Getting 1 of each question type wrong on PTs. Any advice?

Aks_ZenMaster

Hi all,

Instead of getting a bunch of 1 question type wrong on my PTs, I've been getting 1 of 6-7 question types wrong. For example, I'll get 1 Necessary Assumption, 1 Flaw, 1 Weaken, etc wrong on a PT.

I am really not sure what to drill if I'm just getting this wide variety of question types wrong individually. Does anyone have any tips or has anyone been through this situation that can help plan next steps?

Thanks!

Gabriella.Weig

This might be a dumb question, but have you checked their difficulty level? Are they still different or are they all ranging in a similar difficulty level?

SubpoenaColada

This will require some analysis on your end for timing, BR, and (as the comment above states) difficulty level. Are you getting certain questions wrong because you're running out of time at the end of a section? Or just rushing through a set of particular questions? Blind review should help assess lack of understanding vs such a variable. It's also totally possible that you're getting a certain question type correct except at its most difficult level but you're getting a different question type wrong at easier levels. Analyze this to determine your weak spots.

s-1334200

Try to identify patterns beyond just the question type. Another commenter mentioned difficulty. While this is certainly a factor you want to look at, I can also suggest some other ways of looking at it speaking from personal experience.

I noticed that while i would get some wrong, on PTs that I did particularly bad at, I was getting clusters wrong. So rather than 4 or 5 spread out i noticed that i might get clusters of 3 or 4 wrong. So then I tried to look at the clusters and figure out what was going on in my brain during that time. And something I realized was that while the question types were different, they almost all had a Necessary Assumption question in there. However, just looking at it on the surface i wasn't getting NA any more wrong than any other type.

Then, the most important thing, I was honest with myself. When I sat down and reflected, I realized that if i was being perfectly honest, Necessary Assumption questions make me uncomfortable. I cannot tell you exactly why, but my brain LOVES sufficient assumption questions and very often it tries to revert to sufficient assumption when doing NA questions. So when i reflected more and more, I realized that what was happening was that I felt like i was spending too much time on NA questions which was causing me to feel a need to speed up on subsequent questions. This was causing me to make careless mistakes and get clusters wrong. So my solution? I skip all of the NA questions and leave them for last. If I read the stim and i see its NA, i don't hesitate for a second and i just skip it. Then I go back and do them all at once. By doing them all at once I can get my brain in "NA mode". Plus, I find that i can take my time on the other questions and i feel less rushed. It has meant that i had less time to review. However, by implementing this method i went from the mid-low 170s to scoring a 178 on my most recent PT.

Some general things you may want to look out for:
- Are there times when you feel rushed? (I know the LSAT is always going to make you feel rushed but are there any times that you feel particularly rushed?) If so, maybe take a look at where you are spending too much time.
- Are you making careless mistakes? Is there a trend beyond just the question types? I noticed that I tend to ignore when an answer choice conflates a sub group. For example, the passage will be talking about island monkeys, and the answer choice will mention monkeys in general and i tend to gloss over that detail.
- Do you feel uncomfortable with certain question types? this is perhaps the hardest because it is a gut feeling. It is more than just saying you get them wrong or you spend too much time but rather do you generally feel uncomfortable. For me it was NA that was affecting my confidence in other questions
- Are there subject types that you are bad with? For instance, when I used to take the SAT I found that I was worse at science heavy subjects and would get lost. So I started watching an hour or so of Sci Show on youtube or other science related channels. Funny enough, it is actually one of my best topics. So maybe the LR question types are inconsistent but maybe there is a topic that is consistent.

The most important thing to remember is that there is not one solution. I wish that it was possible to fix everything with just one step but that is impossible. Instead, try to find some issues and implement fixes. It could be timing, topic, etc. Dont feel discouraged that by implementing a fix you dont immediately shoot up in score. It is going to take a bunch of tiny adjustments to get there. Just know that it is possible!