Pacing Issues with LR. How do you find your groove?

GoLSATGo

For the past couple weeks now I have been doing timed LR sections and I noticed that I have been going too fast, completing all 25 questions within the 35 minutes, leading to a score always in the -9 - -11 range. The only recommendation I ever got into how to remedy this problem was from my Princeton Review instructor, who told me to "slow down" (obviously).

So for my last 3 timed LR sections I have been doing just that. I've been guessing on 5 - 6 questions, yet I still get the same -9 - -11 score. I don't have any problem with the BR process - I just feel like my brain doesn't want to cooperate under timed conditions.

Does anyone have any advice on how I can improve and break past this?

DumbHollywoodActor

Are you anticipating flaws/answers before you start eliminating? That will help a lot. If that’s not a great skill for you, I recommend LSAT Trainer Chapters 5-9.

You also need to skip. A great criteria for moving on is that if you’re reading an assumption family question and you can’t find the flaw, move on.

Another helpful technique is to develop an internal clock of one minute and 20 seconds. Once you’ve hit that threshold, take guess and circle the question in case you have time to go back (also for Blind Review). Many times, having a second set of eyes on a question will help you see the answer quite clearly. @nicole.hopkins has a theory that your short term memory is still processing this information even though you’ve moved on to another problem.

c.janson35

Along with everything @DumbHollywoodActor said, I would also say: practice! It takes a lot of hard work to find your groove and there are no shortcuts.

allison.gill.sanford

The thing that helped me the most with timing was making sure I was really concentrating on every question stem the first time through reading it. If I feel like I zoned out or I can't quite get the gist of a question, I skip and come back later. I know that sounds basic, but for me it was major strategy to implement because if I remind myself to really focus and absorb the information (active reading, ask questions in your head, like JY does on the videos), then you're using your time well. If you are getting through things fast but missing 9-11 questions/section, I would think you're not fully comprehending as you read... but you might have a rhythm that comes from pushing yourself for speed where you read the words and feel like it's good enough to have a generic sense of the question stem. The LSAT will always punish you for anything less than a precise understanding of how the argument fits together, and the specific task of the question stem. So, how is your active reading? How precise is your comprehension the first time through a stimulus?

GoLSATGo

@allison.gill.sanford I usually understand what I'm looking for when I read the question stem, but I think the real problem for me is that whenever I'm reading the stimulus, I'm unsure as to what questions I should be asking myself. For example, flaw questions are my weakness. Out of the flaw questions I still get wrong after BR, the videos highlight certain questions or considerations that I never even thought about. Any tips on how I can sharpen that deficiency?

allison.gill.sanford

I echo @DumbHollywoodActor about reading the flaw chapters in the Trainer. Do you have the Trainer? You should be able to perceive most flaws before heading into the answer choices. Of course there are always some you may be unfamiliar with, or questions that just sneak the flaw past you, but if you are consistently unable to see the flaw even after taking all the time you need in BR, this is a fundamentals issue. Hope that helps!

nicole.hopkins

@allison.gill.sanford said:
If I feel like I zoned out or I can't quite get the gist of a question, I skip and come back later.

This is pretty much my number one piece of advice. If the stimulus ain't sitting well with you, do the next few and come back to the sticky one before you turn the page.