What is "drilling"?

Tina Cho

Hi,

So I saw ppl are usually "drilling" in the early stage of preparation...
What does this exactly mean? Do you do all of the questions published?
Do people actually have to do all of or most of the questions to achieve a certain score?

jennilynn89

Hi, @"Tina Cho" !

When you see people talking about "drilling", it just means that you "drill" a particular section you are having trouble with i.e. if you are struggling with Assumption questions in LR you would do a bunch of those on any given day you are studying (or several days) until you see improvements. That's what people are referring to as "drills".
Hope this helps!

Nanchito-1-1

For me, drilling is taking anything from pts 35 and under, or pts that I've taken already, and doing them all over again, timed, or keeping a record of how much time I take. I also drill sets of a certain kind of question that i'm having difficulty with. I have to get under 1:20 per question. It would be helpful to do however many questions it takes to get the score that you want.

Tina Cho

So people do not nec. do all of the published questions right?
Do they do all of the questions since PT 35-the latest ones? (either timed or not timed)

Sprinkles

Great question! It's good to have as many PTs in your possession as possible. @"Tina Cho" your prep is practically incomplete without them.

Nanchito-1-1

@"Tina Cho" said:
So people do not nec. do all of the published questions right?

No, not necessarily, I mean it also depends how you're doing and what your target score is. The more exposure the better though. If you're hitting the time and accuracy and understand how to attack questions, you're feeling confident in your abilities and whatnot, you can take a pt and see how you're doing, then br it for weaknesses. Id also rec hitting the game sections on 35 and under and foolproofing those before you start pting. It makes a big difference.

@"Tina Cho" said:
Do they do all of the questions since PT 35-the latest ones? (either timed or not timed)

35 and up are for strictly timed pts and shouldnt be used for drilling unless you took them already.

Sprinkles

@nanchito said:
35 and up are for strictly timed pts and shouldnt be used for drilling unless you took them already.

I would say 40 and up, but the reason for this is because the newer PTs are more relevant to the LSAT of today.

Nanchito-1-1

Edit*35 is for drilling. Thanks @montaha.rizeq. Yea I agree the later tests are more relevant.

Tina Cho

If my target score is around 165 or at least in 160 range, how many PTs should I take? and since which PT?
I know more is better, but I'm not sure I have that much I can afford for preparation...
I thought modern PTs are kind of different from previous ones, does anyone know since when modern trend started?

Sprinkles

@"Tina Cho" said:
If my target score is around 165 or at least in 160 range, how many PTs should I take? and since which PT?

Really hard to tell since everyone is different. The general rule of thumb is 15-30 PTs (especially of the newer ones) should be taken to give you an indication of where you stand come test day. Basically, your last 5 PTs are likely what you will score on the actual LSAT minus a few points or so.

@"Tina Cho" said:
I thought modern PTs are kind of different from previous ones,

Yup, and that's why the "modern" PTs should especially be saved for your last phase of prep, when you're scoring around or a little above your target range.

Cant Get Right

@"Tina Cho" said:
If my target score is around 165 or at least in 160 range, how many PTs should I take? and since which PT?
I know more is better

There’s really no answer to this. It depends entirely on the individual. I will say though the main factor on what each individual needs is not about quantity, it’s about quality. Maintain high level, disciplined study habits and you will progress more quickly. Study poorly and you can take every PT ever published and it won’t make a bit of difference.

Tina Cho

Thanks for the replies. Since I heard so many ppl are doing so many PTs, I was feeling nec. to do the same, but I will try to focus on quality instead of quantity...but just wanna double check, is there "the least" number of PTs you recommend to take?

Alex

@"Tina Cho" said:
So I saw ppl are usually "drilling" in the early stage of preparation...
What does this exactly mean? Do you do all of the questions published?
Do people actually have to do all of or most of the questions to achieve a certain score?

So everyone already gave a good explanation of drilling. It is just doing a set of questions of the same type. For example, doing 25 Necessary Assumption questions, or doing 4 In - Out grouping games....

Do you do ALL of the published questions?

No, you certainly don't have to... I think most people drill from PT 1- 35 and use 36-78 for full-timed practice. But of course, this varies between person to person.

Do people have to do all or most to achieve a certain score?

Not necessarily. Prep looks so vastly different for everyone so it is hard to make generalizations. I do generally think that doing more will help so long as you are doing thorough blind review.

@"Tina Cho" said:
If my target score is around 165 or at least in 160 range, how many PTs should I take? and since which PT?
I know more is better, but I'm not sure I have that much I can afford for preparation...

I'm a believer that your target score shouldn't change the way you approach prep. If you don't have tons of money to throw at this test--like many of us here--then I suggest you focus on the more recent PTS. I'd say try to get your hands on these:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0984636005/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2/166-1955091-4079529?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_r=86M0ZZWWQ7QZH9BNK0Q8&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=1944687742&pf_rd_i=0979305047


https://www.amazon.com/dp/0986045519/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1/166-1955091-4079529?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_r=86M0ZZWWQ7QZH9BNK0Q8&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=1944687742&pf_rd_i=0979305047

Its 51-71 I think give you a good amount of tests to learn from, improve on, and PT with. Also, you'll get a feel for the modern LSAT that older tests won't give you. i.e., comparative readings, the newer LR that seem to have more "trick" answer choices, and the pattern of recent LG.
And of course, you can always buy single ones (72-78) as you need.

You can use these with The LSAT Trainer's free online Prep Schedules or 7Sage's Starter Course (Which I highly recommend)

MrSamIam

Drilling is the fancy LSAT word for "Practicing." Typically, it involves using real questions from the earlier PTs (1-35) in one of many ways:
1) Section drill (most common): Yank out a section from an older test, give yourself 35 minutes on the timer, take the section and BR it.
2) Drill by question type: Self-explanatory, but, go through the problem sets on 7Sage, or locate a specific question type, and practice (give yourself ~1:45 or less per question)
3) What I like to call stress-free drilling: Pick a section from an older PT, and just start practicing away.

Tina Cho

Thank you so much guys, those are really helpful advice!
I thought everyone was doing all questions using old PTs& drill, but apparently I misunderstood something.
Thanks again!