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Looking for some advice

theofficelover27theofficelover27 Member
in Logical Reasoning 43 karma

Hi everyone!

I have been studying for the LSAT for about three months now, and I just cannot seem to bring my logical reasoning score up. On my practice tests, I typically get about 7-10 questions wrong (the best I have scored is -4). I have tried so many different resources, including the Loophole and the LSAT trainer. I have been practicing a lot. I can identify the question types, and I feel pretty confident about my skills until I take a prep test or drill. This just seems to be an ongoing cycle and I was just wondering if anyone had any tips on how I can overcome this? Perhaps there are some people out there who have been in the same boat and could share some advice based on their experiences. Any insight and advice would be MUCH appreciated. Thank you :)

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Comments

  • ishaw18ishaw18 Member
    112 karma

    I would focus on building your fundamental understanding of logic and logical relationships, the early lessons in the core curriculum are really great for this in my opinion. From there, I would go into each question type, ensure you are able to clearly identify the task at hand, whether it be a strengthen, MBT, or any other question type, as well as what your answer choice needs to accomplish in relation to the premises and conclusion. After you have a solid understanding of these two things, go through problem sets, but not in a timed environment. This will help you not only to get important practice applying the concepts you've learned, but also to build confidence in yourself and your reasoning which is super important. Once you are feeling solid, then begin working on timed PT's to get used to everything how it will be on test day.

    Also, look at which question types you are missing most often. 7Sage has fantastic analytic tools which can show you all of this data. This could help you shortcut through your review process, and only work on the question types where you are currently struggling, rather than spending extra time reviewing some question types that you are already performing adequately on! Best of luck!

  • Maryana.K-1Maryana.K-1 Alum Member
    104 karma

    The first thing that came to my mind while reading your post is how long you spend on the questions you miss. I recently realized that the more time I spend on my mistakes the better I get at understanding the logic. Moral of the story is when you finish an LR section, sit down and work through every question you missed. There was a time where I spent a good hour trying to understand the logic behind one question. I used to burn through PT's and different sections too but to be honest, I found it more helpful to talk questions that I miss out with a study buddy and deeply review. Hope this helps!

  • McBeck418McBeck418 Member
    edited August 2021 500 karma

    Do you do better when you're BRing or practicing untimed? Even if you think your fundamentals are strong, dont be afraid to go back to the curriculum to reaffirm and refresh your memory. The others have good advice on that.

    My timed scores were stuck for a while at -7 or so even though my BR was -3/-4. I don't want to jinx myself, but I'm more consistently reaching those targets. I felt I knew enough of the material, but I couldn't perform (and I am still learning this skill).

    I think 90 per cent of this test is mental fortitude. Try to be as distant from the test as you can be. If you see each test as zero sum or proof of improvement, you will stress and be afraid of missing questions. This stress will not help you do well and understand the LR.

    I suggest slowing down when you read. Don't just read slower. Read at a comfortable speed, but pause after each sentence or concept. Translate it back to yourself. Make sure you have a strong grasp of the stimulus before you move on.

    Once you understand the stimulus then do the same thing for the answers. Don't rush through them. Be decisive, but take your time to understand what they mean and how they impact your stimulus.

    Don't allow yourself to get lazy or give up. This was a huge issue for me. Things I didn't understand, Id gloss over and waste so much time with because my brain thought it had read the words, but there was no comprehension and its hard to force yourself to do it correctly the second time. It's easier to do it right the first time.

    All of this sounds like it will take forever. Sometimes it might, but you can do this and still get your easier questions in under a minute. The time tends to balance out as you get more confident and experienced.

    If you're an anxious person like I am, try and pay attention to your mind. You may physical feel pretty relaxed, but sometimes your brain can start to panic/rush and sooner or later you're tense, not breathing, and sabotaging your ability to understand. Even if you are not stressed about the test, your scores or lack of improvement, other things like work, family, friends, life, etc. can impact how you feel later in the day even when youre not still actively thinking of it. Some deep breathing and meditation cantrain yourself to remain calm and so you can do the above-mentioned things.

    If you can hit your target untimed (or timed), try and identify how that feels for you. What things are you doing while you're testing. How does it feel in your body and what thoughts are you having. What thoughts were you having earlier in the day that may impact how you feel now. Before you take a section, think back to those feelings and thoughts. Try to replicate it during timed conditions. When you remember that you went -2 while being in a certain mindset/mood/state before, you will feel more confident that you can do it again.

  • theofficelover27theofficelover27 Member
    edited February 2022 43 karma

    Thank you for the insight! I have come across a few people who like me, were still missing the same numbers of questions after the Loophole (both in real life and on the internet). I personally felt that I read through it very carefully, but I definitely don't think it will hurt to reread. I will try to read it again for sure :) It is a great resource!

  • theofficelover27theofficelover27 Member
    43 karma

    @ishaw18 said:
    I would focus on building your fundamental understanding of logic and logical relationships, the early lessons in the core curriculum are really great for this in my opinion. From there, I would go into each question type, ensure you are able to clearly identify the task at hand, whether it be a strengthen, MBT, or any other question type, as well as what your answer choice needs to accomplish in relation to the premises and conclusion. After you have a solid understanding of these two things, go through problem sets, but not in a timed environment. This will help you not only to get important practice applying the concepts you've learned, but also to build confidence in yourself and your reasoning which is super important. Once you are feeling solid, then begin working on timed PT's to get used to everything how it will be on test day.

