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Nothing is helping..

jennybbbbbjennybbbbb Alum Member
in December 2017 LSAT 630 karma

On the first LR section or first section in general, I always seem to score lower than the rest of the sections.

I have tried doing some questions before starting a PT to warm up... nothing is helping.

Tips?

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  • AlexAlex Alum Member ⭐
    23929 karma

    @jennybbbbb said:
    On the first LR section or first section in general, I always seem to score lower than the rest of the sections.

    I have tried doing some questions before starting a PT to warm up... nothing is helping.

    Tips?

    Sounds like you either need to do more of a warm up, or maybe do something to get in the right mental state. Are you taking PTs super early in the morning? If so, make sure you have been up for at least an hour or two and have maybe done some light exercise.

  • jennybbbbbjennybbbbb Alum Member
    630 karma

    @"Alex Divine" said:

    @jennybbbbb said:
    On the first LR section or first section in general, I always seem to score lower than the rest of the sections.

    I have tried doing some questions before starting a PT to warm up... nothing is helping.

    Tips?

    Sounds like you either need to do more of a warm up, or maybe do something to get in the right mental state. Are you taking PTs super early in the morning? If so, make sure you have been up for at least an hour or two and have maybe done some light exercise.

    I haven't started to PTs in the early morning yet so I'm not sure why this has been a problem...

    I have tried doing a couple questions before starting a PT... but no luck

  • akistotleakistotle Member ⭐ 🍌🍌
    9382 karma

    It's not unusual. But did you think you were ok during the first section or were you panicking? I think you should analyze what was going on by recording yourself and seeing your footage. Even J.Y. says he sometimes skips easy questions because it somehow didn't click at the moment.

  • jennybbbbbjennybbbbb Alum Member
    630 karma

    @akistotle said:
    It's not unusual. But did you think you were ok during the first section or were you panicking? I think you should analyze what was going on by recording yourself and seeing your footage. Even J.Y. says he sometimes skips easy questions because it somehow didn't click at the moment.

    @"Alex Divine" said:

    @jennybbbbb said:
    On the first LR section or first section in general, I always seem to score lower than the rest of the sections.

    I have tried doing some questions before starting a PT to warm up... nothing is helping.

    Tips?

    Sounds like you either need to do more of a warm up, or maybe do something to get in the right mental state. Are you taking PTs super early in the morning? If so, make sure you have been up for at least an hour or two and have maybe done some light exercise.

    @akistotle I did record myself and I find it hard to skip questions... how do you know when you should skip a question?

    I have been doing one PT a day as well. How many PT's would you recommend doing in a week leading up to December exam?

    I haven't really tried doing separate sections yet to see what works...

    I know my anxiety does kick in at the beginning of a PT, but once I am into a section I am usually fine.

  • akistotleakistotle Member ⭐ 🍌🍌
    9382 karma

    It depends on your target score and your current PT score. If your PT average is in the target range, you should keep what you are doing.

    But I think one PT a day is way too much. Can you spend enough time reviewing and drilling in between PTs? I think people should take at most two PTs in a week. (I only take PT once in two weeks because I test strategies with individual sections until it works.)

    Also here are some webinars that focus on test anxiety and skipping strategies:

    Managing LSAT Stress and Anxiety:
    https://7sage.com/webinar/managing-stress/

    Skip it! Skipping Strategies Panel:
    https://7sage.com/webinar/skip-it/

  • AlexAlex Alum Member ⭐
    23929 karma

    @jennybbbbb said:

    @akistotle said:
    It's not unusual. But did you think you were ok during the first section or were you panicking? I think you should analyze what was going on by recording yourself and seeing your footage. Even J.Y. says he sometimes skips easy questions because it somehow didn't click at the moment.

    @"Alex Divine" said:

    @jennybbbbb said:
    On the first LR section or first section in general, I always seem to score lower than the rest of the sections.

    I have tried doing some questions before starting a PT to warm up... nothing is helping.

    Tips?

    Sounds like you either need to do more of a warm up, or maybe do something to get in the right mental state. Are you taking PTs super early in the morning? If so, make sure you have been up for at least an hour or two and have maybe done some light exercise.

