High accuracy, but struggling hard with speed on logic games... and only 3 weeks left

downtown.browntown

Hi friends, I'm reaching out for any and all advice on speeding up Logic Games. When I do the games timed, the ones I finish are 90%+ correct, but I am struggling to even finish 3 games. I know my perfectionism is getting in the way, and I'm trying to push myself to be scrappy and fast, but still struggling so hard. With only 3 weeks left, I need all the support/advice out there on speed. Any fellow perfectionists who overcame this? Or non-perfectionists who can teach me your ways? Thank you guys.

Elle.Woods

I struggle with the games too, so also looking for suggestions! Ive been working so hard on them but I always try and make inferences and then forget a game board or something and totally fudge up.

Victoria.

I felt exactly like this the week before last. I stopped taking pts and just did 3-4 LG sections per day for a few days and my speed greatly improved. If you have the basics down, drilling whole sections should help you overcome the timing issue. I went from a range of -11 to -6 to -1 now. It's still a work in progress and I'm not going to stop drilling LG but I feel so much more confortable.

eRetaker

Are your diagrams similar to the ones in J.Y.'s explanation videos? If not, I think you might be brute-forcing the correct answers which leads to high accuracy but low volume. Brute-forcing will only hurt in the long term so make sure you cannibalize the correct diagramming methods in the LG explanation videos. If you are already diagramming correctly then all you need to do is drill several games a day, BR them, and watch the explanation videos. I think 3 weeks is enough time for you to get close to -0.

MissChanandler

I agree with the commenters above, and I have a couple tips to add. I tend to go slower when I don't take the time to make inferences/split boards/understand the rules right up front. If I'm anxious about time then I tend to rush onto the questions and then it takes longer anyway. Force yourself to just think about how the rules interact for 15-20 seconds if you aren't already. I would also say that when you've arrived at the correct answer and you know it's the correct answer, don't bother proving out or testing all of the other answer choices. Just circle it and move on. As a perfectionist I know it's really tempting to prove all of the incorrect answers incorrect, and you definitely should do this when you're just practicing individual games or reviewing, but when you're PTing you just have to trust yourself and move on when you're struggling with time.

downtown.browntown

Thanks guys this is really helpful.
@Elle.Woods - yup right there with you @Victoria. - encouraging to hear other success stories
@eRetaker - yes I've been watching tons of JY's videos, so I have gotten pretty close to his diagrams. I still don't split sub-game boards as much as I should, so I'm working on that. Thank you for the vote of confidence!
@MissChanandler - thank you, all those points are really great and definitely things I need to do.

I'm currently leaning towards postponing to November. I've been averaging 166 on PTs and am trying to get 171+ in order to be competitive for scholarships (I would be very happy with a 171). My best PT was 170. I feel like I'm really close to a breakthrough on LG, which could pick up anywhere from 5-10 points on my score which would be huge. But I don't know if I can reach that breakthrough in the next 3 days... and even if I can, don't know if I have enough data points to say I can reliably hit that on test day. Such a tough decision... And it seems that waiting to do my best in November is better that aiming and missing in Sept. What do you guys think? :-/ ANY THOUGHTS/ADVICE?

eRetaker

The benefits of taking September is that you get accustomed to how sitting for the official exam is like so you can better prepare yourself for a November take. You also won't get a refund at this point and schools only take your highest score anyway. Lastly, there is a chance you can get a easy LG section this exam and then dominate the other sections for a 170+.

The downsides of taking the September LSAT is if you bomb it and you have to report all your scores to schools. If everything else was equal they may pick another candidate over you if they only took it once. However, it pretty much never comes down to that and again your highest score trumps all. The other issue is if you score 6+ points in difference some schools require an addendum to explain it. Ultimately, it's up to you whether you think the pros outweigh the cons, but you really can't go wrong either way. One or two takes is a minor difference seeing as 3+ takes are normal nowadays and the addendum is only a sentence or two long. @"hannah.cumming"

samantha.ashley92

One thing I have done when time is an issue is to skip the questions that tell you to ignore a rule and replace it with a new rule. They tend to take up the most time.