First 4 PTs at 153-154. Help!

paramedikisto

Planned test date: December 5th. Shooting for 170. Will be happy with 165.
I've been studying about 3 weeks now, and I'm only barely starting to see how the LSAT ticks. I've taken 4 PTs- J07,14,40,71 and scored 153,152,154,153.
My weakest area is Logic Games. I just need to grind them, I think. I'm slow as dirt and don't have the different setups for the game boards memorized (internalized?).
My strongest area is RC- in the 80% range, but I'm not really sure how to improve that except maybe by taking a lot of PTs and going over the missed questions.
LR seems to baffle me. I feel I do good on the questions, and then I see I am only getting around 60%. I have Nathan Fox's LR book. My main problem areas are Nec. Assumption, Flaw, and Most strongly supported. I'm not a complete dunce when it comes to logic (my minor is in Philosophy, so I have a bit of a background in syllogistic logic).

I have not BRd any of the tests. I will start doing so, and using the 7sage foolproof method for the logic games (god, thats going to be painful).
However, as far as LR and RC are concerned, what really makes a difference? Doing PTs or studying a method? Neither of them seem to lend themselves to a method like the LG section does.

Any advice or suggestions as to where I'm off base is appreciated.

Jim

DumbHollywoodActor

First, here’s some perspective. You’ve been studying for 3 weeks. Some very smart people on here have been studying for over a year.

Second, you clearly need to work on your fundamentals. While a Philosophy minor will certainly be helpful, you still may be deficient in some skills that are necessary to doing well on this test. Try LSAT Trainer and/or buy the 7Sage Starter package. You also need to BR immediately. You might as well burn your PTs if you’re not doing so.

Third, LR and RC both test the ability to read for reasoning structure, understanding why the author has written each sentence or paragraph. For RC, you have to be able to understand the main idea of each paragraph and remember where to look for detail questions. For LR (especially the NA and flaw questions you previously mentioned), you have to be able to discern a premise from a conclusion from a subsidiary conclusion from background. You also need to be able to see the gap or flaw in most arguments. These are skills that can be learned (LSAT Trainer is great for this). And, because of LSAT’s huge time crunch, you have to be able to do this intuitively.

Fourth, you may want to mentally and emotionally prepare yourself that you might not be ready for December. The LSAT is a skills-based test, and building skills takes time. That isn’t meant to discourage you, but rather to encourage you in the most accurate way possible. I have improved 20 points, but it’s taken me 9 months. It might not take you as long to make such gains--after all, I’m a Dumb Hollywood Actor--but you should understand what you’re getting yourself into.

Best of luck!

NYC12345

@paramedikisto said:
I've taken 4 PTs

Stop taking PTs. You're wasting precious material of which there is only a finite amount. Read The LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim, enroll in the 7sage course, do some drilling, and work on your fundamentals. You are just getting started. Relax. I do, however, think you are rushing the process by committing to taking the December exam when you just started preparing. The LSAT is a marathon, not a sprint.