    @akistotle I did record myself and I find it hard to skip questions... how do you know when you should skip a question?

    I have been doing one PT a day as well. How many PT's would you recommend doing in a week leading up to December exam?

    I haven't really tried doing separate sections yet to see what works...

    I know my anxiety does kick in at the beginning of a PT, but once I am into a section I am usually fine.

    Yeah I'm going to second what @akistotle said. Definitely don't take a test a day. Review is much more important than just grinding out PTs, which, without a bunch of accompanying review, is a pretty big waste of time and effort. The purpose of a PT is to get a snapshot of your weaknesses, so that you can spend time working on those weaknesses and hammering out your technique. Most of your improvement will not happen while you're PTing, it will happen when you review and drill things that, in your review, you find out needs work.

    So focus way more on doing all you can improving between PTs. PTs are to evaluate your progress, but again, not where you make the progress. There's no magic number of tests to take between now and December, but doing more than 1-2 a week is going to be a waste of time.

  • jennybbbbbjennybbbbb Alum Member
    630 karma

    @akistotle said:
    It depends on your target score and your current PT score. If your PT average is in the target range, you should keep what you are doing.

    But I think one PT a day is way too much. Can you spend enough time reviewing and drilling in between PTs? I think people should take at most two PTs in a week. (I only take PT once in two weeks because I test strategies with individual sections until it works.)

    Also here are some webinars that focus on test anxiety and skipping strategies:

    Managing LSAT Stress and Anxiety:
    https://7sage.com/webinar/managing-stress/

    Skip it! Skipping Strategies Panel:
    https://7sage.com/webinar/skip-it/

    @"Alex Divine" said:

    @jennybbbbb said:

    @akistotle said:
    It's not unusual. But did you think you were ok during the first section or were you panicking? I think you should analyze what was going on by recording yourself and seeing your footage. Even J.Y. says he sometimes skips easy questions because it somehow didn't click at the moment.

    @"Alex Divine" said:

    @jennybbbbb said:
    On the first LR section or first section in general, I always seem to score lower than the rest of the sections.

    I have tried doing some questions before starting a PT to warm up... nothing is helping.

    Tips?

    Sounds like you either need to do more of a warm up, or maybe do something to get in the right mental state. Are you taking PTs super early in the morning? If so, make sure you have been up for at least an hour or two and have maybe done some light exercise.

    @akistotle I did record myself and I find it hard to skip questions... how do you know when you should skip a question?

    I have been doing one PT a day as well. How many PT's would you recommend doing in a week leading up to December exam?

    I haven't really tried doing separate sections yet to see what works...

    I know my anxiety does kick in at the beginning of a PT, but once I am into a section I am usually fine.

    Yeah I'm going to second what @akistotle said. Definitely don't take a test a day. Review is much more important than just grinding out PTs, which, without a bunch of accompanying review, is a pretty big waste of time and effort. The purpose of a PT is to get a snapshot of your weaknesses, so that you can spend time working on those weaknesses and hammering out your technique. Most of your improvement will not happen while you're PTing, it will happen when you review and drill things that, in your review, you find out needs work.

    So focus way more on doing all you can improving between PTs. PTs are to evaluate your progress, but again, not where you make the progress. There's no magic number of tests to take between now and December, but doing more than 1-2 a week is going to be a waste of time.

    I am averaging at a 155 for my PT's currently, but I would like to score around 160 or higher at the minimum. I will be writing again but some Canadians schools only accept December unfortunately.

    I think I will cut down on my PTs and aim to do timed sections instead while drilling down my weaknesses. I am currently in the process of trying to foolproofing logic games and timing strategies for LR/RC as I usually -2/-3 on BR for LR and -5 on RC.

    Any timing strategies that worked for RC? I can't seem to get higher than a 16 on a timed section. I did get a 21 at one point though...

    Really just aiming for that 160 right now.

  • jennybbbbbjennybbbbb Alum Member
    630 karma

    @akistotle said:
    It depends on your target score and your current PT score. If your PT average is in the target range, you should keep what you are doing.

