Bridging the gap between BR and raw score.

Facta Non Verba

Hi all,

I've been studying all summer, completed the CC and did 5 timed PT's thus far. My goal score is a 161-163 and although I have been hitting that in all of my blind reviews, I've yet to break past a 156 on an actual take and I am not quite sure why... Upon BR I am consistently hitting -2 to -4 on RC, -2 to -4 on LG and -5 to -8 on LR, but the variance between my timed take and BR is significant.

I'm taking both the Oct and Nov LSAT and of course would like to score in my BR range, any tips on bridging this gap? It seems that its mostly nerves getting the best of me because the questions I typically struggle on in my timed take, I still I correct quite easily during BR, and I often get them incorrect the first time because I am second-guessing myself. The most gains I get from BR'ing are in RC and LG, I suppose because I feel more relaxed without time restrictions and don't feel compelled to rush?

Any tips to bridge that gap would be appreciated. As well as any tips to calm down nervousness, block out useless thoughts and improving confidence!

andrew.rsn

Have you noticed a pattern in which questions you are consistently getting wrong in LR? also when you take a full timed test, and your score drops, does it drop across the board, or are you losing more points in a specific category. When you get questions wrong in both Timed and BR that means its an issue with understanding - you want to feel ultra confident in how to answer a question untimed - talk through questions out loud. Find out what's holding you back from getting into the 170's untimed.

I would also recommend you practice individual sections if you aren't already, and problem sets of specific types of questions. You should aim to perfect LG, this will give you some wiggle room in LR and RC. I scored a 162 on my test, I think that's around 17ish questions wrong. If you're getting question wrong in BR on LG you need to do more fool proofing.

good luck!

Facta Non Verba

@"andrew.rsn" said:
Have you noticed a pattern in which questions you are consistently getting wrong in LR? also when you take a full timed test, and your score drops, does it drop across the board, or are you losing more points in a specific category. When you get questions wrong in both Timed and BR that means its an issue with understanding - you want to feel ultra confident in how to answer a question untimed - talk through questions out loud. Find out what's holding you back from getting into the 170's untimed.

I would also recommend you practice individual sections if you aren't already, and problem sets of specific types of questions. You should aim to perfect LG, this will give you some wiggle room in LR and RC. I scored a 162 on my test, I think that's around 17ish questions wrong. If you're getting question wrong in BR on LG you need to do more fool proofing.

good luck!

I really appreciate the response! For LR, I've identified NA/SA/PSA and MBT questions as the prime issues, I'm spending the next few days revisiting the CC and drilling those question types.

During my full takes, it is mostly LR that suffers the most -- I'm hoping to see some gains after thoroughly drilling the above question types.

Any other tips for nervousness?

andrew.rsn

Lucky for you these are all related questions. One thing that really helped me with NA, SA, and MBT is asking myself if I'm looking for an answer that is Powerful or Provable. Sufficient Assumptions questions are powerful, You want the answer that will without a doubt make the argument valid, usually these answers use very powerful language.

for Necessary Assumption, you're looking for something that needs to be true in order for the argument to be valid - therefore it must be easily provable, usually stated in weaker language that is easier to prove. MBT is very similar, also provable, as opposed to powerful. The main difference between MBT or NA is that an NA question is in the form of an argument, where as MBT is in the form of a premise set, with no argument.

It would be a good idea for you to go back to the conditional logic lessons because a good chunk of these questions will rely on your understanding of that.