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This is driving me crazy!

StopLawyingStopLawying Alum Member
in Logical Reasoning 821 karma
Been studying for a pretty long time now and I notice the same thing happening every time.
I'll drill a set of 25 LR questions for a specific question type, first timed (1.5-2min per question), and then BR afterwards. While doing these questions timed, I feel like everything is happening very quickly and it's tough for me to get a full grasp of the stimulus, especially for the harder questions. This results in a 21/25 timed score, with the wrong answers usually for questions that have complex stimuli. I'll then BR the questions without any sort of time limit afterwards and I usually go 24/25.
Now, it's really aggravating me because I just don't think my brain is quick enough to process all the key information from the stimulus. I just need more time to extract the relevant info from the complex stimulus---conclusion and premises--- before moving on to the answer choices. I don't think any type of practice will ever help to overcome this issue; my brain just works too slow. Does anyone else feel like they have a similar problem? I read a few weeks ago on TLS a post by some expert who said this very problem is what prevents most students from hitting 170+ on the real thing. This pissed me off because I know it's true. If there's just some way I can get my brain to work quicker...
Lastly, I just want to let you guys know that I've been drilling using the earlier exams. These are known to have wordy and complex stimuli so I'm hoping that when I take the later exams it will help alleviate some of the pressure. I did take a few LR sections from the early 50s and went 23/25 on bunch of them so I'm hoping this trend continues in the 60s and 70s. But this is not something I want to rely on. If anyone was in a similar position and found a way to overcome this issue I'd really appreciate any sort of advice.
And sorry for the crappy writing, it's 2am. Hope you understand what I'm saying. THANKS IN ADVANCE!
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Comments

  • PacificoPacifico Alum Inactive ⭐
    8021 karma
    My only advice (aside from keeping at it) would be to not drill 25 questions of the same type because you're setting yourself up for failure. Sure it's good to drill a question type that you're struggling with, but I don't think a timed 25 question section of them is the best way to go about that. You need to be building up your skills to adjust to different modes of thinking across every question type that can only be achieved by doing a real LR section, or a randomized one.
  • c.janson35c.janson35 Free Trial Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    2398 karma
    I would echo what @Pacifico said; continually drilling sets of 25 of the same question is not the best way to study because it is not an accurate representation of the test. Also, an LR section weaves itself in and out of difficult/convoluted material so you do get some breaks along the way through the easier questions. By drilling 25 in a row you aren't getting these breaks and your brain can feel overwhelmed by continuously straining. It's a good feeling to nail a tough question and then have it be followed up by a main conclusion question lol.

    I think you're putting too much into the drilled section scores too when you could easily look at your BR scores or your scores on actual LR sections and feel confident about your abilities.
  • brna0714brna0714 Alum Inactive ⭐
    1489 karma
    Everything @Pacifico has said is worth noting. A group comprised of 25 questions of the same type is not going to be representative of your section/PT performance so use them to learn the concept and don't too much stock in it. The question type is sure to be one that you struggle with, otherwise, why would you be drilling that type? Question types appear on the test in wildly varying frequencies so judging your progress based on your percent correct on 25 parallel flaw questions (when you only see two on any given test) is only going to tell you one thing - how you happened to do on 25 parallel questions on a given Wednesday at 2 am (!)

    Another issue with the doing them this way is timing. As you work through a section, there are bound to be very easy questions (think MP, easier SA) that will only take you... I don't know, 15 seconds? Every question/stimulus is not going to take you the same amount of time to parse through and you'd better believe that I'm taking that "banked" time and using it to read slowly through the tougher questions when necessary.

    The things I've mentioned thus far are there to remind you that performance on "drilling sections" is likely to be unrepresentative of PT performance which, in the end, is what counts.You know what is representative of PT performance? PT performance.

    Lastly, on the subject of this TLS expert, I'd like to know what it takes to be qualified as an LSAT expert. My PTs are going very well as of late, does that make me an expert? If so, I say the opposite of what that guy says.

    Happy studying :)

    P.S.- It sounds like you may need to take a break.
  • brna0714brna0714 Alum Inactive ⭐
    1489 karma
    @c.janson35 is spot on too. Listen to him... :)
  • littlesnickerslittlesnickers Member Inactive Sage
    271 karma
    It's not your brain! Your brain can and will learn to comprehend the stimulus quickly. Have confidence and trust in your study process. As you drill more LR sections and become more familiar with the test, you will start to recognize the type of question instantly, and then the relevant points (those small points that guide you to the right answer choice) will start to jump out at you.

    It's also important to fight that feeling of reading the stimulus over and over again and feeling like it's just gibberish -- if that does happen to you. It happened to me when I was burnt out (fix: take a long break), when I was caught up in the subject matter (fix: slap yourself and only pay attention to points relevant to the question), or when I got nervous about time running out and started to rush (fix: I adopted a style from another 7sager where I started on the second half of the questions first, and then finished with the first half, which helped me relax and give enough time to the tough questions that appear at the end of the section).
  • PacificoPacifico Alum Inactive ⭐
    8021 karma
    @brna0714 said:
    P.S.- It sounds like you may need to take a break.
    This.
  • StopLawyingStopLawying Alum Member
    821 karma
    Thanks everyone for the advice/support, seems like I'll be switching my study plan. Will just start doing LR sections timed instead of drilling by question type.
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