    Also, look at which question types you are missing most often. 7Sage has fantastic analytic tools which can show you all of this data. This could help you shortcut through your review process, and only work on the question types where you are currently struggling, rather than spending extra time reviewing some question types that you are already performing adequately on! Best of luck!

    This is awesome advice! I will definitely look into the specific questions I get wrong. I took a look and honestly there is definitely a pattern, I tend to lose points on weaken and flaw questions. Thank you so much :)

  • theofficelover27theofficelover27 Member
    43 karma

    @"Maryana.K" said:
    The first thing that came to my mind while reading your post is how long you spend on the questions you miss. I recently realized that the more time I spend on my mistakes the better I get at understanding the logic. Moral of the story is when you finish an LR section, sit down and work through every question you missed. There was a time where I spent a good hour trying to understand the logic behind one question. I used to burn through PT's and different sections too but to be honest, I found it more helpful to talk questions that I miss out with a study buddy and deeply review. Hope this helps!

    This is honestly so important and helpful! I definitely need to remind myself to slow down and try to understand why I got questions wrong. I am going to spend more time on my mistakes for sure, thank you for the tips! :)

  • theofficelover27theofficelover27 Member
    43 karma

    @McBeck418 said:
    Do you do better when you're BRing or practicing untimed? Even if you think your fundamentals are strong, dont be afraid to go back to the curriculum to reaffirm and refresh your memory. The others have good advice on that.

    My timed scores were stuck for a while at -7 or so even though my BR was -3/-4. I don't want to jinx myself, but I'm more consistently reaching those targets. I felt I knew enough of the material, but I couldn't perform (and I am still learning this skill).

    I think 90 per cent of this test is mental fortitude. Try to be as distant from the test as you can be. If you see each test as zero sum or proof of improvement, you will stress and be afraid of missing questions. This stress will not help you do well and understand the LR.

    I suggest slowing down when you read. Don't just read slower. Read at a comfortable speed, but pause after each sentence or concept. Translate it back to yourself. Make sure you have a strong grasp of the stimulus before you move on.

    Once you understand the stimulus then do the same thing for the answers. Don't rush through them. Be decisive, but take your time to understand what they mean and how they impact your stimulus.

    Don't allow yourself to get lazy or give up. This was a huge issue for me. Things I didn't understand, Id gloss over and waste so much time with because my brain thought it had read the words, but there was no comprehension and its hard to force yourself to do it correctly the second time. It's easier to do it right the first time.

    All of this sounds like it will take forever. Sometimes it might, but you can do this and still get your easier questions in under a minute. The time tends to balance out as you get more confident and experienced.

    If you're an anxious person like I am, try and pay attention to your mind. You may physical feel pretty relaxed, but sometimes your brain can start to panic/rush and sooner or later you're tense, not breathing, and sabotaging your ability to understand. Even if you are not stressed about the test, your scores or lack of improvement, other things like work, family, friends, life, etc. can impact how you feel later in the day even when youre not still actively thinking of it. Some deep breathing and meditation cantrain yourself to remain calm and so you can do the above-mentioned things.

    If you can hit your target untimed (or timed), try and identify how that feels for you. What things are you doing while you're testing. How does it feel in your body and what thoughts are you having. What thoughts were you having earlier in the day that may impact how you feel now. Before you take a section, think back to those feelings and thoughts. Try to replicate it during timed conditions. When you remember that you went -2 while being in a certain mindset/mood/state before, you will feel more confident that you can do it again.

    Thank you so so much for the helpful advice! Congratulations on your improvement, that is amazing to hear! I often find I do better untimed, but I definitely am a more anxious test taker :') One thing I've noticed is the questions I get wrong are often ones in which I had narrowed down two answers, but picked the wrong one. I agree with all your points, it is so important to have the right mindset. I am going to put in more effort to make sure that I am staying more relaxed and positive while going through the questions. I will definitely try some meditation exercises. Thanks again! :)

  • McBeck418McBeck418 Member
    500 karma

    @zuzusabs27 No problem at all. I hope some of this can work for you too! You mention getting stuck between two answer choices. I think a lot of time, this happens because we are not 100 per cent clear about what we’ve just read and what we are supposed to do with it. This gets a little bit better with practice as we come to recognise patterns, but in order to recognise those patterns, we have to process what we’ve read. As I’ve become a calmer test taker and started to catch my mental laziness, I’ve become better at choosing between answer choices. I don’t think my knowledge has changed all that much but because I force myself not to gloss over things, I’ve become more sure of what I’m doing.

  • theofficelover27theofficelover27 Member
    edited August 2021 43 karma

    @McBeck418 said:
    @zuzusabs27 No problem at all. I hope some of this can work for you too! You mention getting stuck between two answer choices. I think a lot of time, this happens because we are not 100 per cent clear about what we’ve just read and what we are supposed to do with it. This gets a little bit better with practice as we come to recognise patterns, but in order to recognise those patterns, we have to process what we’ve read. As I’ve become a calmer test taker and started to catch my mental laziness, I’ve become better at choosing between answer choices. I don’t think my knowledge has changed all that much but because I force myself not to gloss over things, I’ve become more sure of what I’m doing.

    This is honestly so true! I've caught myself numerous times speed reading or skimming out of panic, which I definitely think leads me to missing key information in the questions. I'm really glad you brought these points up, I'm going to work on calming down as I read for sure. Thanks again for sharing, I really needed to hear this :smile:

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