LG timing Forum

[2011Law]

Wondering how long most people take to finish LG when they first start out, and what you might think of my situation. The first time I took an LG section with about an hour of studying what its about and diagramming, I took 55 min and got 5 wrong. I just finished the LG Bible, and now took another LG section and took 53 min and got 8 wrong. Both these sections came from older tests. LR and RC I almost always finish on time, getting -4 and -7. I'm going for the Dec LSAT, so I have plenty of time to study, but I wonder how much I can expect to improve on LG. Anyone think expecting -4 on LG for me is reasonable?

[kazu]

Aim for -0. With lots of practice and studying it's definitely possible and realistic.

[2011Law]

Another thing I wanted to ask, how long do people usually take doing the diagrams? On this last section I did, I took about 3 mins on three of them, and 1:30 on one.

[Adjudicator]

Another thing I wanted to ask, how long do people usually take doing the diagrams? On this last section I did, I took about 3 mins on three of them, and 1:30 on one.

Quick and dirty, for me.

[kazu]

It depends, if there are limited choices etc and I think it'll be "worth it" to take time diagramming I have spent up to 3 minutes. But in that case I usually end up spending less than 3 minutes on the questions because I don't have to do anything additional.

[Adjudicator]

It depends, if there are limited choices etc and I think it'll be "worth it" to take time diagramming I have spent up to 3 minutes. But in that case I usually end up spending less than 3 minutes on the questions because I don't have to do anything additional.

This is true. Knowing when to approach it this way is an important skill that comes with practice.

Kazu, I've -0'd many LG sections before but lately I can't seem to do it. I can't seem to get through a section lately without making one or two silly mistakes, such as reading something wrong, just choosing a different answer than I was thinking of, or some other "brain fart" type mistake. I'm not sure what's going on but it is getting frustrating and I really hope this doesn't happen on the actual test in October.

Any suggestions? I don't know how many times lately I've finished an LG section thinking that I had aced it, only to find I made some inexplicable, stupid mistake.

[kazu]

It depends, if there are limited choices etc and I think it'll be "worth it" to take time diagramming I have spent up to 3 minutes. But in that case I usually end up spending less than 3 minutes on the questions because I don't have to do anything additional.

This is true. Knowing when to approach it this way is an important skill that comes with practice.

Kazu, I've -0'd many LG sections before but lately I can't seem to do it. I can't seem to get through a section lately without making one or two silly mistakes, such as reading something wrong, just choosing a different answer than I was thinking of, or some other "brain fart" type mistake. I'm not sure what's going on but it is getting frustrating and I really hope this doesn't happen on the actual test in October.

Any suggestions? I don't know how many times lately I've finished an LG section thinking that I had aced it, only to find I made some inexplicable, stupid mistake.

I've been there... you obviously have the skills but you keep making stupid mistakes.

What worked for me was modifying my method a bit to reduce mistakes. I know I said this here somewhere else before, but using a highlighter really helped me. Also, if I had time left (and by the end I often had up to 10~15 minutes left) I'd check every single question regardless of whether it was difficult or not. If it was a "which is right", I'd check that the remaining 4 were positively wrong. Often here they're trying to test your understanding of different conditions/inferences - these aren't just random choices. By the end of each game you usually also have a bunch of working hypotheticals, due to the right answer choices, from solving the problems, etc. which I'd use to check the answers on other problems. Changing things up got me out of my complacent, done-this-before-rut as well, so I was more attentive while solving problems, leading to less mistakes.

[Adjudicator]

Thanks kazu. A highlighter on LG? I've never tried that. What exactly do you highlight?

And, 10-15 minutes left over after LG? I can't even imagine that. I think the best I've ever done is finish in 26-27 minutes with no errors... but that was an exceptionally easy one. I still frequently take over 30 minutes to finish LG, even when I nail it.

[kazu]

Thanks kazu. A highlighter on LG? I've never tried that. What exactly do you highlight?

And, 10-15 minutes left over after LG? I can't even imagine that. I think the best I've ever done is finish in 26-27 minutes with no errors... but that was an exceptionally easy one. I still frequently take over 30 minutes to finish LG, even when I nail it.

Yeah, you get faster, and in steps. I was stuck around there for a while too, and then suddenly overnight I needed 5 less minutes. Then 5 more about 3 weeks after that. It was bewildering even for me - I definitely didn't expect it .

