It seems that no matter what I do, I can't get any better at these things. I think that most of my problem is that I am relatively slow at critical reading, but I have always been like that and I don't really see it changing much. Not much that I really am expecting to get out of this, I just felt like taking a break and whining.
Honestly, Cambridge packages. Drill them. The best advice I think I learned from 7sage is to really take your time to identify WHY the answers that are wrong are wrong and why the one that is right is right. Go through 7Sage again for LR sections and really learn the fundamentals. Then do some drilling of Cambridge packages. They're 150% learnable. You can do it!
Thats part of my problem! I know that JY explains it very thoroughly and I, for the most part, understand it when he does it. When it comes time for me to do it alone though, everything goes away. I can't make myself remember it! Maybe I'll look into the Cambridge packages! Thanks so much!
Yeah some of it is getting proficient with the major problem groups, such as MBTs & MSS, NA, SA, Flaw... and then I know this sounds cliched... but try get your conditional logic down pat... this leads to a substantial increase in speed... you won't notice it but your speed will ramp up significantly over the months... also read the economist... just for dense reading practice... its common LSAT wisdom that it aids you in the RC portion of the test, but if as you say, you're slow at critical reading, it will also help aid your LR stimulus reading speed and comprehension... I'd just an article everyday after finishing LSAT prep...
The whole point of doing the Cambridge packets are that you are just doing so many questions that it just becomes second nature. you wanna really focus on finding the patterns bc they are there. Also going into prep thinking how much you hate it may not be the most conducive to the actual prep imo :P just saying
I agree with @jdawg113. Don't see it as something dreadful. You CAN do it and you WILL do it. See it as a challenge you will eventually master. Make those LR sections your bitch!
Thanks guys! It's funny, I actually notice that I do much better on LR questions when I don't diagram it out and just think about it for a second. I'm trying to get the whole "logic" thing down so that I have an easier time forming up the conditions and etc. Definitely going to beat them into my skull with some of those Cambridge packets though!
@Camdenharr - I was in the same boat. It felt like no matter what I did I could not improve on the LR section. I used to consistently get 10 questions wrong. Then, two weeks before the test I discovered lsathacks.com and I found the LR explanations to be soo amazing. I went from -10 to -2 within a week. Here's what I did:
1. When you see an argument, instantly find the conclusion and find the evidence. The evidence is the premise that leads to the conclusion. If you can do this correctly, you will know the answer (or be very close) before proceeding to the answer choices. 2. For MSS and MBT questions, you have to know your logic lessons. If you can do the chains, and know the some, most relationships and know conditional logic, you'll be solid. 3. During your prep tests, do the first 10 questions in 10 minutes. Usually, for the first ten questions, you can sort of know the right answer by even trusting your intuition, assuming your intuition is good. But then, midway through the test, the test makers prey on that. They will put a very attractive answer choice that your intuition say is the right one, but it's missing something - you gotta watch out for that. And, that's where steps 1 and 2 come to play a huge role.
Keep practicing and doing timed work and then going back and blind reviewing your work. When I'm doing timed practice tests, I'm attacking the test in a sense. I definitely have noticed that's its much easier to find the right answer simply by eliminating all the four wrong choices. I'm doing about 1-2 Practice test a week and I've already seen small improvements. I'm hoping that I can complete at least 20 Practice tests before the June LSAT I've done at least 3-4 so far. I'm not really a good test taker so by me taking these timed pt i'm attacking my fear in a sense. The one positive that I've taken from my work is that I get fatigued towards the end of the test and I can improve my score a bunch just by improving in that area.
Comments
The best advice I think I learned from 7sage is to really take your time to identify WHY the answers that are wrong are wrong and why the one that is right is right.
Go through 7Sage again for LR sections and really learn the fundamentals. Then do some drilling of Cambridge packages. They're 150% learnable. You can do it!
http://www.cambridgelsat.com/problem-sets/logical-reasoning/
Just kidding.
I already want this to be over!
Thanks everyone!
1. When you see an argument, instantly find the conclusion and find the evidence. The evidence is the premise that leads to the conclusion. If you can do this correctly, you will know the answer (or be very close) before proceeding to the answer choices.
2. For MSS and MBT questions, you have to know your logic lessons. If you can do the chains, and know the some, most relationships and know conditional logic, you'll be solid.
3. During your prep tests, do the first 10 questions in 10 minutes. Usually, for the first ten questions, you can sort of know the right answer by even trusting your intuition, assuming your intuition is good. But then, midway through the test, the test makers prey on that. They will put a very attractive answer choice that your intuition say is the right one, but it's missing something - you gotta watch out for that. And, that's where steps 1 and 2 come to play a huge role.
Hope this helps.