Blind Review score higher than actual score

jyang72

Hi Everyone
In the beginning of doing prep test, my highest actual score is 152 with highest blind review score 162 after 7 prep tests. I figured something went wrong and I stopped doing prep-test and focused on drilling cambridge RC, LR section. I just restarted prep test this week. I got 155 in prep test 47 with BR score 167, and I got another 155 with BR score 173 in prep test 64. Does the difference between BR score and actual score signify how much I can improve?
Another thing is when I do LR sections, I always have second thoughts. Something like "oh man, why do I get stuck even before question 10, this should be easy" and I vacillate between 2 or 3 answer choices a lot, which wasted me lots of time. When I BR these questions, I usually found I chose right answer or I got it after several thoughts. It happened to me in the RC as well since I want to get all of questions right in the first passage which is supposed to be easier than other passages. I normally get above 20+ questions right in LG. Did what I said ever occur to you guys? How did you guys overcome this barrier? Thank you so much 7sagers!

jyang72

I feel RC and LG are slightly harder with prep test goes on.

brna0714

So, being stuck between two answer choices and choosing the wrong one is definitely common. I'd recommend returning to the stimulus/passage to quickly confirm one answer choice or the other. Comparing the answer choices against each other is only going to get you more confused (for the most part, there are some instances where this isn't the case-off hand, I'm thinking of questions where answer choices are the same except for a few key indicators).

Also, I wouldn't say it's the case anymore that the first passage is always easiest. It may be or may not be. In LR, I do feel that generally the questions at the beginning are still easier relative to the end of the section (with a few more curveballs thrown in lately early on). Maybe instead of thinking it should be easy, you should focus on asking yourself if you have sufficient reason to either eliminate 4 wrong answer choices or 100% confirm the correct one.

jyang72

Thank you so much @brna0714 It happened to me a lot in weakening questions and streghtening questions. When my paraphrase does not fit either answer choice, I would vacillate among two or three answer choices. I will definitely try to pick up the best choice I think and moved on, otherwise I will never have enough time. When it comes to last 5 minutes, I feel like sometimes I read too fast or I can't read argument clearly, which definitely would not happen to me during BR. I guess I still need to learn how to handle pressure in the last 5 minutes.

brna0714

@jyang72 No problem. One other thing to think about is that it is more helpful to pre-phrase on certain question types. For instance, flaw, main point, sufficient assumption, etc. you definitely need to pre-phrase because the answer choices are designed to confuse the situation.

*However*, for other types of questions where there are SO many possibilities for the correct answer, having a hard and fast pre-phrase can actually be detrimental and lead you to eliminate answers too hastily. Some examples of these types of questions would be strengthen/weaken, NA (sometimes), etc.

If there are a lot of possibilities for the correct answer and you try to pre-phrase, you're almost closing yourself off to finding the correct one because the chances of finding a match are slim to none.

What I recommend instead is trying to think a *way* in which the argument could be weakened but trying to stay away from specifics which is, by the way, the same thing as identifying assumptions which is pretty much the same thing as understanding the argument to begin with.

Hope that helps.

jyang72

@brna0714 , this helps a ton!!! Thank you so much!!

NYC12345

@jyang72 BR is an integral component of improving your PT score. If your BR score is in the 170s, that means that you have the ability to drastically improve your score once you work on timing and accuracy; however, you should not be deciding between three answer choices EVER. Remember, there is only one correct answer choice, and there is usually a trap answer choice included to trip up those who did not properly identify the conclusion and the support. If you find yourself deciding between three answer choices, you should definitely review LR material and watch the videos again.

jyang72

@alexandergreene93 , thank you so much. This is a wonderful suggestion. I usually spend at least 7 to 8 hours to BR everything. I hope my effort will eventually pay off in the end of summer.

NYC12345

@jyang72 The hardest part of the BR process is not making the same mistakes over and over again. For example, I'm currently scoring around the mid 160s, but when I BR, I immediately see my mistakes (after just a quick glance at the question), which are due to time constraints and rushing. I'm going to start writing down a list of things to do and not to do before my next PT. Also, fellow 7sagers have suggested writing out why each answer choice is correct or incorrect, and I'm obliged to give that a try as well. The LSAT is learnable. Learn the fundamentals, complete PTs, BR, and ace the exam. You can do it! Best of luck!

jyang72

@alexandergreene93 This is a wonderful suggestion, I am totally down for that. Are you aiming for the October?

nicole.hopkins

@alexandergreene93 said:
If your BR score is in the 170s, that means that you have the ability to drastically improve your score once you work on timing and accuracy

What Alex said.

@alexandergreene93 said:
however, you should not be deciding between three answer choices EVER. Remember, there is only one correct answer choice, and there is usually a trap answer choice included to trip up those who did not properly identify the conclusion and the support.

The test of whether an AC is right or not is not ultimately by comparing AC's to one another (as Alex said): it's in comparing it to the stimulus according to the task presented in the stem.

When you're stuck between two choices, compare each to the stimulus and remind yourself of the question stem. If there are subtle or "small word" differences between AC's (some vs most, modifiers, etc.) where the stimulus either has or lacks those subtleties/small words, well, the one that matches the stimulus will be the right choice (unless it's an except question, of course).

jyang72

@nicole.hopkins , it sounds right to me. Comparing two answer choices only makes me more confused sometimes and sucked lots of time away from me. What about RC? Do I compare answer choices to the passage related to question stem as well? Thank you.

jyang72

@alexandergreene93 , Hi Alex, this might be off the topic. How do you usually review for RC? I just went back to passage and found where answers come from. Is this a right way to BR RC? Thank you.

NYC12345

@jyang72
On BR I read the passage again and write down the author's assertions and argument on a separate piece of paper. I always make sure to write down his reaction towards the critics, such as how strongly he/she agrees or disagrees with them (or if he/she is neutral). It's always best to look at the bigger picture in a passage (why is this stated, what purpose does this assertion serve, etc.).

jyang72

@alexandergreene93, I see. I've always been thinking I am missing sth when BRing RC. Now I think find the missing piece. Thank you a lot!!!

nicole.hopkins

@jyang72 any time the step says "according to the passage," you should be able to locate the referenced text in the passage. For more tips on that, the LSAT Trainer has a breakdown of question stems including when to make sure to reference the passage.

jyang72

@nicole.hopkins , this is great, I am glad I have the trainer already.