Stupid mistakes in LR

emmorens

So right now I'm averaging around 17 (-8/-9) per LR section. I always BR at -2/-3 and when I look back a majority of my errors are STUPID. For example, one time I read an SA stimulus as an NA so obviously got that one wrong.

I was wondering if anyone has advice to maximize an LR score at this stage in my practice? I need to be at 20+ for the flex (in 2 weeks.) Right now I'm planning to do a flex test a day in the 80s and drilling LR questions from the 70's - as I have heard they are tougher.

I know it's entirely doable for me since the core understanding is there, I am just experiencing superficial problems that likely have a lot to do with: skipping strategy, translating stimulus' (I always only get problems wrong when I don't understand the argument, rarely for lack of reasoning), AND TIMING!!

I'm sure many have been in my boat before, I would love to chat with anyone who has advice or who is writing in January and has the same problem! These points are the difference between the 150s and 160s for me, so I'm desperate!

Journeyto99thpercentile

@emmorens this is indeed a frustrating problem, and a problem I have been trying to fix myself. I have found some success in not reading the question stem first. I use to really enjoy the idea of not carrying all the different question types in my head so I could really zoom into what the author was saying and look for the specific question type strategy. But in an attempt to improve I have found success in not reading the stem first and reading the stimulus first. I found that it forced me to be more engaged with the passage and really zone in on where the author is going. You'll start to notice patterns in the way they write questions, i.e. as you're engaged with the passage you're trying to anticipate the question type as you go and will notice that it could go one of several ways.

Also, are you keeping a log of questions you missed? Are there any common themes? Are they for example, all related to cause and effect? Or are they all random?

Hope this insight helps.

Wyatt 170

I know this isn't a tremendous amount of help, but be confident in knowing that you have great judgement, and that the skills are there, it's just a matter of timing. Keep at it, you've got this.