I highlighted stuff I found confusing/difficult to diagram to remind myself to make sure to check all my answers against that it, since I noticed that I sometimes "forgot" that that condition existed. (Which would lead to a lot of fail).

[Adjudicator]

Thanks kazu. A highlighter on LG? I've never tried that. What exactly do you highlight?

And, 10-15 minutes left over after LG? I can't even imagine that. I think the best I've ever done is finish in 26-27 minutes with no errors... but that was an exceptionally easy one. I still frequently take over 30 minutes to finish LG, even when I nail it.

Yeah, you get faster, and in steps. I was stuck around there for a while too, and then suddenly overnight I needed 5 less minutes. Then 5 more about 3 weeks after that. It was bewildering even for me - I definitely didn't expect it .

I highlighted stuff I found confusing/difficult to diagram to remind myself to make sure to check all my answers against that it, since I noticed that I sometimes "forgot" that that condition existed. (Which would lead to a lot of fail).

Yeah, that has happened to me before.

Well, it sounds like I'm in a place that you once were. Now, I can only hope that I end up where you are now at, before the October test.

I don't have very many PTs left. I have 50-60, only. Do you suppose that will be enough to make long strides before the October LSAT?

[kazu]

Yeah, that has happened to me before.

Well, it sounds like I'm in a place that you once were. Now, I can only hope that I end up where you are now at, before the October test.

I don't have very many PTs left. I have 50-60, only. Do you suppose that will be enough to make long strides before the October LSAT?

It's in a month, right? 10 seems fine - I personally rarely did any more than 2 per week. I'd redo some old ones too, if I were you. Just for practice.

[Adjudicator]

Yeah, that has happened to me before.

Well, it sounds like I'm in a place that you once were. Now, I can only hope that I end up where you are now at, before the October test.

I don't have very many PTs left. I have 50-60, only. Do you suppose that will be enough to make long strides before the October LSAT?

It's in a month, right? 10 seems fine - I personally rarely did any more than 2 per week. I'd redo some old ones too, if I were you. Just for practice.

Cool. Thanks. Yeah, I was budgeting around 2 per week until the test, but I like to do something LSAT-related every day, so I probably will go over some older ones, too.

I need to ace the LG section in October... I'm going to be disappointed if I don't.

[kazu]

Cool. Thanks. Yeah, I was budgeting around 2 per week until the test, but I like to do something LSAT-related every day, so I probably will go over some older ones, too.

I need to ace the LG section in October... I'm going to be disappointed if I don't.

As long as you don't freakout during the exam, and keep up the studying, I'm sure you'll be fine

/threadjack

OP, sorry about the threadjack, if you want any more advice feel free to post or PM them, I'll try my best to answer LG is where it's easiest for most people to see drastic improvements, so go for a -0 on the December LSAT.

[ly2010]

On my cold diag., I literally got half the questions wrong on the LB section and I even guessed! After going through all the LGB games twice, I can do any game in 10 minutes. However, obviously, I need to work on timing. Some games I can do within 6 minutes, others take forever...

I am currently doing at least 5 games consecutively every day to practice. I would recommend re-doing hard games over and over. Double check that you are not making the same mistakes. I heard that if you work your butt off for just three weeks, you can actually perfect the game section. In other words, it is completely reasonable for you to make -0 in Dec. I'm taking the October LSAT and I am about 60% where I should be on LGs.

[Adjudicator]

A lot of people aim for 8 minutes, 45 seconds per game, but that's not really how it goes in my experience... the secret is that there are usually one or two games that you can do in 5ish minutes, leaving 20+ minutes for the two hardest games.

I do so much better on LG than I did when I took the LSAT last year and got a 164. I didn't even make it to the last game and I probably missed a ton of the ones I answered.

Now, I usually get -1... I always miss something. But I hope to get -0 in October.

[ly2010]

A lot of people aim for 8 minutes, 45 seconds per game, but that's not really how it goes in my experience... the secret is that there are usually one or two games that you can do in 5ish minutes, leaving 20+ minutes for the two hardest games.

I do so much better on LG than I did when I took the LSAT last year and got a 164. I didn't even make it to the last game and I probably missed a ton of the ones I answered.

Now, I usually get -1... I always miss something. But I hope to get -0 in October.

If you were me and you had a month left to practice, how many games a day would you do min.? I know it might be a stupid question but I need some motivation. I am usually done after five but I'm starting to think I need to work on it a little harder...