Consistent average score, but varied sections...?

Comments

• allison.gill.sanford Alum Inactive Sage

  February 2016 edited February 2016 1128 karma

  I actually see some patterns here. You are improving overall on LR, for example. Because you have so much variation, you should track both overall improvement and where you are closing the gaps and getting more consistent on sections. LR is closing in to be more consistent, which I take as a good sign.
  Your RC is the most consistent.
  That being said, vacillating erratically on a section is a pretty big deal. If you want over 170, I think you need to hone some consistency.
  How are your BR scores by section? Do you understand why you are missing the questions?
  Your RC looks like it needs the least work IMO. It's also notoriously the hardest section to improve on. LR is a little crazy... but also seems to be showing overall improvement. You may need to drill some games. Why is the variation in LG happening? Can you identify the causes? Apart from the chart, do you have a sense for your strengths and weaknesses?
• Ron Swanson Alum Member Inactive ⭐

  February 2016 1650 karma

  If I were you, I'd concentrate heavily on LG. You can absolutely drill LG down to consistent -2/-0 with some effort. You might be at mid 170s on some of these tests if your games were even a few points better
• shizuokatwin379 Alum Member

  February 2016 95 karma

  Thanks for the responses you two.
  
  Yes looking at it a lot more closely in conjunction with which question types I have historically been missing has led me to find some possible errors. I have gotten some question type packets and am drilling those to try to correct this.
  
  Also that is true Ron, I definitely need to get that down to a reliable -0/-2 and then yes I could almost guarantee myself at least a 170.
• allison.gill.sanford Alum Inactive Sage

  February 2016 1128 karma

  How is your BR? Do you have a section where your BR is lower than the others?
• shizuokatwin379 Alum Member

  February 2016 95 karma

  I'm one of those who is guilty of not really BRing. Which probably explains the chart.
• Elle2015 Alum Member

  February 2016 198 karma

  My chart looked similar. I was consistently around 170, but I had some crazy fluctuations. For me, I think it was for a few reasons. First, my grasp of LG wasn't super strong. I didn't have enough practice with it. I never finished the bundle, so sometimes I went - 0, but I couldn't do it consistently. If you're able, really work on that.
  
  My second issue was that I was distracted when doing LR because I was reading the questions first. I do better when I read the stimulus first. When I read the question first, I randomly misread/couldn't focus, so I made stupid mistakes. When I stopped doing that my LR instantly improved and became more consistent.
  
  With RC, I had to be well rested and focused, if I wasn't...
  
  One of the biggest things for me, though, is that I was getting my studying in when I could, which often meant that it was absurdly late at night and that I wasn't at the top of my game. I did 12 PTs in about 15 days in all kinds of situations, which also contributed to my score fluctuations. (I wouldn't advise doing so many in such a short time, but it really helped me.) I figured out what my issues were (not just in terms of understanding the test's material, but also in terms of what I needed to do to have the right mentality). Before the actual LSAT, I got some rest, so I did better than I had when practicing.
  
  With my practice PTs, I feel like I went through several worst case scenarios. What happens if I'm really tired (RC is going to be horrible, but LR/LG might be okay), what happens if it's really noisy (again RC is going to be horrible, but LR/LG is going to be okay), what happens if I approach LR this way...
  
  Whether you BR or not, you should invest time into figuring out what's going on with LR. Reviewing question types will help, but are you also making careless mistakes due to rushing, fatigue, frustration etc? Going -8 in one LR section and -1 in the other is odd.