Timed Section Practise

Grey Warden

Hi everyone, I am around 3-4 months into my preparation (finished 7sage curriculum and left with half of the trainer), my diagnostic (PT 55) was 150 and BR was 156 (I just did BR for fun with little idea about fundamentals) and I took a PT again (PT 39) sometime back, it was a heartbreaking 154 with a BR score of 167. I felt that I need timed section practise for a while before I take more PTs. Could anyone please suggest resources for the same? Does it still help to practise timed sections from PT 1-35 even though I have done some of the LR questions while finishing the curriculum and the trainer.

Pacifico

What do you mean by "sometime back"? Was this before you finished the curriculum? It takes 3-5 PTs to really get a good feel for where you're really at since you only get better at taking PTs by taking PTs (getting better at answering individual questions correctly is a different skill). If I were you I would finish the Trainer and then take 3-5 more PTs from 36+ and build up your analytics some more. Then go back and see where your problem areas really are. My first two PTs after the curriculum were only a few points higher than my diagnostic and then my next was 13 points higher, so it takes some getting used to the PTs to work the kinks out. Once you know where your weaknesses are, you can drill in those areas accordingly, but your 167 BR is promising, but you want to get that up over 170 and eventually up around 180 consistently to show you have a full grasp of the fundamentals. Contrary to popular opinion, taking an LSAT course does not get you a 180, it simply (hopefully) gives you the tools to do so. You still have to put in the work on the actual test to apply the fundamentals (and of course you should have put in the work to learn the fundamentals in the first place rather than passively watching J.Y.'s videos). Similarly, if you start PTing in the mid 170s before the official LSAT, that doesn't mean you're guaranteed a similar score, you've still got to go in there and put in the work. Just keep at it and you'll be fine.

Grey Warden

Thank you so much, I took the PT after finishing the curriculum, took the PT 7 days back. While taking the PT, I felt that it was really hard to finish the sections, in LG it was a bit better, I did not have the time to attempt 3 questions in LG, in one section of LR i did not have the time to attempt 3 questions and in another section of LR I had around 6-7 questions left when the time ran out, in RC i had one whole passage left. Therefore, I thought that while finishing the trainer I would do full timed sections too side by side, like one section of rc/lg/lr. However, I think as you suggest it may be better to finish the trainer and take some more PTs. Thank you so much for taking the time out to write a response.

Pacifico

Also, never leave bubbles empty. If you have less than a minute left and there are bubbles empty, go ahead and fill them in and hope you can have at least a 20% success rate on those. It's just a good habit to develop so you leave nothing blank on test day.

Gia_Henry

I've only taken 2 full PTs under timed conditions, my diagnostic, and one other. Scores were same, though I felt better about the second one. Time is an issue for me. RC is a disaster. When I BR... I add about 15 to 20 points. You helped me to feel so much better @Pacifico ! Thank you! Perhaps, in the next few weeks, I can improve my score greatly as I take more tests. I just ordered the trainer... so I'm hoping that will help.
Does anyone have any advice on how to combat fatigue? I have been studying 4 to 8 hours a day, taking 1 to 2 days off a week, since May 28. I am getting so tired. I'm dreaming LSAT questions every night. My brain is fighting to focus at this point... but I need to keep going.

c.janson35

It definitely is frustrating to not see that progress right away, but it's a process. You can't get better at PT without taking PT, so give a few more a go! You'll start to develop a feel for them after a while. Going through the curriculum is the easy part of the studying process; everything is structured for you and you have a syllabus telling you exactly what to do. Now that you've been through it it's time to get roughed up a little with some preptests. Do as many as you can with solid solid BR and you'll be better for it.

Pacifico

Take a few more before you start the Trainer so you can build your analytics. Keep your eyes on the prize as motivation because you really shouldn't be getting fatigued from 20-30 hours per week. Whenever I get sick of LR and RC I dive into a bunch of LG since I just find them fun to do. I'd also recommend exercising at least 5 days a week to release some stress. I'm partial to yoga for the meditative double threat, but I also love cycling since it gets you outdoors and the LSAT is the furthest thing from your mind.

c.janson35

@Gia_Henry don't be afraid to take some days off! A good break may be really beneficial to your studies and your PT scores, and you may even find after a couple days without the LSAT that you miss it and want to do more! Also, once you start taking more PT they become like little challenges in and of themselves and by constantly changing tests and sections it will help break up the monotony of it all.

Good luck!

DumbHollywoodActor

Think of your BR score as metric of your UNDERSTANDING of the LSAT and your timed score as a metric of your PERFORMANCE of the LSAT. The LSAT is a performance, plain and simple, like you would see at Carnegie Hall. And hopefully, you know how to get to Carnegie Hall...

Gia_Henry

Thank you @c.janson35
I am afraid to take time off, because I feel I have so little time to prepare. In the last four days, I've already put in about 35 hours. Plus, I'm a mom, and my son is getting ready to go into the US Army, so I'm a bit distracted. Because I'm so tired today, I decided to go back and watch the grammar videos. My thought is, perhaps I'm doing so poorly on the RC because I'm missing some basic stuff.

Thank you all, so much for the support. Yesterday, I was in a bad place and ready to quit. Your support is helping to refuel my ambitions!

c.janson35

@gia_henry just think of it in terms of using your time most efficiently and productively. Is trudging through LSAT material at half capacity every day as effective as taking a couple of days off and returning to the material rejuvenated and ready to crush it? If studying has become a tedious chore then take a day or two and invest the time someplace else. Your mindset has a huge impact on the effectiveness of your studies, and it is likely that you are just going to have to go through the material again and again if you continuously visit it while being burnt out. In the long run this means you will actually be wasting more time than if you just gave yourself a break! Studying for studying's sake isn't going to get you where you want to be, nor is success more likely by just spending more time studying. You have to consider the quality of time you are spending studying, not quantity. And if an increased quantity is starting to become detrimental to the quality, then I'm afraid you won't be getting as much out of it as you can and should be.

Do something for yourself or go do something fun with your son before he leaves for Army; the LSAT will still be here when you return

Gia_Henry

Thank you @c.janson35
I think I'm going to take that advice!