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Not moving on
Hi guys!
Hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend!
I'm in need of some advice....I'm starting the CC over again, this time in hopes of solidifying the basics before moving on. I've taken the last 2 weeks to go over just the beginning of the CC (MP/MC, strengthen, weaken, etc.). I'm doing problem sets and still getting some wrong which is disheartening to say the least. I'm scheduled for the December test and I planned to start PTing in September (about 2 tests a week). Should I just move on with the CC and hope that I'll get better with the stuff I'm weak on? Or spend about another weak drilling the weak stuff and THEN move on (this is only the LR stuff...I haven't started LG or RC)?
Thanks guys so much! I feel like I post so often in need of advice and you guys are always so kind to help me out. I truly appreciate all the help! Y'all are life savers!
Comments
@kH573201 have you figured out why you're missing them? Is it something simple or do you not understand the task for the question type? If you don't understand why the 4 AC are wrong and the one AC is right, I wouldn't move on.
I think taking 2 PT's a week is a lot unless you are scoring in 170's which is when you don't have much left to drill and work on. So I would only do a PT once I feel that I have learned everything I needed to learn from those questions you do attempt. This could take a week or two week. Use your understanding as a guide to see if you are ready to take a practice test rather than a set once a week thing.
I think its fine to get problems wrong in core curriculum just make sure you do a thorough review to understand these question. Make sure to do a write up of why you got something wrong and see how you could have avoided it in future.
I would honestly just focus on learning and when your learning is at the level that you have started to score at your target score, I would then take the December test. If you havn't mastered some concepts and you speed through the curriculum it wouldn't translate to you being ready in December in any case.
So the answer to your question, if you should move on from the curriculum, really depends on where you are scoring and how many you are getting wrong in the curriculum and how that compares to your target score. If the gap is too big, take your time to go through the curriculum. If its not, you can start PT'ing but you need to really slow down in your reviews so you can learn from your mistakes and apply those lessons in future. To give you a timeline of how I do my PT's, I am currently scoring in 170's in PT's and it takes me at least a week to review my PT and drill my mistakes. I do go through the core-curriculum and often use the drills either from the sets or the packets.
I think Sami hit the nail on the head. I just wanted to ask why you are starting the CC over from scratch again? Did you not finish the first time or rush through it?
Are there specific things you need to work on? Or do you feel you still lack many of the fundamentals?
It's also ok not not go -0 on every drill set, especially the difficult ones. You just need to make sure you spend as much time as you need to BR and get to the bottom of why you are missing the questions. Write out explanations and reflect on why you thought the wrong answer was correct and why you thought the right answer was wrong. It will help to make it less likely you make the same errors in the future. after all, the LSAT only has so may ways to trick us and the more you begin to understand the see the tricks, the less often you'll fall for the traps.
For the ones I get right, I usually have a pretty good idea as to why the AC I'm choosing is correct and why the others are incorrect. I just don't want to move on to tougher concepts without getting -0. I don't feel as though I'd be setting myself up for success if I don't get the easier concepts all 100% down.
@Sami
Thanks for the advice! I never thought of writing down explanations for myself. I've rescheduled this test twice now and its expensive, so I'm taking it in December no matter what. I just want to be as prepared as possible.
@"Alex Divine"
I originally started studying in March with plans to take the June test (crazy, I know), but as you can imagine, I got frustrated and quit. I didn't come back until June and pushed my test to December. I believed the best to avoid the frustration and aggravation would be to start over and really drill the concepts, making sure I understood the fundamentals before moving on.
I'd love to be getting -0 on the problem sets. For me that would mean that I really GOT the concept and I'd feel comfortable moving on to the next section of the curriculum. But it's July and time is running out and I don't feel too confident about moving on. I've read that PTing is the most important thing and I want to get as many of those in as I can before December, but I know I still need to make sure my core is solid. Right now, depending on the topic,I could be getting -3 or -4 wrong per problem set and that bothers me. But I want to start PTing in September, giving myself 3 months before the test- which leaves me July and August to finish the CC.
