Circling questions for BR during PT

GSU Hopeful

Forgive me if this has been covered elsewhere. I have been at this since December and just finished taking my 14th PT. My BR scores are high (174+) but I still find myself circling a lot of questions for review. I understand that this can vary from test to test due to difficulty, but should I be concerned that, for example, there are still some LR sections that I circle 18? When I circle that many, most are correct a large majority of the time. I've always had a bad habit of second guessing myself, but I don't want to chalk it up to that if it signals an underlying problem. I would be a lot more concerned with it if my BR weren't where I want them. I just can't figure out why I'm still not 100% sure on so many questions at times.

brna0714

I was actually thinking of posting a similar question recently. I've still found myself circling 10/12 ish LR questions per section. I don't think there's anything wrong with it. I'll only speak for myself here but I think that I just have a higher threshold for certainty. If I'm not able to answer a questions nearly instantaneously, I circle it. If I don't think to myself, "I've seen this trick a million times before," I circle it. For what it's worth, I have been achieving -0/-1 in most LR sections as of late. If anything, I think that circling a bunch can lead to more thorough review.

c.janson35

It could be just a confidence thing. I would be more concerned if you were missing questions that you weren't circling. I guess to diagnose why you are unsure on such a large proportion of them, you have to note why you are feeling unsure on each question. Is it because you aren't eliminating most answers? With a BR score of 174+ it should be the case that on most questions you are eliminating all but the correct answers. Focus on this process as much as selecting the right answer; if you are eliminating wrong answers confidently then you'll be more confident about your selected answers too.

ENTJ

I also like to put percentages next to any circled questions during BR. It provides a certain level of concrete measurement.

gs556

18 is a bit high but If that's how many you want to get a second glance at, so be it. Overtime you will become more confident and the number will come down. As long as you quality BR each of the questions I can't see a problem with this.

However, if it becomes a crutch, a substitute for confidence, you may need to work on that. It's still too early to tell. But by 20 PTs that number should probably be at less than 10 circles a section.

jyang72

@c.janson35, hi dude I am actually BRing the whole test since I want to be cautious and I get every question right. My BR is around 172 and I've done 20 prep tests so far. Is it just my confidence issue or my fundamental is still not good enough? Thank you!

c.janson35

@jyang72 first off, congrats on the 172 BR; that's really good work and you shouldn't diminish it at all. The LSAT is tough--celebrate each small win that you get and always keep your mind right.

If you are asking how get your BR even higher, just note that the difference between a 172 and a 175 is likely 3 questions, so it's not that big of a gap at all. Sometimes there will just be those LR questions that don't totally jive with you and there's no shame in that. If you aren't completely sure about what an LR question is saying, take the time and really digest all of it, but don't think that you have to knock it out on your first shot in BR. Sometimes it helps to move on and come back to it at the end so that you can re-approach the question with a clear mind. As for RC, during your BR make sure you can find support in the passage for 95%+ of your answers (each test there mighttt be 1 or 2 that can't be directly supported by the passage, but they are rare so you should really strive to support each and every one with the text; when I was BRing the whole test, I used to use different color highlighters for each questionn in a passage and highlight its corresponding support).

Just keep grinding dude; be confident that the last couple of points will eventually come with work.

jyang72

@c.janson35 n35 Thank you so much dude! In terms of BRing RC, I find correspondent support for correct AC. But there are some answer choices that can't be directly denied by passages since it is never mentioned by passages. What do you do with it? Just mark them as "not mentioned"? I am just curious.

c.janson35

@jyang72 just approach those similar to an LR question: look for reasons why the choices you didn't select are incorrect for those questions, and provide reasoning why the choice you are selecting is correct. That should suffice.

jyang72

@c.janson35 , oh yeah, same as what I've been doing. Thank you man!! Good luck with your prep.

nicole.hopkins

@c.janson35 said:
Sometimes there will just be those LR questions that don't totally jive with you and there's no shame in that.

Good words here.

@c.janson35 said:
As for RC, during your BR make sure you can find support in the passage for 95%+ of your answers

I think BR'ing RC and LG are a different task a lot of the time than LR, for the reason Corey said ... You have the passage and should anchor all of your BR answers in the passage (And with LG, unless you just really don't know how to diagram a game, you should be able to lock in all answers in BR).

LR is where I miss on BR, if I miss on BR.

nicole.hopkins

@jyang72 said:
that can't be directly denied by passages since it is never mentioned by passages.

Then they're most likely out of scope!

And/or .... for the relatively rare exceptions .... do what CJ says.

jyang72

@nicole.hopkins , thank you for giving me affirmative!!

bSM45LSAT

Reading this thread actually has made me slightly panic. I circle like 7-8 max on LR, and most I circle are the ones I get wrong.

Do most people circle a significant number of questions?

Pacifico

@bSM45LSAT said:
I circle like 7-8 max on LR, and most I circle are the ones I get wrong.

That's the point... I circle like 25 per test on average probably across all sections, but I'm probably overcircling and I'm trying to reign it in...

Take 'er easy...

c.janson35

7-8 is not a significant number of questions; just BR them after you're done and don't move on until you can justify.

bSM45LSAT

@c.janson35 said:
7-8 is not a significant number of questions

Oh I know, I meant the op of this thread circling like 18, and others circling a lot more.

nicole.hopkins

If you're circling what it turns out you got wrong, great. If you're circling ones you weren't sure about (and thus have more to learn from), great. What matters ultimately is what you do with the Q's you circle.

joannewu

On the subject of BR, is it bad that I keep having circled questions and that I only get RC passages 100% right after BR reviewing?? I can't help but think that under real testing conditions, I won't have the chance to BR and what answers I put down the first time will be what I'm stuck with. I also seem to finish the questions just under the recommended time, so I don't think I would have much time for review either..