How do you use PT that you have already done?

orangebeer

Hi,

How to use the PT you have already done efficiently?
Even the last time you did it is a couple of month ago, if you did BR throughoutly,
you must remember some essense from it right?
How to use PT second time efficiently?
Or if you finish new PT, it is better to do older ones?(ones you have not seen yet)
Do you re-watch JY's explanation?

Thanks

Cant Get Right

First, you've got to understand that your score will be inflated on a retake. And that's fine as long as you've emotionally detached from your PT scores, which I encourage you to do.

From there, I think you handle it the same way as a fresh take. Do a thorough BR. Then look at what you struggled with and why. The only difference on a retake is that this is perhaps all the more important: If you struggle with something you've seen before, the weakness it exposes is just that much more conspicuous. The only thing I would add on to the process for a retake is to then compare it to your first take. Did you have any difficulties you didn't on the first take? Did you improve on something you struggled with the first go around? Why? Sometimes, this might be that you remembered the answer, lol, so it's important to not base any of this on right/wrong answer. You've got to get honest with yourself. It is just too tempting to want to tell yourself you understood a question you got right when you really didn't. So answer these questions by your understanding of the stimulus and your thought process about each answer. Answer based on your BR work. Just because you got the right answer doesn't mean you understood anything.

So as long as you're already employing high level study strategies, not much changes really. All the things you should be doing are just that much more important.

orangebeer

@"Cant Get Right"
Thanks for your reply.
So how do we know we are just remembering answers?...maybe make sure why I chose the answer when we review? Is it OK that I remember the process too when I pick the answer? Does this count as improvement? (the reason why the correct answer is correct)

Alex

@"Cant Get Right" is like a young JY!

For what it's worth, @orangebeer, whenever I do a retake, I kind of treat it like I would redoing a logic game I've already done. So while you might remember the process, make sure you are going through the motions correctly and being cognizant of the WHY aspect. So if you remember and know the answer is (d) for one of the questions, just read through it and see if you pick up any keywords or anything you might have missed the first time. Often it has been on retakes where I've seen something for the 2nd or 3rd time where something finally clicked! I almost feel like I am fool proofing LR/RC when I do a retake.

Cant Get Right

@"Alex Divine" said:
@"Cant Get Right" is like a young JY!

We're the same age, lol!

@orangebeer said:
So how do we know we are just remembering answers?...maybe make sure why I chose the answer when we review?

Precisely. Think of getting the correct answer as a byproduct of understanding, meaningless in and of itself. Do not look for the answer. Look for the understanding.

Alex

@"Cant Get Right" said:
@"Alex Divine" said:
@"Cant Get Right" is like a young JY!

We're the same age, lol!



No WAY, haha! I thought you were like 26? And J.Y. was like... Idk.. No one knows how old J.Y. is. My guess is 29?

stepharizona

A tip @"J.Y. Ping" gave me is to shorten the amount of time you have on a retake, to "make up for" having seen the test before to see a more accurate score. So start with 33, then down to 30 and try to get to 25 on retakes.

Cant Get Right

@"Alex Divine" said:
I thought you were like 26?

I wish! 2011 was a very good year;)

orangebeer

@"Cant Get Right"
Can I ask how you spent the last month before LSAT? Just reviewing and retaking?

@"Alex Divine"
Thanks.
Surprised that I missed some questions even though it's retake...seems like I have to do review more throughout.

orangebeer

@stepharizona
Thanks for the info.
You talked with JY? that's so nice.

Cant Get Right

Well, my last month's process was largely reviewing and staying sharp, but it had nothing to do with the fact that it was the month before the test. It was that my PT average was +5 of my target score. Ideally, this is where you want to be the month before the test, but were that not the case for me, my study routine would have been very different.

nantesorkestar

I'm in the same boat for my retake. Blind Review is even more crucial now that my scores are probably inflated due to recognizing LR. For LG and RC, I don't remember the exact questions so I think I'm good there.

I'm reviewing the questions even more now, not worrying about how many PTs I'm taking and also not paying too much attention to the three digit score. My goal for December is to be a LSAT robot where I recognize patterns and get more confident with timing.

orangebeer

@"Cant Get Right"
Thanks.
@nantesorkestar
lol
hope they still keep those patterns though...I noticed the trend? how they use words? are kind of different in 70s...