. Forum
-
stewie27
- Posts: 155
- Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2010 12:46 pm
Re: TLS convinced me to retake; where to start after a 165?
I was in a similar position- retook a 167. I think if you have a solid grasp of the concepts already most of your studying should focus on practice tests. Do all that you can. I guess I'd suggest doing one a week, since you have such a long time. After you take it, really go over all of the answers, including both right and wrong.
I couldn't tell from your post (maybe I missed it), but did you finish the bibles? If not, I'd recommend doing the LR and LG in their entirety.
Was timing an issue for you when you took the test? You might try giving yourself a little less time when you do practice tests, maybe not at first, but soon.
I couldn't tell from your post (maybe I missed it), but did you finish the bibles? If not, I'd recommend doing the LR and LG in their entirety.
Was timing an issue for you when you took the test? You might try giving yourself a little less time when you do practice tests, maybe not at first, but soon.
-
j12
- Posts: 169
- Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 3:41 pm
Re: TLS convinced me to retake; where to start after a 165?
Looks like LR is your weakness. We can fix that.
I think there were 2 tips that really helped me make major strides before my last retake (174).
1.) For each LR question take time to understand not just why the correct answer is correct, but the wrong answers are wrong. Think it out all the way through, don't just say it is irrelevant, think why that answer is irrelevant. This takes some time at first, but once you get a hang of it you go pretty quickly.
2.) Save the LR questions you miss from each practice test and review them everyday until you hate yourself for missing them. I would make copies of the pages from PTs where I missed a question, highlite the question, and write the answer to the question on that page on the back. Obviously don't just memorize what the answer is, think all the way through the logic again each time. I had a few problems that just stumped me and I drilled them and though through the answers that gave me problems enough that I would have an epiphany even when I wasn't working on the LSAT and finally understand a question. My biggest weakness was parallel reasoning and I found this technique to be very helpful. It's also good to do this because you have a few quick LR questions available anytime you have a few minutes of free time to review.
I got these ideas somewhere on TLS so I like to pass them along to hopefully help others as much as they helped me. Good luck.
I think there were 2 tips that really helped me make major strides before my last retake (174).
1.) For each LR question take time to understand not just why the correct answer is correct, but the wrong answers are wrong. Think it out all the way through, don't just say it is irrelevant, think why that answer is irrelevant. This takes some time at first, but once you get a hang of it you go pretty quickly.
2.) Save the LR questions you miss from each practice test and review them everyday until you hate yourself for missing them. I would make copies of the pages from PTs where I missed a question, highlite the question, and write the answer to the question on that page on the back. Obviously don't just memorize what the answer is, think all the way through the logic again each time. I had a few problems that just stumped me and I drilled them and though through the answers that gave me problems enough that I would have an epiphany even when I wasn't working on the LSAT and finally understand a question. My biggest weakness was parallel reasoning and I found this technique to be very helpful. It's also good to do this because you have a few quick LR questions available anytime you have a few minutes of free time to review.
I got these ideas somewhere on TLS so I like to pass them along to hopefully help others as much as they helped me. Good luck.
-
stewie27
- Posts: 155
- Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2010 12:46 pm
Re: TLS convinced me to retake; where to start after a 165?
If you don't mind me asking, what did you get on your re-take? Timing was only an issue on LR, which I would always have to guess on about 3-5 questions. My method for timing was to skip over the parallel reasoning questions since they took such a long time to read and analyze, which was unfortunate because these were a question type I was best at. However this method did help me add a few extra points once I started employing it.
Any tips on getting this timing better for LR?
Also, how much time should I devote to the bibles? Should I take a month to complete both, and not worry about PT's for that period? Also, should I take a month or so to review every question on my past PT's before taking new ones? My only fear with that approach is it could make it so I remember questions and answers which could possibly skew the PT's I take in the future (I have an excellent memory and ran into this problem some from the homework problems during the TestMasters course and subsequent PT's).[/quote]
I got a 170 on my retake- still not as high as I should have gotten, but it worked.
For timing for LR, I'd say just do a lot more problems. You really will start to see patterns in questions and get more used to them. Also, the LR bible might have some tips or insights that help. I never took a course, though, so maybe the bibles might be repetitive it they went over a lot of stuff like it.
I'm not sure what you'll be doing the next few months or how much time you'll have to devote to LSAT stuff. If I were you I think I'd start with the old tests you did and go over them, maybe one or two per week, depending on how many you have. I might even retake them. You'll probably remember a lot of them, but you can give yourself less time and use it as more practice of being in "test mode." During that time I'd also go through the bibles. If you're solid on LG maybe you don't need that one, but I think the LR could help you. Ideally I'd have the old tests and bibles done before I started new tests. I'm not sure what you mean by the old questions skewing your results on new tests (?). I think the bibles use older questions, from the early 2000's, so if you use the most recent new tests, hopefully that will avoid overlap. If you've already used the newest ones and don't want to spoil your practice tests, you could read the bibles and skip the practice questions they give.
I also remembered what was really helpful, was Superprep. I think I'd recommend that for you even more than the bibles. It has some tips and explanations of the questions and strategies, plus 3 tests with detailed answer explanations. I think I alternated those with other practice tests.
Good luck!
Any tips on getting this timing better for LR?
Also, how much time should I devote to the bibles? Should I take a month to complete both, and not worry about PT's for that period? Also, should I take a month or so to review every question on my past PT's before taking new ones? My only fear with that approach is it could make it so I remember questions and answers which could possibly skew the PT's I take in the future (I have an excellent memory and ran into this problem some from the homework problems during the TestMasters course and subsequent PT's).[/quote]
I got a 170 on my retake- still not as high as I should have gotten, but it worked.
For timing for LR, I'd say just do a lot more problems. You really will start to see patterns in questions and get more used to them. Also, the LR bible might have some tips or insights that help. I never took a course, though, so maybe the bibles might be repetitive it they went over a lot of stuff like it.
I'm not sure what you'll be doing the next few months or how much time you'll have to devote to LSAT stuff. If I were you I think I'd start with the old tests you did and go over them, maybe one or two per week, depending on how many you have. I might even retake them. You'll probably remember a lot of them, but you can give yourself less time and use it as more practice of being in "test mode." During that time I'd also go through the bibles. If you're solid on LG maybe you don't need that one, but I think the LR could help you. Ideally I'd have the old tests and bibles done before I started new tests. I'm not sure what you mean by the old questions skewing your results on new tests (?). I think the bibles use older questions, from the early 2000's, so if you use the most recent new tests, hopefully that will avoid overlap. If you've already used the newest ones and don't want to spoil your practice tests, you could read the bibles and skip the practice questions they give.
I also remembered what was really helpful, was Superprep. I think I'd recommend that for you even more than the bibles. It has some tips and explanations of the questions and strategies, plus 3 tests with detailed answer explanations. I think I alternated those with other practice tests.
Good luck!
Want to continue reading?
Register now to search topics and post comments!
Absolutely FREE!
Already a member? Login
-
stewie27
- Posts: 155
- Joined: Sat Apr 10, 2010 12:46 pm
Re: TLS convinced me to retake; where to start after a 165?
Ah, now I get what you mean. I guess there's no way to avoid remembering the questions. If you're going to re-do those tests, I'd do them toward the beginning and not include those scores if you figure out your PT average since they'd be skewed. The main use of PT's you've done already should be review, going over all the answer choices. I would use the PT's I haven't done later on, when it's closer to the test.
