Is drilling by Q type effective when you've studied for the LSAT for a long time?

lsnnnnn0011

Hi all,

I've been studying the LSAT for a long time (over a year). So I am basically familiar with concepts and what each Q type asks us to do. But I also know that improving is all about working on my weaknesses. LR is the section I am struggling the most (3-4 wrong per section). Is drilling by Q type still effective at this stage?

Thanks!

Alex

@lsnnnnn0011 said:
LR is the section I am struggling the most (3-4 wrong per section). Is drilling by Q type still effective at this stage?

Thanks!

I think you should identify where your weaknesses are by taking timed LR sections. One tip I have is to retake old LR sections and see which ones you get wrong both times. You can also input your PT scores/timed-section scores into the 7Sage analytics: https://7sage.com/score-lsat-test/

This will let you know which questions you are missing. Then you might want to drill some of the question types you find you are constantly missing.

Overall though, I don't think you'll get much from just doing by type drilling at this point.

sk144404

I just created a LR set based on my weaker areas and chose the hardest questions that I could. My thinking is that this will allow me to make better use of BR

Markmark

Josh Aldy/Aldi aka Can'tgetright did a "post core curriculum study guide" on the 7sage webinar archives (you have to Google 7sage webinar archives). That discusses a really good way to study throughout your whole process and it does include periodic "intensives" on certain Q types

Cant Get Right

In the CC and in early PTing, question type drills are really important and valuable. After awhile, you’ve got to be careful though. “Why did I struggle with this” is the most important question you’ll ever ask in your LSAT studies, and I believe that how well you answer it is the single best predictor of your score potential. You should reach a point in your studies where “question type” is no longer a correct or satisfying answer. Do you understand what it means to be asked to strengthen an argument? If so, then you aren’t missing strengthen questions because of the question type. You may be missing it because of problems common to Strengthen questions, but you will gain far more by identifying what that problem is than by running a ton of Strengthen problems. It is much more productive to spend one hour figuring out the underlying issue on a single question than it is to drill a set of 25 questions of the same type. Honestly, it’s not even close.

So, starting out, yes, question type drills are critical. But don’t let them overstay their welcome or you’ll plateau pretty quickly.