maybe I need a break? Forum

[am060459]

well i've been studying for the LSAT for a while. i've been taking PT once a week for about a month. my average is somewhere in the mid to high 150s. i feel like i cant break the 160 barrier (only once i got 161).

my question is, is it alright for me to take a break for the remaining week? i think a break will help me relax and maybe come back with a refreshed mind. anyone have any experience with this?

for the months of april and may i plan on doing 2 PT a week with review.

[Shrimps]

No, you need to study more. I do a PT a day (excluding weekends), although I'm not recommending it. You have 30-40 wrong answers to work through after each PT: analyze them to death. Ask yourself what you were thinking when you put down the wrong answer. Ask yourself how you can avoid making such mistakes in the future. Really, spend 2 hours a day reviewing your mistakes.

[am060459]

thanks.

i will take another PT this friday and review my mistakes.

i do admit to not looking over my mistakes. but now that i have two months reserved for PT'ing i plan on doing a FULL REVIEW OF IT. PT one day and review the next.

[Z3RO]

Take a full test every other day. I'm serious. Glance over your mistakes after you are done, but on the off days, look at what you did wrong on the previous day's test in depth. This should give you one free day without any prep every week.

You must covet the LSAT with uncompromising lust.

[WTR123]

Take a full test every other day. I'm serious. Glance over your mistakes after you are done, but on the off days, look at what you did wrong on the previous day's test in depth. This should give you one free day without any prep every week.

You must covet the LSAT with uncompromising lust.

+1

[kinch]

The bulk of your studying is going to be looking over your wrong answers, so just do that for a while and don't take another PT if you're actually feeling totally burnt out.

[am060459]

thank you all for your responses.

i will make sure to go over my wrong and correct answers to better guage myself.

since im leaving the last two months for PT i think its better to do two PTs a week with two day of full review. i dont want to burnout.

[FuManChusco]

yeah it should take you twice as long to review as it does to take the test if you aren't in the 160s. once you hit 165+ then it shouldn't take more than an hour to review mistakes.

[theZeigs]

If you're scoring this low, I would suggest this method, as well:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... =6&t=36512

"You have to be good before you can be fast"

The bulk of your studying is going to be looking over your wrong answers, so just do that for a while and don't take another PT if you're actually feeling totally burnt out.

You should now have n * 30 questions that you don't understand that you can review, where n is the number of preptests you've taken. Even if n=5 (at which point, your score isn't a reliable indicator of potential), you have 150ish questions that clearly have thrown you for a loop. Get your old PTs, find the problems, read carefully.

When you get a problem wrong, you've made two mistakes: you've both chosen an answer which is incorrect and eliminated the answer that is credited.

I can virtually guarantee you that if you go back and review your wrong answers, you will see:
1. you make the same sort of mistake over and over
2. you would have gotten many more right given unlimited time to do the question
2b. This being the case, you know that speed is not the only or even necc. the major obstacle right now, but you have to get good first.
3. That once you find common mistakes and drill them in your head, your score will jump.

[jamesieee]

thank you all for your responses.

i will make sure to go over my wrong and correct answers to better guage myself.

since im leaving the last two months for PT i think its better to do two PTs a week with two day of full review. i dont want to burnout.

Unless you have a job that's working you like a dog or you're taking on a crazy course load, taking two tests a week should put you nowhere even remotely near burnout. You should not be taking two days to review one test. You need to crank it up a notch and start taking the test more seriously if you want to see real improvement in your score. Until you're taking and thoroughly reviewing at least four PT's a week, asking for a break just comes off as laziness, not burnout.