Still a huge gap between BR and Actual Score

KWoulf13

Hello everyone,

I've been studying for this test for the entirety of this year and have moved from a 142 Diagnostic into the 156-159 range. However my BR scores have gone from the mid 160s into the 172-177 range without any movement in my actual score in months. My weakness used to be LG but recently has shifted to RC but I have an overarching timing problem and never finish with time to spare and often have to guess on entire passages/games.

The December test is probably not going to be enough time to fix my issues so I was looking for some advice is bridging this gap. My BR scores are promising but it's so discouraging to continuously crank out scores in the 150s knowing my potential is much higher.

danielznelson

Wow. That BR score range is fantastic.

You're in a good position. Have you tried retaking tests/sections? That can be very helpful in increasing your efficiency overall. Definitely utilize skipping strategies if you are not already doing so.

Are you making a lot of underconfidence errors? That is, are you looking over every answer choice for every question regardless as to how confident you are in your selected answer choice?

Sami

Your BR score is very impressive. Congratulations! I think this definitely says you understand concepts very well. I would suggest maybe seeing if you are getting questions wrong during real time because you are not allocating time effectively and skipping questions that give you trouble so you can answer more questions correctly first. I remember it really helped to record myself taking a PT. I realized I was spending too much time on a question that maybe didn't merit that much time.

But if you already have a very good skipping strategy in place, I would maybe write down for each question you could have gotten right how in future you would approach a similar question so you will be faster. For example, I realized that there were key words like correlation words that in future I should circle so I don't miss its a correlation causation stimulus. Another example was that when I see that its a sufficient assumption question I now write SA because I used to tend to forget and find a NA answer. So this is up to you. Self analysis about how you would approach a similar question/argument in future is probably going to pay off.

Good luck

KWoulf13

@danielznelson I have definitely retaken LG sections over multiple times but never a whole PT. I feel like I might remember answers if I do but maybe not, I should give that a try. And I have recently implemented a skipping strategy in LR where if I don't understand the stimulus after two reads I'll skip. This typically runs me about 3 questions per section.

And I do usually at least read every answer after I pick one just to be sure, but I feel like this hurts me sometimes as I tend to just gloss over answers that sometimes end up being the right one.

@Sami Time is certainly one of my biggest issues. How exactly do you record yourself (what angle/device do you use?)

Anna Marie

I had timing issues for a very, very long time. The thing that helped the most? Repetition. While there is definitely the risk of "memorizing" answers, full PT retakes are incredibly useful for a few reasons:

First, they help you become more familiar with subject matter that the LSAT uses over and over again. I used to freak out when I saw a stimulus about something I wasn't familiar with -- neurotransmitters or brown dwarf stars, etc. By repeating old tests I became more comfortable with typical LSAT subject matter and now I hardly bat an eye when I see a dense stimulus. In a sense, repeating old tests lessened the "shock factor" of certain stimuli and that, in turn, decreased the anxiety my brain sometimes encounters during raw PTs.

Second, retakes help your brain recognize the structural patterns the LSAT uses over and over again. When I started doing PT retakes, I was able to more quickly and efficiently identify the structures at play in an argument. Recognizing patterns is the key to getting to that point in your prep where you have an "intuitive" grasp of many questions, thereby increasing your speed. This is why the "fool proof method" for Logic Games is so successful -- foolproofing forces your brain to recognize patterns through brute repetition and careful review. Similarly, retakes can help reinforce patterns that appear in LR and RC.

Third, retakes give you a chance to practice skipping strategy and efficient timing practice without burning through a raw section. Retaking sections gave me an idea of how a section *should* feel time-wise and helped me develop a plan for how to approach new PTs. Now when I take a raw PT, I always aim to get into a "flow" the way I do on a retake.

Finally, retakes are valuable because they help you identify weaknesses. You will inevitably miss something on a retake that you didn't miss the first time around. And you will likely miss something on a retake that you did miss the first time around. Be sure to thoroughly blind review those questions and return to them again and again if need be. (I have a stack of notecards with some of the LR questions I find the most challenging; I shuffle through them from time to time).

In sum, give retaking a try. But keep in mind what you can learn from retakes and make sure that you are reviewing as carefully as you would for a new PT.