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LR Total (across 2 sections) timed score: -16. BR score: -2. How to bridge this gap?

youbbyunyoubbyun Alum Member
in Logical Reasoning 1755 karma

Hey all,

So i've been slugging away for LR for sometime. I've done all LR sections from 25-50 (mixture of drills, timed sections, etc.)

I've gotten a lot better at really understanding the fundamentals of LR questions. I've gotten my BR score down from -10 to -2 now for across the 2 sections.

The challenge now is bridging the timed gap. For timed, I usually get around -8 wrong per section.

During BR, I can get most if not all of these questions right.

Any advice on how to bridge this gap?

Somethings I've heard about are recording myself take the test and some confidence drills. I've tried recording myself, but have yet to do any confidence drills. Any other advice would be appreciated.

Thanks so much.

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Comments

  • studyingandrestudyingstudyingandrestudying Core Member
    5254 karma

    For these 8 missed questions, how long do you spend on each one as opposed to the ones you got correct? What are the difficulty levels on them? Were you down to 2-3 choices?

  • JustDoItJustDoIt Alum Member ⭐
    3112 karma

    I agree that it could be something related to the difficulty. But it's also possible that you are simply moving too fast or have bad habits during the actual test. Clearly you know what you are doing. I would advocated you slow down and think about things before quickly picking an answer and moving on. Remember that speed comes from knowledge and habits...not from moving quickly.

  • youbbyunyoubbyun Alum Member
    1755 karma

    @JustDoIt @lsatplaylist

    thanks for following up.

    yea maybe i'm just rushing too much and making mistakes that way? I've heard a lot of people advocate for 10 in 10, 20 in 20, 25 in 25, so i've been trying to do that as well. But it's so tough trying to questions FAST like that while maintaining accuracy. I see JY doing lots of questions in like 30 seconds (and he does this to bank up the time). I'm trying to do that, but it's so hard to also balance speed and banking up time with accuracy. Any advice on this?

    For those 8 questions, it's kinda a mix. Usually, they are like level 4 or 5. I usually skip them in the first round only to come back to them at the end, but not have enough time to fully work them out. I was often down to 2-3 choices for them as well.

    I feel like i have a good grasp of the fundamentals (hence I can expect to get like -1 per section for LR). but being able to execute a solid LR section in 35 minutes is really tough for me. On JY's live takes, I see that he hits the 10 question mark at like 8 minutes, and the 20 question mark at like 19 minutes. In the first 10-20, JY is flying -- he's doing questions at a pace of 45seconds/question.

    I'm also trying to do that (10 in 10, 20 in 20) but I'm just not there yet where I can maintain that speed, accuracy, and confidence. any advice would be appreciated. thanks.

  • JustDoItJustDoIt Alum Member ⭐
    3112 karma

    @username_hello said:
    I'm also trying to do that (10 in 10, 20 in 20) but I'm just not there yet where I can maintain that speed, accuracy, and confidence. any advice would be appreciated. thanks.

    Don't try this. This is like the "endgame" so to speak. It is something you want to do when you feel like you have achieved mastery of LR. And honestly, it could be why you are not doing as well as you would like to.

    @username_hello said:
    yea maybe i'm just rushing too much and making mistakes that way? I've heard a lot of people advocate for 10 in 10, 20 in 20, 25 in 25, so i've been trying to do that as well. But it's so tough trying to questions FAST like that while maintaining accuracy. I see JY doing lots of questions in like 30 seconds (and he does this to bank up the time). I'm trying to do that, but it's so hard to also balance speed and banking up time with accuracy. Any advice on this?

    I think the advice is still the same. You have a "time bank" because you have mastery over the concepts and the habits. Those need to be foundational before you can consider time.

    I really think time is stupid, especially in your prep. Almost as stupid as PT scores. They both are pointless. All PTs do is tell you where you are currently, and that doesn't mean anything because that can and will change before your test. Slow down and focus on your habits. What is causing you to get so many wrong? Focus on the micro-level before the macro (i.e. individual concepts instead of the overall score)

  • youbbyunyoubbyun Alum Member
    1755 karma

    @JustDoIt
    thanks for following up.

    well, it seems like I can get these questions right during BR. After blind review, I'm averaging -1 per LR section. Sometimes I go -0 for an LR section.

    It's just when I'm taking timed sections, I'll often circle a question because I'm down to two or three answer choices, and then just pick one and move on -- because I can't waste anymore time on that question and I gotta do the other 20 Q's that I haven't even looked at.

    By the end of my round 1, I'm usually at around 29/30 minutes and I would have 3 questions that I skipped and about 5-6 that I circled. So I would go back to try to complete those 3 questions I skipped -- and then time would usually be up.

    And so I usually dont get a second look at those 5-6 questions that I circled.

    And often, I get those 5-6 questions wrong -- usually because I'm down to 2 AC's, but can't decide and ended up picking up the wrong answer choice.

    Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated. Many thanks.

  • LeslieKnopeIsMySpiritAnimalLeslieKnopeIsMySpiritAnimal Alum Member
    edited July 2018 524 karma

    In my experience, getting better at timing comes from a few things:
    1. Exposure.
    2. Drilling.
    3. Skipping strategy.

    I'm guessing that part of the reason why J.Y. is so fast is because he has done ALL questions and studied each one -- he knows the types of tricks the LSAT writers like to play, so he knows not only what to potentially look for in answer choices, but he also knows which questions are wrong and why.
    Drilling is a great way to practice certain question types that are giving you trouble so that you can get additional exposure and address an issue that may be holding you back when you're being timed. It can also help you to understand attack strategies so that they will come more naturally to you.
    There are lots of skipping strategies that I've heard over the years, but I think the one J.Y. has said in some of his videos is probably the most straightforward and useful: Do each question in about a minute and then move on regardless of whether you know for sure whether you got the right answer (the theory behind this is that if the right answer choice doesn't jump out at you within this timeframe, staring at the question for longer won't help and it'll waste precious time that you need for other questions). Come back to the answer to double-check it if you're unsure about a question. At this point, developing a system that makes sense to you to indicate your level of confidence would be helpful so you can easily come back to questions and give certain ones priority.

    Good luck!

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