Plateau & Score Fluctuations

Achen165

Hi fellow Sagers,

I have been studying and studying for what feels like eternity, and following 7sage CC, an in person commercial prep course, and numerous books and guides, I finally took to some serious self studying. My PTs range from 153-159, with an average of 157. 160+ is the goal for me, but no matter what I do, I haven’t seemed to climb past this plateau. I acknowledge that the curve is less forgiving as you climb up, but I cannot seem to catch balance. My plan for my next (and final) LSAT take has been to use the Digital Problem Set to do timed sections because my PT score hadn’t moved following a dozen exams since my last write. My review process has been as follows:

For LR: I paraphrase the stimulus if it’s an argument in my own words, write it out, rationale for each answer choice, during BR and Review. I try to come up with my own explanations before consulting 7Sage explanations. I completed all of the PTs 60-69 before opting for more timed sections from 36-59. I’m at PT 59 on RC and LG, in the 40s in LR at present.

For RC: High/ Low Res summaries of passage, tracking my time distribution in a chart for how long I spend reading passage vs. the questions, comparing both to JY’s target times.

LG is my strong suit— FPM of every game at 75% accuracy or above (usually above).

My individual section scores in LR range from anywhere from -4/-6 to -9/-12 and I don’t understand where that high upper end comes from as if I had never studied. In RC as well as -4/-5 and on some days -10/-11 as if I had never studied. It fluctuates in timed sections so much I haven’t taken full PTs, but will do individual questions followed by immediate review.

I don’t know what else to do. I don’t see how I can get the score I need to with such immense fluctuations and an inability to hit anywhere near my goal during an official write. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Suggestions, please?

Thank you!

Michael.Cinco

Hello! I think your LR issues may be tied to individual approach to question types. Hard to pin it down without actually seeing you in action but once we find out which question types those are, it could be a really quick fix. Ditto with RC. I actually tutor the LSAT and I can help pinpoint some of those issues out by walking through a blind review with you. There is nothing like someone taking a cold eyes approach to your question tackling process to iron out the wrinkles in your process (and improve your score!) DM me and we can set something up!

Bamboosprout

@achen013 said:
Hi fellow Sagers,

I have been studying and studying for what feels like eternity, and following 7sage CC, an in person commercial prep course, and numerous books and guides, I finally took to some serious self studying. My PTs range from 153-159, with an average of 157. 160+ is the goal for me, but no matter what I do, I haven’t seemed to climb past this plateau. I acknowledge that the curve is less forgiving as you climb up, but I cannot seem to catch balance. My plan for my next (and final) LSAT take has been to use the Digital Problem Set to do timed sections because my PT score hadn’t moved following a dozen exams since my last write. My review process has been as follows:

My peak was after I went through the 7sage course twice, and trying to predict the explanations and course material on the second time through.

For LR: I paraphrase the stimulus if it’s an argument in my own words, write it out, rationale for each answer choice, during BR and Review. I try to come up with my own explanations before consulting 7Sage explanations. I completed all of the PTs 60-69 before opting for more timed sections from 36-59. I’m at PT 59 on RC and LG, in the 40s in LR at present.

Have you identified any patterns after you consult the 7sage explanations for answers you've missed? In my opinion, we can generalize mistakes into about 5 categories, such as too narrow, too general, lacking directionality, tricked by relevant words, misreading, etc. Recording these mistakes and reviewing my reasons for making these mistakes help me recognize and respond to questions with more awareness.

For RC: High/ Low Res summaries of passage, tracking my time distribution in a chart for how long I spend reading passage vs. the questions, comparing both to JY’s target times.

RC is 7Sage's one weakness. The memory method is strong, but having used Manhattan prep, the trainer, powerscore, kaplan, and 7sage, the one thing that other courses teach that really helped me was how to skim. It blew my mind how powerful this was. I was very dubious about this approach at first, because 7sage teaches us to read everything, but I tested skimming with pretty good results:
- I usually had to reread that section anyway
- Less than one question per passage would ask about what I skimmed/skipped
- Skim when you see: moreover, for example, furthermore, in addition, in particular, etc (some times, you can even skim whatever follows 'because', because support structure is so much less meaningful in RC)

This may or may not work for you, but might be interesting to try.

LG is my strong suit— FPM of every game at 75% accuracy or above (usually above).

That's really not good enough, unfortunately. I'm sure you have a sense of this, but if you have a 95% accuracy for LG, you will likely exceed your score goal, right? Getting 95% is possible for everyone. Do every game you have trouble with 5 times over the course of of the next few weeks, and you will get there.

My individual section scores in LR range from anywhere from -4/-6 to -9/-12 and I don’t understand where that high upper end comes from as if I had never studied. In RC as well as -4/-5 and on some days -10/-11 as if I had never studied. It fluctuates in timed sections so much I haven’t taken full PTs, but will do individual questions followed by immediate review.

I don’t know what else to do. I don’t see how I can get the score I need to with such immense fluctuations and an inability to hit anywhere near my goal during an official write. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Suggestions, please?

Thank you!

I have seen other LSAT takers do this, and I also highly recommend it. I suggest doing the fool-proof method for every section. Record your mistakes, analyze and meditate on them, record your self-criticism, and redo the questions at a later date. Practice makes perfect, and practicing smart is more important than practicing hard.

PS: I was reading a comment you wrote about "Why Law" a while ago, and your comment really helped me. I hope I can help you in some way as well. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Achen165

@Bamboosprout thank you!

EagerestBeaver

As somebody who ended up in the score range where you want to be and had similar issues, @Bamboosprout really hit it on the head. If you get LG down to -0/-1, that by itself takes you almost to 160, and that is probably the quickest route to gains. You shouldn't just get 75% of LG. You should get to a point where you are methodically just rolling through them with zero doubt that you just slayed the whole thing. Take the time to memorize the types of rules so that you can call it out as you see it in new games.

If you were going to invest in tutoring or further preparation, consider an RC tutor. I never sorted RC and also had PTs ranging between -4 and -11. Ultimately, that was what kept my score from reaching the stratosphere. I also did high/low res paragraph and passage summaries, tried to underline main points and relevant details, and follow other "techniques", but it never seemed to matter.

Until you get to 180, obviously there is room to improve, but where you're at is not uncommon. With some focused study and a bit more, you can totally break through this plateau. Don't give up yet.

Achen165

Thank you so much all for the help! I actually hit my first 160s score in practice this week. I got -2 on the games and about -7 in all other sections. I realize the value of revisiting games. I am taking all of your advise into mind as I charge forward to meet my goal. Thank you so much for all your responses and support. @"Michael.Cinco" @Bamboosprout @EagerestBeaver

Achen165

@EagerestBeaver great advice! Thank you so much. RC holds so much weight as a single section I see I cannot neglect it and can’t stand to have fluctuations. I’m working on FPM on the games and am seeing immense improvement.

lexxx745

Honestly RC is really hard to improve on I honestly think its a skill that just takes a ton of time to get better at - reading. I think youd do better to perfect LR cuz its half the test and for sure LG. A lot of people say LG is just a how hard do you work section. If you just relentlessly do a ton of games, im sure you could get to your goal score.

For LR, its hard to say. I think doing a lot of timed sections is the way to go.