How to reach your potential under time pressure

ABCDELSAT

We are hardly 5 weeks away from Dec LSAT and I have been doing the BR since September 2014 and studying for this test since May this year. I have been doing everything JY explains in his course and still I do not go above 160 on PT. My average on BR is 175 which is an indicative of my potential score. I BR each test I take within 24 hours after taking it and I clearly see why the right AC is right and each of the rest are wrong. Then, I listen to videos which confirm my way of thinking. After all of that, I open another test and I see the same painful score!! Any advice/ personal experience on how I can manifest what I know without time pressure under timed test?
PS- This is my average timed performance:
Logic Games: 98%
LR: 76%
RC: 54%
Average raw score: 68-74

I appreciate any input.

jdawg113

Im sure there are people out there in/who have been in a similar situation but reading this the first thing that comes to my mind is to tell you to just hammer out timed sections/PT's... the more you do the more comfortable with the timing you get and the quicker you get. The quicker you get the more time on harder problems you can spend, and so on. my $0.02

LSATisland

The above is true. However, the un-timed tests/review will also increase your time. Speed is tied to proficiency. As you get better at the test, you will get faster at knowing what to look for and finding the right answers.

barcanou

I'm in the same boat. After an original diagnostic in May of 163 and the summer studying, I was disappointed on the Sept exam. My timed PTs lately have been around 165-168 and BR usually bumps up 5-7 points. I'm looking to get full or close to full scholarship at WUSTL or similarly ranked school. @ABCDELSAT, I think you should drill RC for maybe a whole week and get some speed there. That's my plan for this week since it is also my weakest section.

chrijani7

I agree that doing a bunch of timed tests/sections will help you out but just make sure your not doing these to increase speed while sacrificing accuracy. I can give you some advice on LR/LG, but as far as RC goes im fairly weak in that area as well.

For LR if you want to reach your potential you NEED to get comfortable with moving VERY FAST on the easier questions. It's simply not enough to look at a BR score and say you understand the questions, you need to get used of moving through "easier" questions faster to give yourself more time to work through the harder questions. Typical way to adjust for this is doing the first 10 in roughly 10 minutes. HOWEVER, don't get caught off guard if it ends up taking you 11-12 minutes for the first 10 at times because sometimes there are a few tougher questions in the first 10. The idea is a bench mark not a set in stone goal.

The other thing for LR is to really consider skipping a question or two later on the section. Remember that ALL the questions are worth 1 point. Don't waste your time on a question that you MAY get wrong, when you can give yourself an extra minute or two to help you have a BETTER chance of getting some of teh medium/easy questions correct.

For LG:
The key is that if a question says which of the following CBT and you check A and its true, then circle it and move. YOu need to get comfortable with your diagram and rules so you are confident in your answers to keep moving. This will save you TONS of times and as I said before if yur comfortable with the rules then you shouldnt sacrifice accuracy either.

These are just some things that worked for me... find what works for you and you're golden.

ABCDELSAT

Thanks for all your comments, it's a stressful situation and knowing somebody understands you is helpful!

@Barcanou: what do you exactly do when you drill RC? Also, during PTs and other practice, I have exhausted almost half of my RC sections, if not more. What do you use for drilling?

harrismegan

I was in the same boat.
I recently just moved my score average up to 160-164 after staying at 158 for a really long time.
When it comes to LR, I found that I improved (just recently) by targeting a specific question type I was shitty at (SA/PSA), printed all of the practice problems offered, watched the video, and committed to doing the method for each and every question in the practice.
1. Find the Conclusion.
2. Find the premise.
Find the link between the two.

Maybe you should write a practice, determine your weaknesses, and then spend a day working towards forming a more concrete method on how to solve them. I then would go back through the online questions offered for the questions on 7sage for extra practice. And then back through old prep tests for SA and PSA questions to get additional practice.

kristineleewilliams

I agree with harrismegan. Look at your analytics and really hammer the LR question types you do the worst at.

Also, have you practiced a timed test with skipping a few questions? I hate to skip, but I found by skipping one or two long/difficult LR questions, I seem to have much more time for that section and therefore I am more accurate. Plus, you can always go back to them if you end up with extra time.

Dillon PG

Did the same thing. Focused on NA, SA, and PSA for a whole day. Next test jumped from 161 to 165. Focused on some RC studying for a day and next test jumped to 167. Just keep hammering your weaknesses. Im still working on RC personally hoping to squeeze a few more points out.

ABCDELSAT

Thanks guys...that seems to be a valuable thing to do and that's how I am going to spend my day today! We got this!!