Hi there,
Please do not despair. I sincerely believe that you are putting upon yourself a perhaps highly unreasonable expectation in thinking that you should be getting -0 on problem sets. It's actually better that you get some wrong so that there's a lesson to be learned from a variety of questions. Sometimes I will get them all right, sometimes I will get most of them wrong. I don't care as long as I am learning. You cannot master all LSAT concepts, and not trip up on some questions overnight. It is a slow, and gradual, but rewarding process. Trust me...I learned the hard way. 7Sage is my fourth test prep company, and third attempt at navigating through instructional materials (first with 7Sage). I had to push back my admissions for a year as a result of my mistakes. There's no way I would ever suggest to anyone to go through curriculum more than once (in its entirety, one steady and intensive run through). Give it one, firm, an steady shot. Don't put that sort of pressure on yourself to just master every concept right off the bat. That will lead to increased frustration, and you won't be able to make the most of your studies if you are putting pressures on yourself that don't need to be there. You are human. You are normal. You make mistakes and you learn from them. You are a student of life, educational institutions, and the LSATs---not a master. Allow the LSAT preparation process to humble you.
Feeling comfortable with moving on is having a clear sense of why the wrong answers are wrong and why the correct ones are right, pondering over questions and milking them with exhaustion when you do get them wrong so that you can formulate an innate sense of comprehension that it LSAT wired. Studying for the LSATs, for some, is essential a logical capacity re-wiring (this has been mentioned by the experts).
When I get a majority (more than 2/5 questions wrong) from a problem set, I print a fresh copy of the same questions and leave them in a folder to go back to later and re-do (after having done them, BR, watched video, and having a clear understanding of where I went wrong). Way later. I'm saving those for after I've done CC. J.Y. mentions cutting out the wrong ones and keeping them in a pile and mulling over them repeatedly until you know intuitively how the correct answer is correct and how the wrong answers are wrong.
What part of CC are you in at present? Did you first begin CC in June?
@achen013 WOW! Thank you so much for that. I do tend to put a lot of pressure on myself, that wanting to be 100% will drive you crazy though. After my epic breakdown, yes, I started again in June. I moved super slowly through the first few concepts and next up is the section is the intro to logic games...Which I might skip and push until later. Just stick with learning all of the LR concepts. The switching back and forth between LG and LR will probably just confuse me.
Unless you are scoring high on LG's...incorporating it into your studying isn't a bad idea. I appreciated the brief break from LR that the LG section provided because I felt that I was stuck in LR for a long while. I did the section on LG, and am back at LR, but doing the games over and over again whenever I need a mental break from LR to maintain stamina. Consider such a method for yourself before skipping. Not looking at LG's for a long time can also do long term damage. LG are where the easiest score points are. Another thing to consider is that the LR information should be ingrained long-term, so taking a break and going back to it will help to indicate whether or not the perspective has stuck with you. This held true for me especially in terms of conditionals, which I was stuck on for a while for some reason. After doing LG and returning to LR I was surprised to know that I remembered how to write a conditional (small joys...lol).
Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts. It's an extensive process to prepare adequately, one that I anticipate is rewarding. I'd say that you are moving at a comfortable pace...you've only been at it for one month! Cut yourself some slack. Study to try to learn and not memorize, and don't beat yourself up for mistakes. Use the wrong questions as motivation to construct an understanding, and it will make a world of difference. Best of luck with your studies. Feel free to PM, we are about at the same point in CC btw.
you know i started LR learning between April - May, then from May-2nd week of June i did LG. I am now returning back to LR for the last two weeks once i learned ordering, advanced ordering, and grouping, I havent looked at LG for 2 weeks now, you saying it might do damage if i dont keep up with it is concerning, i might start kicking out reps and sets a day now. lol. The part you said about conditionals i had similar experiences, where i still understood it. Mind you i started with the bibles and i am just taking my time to learn 7sage and their LG.
It's necessary to have some balance, I think. I like to switch between because LG are more fun, and in some ways, more mechanical, which takes some time to develop skill to get through LG's. Consistent LG runs is consistent with the Fool Proofing method, to 'memorize' the trajectory of different game types, which requires spending time on and away from them and still being able to perform them. I find 7Sages approach to LG's to be superior to all. I used Powerscore Bible and the LG workbook (amongst my least favorite for LG's). Find notations that work for you. 7Sage's to me, work the best. Best of luck.