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Related Discussions
During foolproofing, when did you start getting better?
Brazil020511
Alum Member
So, I'm foolproofing LG and I am doing it by difficulty. So, I'm starting with simple ordering and am almost finished with that section. I feel like I'm getting better but that's not showing in timing and accuracy wise on the first attempt. So, when did you all who foolproof started doing better?
Comments
If we define "better" by when I could do three consecutive fresh timed LG sections each for less than a -5, it took me over 1,100 foolproofed games from the 1-35 set (I actually used the 1-40 set because I needed more help than what is customary.) I might be an outlier (I couldn't even answer more than 1 question correctly on LG when I started studying) but that is the work that it took me.
I remember when I did 600 games and got a -7 on my first 35 minute timed section. I was so crushed, I felt like the work I did really didn't scale to the improvements I expected. But as much as it hurt, I still had to admit that that -7 was an improvement in my world. If you feel like your journey is mirroring my own, don't hesitate to reach out, I've "been there done that."
David
After I took a break!
I drilled LG really hard for a good two weeks and didn't see much improvement. But after I took a week break from the LSAT, I came back and started consistently hitting -2 to -0. I think a break can be really helpful and can actually allow the principles you're practicing in drilling to ripen/"take hold" in your mind.
What do you mean by doing it by difficulty?
People normally foolproof tests1-35. Did you sort these by type?
I did them in order and felt significant gains by around the time I had foolproofed 20 or so tests worth so 80 games. However, that is talking about gains in the section overall. That is about when I first finished a games section perfectly in 35 minutes. After that I foolproofed the next 15 tests of games and then added in about 12 tests of games more. I still wasn't consistantly perfect, but averaged -1 or 2 with plenty of -0's and a couple of -3's thrown in.
As far as one type of game. I would thing a single layer linear sequencing game would be the easiest type. Those I always could get the right answers to(after having seen the technique) but I got progressively faster starting out at an average of maybe 9 or 10 minutes and getting them down to about 5 on average. This would give me time for more challenging game types.
I'm not sure if I answered your question both because I didn't sort the games when foolproofing and because I'm not sure exactly what you mean about sorting them by difficulty.
I foolproofed all the games in the CC, then started on 1-35. It took me 2 months of nothing but LG to see any improvement. Currently Im foolproofing PTs 50-65, after I finish a full PT I always FP the LG section just to make sure. I'm finally to the point of being able to do a full set -0/-1or 3 with a few minutes to spare. I noticed that I was improving when I did the notorious 57.1.3 dino game in under 13 minutes with 100% accuracy on the first try. I got fairly discouraged while FPing games due to lack of improvement. The one thing that kept me going was JY saying it simply takes time and exposure. It took me a lot of time and a lot of exposure. Keep in mind that I'm still not where I want to be, however Ive been able to enjoy an enormous amount of improvement. I used my frustration with the games as fuel to keep hammering them out. It just takes time and knowing the fundamentals. Just keep at it, and remember don't quit, only losers quit, you're never a failure until you quit trying!
I agree with @"Paul Caint"! I FP'd over ~ 2 months and then took off a whole month from LSAT study (not a great move). But while I was FPing, I would still miss probably 1 or 2 per game. After that break, I could all of a sudden do four games and only miss 1. My average is now something like -0.5 because I typically get -0. Nothing changed besides taking time off. I was floored
I've done things a little differently and haven't concentrated on just LG for long periods of time like many others. I've sort of done a back and forth, FPing a few games at a time while also working a lot on LR. I think I just very slowly saw gains over time.
A bigger jump happened to me actually when I decided on a skipping strategy of skipping any rule substitution questions. I haven't had as much of a problem with accuracy really, just always been timing (I'd often be turning to the last game right at the 5 minute warning, so wouldn't have time to set up and answer hardly any of those questions). As soon as it dawned on me that rule substitution questions were enormous time suckers and I could skip over them and come back if I had extra time, I went from regularly going -5 or -6 on a full LG section to averaging around -2. It's still not ideal, I'm not one of those that can go -0 (only did it once) but obviously -2 is a huge improvement over -6, so that strategy has served me very well.
Hello! Thank you for your response. The packet I have sorts them by type and difficulty of that that type.
Thank you all for your responses. They were very encouraging. When I say sorted by difficulty, I mean easiest game type to hardest game type. So, if I am doing sequencing games, it will start with the easiest one of the sequencing games from PT 1-35 then get more difficult as you finish the sequencing games.
Whar is the 57.1.3 dino?
@Brazil020511
There is a logic game referenced as the dino game because colored dinosaurs are the game pieces. I assume it is test 57 section 1 game 3 from the comment. That sounds about right to me, but I haven't checked. Itis notoriously difficult.
If I were you, I might randomize by difficulty. At least at first, I see some benefit to doing them by type to really focus on a given type. But I think you might learn more from doing hard ones mixed in with easy ones. I'd use the difficulty more as a guide for whether you are taking an appropriate ammount of time rather than starting with easy ones. Eventually you want to be doing them without knowing what type of game or difficulty is coming so you don't want to get too reliant on knowing what type you are doing.
Good luck!
I almost immediately started doing better, but it didn't always take the form of a score increase.
I had really poor habits, and ineffective diagramming techniques, that ultimately had to be un-learned and eradicated before I saw solid and consistent score increases.
I also began fool proofing by type (which I think is very helpful!) and I did begin to see solid improvement after I had done a good amount of each game type.
According to my log, I started out missing -14/-15 to about -8/-9 after about 2 weeks of drilling solely LG. At this point, I had done about 40 games. Then about 2-3 weeks after that, down to -4/-5. By this point, I had done close to 60 games. Right around there I plateaued and had to come back to drill games. I've been working on them ever since... My spacial reasoning skills are pretty awful, so hopefully you won't have as much trouble, haha.
The good news is the fool proof method really does work. You just have to make sure you're not getting sloppy when you re-do games. The point is to keep getting better each attempt at a game. Not necessarily faster if it means you're getting sloppy and not being mechanical. However, If you put in the time, you will get better!