Advice on Third Retake Forum

[darla2013]

.

[DoveBodyWash]

props to you for not settling. I also took the test 3 times (I remember that October 2012 test, it was a doozy), so I know it can be discouraging to get your score back and realize you need to re-take.

Did you take a class to study? Or did you use any other study aids to learn the material? Or did you just take practice tests?

[TheGreatJustice]

I'm after the same goal as you, trying to destroy the LR sections. The mistakes I make with them are usually because I either don't consider the full impact of a potential answer, I skip over a word, or I disregard a potential answer from the outset because it seems unattractive to me.

I know I can go from -3 on LR to -1. It's just two fucking questions, but it seems so hard to reach that golden -1 zone.

[tortellini]

Props to you for your motivation, it seems hard right now but it's definitely worth it. I took the test 3 times as well, got a 174 on the last October test. For LR, the main thing is to go over explanations of EVERY answer choice (the Manhanttan LSAT forums have great explanations for most of the harder questions). Knowing why the wrong answers are wrong gives you a really good sense of how LSAT logic works. And definitely don't look at the tests until you read over the powerscore bibles, have your foundation down before you sit down for a full on test. Don't cheat on timing either that was my problem the first time around, I was frantically skimming questions and bubbling in answers up until the last second because I didn't discipline myself. Hope this helps and goodluck!

[darla2013]

Thanks for the advice!

I've never taken a prep class. Friends of mine took one during college, but the instructor just had them take practice tests and go over questions they missed. I figured I could do that more cheaply on my own. I've really just taken the practice tests - I've heard so many good things about the Bibles, and I own them, but when I started reading them a few years ago I realized that I already understood a lot of the material. It seemed to be most time-effective for me to take the practice tests, realize and categorize the types of questions I was missing, and target my weaknesses that way. It just seems to me that when I have the time to sit down and study, it's more worthwhile to be taking an actual test than reading through a prep book, some of which I fully understand, most of which I pretty much understand. Maybe my major problem, though, is that I don't have the fundamentals down and should make the time to read the entire Bibles!

I actually have been using the Manhattan forums to figure out why I miss certain questions. I usually narrow choices down to the correct answer and the trap (I guess), and I fall for the trap. I can read on the forum why the trap is the trap, understand it, (try to) internalize it, but I end up falling for a similar trap the next time around. Grrr!

Have any of you been similarly beaten down by LR in particular, then ultimately gotten it? What was your strategy?