    But I think one PT a day is way too much. Can you spend enough time reviewing and drilling in between PTs? I think people should take at most two PTs in a week. (I only take PT once in two weeks because I test strategies with individual sections until it works.)

    Also here are some webinars that focus on test anxiety and skipping strategies:

    Managing LSAT Stress and Anxiety:
    https://7sage.com/webinar/managing-stress/

    Skip it! Skipping Strategies Panel:
    https://7sage.com/webinar/skip-it/

    AND thank you for those videos! I am going to check those out right now!

  • akistotleakistotle Member ⭐ 🍌🍌
    edited November 2017 9382 karma

    Since you are currently at a 155, you need about 8-10 more questions to get a 160, right?https://www.cambridgelsat.com/resources/data/consolidated-score-conversion-charts/

    You have to get about 75 questions correct, so if you get -3 on LG (20/23) and -5/-5 on LR (20/25; 20/25), you will get a 160 even with your RC being -11 (16/27).

    For LG, I have two suggestions:

    1) Do acceptable situation questions (usually the first question) as you read the rules for the first time.
    For example, if the first rule says something like "If G is in, H is out," and the first question says "which could be a complete and accurate list?," you look for the ones that has G as soon as you read the first rule. Maybe (C) says G, H, L, H. So you can get rid of this answer choice. You can finish the acceptable situation question by the time you finish reading/representing the rules.

    2) Do questions with additional premises/rules first (questions that start with "If").

    For LR, I think what you should do is to focus on missing 5 questions in each LR section. So you can concentrate on 20 questions and get them all correct. In the first round, if you don't understand the stimulus after reading once, you should skip.

    For RC, it's the same as LR. I think you shouldn't try to do all the questions. You should focus on low-resolution summaries and skip questions whenever you feel the need to go back to the passage. At the end of the section, you can go back to the questions.

  • akistotleakistotle Member ⭐ 🍌🍌
    9382 karma

    I don't know if you have done this already, but you should try making a timing sheet like this: https://imgur.com/YPQJDb9

    Here I decided to skip Q4 after spending 35 seconds, which was a right move. But I spent way too much time on Q6.

    If you are spending more than 30 seconds on Main Point/Main Conclusion questions, you should drill those questions until you can get them under 30 seconds. Also, SA/PSA questions should be your freebies.

  • akistotleakistotle Member ⭐ 🍌🍌
    edited November 2017 9382 karma

    @akistotle said:
    I don't know if you have done this already, but you should try making a timing sheet like this: https://imgur.com/YPQJDb9

    Here I decided to skip Q4 after spending 35 seconds, which was a right move. But I spent way too much time on Q6.

    If you are spending more than 30 seconds on Main Point/Main Conclusion questions, you should drill those questions until you can get them under 30 seconds. Also, SA/PSA questions should be your freebies.

    Also you should count the number of over-confidence/under-confidence.

    For example, look at this part of my LR section:
    https://imgur.com/hWe6jOV

    Although I did not make any mistakes on this page, there were huge strategic errors: I circled too many and wasted time (90 seconds) in the round 2. On this page, I didn't change the answers. I spent 1.5 minute just to confirm the answers and was not able to go back to the questions I really should have gone back to.

    In this section, I only made one overconfidence error, and there were 6 under-confidence questions where I wasted my time.

    In a section right after this, I changed my strategy and made a limit to the number of questions I can circle. And then I started making over-confidence errors because I wasn't circling as many as I should and ended up not knowing which questions to go back to.

    It's all trial and error.

    As @"Alex Divine" says, "[t]he purpose of a PT is to get a snapshot of your weaknesses," and you can really learn a lot from your performance.

  • kimpg_66kimpg_66 Alum Member
    1617 karma

    @akistotle have you made a thread about this spreadsheet? I think it would be really helpful to go through how you fill it out

  • jennybbbbbjennybbbbb Alum Member
    630 karma

    @akistotle said:
    Since you are currently at a 155, you need about 8-10 more questions to get a 160, right?https://www.cambridgelsat.com/resources/data/consolidated-score-conversion-charts/

    You have to get about 75 questions correct, so if you get -3 on LG (20/23) and -5/-5 on LR (20/25; 20/25), you will get a 160 even with your RC being -11 (16/27).

