Should I change how I study?

orangepower20

I started studying last Oct with the trainer, and took the LSAT in Feb. I got a 153. I took a break and started studying in June and went through all the 7sage stuff and took the Oct test. I'm going to take the Dec LSAT regardless of my Oct score. I study 3 hours each morning. For LR I usually go through the LR questions on 7sage and then watch the explanation. I usually get through a section each morning. For RC I'm going through the Manhattan prep book. I'm good on games. I also do a PT on the weekend. I've been studying long enough and I'm familiar with most of the techniques involved with the LSAT. What should I do from here? What do people do after they go through all the basics? Should I go back over the basics? Should I just PT like crazy? My biggest weakness is timing. How can I improve that? I've tried so many things and nothing seems to improve my timing or get me scoring in the 160. This is my last time to take, and I need to figure out what's going to work for me. I'd appreciate any advice!
Thank you.

Nilesh S

PT is the way to go... its one thing to learn the skills... its another to apply them in exam settings... you might also consider a session with a tutor... My session with @"Jonathan Wang" helped me a ton... it was just small things... like big games are a combination of basic games so if you do your basic games right and practice them till they are second nature, your big hybrid games will go better as well... but he helped me tweak my work to optimize results... Often, we might not be able to see what we're missing and a fresh pair of experienced eyes can help. It cold be something really small holding you back... and a tutor could help you spot it.

orangepower20

I had a tutor that wrote for the test. I would freeze up in our sessions so I don't think she got a good read of my strengths and weaknesses. She also cost a lot of money, and I'm not trying to dump more money than I already have into this test. I think I'm just going to PT and work on timing. For Games I get -0 but I only get through 3 of the games in time. LR can be a toss up, but if I miss an LR it's usually just a little mental error. Little mistakes will happen I just need to work on limiting those. I usually only get to question19 on LR under time. I'm the worst at RC, but I'm going through a book and it's helping.

DumbHollywoodActor

@orangepower20 said:
I would freeze up in our sessions so I don't think she got a good read of my strengths and weaknesses.

You may not want to hear this, but right there might be a symptom of your difficulties. What caused you to freeze in those sessions? Figuring that out could go a long way to helping you to improve. To paraphrase the late great Yogi Berra, LSAT is 90% mental and the other half is fundamentals. Have you considered meditation?

Also, I think a lot of timing issues have to do with how active your mind is during the test. Do you talk to yourself during the test? Like, after every sentence? I have found that I really had to actively practice this process in order to improve on my timing (Still a work in progress, but now I get eyes on every question during RC and LR).

Nilesh S

Well @orangepower20 you seem have answered your question yourself... you already know what your weaknesses are... and you know how to go about them... execute your plan... nobody knows you better than you but sometimes just voicing things out can help... all the best and hope to see you on the other side!

orangepower20

I don't freeze up on the test. I'm actually pretty relaxed during the test. I think I just need to REALLY focus on timing. I was trying to decide If I should go back to the basics and try to focus on certain areas I need improvement on like different question types. After thinking about it, I realize it's pretty much just timing. I'm going to really key in on this issue and trying to get my brain to work and process faster. Thanks for your input!

blueyayfree

@DumbHollywoodActor said:
Do you talk to yourself during the test? Like, after every sentence? I have found that I really had to actively practice this process in order to improve on my timing

Are you saying you've had to practice talking to yourself in order to improve your timing, or the opposite?

DumbHollywoodActor

@blueyayfree To improve my timing, I had to practice silently talking to myself. By actively engaging with the material, I don't have to read it over and over again to understand. And, of course, by "talking to myself "I mean actively reading.

I tried the whole "no subvocalization" thing and had little success. I read it very quickly but I couldn't process it. That's what takes so long, the processing.

blueyayfree

@DumbHollywoodActor Yeah that's what I figured; I was curious because I've come to realize that using that strategy is extremely helpful for me, too. I think that whole no subvocalizing idea is nonsense unless one's only goal is to read words quickly, which is completely pointless.

DumbHollywoodActor

@blueyayfree exactly. It turns out that I needed to subvocalize MORE.

orangepower20

Very interesting. I looked into the no subvocalizing thing, but it didn't seem to help. Good to know it might not be worth trying to do.

tanes256

@orangepower20 I was told that if you can't complete a section under timed conditions but can with no issues during BR you still may be having an issue with fundamentals because you're still taking too long to choose your answer. You're not certain about your task for each question. I initially just thought I needed more practice under timed conditions so that I could get comfortable with the clock and deciding when I needed to skip a question. It turns out it was both for me. With BR you aren't timed so you can take 10-15 mins on each question if you want but that's just not the case for the real thing. Some stuff just has to be second nature. You don't have 3 mins for each question. This was my issue. I wasn't finishing the LR section timed. I would get to maybe question 19 and run out of time. I would rarely miss any of those 19 under timed conditions but the fact that I was taking so long on several questions meant certain things that should've been clicking instantly for me weren't and I was doing a lot of second guessing. I think my BR was only like 163ish??? You said you aren't scoring in the 160s, but what are your BR scores? Your BR score is an indication of your concept of the fundamentals. If you don't know your problem areas or the question types you struggle with the most start taking PT to build your analytics. Your analytics will tell you what you need to be drilling. At that point you can go back to the curriculum for a refresher. I found that going through the curriculum the first couple times provided me with a high level overview of everything. It wasn't until I starting PT and drilling that I was able to actually digest what needed to be done. I guess it was because my mind was focued on a particular area instead of the entire syllabus. I don't know your availability but start with 2-3 PT a week. Do a PT one day and BR that test the next day if you can't do it the same day. Drill your problem question types whenever you can in addition to PT and BR. When I felt things still weren't clicking for me I bought The LSAT Trainer. I was tired of watching the videos over and over again and my brain needed a new perspective. I found that with The LSAT Trainer, especially for LR. I now use both.

orangepower20

@tanes256 I don't have the time to do a full BR test. I BR sections and for RL it's usually -5. As I've been getting back into studying this week, what seems to be a problem for me is just figuring out what works for me. I've almost learned too many methods and approaches, I went through the trainer, I had a tutor,and I did 7sage. It's kinda information overload at this point for me, and it's overwhelming trying to analysis what works for me and what doesn't. I guess I don't have a clear approach to the LSAT. There is so much out there for the LSAT, and it's hard to filter out the bs. I made this post because I'm feeling overwhelmed with all the information at my finger tips. I'm desperately searching for a good way to study that works for me.
I think I'll go back through each lesson and really dive into question types. I did that once for MBT questions and it really worked. I could answer any MBT, and quickly. However, it didn't seem to stick. I think my problem just comes down to timing. I need to improve timing and keep a decent amount of accuracy if I have any hopes for doing well on this test.

DumbHollywoodActor

Outside of acquiring an accurate internal clock, almost every timing strategy is fraught with problems. This is because many (if not most) timing strategies sacrifice accuracy. The way to get better at timing is to be efficient; The way to be efficient is to know your fundamentals cold (fundamentals like anticipating an answer or at least a gap in the argument before you look at the answer choices); The way to know your fundamentals cold is to properly review problems exemplifying those fundamentals we are deficient in. And there lies the problem...

@orangepower20 said:
I don't have the time to do a full BR test

You should only BR questions that you circle, questions that you are not 100% certain. If you don’t circle it, but you get it wrong, then you’ve made a confidence error, very valuable information. I’d go back and re-read what blind review is:http://7sage.com/the-blind-review-how-to-correctly-prep-for-lsat-part-1/.

In my mind you don’t have time NOT to do a BR.