A non-LSAT Paradox (Please help) Forum

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washin34

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A non-LSAT Paradox (Please help)

Post by washin34 » Thu Aug 12, 2010 12:14 pm

I am taking the Oct test and I'm currently taking PT's every week. I'm in the 147-150 range and my goal is 160. I've taken three PT's so far. When taking the test I feel confident on most questions (except LG), but when I tally my score I'm nowhere near my goal. Each time I grade my test the same day I take it, just to get my score, and begin working on my personal statement for the rest of the day. The next day I re-do the questions I missed. I'm certain that I don't remember the questions and definetly not the answers but I usually get 9 out of the 10 that I missed on each section correct after re-doing them. (untimed) Is this common?

The reason is not because I've memorized the answer I selected. I usually don't remember which answer I selected. What is making my score decrease so much when I begin to time myself?

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gdane

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Re: A non-LSAT Paradox (Please help)

Post by gdane » Thu Aug 12, 2010 12:19 pm

Are you just doing pratice tests or have you done other prep? DONT just do PT's expecting that your score will naturally increase. That works for people that are already scoring high, but since youre scoring in the low 150's that means you dont have a grasp of the fundamental LSAT topics. Go through the Powerscore Bibles, take a look at Pithypike and LSATBlog's method's and go from there. You need to know what youre doing before you start taking practice tests.

Also, its very common to get questions correct after you've done them. Even if you dont have the answers memorized, your mind still remembers little things here and there that gives you an advantage. Doing the questions untimed is even worse because the LSAT is very much based on time. Give people unlimited time on the LSAT and you'll see a lot of 180 scorers. One last thing, why youre working on your personal statement now is beyond me. If you dont improve your score, your personal statement wont matter much. Focus on the LSAT and work on your personal statement during the 3 weekss youre waiting for your score.

Good luck!

washin34

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Re: A non-LSAT Paradox (Please help)

Post by washin34 » Thu Aug 12, 2010 12:36 pm

gdane5 wrote:Are you just doing pratice tests or have you done other prep? DONT just do PT's expecting that your score will naturally increase. That works for people that are already scoring high, but since youre scoring in the low 150's that means you dont have a grasp of the fundamental LSAT topics. Go through the Powerscore Bibles, take a look at Pithypike and LSATBlog's method's and go from there. You need to know what youre doing before you start taking practice tests.

Also, its very common to get questions correct after you've done them. Even if you dont have the answers memorized, your mind still remembers little things here and there that gives you an advantage. Doing the questions untimed is even worse because the LSAT is very much based on time. Give people unlimited time on the LSAT and you'll see a lot of 180 scorers. One last thing, why youre working on your personal statement now is beyond me. If you dont improve your score, your personal statement wont matter much. Focus on the LSAT and work on your personal statement during the 3 weekss youre waiting for your score.

Good luck!
Sadly, I have been using other methods since March. I've never had to study like this and I guess my approach is wrong. I guess I can go through both RC and LG bibles again. I have the pithy pike study guide saved on my hard drive. I will stick to that and review the LSATBlog as well. Apparently I'm not grasping the concepts. I'm not sure what it is that I'm not getting though. My mistakes are on a variety of questions, sections and difficulty levels. I'm worried that I will not have enough time, so I started doing PTs. I suspected that comprehension of the material is what I'm lacking, and it appears that you think the same. I'm going to put my PS on hold. I'm not discouraged, just a little worried with the test being so close. Is my goal a realistically reachable one, considering my current state?

washin34

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Re: A non-LSAT Paradox (Please help)

Post by washin34 » Thu Aug 12, 2010 3:04 pm

I seriously would like to hear from someone if there are certain concepts I am missing and if a 160 is a realistic goal. Please :D

czelede

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Re: A non-LSAT Paradox (Please help)

Post by czelede » Thu Aug 12, 2010 3:12 pm

washin34 wrote:I am taking the Oct test and I'm currently taking PT's every week. I'm in the 147-150 range and my goal is 160. I've taken three PT's so far. When taking the test I feel confident on most questions (except LG), but when I tally my score I'm nowhere near my goal. Each time I grade my test the same day I take it, just to get my score, and begin working on my personal statement for the rest of the day. The next day I re-do the questions I missed. I'm certain that I don't remember the questions and definetly not the answers but I usually get 9 out of the 10 that I missed on each section correct after re-doing them. (untimed) Is this common?

