How to get actual score closer to BR

kmarie7

My blind review score is pretty decent and about 7-10 points higher than my actual score. I can not seem to get my actual score up. Any advice? 6 weeks out and I need that 7-10 point increase.

Alex

@kmarie7 said:
My blind review score is pretty decent and about 7-10 points higher than my actual score. I can not seem to get my actual score up. Any advice? 6 weeks out and I need that 7-10 point increase.

Firstly, I will say don't take/rush into taking if you don't get the increase you want. Remember, a score should be a number, not a date... 7-10 points is a big gap to jump in 6 weeks, not impossible, but not common either.

To close the gap between BR and actual score I think one should revisit the lessons in the CC and review+ drill those question types which they are missing.

Are you finding the ones you miss are in a particular section? And are they consistently the same type of questions?

Also, do you feel time is a problem for you? Are you running to of time, or are you finishing comfortably and missing them?

kmarie7

@"Alex Divine" said:
7-10 points is a big gap to jump in 6 weeks, not impossible, but not common either.

I know, but I really think I can do it. I saw a 10 pt increase in a month, which I heard is also uncommon. I have a lot of down time in that 6 weeks. I will not rush it, but would like to give it my all.

@"Alex Divine" said:
Also, do you feel time is a problem for you? Are you running to of time, or are you finishing comfortably and missing them?

I am not having a problem finishing. More of just careless mistakes. Like not reading thoroughly.

kmarie7

@"Alex Divine" When I go back and blind review, I literally have DUH moments. I know the material, I just get too focused on time I guess. Any suggestions? If I could fix that, I would be right where I need to be.

Alex

@kmarie7 said:
When I go back and blind review, I literally have DUH moments. I know the material, I just get too focused on time I guess. Any suggestions? If I could fix that, I would be right where I need to be.

Are you missing a disproportionate amount in a certain section? Or a certain type of question?

I think it would do you some good to drill any weaknesses you may have. Perhaps even go back through the lessons on the CC.

You also need to sharpen your good habits (like getting to an LR answer by eliminating wrongs then picking a right or saying to yourself what a LG diagram means and double checking that against the written rules before moving on to the q's) that helps you to catch when you've thought about something incorrectly/done something wrong and helps you overcome it. This is a tough test these habits can help you defeat those "DUH" moments.

BruiserWoods

There's no such thing as a careless mistake on the LSAT. You can't cut yourself slack.

Really analyze and think about WHAT those careless mistakes are. If they're "not reading thoroughly," then you already know how to fix that. Spend the time up front and make sure you're reading EVERY word in the questions and answer choices. Practice tuning out all distractions and really getting in the test day zone.

You can do it

danielznelson

Try documenting those mistakes to catalogue how often you're making them. Doing this for myself has helped significantly.

Alex

@BruiserWoods said:
There's no such thing as a careless mistake on the LSAT

+ 1000 So true, I always used to let myself off the hook for things like this. However, once I stopped, I finally saw improvement.

@danielznelson said:
Try documenting those mistakes to catalogue how often you're making them. Doing this for myself has helped significantly.

YES! Can't tell you how much this has helped me with LR.

Nanchito-1-1

I'm also trying to bridge that gap right now. When I review, I figure out what happened during the timed test. If I really think about it I spend too much time on those hard questions. It adds up! I have to skip more, and know when to skip. I also have to build up my confidence and move on when I know something is right or wrong.

runiggyrun

@kmarie7 said:
I know the material, I just get too focused on time I guess. Any suggestions? If I could fix that, I would be right where I need to be.

You can try and make yourself not look at the watch more than say 4 times in a section (after each game/passage, at the 10, 15, 20 and 25 point for LR). Try to go at a fast but comfortable clip, and skip if needed. See how you do without a lot of focusing on time. This helps find a natural rhythm for answering questions where you know whether you're on track with time without having to check your watch every few minutes.

And yeah, I 100% agree with @BruiserWoods there is no such thing as a "careless mistake", especially if these are questions that you have flagged for BR (I'm assuming they are, because if they were overconfidence errors your BR score wouldn't be much higher than your timed one). Reading mistake or not, something didn't sit quite right with you when you were going through the question but you went with it anyway.
Now that you know you are prone to these mistakes, make it part of your process to check for them. Before you circle and move on, do a quick check - is it something obvious I'm missing here that makes all these answers look wrong, or that makes two of them look kinda right?
You might need to retool your skipping strategy to make time for these checks, but it might be worth skipping and losing a couple of time sinkers that you weren't going to get right anyway for the sake of bagging a couple of the "careless" missed points that would otherwise be easy.