    For LG, I have two suggestions:

    1) Do acceptable situation questions (usually the first question) as you read the rules for the first time.
    For example, if the first rule says something like "If G is in, H is out," and the first question says "which could be a complete and accurate list?," you look for the ones that has G as soon as you read the first rule. Maybe (C) says G, H, L, H. So you can get rid of this answer choice. You can finish the acceptable situation question by the time you finish reading/representing the rules.

    2) Do questions with additional premises/rules first (questions that start with "If").

    For LR, I think what you should do is to focus on missing 5 questions in each LR section. So you can concentrate on 20 questions and get they all correct. In the first round, if you don't understand the stimulus after reading once, you should skip.

    For RC, it's the same as LR. I think you shouldn't try to do all the questions. You should focus on low-resolution summaries and skip questions whenever you feel the need to go back to the passage. At the end of the section, you can go back to the questions.

    Thank you! You're amazing! I will be trying out these strategies for the next couple of days!

  • jennybbbbbjennybbbbb Alum Member
    630 karma

    @akistotle said:
    I don't know if you have done this already, but you should try making a timing sheet like this: https://imgur.com/YPQJDb9

    Here I decided to skip Q4 after spending 35 seconds, which was a right move. But I spent way too much time on Q6.

    If you are spending more than 30 seconds on Main Point/Main Conclusion questions, you should drill those questions until you can get them under 30 seconds. Also, SA/PSA questions should be your freebies.

    @akistotle said:

    @akistotle said:
    I don't know if you have done this already, but you should try making a timing sheet like this: https://imgur.com/YPQJDb9

    Here I decided to skip Q4 after spending 35 seconds, which was a right move. But I spent way too much time on Q6.

    If you are spending more than 30 seconds on Main Point/Main Conclusion questions, you should drill those questions until you can get them under 30 seconds. Also, SA/PSA questions should be your freebies.

    Also you should count the number of over-confidence/under-confidence.

    For example, look at this part of my LR section:
    https://imgur.com/hWe6jOV

    Although I did not make any mistakes on this page, there were huge strategic errors: I circled too many and wasted time (90 seconds) in the round 2. On this page, I didn't change the answers. I spent 1.5 minute just to confirm the answers and was not able to go back to the questions I really should have gone back to.

    In this section, I only made one overconfidence error, and there were 6 under-confidence questions where I wasted my time.

    In a section right after this, I changed my strategy and made a limit to the number of questions I can circle. And then I started making over-confidence errors because I wasn't circling as many as I should and ended up not knowing which questions to go back to.

    It's all trial and error.

    As @"Alex Divine" says, "[t]he purpose of a PT is to get a snapshot of your weaknesses," and you can really learn a lot from your performance.

    Wow! I will be making a timing sheet for sure! Thank you again for your elaborate response! This really helps me out. Like @kimmy_m66 said, you should make a thread about this!

    I don't know why, but I find SA questions to be the most difficult for me. I get them at times, but not always... definitely something I need to work on!

    Nonetheless, I will see what works for me through trial and error like you said! Hopefully sooner than later.. I find what works for me!

    @akistotle Do you use newer test or older tests when timing sections to try out different skipping strategies etc.?

  • akistotleakistotle Member ⭐ 🍌🍌
    edited November 2017 9382 karma

    @kimmy_m66 said:
    @akistotle have you made a thread about this spreadsheet? I think it would be really helpful to go through how you fill it out

    I haven't..... I'm still trying things out, and the "method" isn't complete.... (I actually know a couple of people doing the same, so I hope they can share their success stories after the December LSAT! :blush: )

    @jennybbbbb said:
    @akistotle Do you use newer test or older tests when timing sections to try out different skipping strategies etc.?

    I use fresh sections (that I haven't done) from the 40s to try out strategies. But I use PTs from PT1-10 to practice. (It's because I have drilled PT10-30s so much I remember the answers to most questions....)

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