The reason is not because I've memorized the answer I selected. I usually don't remember which answer I selected. What is making my score decrease so much when I begin to time myself?
It's not the timing that's messing you up as much as you think, imo. Even though you don't remember which answer you selected you KNOW that the last time you did that problem you selected the wrong answer. This will make you a) more cautious and careful when reading the problem and b) second-guess your gut instinct.

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094320

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Re: A non-LSAT Paradox (Please help)

Post by 094320 » Thu Aug 12, 2010 3:14 pm

..

washin34

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Re: A non-LSAT Paradox (Please help)

Post by washin34 » Thu Aug 12, 2010 4:20 pm

If timing isn't my problem, what could cause this?

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gdane

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Re: A non-LSAT Paradox (Please help)

Post by gdane » Thu Aug 12, 2010 4:22 pm

washin34 wrote:I seriously would like to hear from someone if there are certain concepts I am missing and if a 160 is a realistic goal. Please :D
A 160 is definitely a realistic goal. To get a 160 you'd have to get about 75 or 76 questions correct. That's not a lot. You can do it.

Try focusing more on individual sections and question types rather than doing PT where you're doing a variety of questions. If you can master, or at least significantly improve on, the question types individually you'll have a better chance of doing well on whatever is thrown at you on practice tests and the actual test. This is what Pithypike and LSATBlog's guides essentially do, force you to work with individual sections. Once you've done all that, move on to practice tests so you can put stuff together and fine tune your skills.

Good luck!

youknowryan

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Re: A non-LSAT Paradox (Please help)

Post by youknowryan » Thu Aug 12, 2010 6:16 pm

gdane5 wrote:
washin34 wrote:I seriously would like to hear from someone if there are certain concepts I am missing and if a 160 is a realistic goal. Please :D
A 160 is definitely a realistic goal. To get a 160 you'd have to get about 75 or 76 questions correct. That's not a lot. You can do it.

Try focusing more on individual sections and question types rather than doing PT where you're doing a variety of questions. If you can master, or at least significantly improve on, the question types individually you'll have a better chance of doing well on whatever is thrown at you on practice tests and the actual test. This is what Pithypike and LSATBlog's guides essentially do, force you to work with individual sections. Once you've done all that, move on to practice tests so you can put stuff together and fine tune your skills.

Good luck!
TO add to this great advice, also focus upon inference, flaw, weaken and necessary assumption questions since those types are about 60-70% of the LR section.

washin34

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Re: A non-LSAT Paradox (Please help)

Post by washin34 » Thu Aug 12, 2010 8:27 pm

youknowryan wrote:
gdane5 wrote:
washin34 wrote:I seriously would like to hear from someone if there are certain concepts I am missing and if a 160 is a realistic goal. Please :D
A 160 is definitely a realistic goal. To get a 160 you'd have to get about 75 or 76 questions correct. That's not a lot. You can do it.

Try focusing more on individual sections and question types rather than doing PT where you're doing a variety of questions. If you can master, or at least significantly improve on, the question types individually you'll have a better chance of doing well on whatever is thrown at you on practice tests and the actual test. This is what Pithypike and LSATBlog's guides essentially do, force you to work with individual sections. Once you've done all that, move on to practice tests so you can put stuff together and fine tune your skills.

Good luck!
TO add to this great advice, also focus upon inference, flaw, weaken and necessary assumption questions since those types are about 60-70% of the LR section.

I didn't realize that they accounted for that much of the test. This is probably the best advice I've gotten since I've started studying. Thanks!

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