Not doing so well

chupacabra

hey guys,

This is a question for you folks who have been through most of the lessons.

I have been working through the syllabus and i am currently on the weakening questions. I did pretty well with the MP questions but i have been hitting and missing with the weakening questions and it brought my confidence way down. Have any of you guys experienced this with some lessons? i have been trying to implement JYs explanations on how to do weakening questions and reviewed those lessons and still have been pretty inconsistant. what do you think i should do to get better? tips? thoughts? really getting worried about doing the lsat

Thanks guys

alexroark5

@chupacabra

It is a good sign that you are able to do MP questions well (you should almost never miss these) as locating the MP is absolutely critical to consistently answering LR argument questions correctly.

In weakening questions, you will almost always be presented with an argument. After reading the stem, you need to proceed to the stimulus and locate the MP and the premises that support that MP (this will help you see the structure of the argument.) Do not let the contextual information in the passage distract you from the structure of the argument.

If you find that you cannot identify the premises consistently you need to revisit the grammar lessons at the beginning of JY's curriculum (words like "since" for example often indicate a premise)

Once you have isolated the argument's structure (MP and premises) you need to attack the relationship between the premises and the MP. NEVER attack the premises, always accept them as being true (I think only one time did I see this happen). The correct answer choice will make it less likely that the MP will follow from the premises that are offered as support. (REMEMBER, the premises will NEVER be sufficient to justify the MP, no matter how good the argument sounds).

Two very common correct answer choices for weakening questions are either that the author failed to consider another possibility or that the author is making a comparison that isn't relevant.

The better you understand the relationship between the premises and the conclusion the faster you will be able to eliminate wrong answer choices because it will be clear to you which ones have zero chance of being the credited response (because again, you need to attack the RELATIONSHIP between the premises and the MP, and so many answer choices will have absolutely no effect on that relationship)

As of now, it sounds like it would serve you well to practice some older weakening questions untimed. Just sit and calmly read the stim, and outline the important parts with a pencil or whatever. Locate where the premises are, where the MP is, and what take note of what parts are background/contextual information. Then just write out several ways to weaken the relationship between the premises and MP and write out several ways to strengthen that relationship.

Good luck!

shine.on.me

I have exactly the same problem. I went through MP and MSS with no problem. I got to weakening and it was hit and miss. Now, I'm on sufficient assumption and its the same and its bringing my confidence down. I think that @alexroark5 has some great suggestions for how to overcome this. I think for me the solution to this issue was to slow down and focus on getting it right instead of worrying about timing. Furthermore, drilling the practice sets was incredibly beneficial. Pseudo Sufficient Assumption is another story but I think I finally have weakening now. My last weakening set was 9/10. The first was 5/10. I think just stick with it and you will get there. Best wishes.

too new

I am a bit worried now. After reviewing a couple sections of the free account videos i decided to take my first ever PT. Granted i will be dedicating my full commitment to the LSAT over the next 10 weeks leading up to the June test date, is raising my 138 to 160 plausible. I have been out of college now since May 2008, so I am a bit rusty. What do you recommend?

nicole.hopkins

@"too new" you are I were the same class year so I feel you.

I'd say don't take it in June.

10 weeks is not long enough to reach your potential (especially being out of school for so long). Consider taking in December (or later), but October at the very, very earliest—and that's with a hefty (40 hours a week +) time commitment.

I started studying casually last July (≤20 hours a week), ramped up in February to 40 hours a week (I work full time), was shooting for June but am now considering October. This kind of timeline is not uncommon. Yes, some people say the minimum is 4 months (some even say 3 but I think that's for people who don't work or have other commitments). 400 hours is a bare minimum for many—700 or 800 total is what's needed for a lot of folks to max out their potential, in my estimation.

shine.on.me

@too new I also have been out of school since 2008 (December). I started studying last Spring. I studied all summer and took the September 2014 LSAT. I wish I wouldn't have taken it, I didn't take it seriously enough, slacked off, and I wasn't ready. I got a 145. And now I'm prepping for a retake probably in October but may push back to December. Right now due to full-time work and other commitments I can only dedicate about 20-25 hours a week on the LSAT, I might can make adjustments in my schedule to study 30 hours a week. My very first diagnostic was in the high 130s last May. My last PT (PT 44) which I took beginning of February was a 153 timed, 160 BR. I know I have work to do. I'm working through the Ultimate course and should finish no later than mid-May, hopefully by the end of April. I'm fighting myself not to take another PT. Raising a 138 to a 160 I think is possible, but I agree with @nicole.hopkins it will probably take longer than 10 weeks to reach your full potential. And the way I see it. Why stop at 160? My goal is low-mid 170s and I still think about the possibility of a higher score. Best wishes.

VegMeg55

@chupacabra I definitely agree with @alexroark5 in the sense that you need to improve your understanding of the relationship between the premises and conclusion and strengthen your ability to attack this relationship perhaps even before you read the answer choices. Anticipating the answer choices is key to completing the questions as quickly as possible. I'd suggest picking up some drilling packets of older tests (1-35) on specifically this question type (perhaps Cambridge). Do many of them untimed so you build your understanding of the premise-conclusion relationship and accustom yourself to the most common Weakening Question patterns. Then, when you feel comfortable, start timing yourself until you're 100% sure you have these questions down.

@"too new" I have to agree with Nicole. It sounds like you need more time to hit your maximum potential. Postponing until October will still keep you highly competitive in the rolling admissions cycle but give you more time to raise your score. If you don't feel comfortable in October, maybe even postpone after that. Your LSAT score is important, and it's vital to not sit for the test until you are ready. Unless you have a major time crunch (like October or never), I'd say study until you are 100% confident you can hit your goal score or the one that best reflects your abilities.

Good luck everyone!

Nilesh S

@chupacabra Yeah... like @nicole.hopkins said don't take it now... also weaken and strengthen types are questions which deal specifically with the relationship between the premises and the conclusion... and NOT the premises and conclusions themselves.

Eg. Olivia works at the bakery. Everyone at the bakery had the flu last week. Olivia has the flu this week. It can therefore be concluded that she contracted the Flu from one of her co-workers. The conclusion is that Olivia contracted the flu from one of her workers.

A weakening statement would be something like "Olivia has not been to work for the last two weeks" Notice how this does not attack any of the premises... it is still the case that Olivia works at the bakery. it is still the case that her co-workers had the flu last week. Neither does it attack the conclusion... Olivia could still have gotten the flu from her colleagues - maybe even though she did not go to work during the last 2 weeks, some of her co-workers from the bakery came to visit her at home -or she met them elsewhere - but, the SUPPORT between the premise and conclusion is weakened.

My suggestion would be re-do the lessons on premises and conclusions just like @alexroark5 pointed out AND re-watch the weaken videos over and over... and like @VegMeg55 above has said... DRILL. (especially from older tests... get the 7sage Ultimate package or the Cambridge packs.)

Awesome handle btw!!!

emli1000

It's normal. Happens to mostly everyone. Especially since we are learning something new. There will be certain sections that you will not understand the first time around but that's okay repeat the lessons again and drill at the end of each section.

hrjones44

@too new it is definitely not enough from now til june to raise 22points , try 4-6months of diligent work. i made a 144 diag in late october and i'm still ony making 152-154s, with my best blind review being a 162. My scores will jump the most if i can get my logic games to be second nature, which i'm working on everyday, i took the test in feb, and made 148 which was 4-6 points less than my average at the time

hrjones44

@shine.on.me i'm right there with u score wise see above