Averaging -10 on each LR section Forum

[itachiuchiha]

okay, so after drilling some timed sections of OLD PT LR sections Preptests 1-30, I have noticed some trends

I am usually missing a lot of the last 10 questions but always doing very well on the first 15
I barely finish on time and that is after skipping the parallel reasoning questions

Can anyone hit me up with some tips?

[Teflon_Don]

Have you read the Manhattan LSAT LR guide?

[itachiuchiha]

Have you read the Manhattan LSAT LR guide?

oh, sorry forgot to mention
I have completed the full powerscore LR bible.
Which i plan on rereading

I also have the Manhattan LSAT LR guide on my to-read list. Already bought a PDF version of it.

[bp shinners]

I am usually missing a lot of the last 10 questions but always doing very well on the first 15

No surprise there. The first 15 are easier than the last 10 questions. Almost everyone will see higher accuracy on those first 3/5 of the section. Also, you're feeling the time crunch less during those questions, so you tend to be more relaxed, which translates to higher accuracy. So while it's something to focus on, it's not something that's rare.

I barely finish on time and that is after skipping the parallel reasoning questions

This plays into your first problem - when you're feeling rushed at the end, you're going to get more questions wrong. Also, those skipped parallel questions tend to be towards the end of the section, so you're getting 1-2 wrong just from skipping those.

Paradoxically, timing is all about slowing down. You don't want to read/think faster - that leads to incorrect answers and re-reading. Instead, focus on reading the prompt, taking a second to get your method straight in your head, reading the stimulus with an idea of what you're looking for, and then pre-phrase an answer before going to the ACs. Yes, this will take longer than your usual strategy. But it will shave a significant amount of time off of your answer evaluation - you won't be constantly re-reading the stimulus, you won't be flipping between three answer choices, and you can quickly eliminate answers that don't come even close to what you know the correct AC must do.

[perplexedconfused]

I was having the exact same issue. I was getting all of the beginning questions right, then cramming the last 10 or so and not getting them correct. I changed how I took the section, and now I have missed -4 the last two LR sections I have taken.

What I started doing is timing how long it takes me to get the first 15 correct, by question type. The first question took me 48 seconds, the second question took me 55 seconds, etc. What I recognized is that I come to the correct answer relatively easily but then double check my answer choices or just waste a lot of valuable time unnecessarily. Now, I do not hesitate and try to get the answers to the first 15 in 15 minutes. This gives me a significant advantage with the last questions, and I normally have a minute or two extra. Hopefully this helps!

[Typhoon24]

First of all, I'd like to say that (judging from your earlier posts and when you said you wanted to start studying for this thing) that you are still too early in your prepping to be worrying about timing. Right now, the issue is accuracy. My advice is work through manhattan and then afterwards, drill for ACCURACY, not timing. Finishing in time will come in time, mind the world play. Take a look at my history:

1. I finished the LR Bible
2. Took an untimed section, got -7, but went 12 mins over.
3. Started working through manhattan's LR guide and finished it.
4. Took 4 untimed section and consistently got minus 3-4, but still 12 mins over.
5. Now, AFTER I'm more comfortable with my score, I'm working on my timing, and I'm in the -4 range and going less over time the more I drill. (I'm down to 39 mins now, but progress is steady.)
6. Also, in this phase of studying, i would recommend drilling by question type rather than drilling full sections. (here's the list http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 6&t=108425)

TL;DR: READ MANHATTAN AND THEN DRILL BY QUESTION TYPE. ALSO ACCURACY THEN TIMING, NOT BOTH AT THE SAME TIME.