid because I was sleeping through Reading Comp and barely taking the tests seriously. Regardless, my strongest sections were LR and LG. LR is somewhat understandable for me. I know for sure I am to do very well in February by looking at the questions in terms of category + strategy. Thought I'd shoot and ask you what are your strategies for LR questions. You can either state one question or how you approach the section as a whole. I'm devising a plan for each question and will test it out through drilling a million of them. My latest practice test (back in like October) was 158. I've been studying half-ass, but seeing as I wasted my $ not taking the December test. I chose to study very hard since October. I've been on it and with now 6 weeks left to the test, I'm on full throttle. Right now I'm perfecting my logic games, but I'd like to dedicate the next two weeks on drilling LG and LR and perfecting the strategies for this. Then I'll do 1 week for perfecting RC and spend the last 2-3 weeks doing practice tests, working on weaknesses and drilling.

170+ or go home.

Thank you!

Hey @aciss038!

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking, but my LR strategy are just 7Sage's strategies which you'll learn going through the curriculum and working problem sets. I just took it one question type at a time and used all of JY's methods. It's worked extremely well for me!

Your approach sounds like you might run into some problems. First, It seems to me like you're trying to learn through osmosis, or by by doing "a million" questions. I can tell you that's not likely to work very well. At the very least it will be inefficient. You don't need to do a million questions of anything to get better. (OK...ok...Maybe games. But I think half a million should cut it, lol) Always put quality over quantity. Prioritize time to review maybe 50 of XYZ question type over rushing to get 500 done. You'll learn a lot more that way!

Second, going from a 158 to a 170 before the February test will be a Herculean task. I'm not saying that it can't be done, but I don't think I've ever seen that kind of jump in that amount of time. The 15 point improvement from a 143 to a 158 is amazing, so congrats! However, those 15 points are very "low hanging" fruit. They're largely a matter of learning the basics and figuring out how the test works. The same cannot be said for the 10+ points you need to hit the 170s. The majority of those points come from some degree of mastery of the material, superb test taking skills and strategies, and hundreds if not thousands of hours of drilling and PT'ing/BR'ing.

Lastly, you mention that you're going to spend two weeks doing LR/LG and then a week "perfecting" RC, 2-3 weeks PT'ing and hammering weaknesses... All of that strikes me as a bit unrealistic/overly optimistic. Learning to perfect those sections/skills can take months of hard work, not a matter of a week or two. The thing is, the LSAT isn't a test where you're expected to just regurgitate what you've learned onto a piece of paper; it's a performance; a recital. It's a lot like learning ballet, playing the piano, or golfing. No matter how hard you try, short of extraordinary talent, those things can't be perfected in a matter or weeks. On the LSAT, you need lots of time to take PTs and blind review them to hone those skills.

All this to say: you may want to re-consider your timeline again if you're aiming for a 170. Then again, you know yourself best and what you're capable of, so do what you think is best.

Good luck

Hi!
Thank you for the advice. I'll make sure to take a look at my strategy.
I've been studying on and off since June and getting comfortable with the LSAT in general, but you are right, I will do my very best with preparing for February and if I don't get the score I need then will just use this as grounds to bring my A game to June.
Thanks again!