Help with timing?

inactive

Hey 7Sagers,

A user wrote in to studentservices@7sage.com with concerns about timing and I figured you'd be able to help. Here's the message:

I have registered for your course since April. I was going to take the LSAT test, but since English is my second language, It took more time to learn the materials that I thought. So, I couldn't finish the material of the course by September and had to reschedule my test for December. Hopefully, the remaining time helps me to master on the most part of the LSAT.

Although I have finished 71% of the course, I feel I need to review the materials again. When I take the test without timing, my score gets about 156- 160, but with timing I only can finish two parts of each section and of course my score is less than above.

Do you have any recommendation?

Thank You!

tsamvelyan

Had the same issue.
1. Practice, Practice, Practice - especially logic games, it's much easier to master the games with practice even if English is not your native language.
2. Logical Reasoning - Try to master your understanding of what the question stem is asking for and immediately know things you need to employ (i.e. for weakening questions - you should immediately know that you're looking for the conclusion and the support. Your job is to weaken the support or that transit that goes from support to conclusion. You should know this for almost all question types).
3. Reading Comp. - Not much you can do there; I try to break down each paragraph; identify the main points; the support; understand why a particular sentence is where it is; look for the author's tone, and look for the main point. Then, go straight into questions.

For extremely convoluted questions, I just try to do my best and not waste a lot of time - that's the nature of the beast (in this case the LSAT). No matter what they say, it's a biased test for non-native speakers and the fact that law schools give no phuunks about is even more frustrating.

Drackedary

In terms of logic games speed, are you applying the "Fool Proof Guide to Perfection on Logic Games?" It will certainly improve your timing with logic games. It is very crucial to apply this method without fail everyday, because it allows you to get familiar with the inferences, which are frequently recycled.

Derek Kunhee Kim

LR: I've really found that you must not only know why the correct answer choice is correct, but also why the other 4 ACs are wrong. Confidence is key on this section. Writing down questions I have gotten wrong has really helped me. I will write them down on a big piece of paper and decipher them like John Madden would a football play. You need to start thinking like the test makers
LG: Quality over quantity on this test. I firmly believe you don't need to take every single Preptest to score well on the LSAT. I'm a big fan of JY's Fool Proof guide to Logic Games because it forces you to learn the processes and inferences that are often repeated on LGs.

Keep working hard! It's not an easy test! But it is totally learnable!

Quick Silver

Blind Review all preptests you take. If you're not sure how it works, review the 7Sage Videos on it.

I swear by this method:
- It forces you to think through problems in a way you can't by just checking the answers and "thinking you know why the correct answer is what it is."
- When it came to skipping or saving problems for later, this method also helps because it forces you to know yourself and know the problems you need more time or effort on.

Some people try to cram in as many PTs as possible. I say make sure you have enough time to BR them, otherwise do less PTs to fit the BR in.

LeoFiro8

Literarily in the same situation, Moved to U.S. at age 15 now 25, Didn't speak a lick of english until I had moved. Have signed up with 7Sage since February, was going to take June, wasn't ready so postponed, was going to take September, felt ready but under timed conditions I got killed, so now going for December. I like to know that by now I got all the "material" down, conditional logic, inferences, the basics and then starting to apply them to each individual question type , for LG make sure I know how to set up charts, recognize the question type etc, and for RC understood the basics of the question types and what they are looking for in general. From this point on that I got the basics down, now it's just time to practice. Many times some really easy words (which I don't understand) that actually have to do a lot with the question trouble me. I either skip that question when I know how vital the definition of a word is or try to figure it out in a if x then y situation where it didn't matter what the word means, but for some questions not knowing some words definitely kills. From the looks of it it's just practice that can help us but I've been "PRACTICING" and i'm either not doing it right down to a tittle or something is not working here.

ABCDELSAT

English is my second language too and I totally understand your points but it IS doable. I started with 128 on my first test ever (!!!!), I get around 160 now...and I'm aiming for 170 in December. The key is to guess the meaning of what you don't understand; an educated guess based on the context. Don't let yourself believe that one word can kill you, sometimes it does but not always if you face it confidently. From now till December write down every word you don't understand and it's meaning next to it... Even words in schools or day to day life. Then hang different copies of your list in different places around the house. It does magic. This is how I learnt the 3 languages that I speak besides my mother tongue. Thumbs up! We got this!!

Drackedary

By the way, don't underestimate yourselves. A few of you here feel having English as a second language is holding you back. Honestly, from what I'm reading, you guys/gals have a pretty strong command of English. And trust me, I was a college teaching assistant and have graded hundreds upon hundreds of papers. I've seen many native speakers who don't understand course materials and write in a nonsensical manner.