Skippity Skip Skip

ENTJ

Who here has developed a system for skipping questions? What type of criterion does it/must it fulfill for you to justify a skip? Any and all insights will be illuminating!

Pacifico

Once I get that oh shit feeling in the pit of my stomach that I've spent way too much time on a question, then I skip it... not really a refined system yet, but I'm at least getting better at recognizing that feeling and cutting myself off...

I was recently advised on a good mentality to take in general... It is highly likely that I will get a question wrong, most likely more than one question, so given that every question has equal worth, then I should maintain control of what questions I get right and wrong, and not the questions themselves... that is to say that I should not spend more time on any single question than I would on any others at the expense of not getting to multiple additional questions... 4 minutes versus 90 seconds on number 9 in a section can cause a chain reaction that can be the difference between barely finishing on time or having 5 minutes extra left over to return to such questions.

emli1000

Once I have to re-read a stimulus and still can't find the answer I think I should be looking for... SKIP.. No need to waste time on a question when there's 24-28 more and they're all 1 pt each.

Pacifico

@emli1000 said:
Once I have to re-read a stimulus and still can't find the answer I think I should be looking for... SKIP.. No need to waste time on a question when there's 24-28 more and they're all 1 pt each.

I also do this, it is usually the immediate precursor to the oh shit feeling...

ENTJ

@Pacifico said:
I was recently advised on a good mentality to take in general... It is highly likely that I will get a question wrong, most likely more than one question, so given that every question has equal worth, then I should maintain control of what questions I get right and wrong, and not the questions themselves... that is to say that I should not spend more time on any single question than I would on any others at the expense of not getting to multiple additional questions... 4 minutes versus 90 seconds on number 9 in a section can cause a chain reaction that can be the difference between barely finishing on time or having 5 minutes extra left over to return to such questions.

This is definitely well-worth remembering. The LSAT is devious in the regard that it's so hard to break away from a question, especially when you've already invested some amount of time into it.

I'm almost certain the LSAT arrangement is as important as the quality of the questions.

GSU Hopeful

@ENTJ said:
This is definitely well-worth remembering. The LSAT is devious in the regard that it's so hard to break away from a question, especially when you've already invested some amount of time into it.

I was going to mention this exact point. In situations like these, humility is a bigger obstacle than the question itself. Sometimes I'll read a stimulus, eliminate a couple AC's, feel like the question is easier than what it is and go back and read the stimulus again. By this point, maybe 1:00-1:15 has ticked by. But "this question is easy, I have to get it" keeps reverberating through my mind. Then, I'll maybe get down to two AC's after the reread. By this point, I have a feeling synonymous with being pot committed in a poker game. I feel like I owe it to myself to finish the question since I have so much time already invested. But, if I had simply folded at the first sign of trouble I wouldn't have lost that time and could possibly come back to it at the end of the section. Through many, many occasions of this happening I have learned to go by that 1:20 internal clock that has been built and just cut my losses when the second reading occurs. The fight against my ego still happens, but less and less as time goes by.

harrismegan

Here's how I determine if I should skip:
I look at it, and my mind immediately says "WHAT THE F**K".

Alejandro

...that happens to me at all the questions XD

JuliaZLSAT

I skip parallel reasoning/flawed parallel reasoning. Just to read through the stimulus and answer choices takes me 2 min sometimes.

eugene.chong

I always skip the "substitute this rule for the same effect" questions on LG. I generally do not skip questions on LR or RC mostly because I'm paranoid about leaving something blank by accident. If I feel really iffy on something, I'll star it and make sure it's the first one I return to when I finish the rest of the questions.

I have two tiers of circled questions. The first is the plain circle, which is more like "eh, not 100%. Worth a blind review." The second is the circle and star, which is "you basically flipped a coin between two answers, you nüb." I'm sure the longer I study, the more levels of circling I'll have. I eventually hope to have 26 tiers of circling for each question on each section.

nicole.hopkins

Allow me to present my philosophy in the form of a song:



I've heard a lot of gambling analogies; this song puts a little more flesh on the bone in terms of mindset.

You've got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
Know when to run
You never count your money
When you're sittin' at the table
There'll be time enough for countin'
When the dealin's done

Every gambler knows
That the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away
And knowin' what to keep
'Cause every hand's a winner
And every hand's a loser
And the best that you can hope for
Is to die in your sleep"is for your diaper not to leak

Look ... You just gotta keep in mind what Pac Daddy @Pacifico said

here
It is highly likely that I will get a question wrong, most likely more than one question, so given that every question has equal worth, then I should maintain control of what questions I get right and wrong, and not the questions themselves... that is to say that I should not spend more time on any single question than I would on any others at the expense of not getting to multiple additional questions...

Let's put it in Hold 'Em terms. (https://www.partypoker.com/how-to-play/school/basics/turn-and-river.html)

Know when to fold em? It's highly likely that you'll get dealt a worthless hand at least once in a game. (Get a question wrong). More than likely, more than once. (You're gonna miss more than one, kid) . What's a worthless hand (question you should skip)? Like, a 2 of clubs and a 9 of hearts (some stimulus you just can't even)—don't put big money on that (waste your time).

Know when to walk away? When you're at 90% certainty and ~1 minute. You ain't gonna gain nothin' to get you that extra 10% in certainty. Know when what you stand to lose is more than you stand to gain.

Know when to run? PF or PR in Q19 when you've got 7 minutes. That kind of thing. Chances are high you'll get sucked in based on QT alone. Also, substitution questions. Run, as soon as you see em comin.

You never count your money / When you're sittin' at the table / There'll be time enough for countin' /When the dealin's done

Don't be thinkin' bout how many you had to skip or guess on in the last section. There will be time to stew on that once you have your scores (when the dealin's done). Test time (sittin' at the table) is not the time to think about performance (count your money).

ENTJ

@nicole.hopkins Probably the most elaborate response to date. Even for you...