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What to do after Blind Review?

Forever Addicted to CoffeeForever Addicted to Coffee Member ⭐
in General 540 karma

Hello,

I've been studying the LSAT since December 2018. I've gone through the PowerScore and Manhattan books with a diagnostic of around 158 with an ultimate goal of 175. I've been dedicating 20 hours per week, with a full-time job. I plan to take an April 2020 as well as June or July 2020 LSAT.

For a few months now, I've been focused on drilling question types from PT 7-25 untimed and also started doing some timed sections where I time myself per question in LR. Currently, my strongest section in the LSAT is probably LG, and am quite confident that with enough practice, I can consistently pull out -1 or -2 in the LG section. My weakest section is probably either RC or LR.

I haven't really gone through the entire core curriculum, as I think that PowerScore and Manhattan books covered the similar topics. In fact, I just recently shifted my focus toward taking PT sections timed, and will hopefully move onto full PT timed soon, at a 1 per week frequency with a full blind review. On my recent timed PT (sections were timed but I took long breaks per section), I noticed that my stamina suffered with brain fog toward the end.

The main question: let's imagine that I take the PT 43 fully timed tomorrow. I do a complete blind review, typing out why answers are correct or wrong for the entire week. I then score myself and watch the explanation videos. Then, this data is transferred over to 7Sage Analytics. I imagine the score will be between 158 - 165. What do I do afterward? Do I move straight onto PT44? Or do I identify the priority of question types in the analytics and try to drill them first? If so, how would I drill them (number of questions, how much time to spend, and etc...)? Should I go through the core-curriculum for a specific question type? And when would I really know to move onto a new fully timed PT exam?

Thank you very much for your time!

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Comments

  • drbrown2drbrown2 Alum Member
    2227 karma

    Drill first. Before you score the blind review, make sure you write out explanations for LR/RC answers.

    Reflect on what went well and what didn’t, both timed and untimed. For any missed question write down why you missed it, whether it was because of a misunderstanding of the question stem or you incorrectly identified the wrong conclusion, or just a simple misread.

    Work on timing for all 3 section types, and blind review those timed practice sets. For LG and RC use a stopwatch to keep track of your time on an individual game/passage, and for LR practice doing 5 questions in 5 minutes. Progress up to 15 questions in 15 minutes. Also, return to the core curriculum for question types you seem to be missing regularly.

  • drbrown2drbrown2 Alum Member
    2227 karma

    Also, you can move onto a new PT when you feel you’ve addressed some of the weak areas in your game and you expect your timed score performance to improve. I went from trying to do 3 PTs per week to doing 1 per week and saw much better results. If you start using good timing strategies and extremely thorough blind review practices early on you will avoid developing bad habits that can stall your progress.

  • Lolo1996Lolo1996 Member
    498 karma

    First, figure out why you got the wrong AC

    For me its usually: out of time (bc i spent it one a question i would have gotten wrong anyways), I was careless, missed a key work (ex: most, some etc), didn’t read it properly, misread the stem (think PT 7x— asked us to violate the principle, and I’m pretty sure everyone thought it said justify), I missed an except, etc.

    These are my reasons

    Sometimes, I just do not understand the question or have no idea what’s going on, even during my BR. These, I go over really really well

    Then, what I do is take a screenshot of the Q i got wrong. With the explanation in the margins. I keep all my pics in one folder. When i get a lot of pics (every other week), I merge them into a PDF, and re-read them on the weekends

    I personally do not drill, I just focus on writing this stupid test. Honestly, you can know your stuff inside out, but if you are not a good test-taker (like me) then you should work on test-taking skills. I tend to get “stuck” or lose my cool if i see something weird (like a super weird game or vague RC passage).

  • TrusttheprocessTrusttheprocess Member
    776 karma

    To be honest, I have three stages of BR:

    Knowledge Level: This stage is solely focusing on whether your mechanics/knowledge/approach is down pact and due to a failure in this you get a question wrong. If so, if in LR - I find 3-5 questions that have a similar pattern to this (i.e. structure is the same, question stem does not need to be). I will drill the "crap" out of it meaning I will look at AP, MOR, SA,NA, FLAW, ETC for that stimulus - just so I do not get trapped in the LSAT tricks. That way my knowledge is sound, approach is down pact and as well as I will see the lsat question makers tricks & mind set.

    Time Efficiency Level: If there is a certain question that you know is in your guranteed back of answers (for me for example: RRE, SA, MBT, MBF, AP, MP, MOR, etc. in LR) - and you were inefficient and you got this right... then I'll drill this question type solely maybe 5-10 questions.

    Overconfidence Level: This is a question where I thought I got 100% right but then I got it wrong. 9/10 of these for a lot of people will be an MOR mistake. I will drill this for a week (taking it a part in AP, MOR, Flaw, SA, NA - for the question) & then will try pretend teach/record a video of my own explanation of this. Reason being - when you have a journal/video/notes of the question stimulus/types you are getting wrong - you should go back and watch them and re-read it over. More importantly - soemtimes when you start teaching it/explaining it to others - your own knowledge becoems better and your more conscious of this over confidence mistake.

  • Granger DangerGranger Danger Alum Member
    717 karma

    Hey @"Hansol Lee", congrats on your continued studying! I started studying in January of 2018 and did a year with Powerscore with minimal improvement. I just decided to delay a cycle, my scores are within your 160 range too. (Thank god my score is finally going up.)

    I just want to do a shout out for the core curriculum. I think it is great and not worth skipping. JY's techniques on MBT, SA, NA, and Parallel questions are especially good in my opinion. I've been listening to some of JY's podcasts from a few years ago and I've been reading old discussion posts where many 7sagers validate the importance of completing the CC. JY literally states in the first podcast with CantGetRight that students who come from other review courses often don't do the CC and they probably should.

    I just wanted to share since you and I are in similar situations. I'm delaying and working towards a 170 on the June 2020. Keep at it. Wanted to add my two cents.

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