170+ for the FKN win

[rivermaker]

First time poster on TLS, but frequent reader. Never really thought about going to law school until 3 or 4 months ago, until a certain female individual persuaded / bullied / slightly inspired? me to Basically, I want to break 170+ and I have till October 10 to study. If it doesn't go well, I'm going to take the following one as well. Okay here's the story. I have been studying sporadically for about 2 or 3 months now. I don't have a true raw score, but have taken quite a lot of reading comprehension and logical reasoning sections. I'm currently working part/full time in Korea right now, so I don't have a ridiculous amount of time on weekdays. I also get distracted really easily by friends and just random shit. Quit drinking for other reasons so that is not a problem. All suggestions appreciated.

Logical reasoning: I have read the Powerscore LR bible pretty thoroughly and feel that most of my fundamentals are down, but still am missing quite a few of the harder questions on each practice test section, as well as making some retarded mistakes. I average anywhere from 4-6 wrong on LR sections, with the exception of random meltdowns where I miss 7 or 8. I also have a problem of reading too fast and practicing these sections wayyyy too quickly. I'm talking about having 5 minutes left over for each LR section. I'm fixing this right now, and hope that reading more carefully will add a couple more right answers to each section and maybe reduce the variance. My lady friend ( A pro lsat taker ) analyzed one of my LR sections that I literally got destroyed on, and saw that I was missing a random assortment of questions and not any type in particular. Suggestions on how to improve please.

Reading comprehension: Haven't really studied much of this section and had problems in the beginning, but seems like every practice section I do I get better at it. I average around the same wrong as I do in LR around -4-6. Some passages I have problems focusing if the reading is way too dry or science related. I caught myself a couple times either zoning out, or being completely clueless after I read the whole passage. I've heard that reading medical journals help with these extra dry passages, but any other way to improve RC?

Logic games: Even though everyone says this is the easiest section to improve on, sometimes I just want to throw my desk out the window when I get stuck. I'm almost done with the LG bible, and know improvements are slowly coming, but it's still ridiculously frustrating knowing my mind does not work well for this section. I can't really say much about LG yet, cuz I haven't truly taken any prep tests for this, but studying seems to be going along decently. Finally finally getting conditional chains and inferences from in out games in grouping. So although I do suck at logic games, I'm seeing that it is learn able with some time and stress.

My plan so far: 1. start taking timed 4 section prep tests maybe 3 a week. Review the other days. I have all 60 prep tests so suggestions on what order to take them are appreciated. 2. in a week or so take a diagnostic at Princeton Review just so I can see where I'm truly at in a classroom setting. Just grind grind grind I guess. Hoping this post will keep me motivated. I also have the 10 actual lsat preptests book, conquering logic games by mcgraw hill, pretty much finished the LSAT superprep as well. Also, going into true hermit mode is a tough task. Thanks for reading. holla

[dcwumpus]

You're definitely within striking distance of breaking 170, I'd say.

I took a TestMasters prep course (which I thought was definitely worth the money, btw). I would take the PTs, finish each section with like 7-8 minutes left and get high 160s - then get my score report back and see that I had made stupid mistakes on the LR (misreading questions, seeing a decent answer choice and then skimming the others). I always thought 'this isn't going to be a problem on the real test because I know this stuff, it was just a stupid mistake.' It wasn't until my instructor gave a little speech about how the LSAT is largely a test of how well you read and perform under pressure - it's designed to induce stupid mistakes.

After that, I started looking at it with a whole new mindset. I forced myself not necessarily to take more time on each question, but to slow down and read every word of every question. If I caught myself drifting, I'd stop, refocus, and start over. I also would circle any question of which I was ever remotely uncertain. I was still finishing with 5-6 minutes left, but I found that, if I circled the uncertain answers and used those 5-6 minutes to revisit them with fresh eyes, I could knock them out no problem. The instant I did that, I started scoring high 170s on the PTs.

Just make sure you have the fundamentals down pat, then start really focusing on your frame of mind during the test. You've got plenty of time to get there. Also, like you said, you should definitely make sure you have double digits worth of PTs under your belt before you take the real test - especially if you're going to do it without a prep course. But, I would add in a 5th section to use as your experimental. Test fatigue is a very real thing to take into account. You have 60 tests which is way more than enough - bust a few of those up to use as experimentals. Also, I wouldn't start doing 3 PTs a week for at LEAST another month or two. I think you'd burn out.

Maybe this is all really obvious and not helpful. But, I think it's worth saying because it's what will make a big difference on test day.

Good luck! There's no reason you can't break 170.

[law chihuahua]

Hi rivermaker, welcome to TLS. I feel kind of weird saying that, since I've been a longtime lurker myself. Just started to post pretty recently.
I'm in Korea, too. Gonna guess you're in Seoul?
You'll find a lot of LG tips in this forum. It helped me improve a lot from my original diagnostic.
Good luck, and see you at the testing site in October. Hwaiteeng!

[gdane]

Do not start taking so many PT's yet. Once a week is ok, to see where you are, but do not take 3. Like someone else said, wait a month or two. Right now focus on your weak sections, which seems to be games, and after youve got everything down then you take the PT's. Taking PT after PT before youre ready only leads you to make the same mistakes over and over. Based off of what youve said it seems possible for you to get close to a 170. Just relax, prepare and you'll do well.

Good luck!

[rivermaker]

Thanks for the advice and posts guys. Will keep this updated.

[edinbourgh]

I thought I wrote a reply here earlier, but it didn't get posted.
It might not seem like a big deal, but doing sections with a five minute warning was very helpful for me. I noticed that hearing I only have five minutes left made me panic more than I'd like to admit. I agree with the above poster who said do 5 section pt's, too.

[rivermaker]

Hey guys not too much been happening since my post. started taking timed prep tests besides logic games. Gave my self unlimited time on the logic games until I get quicker. Getting decent scores and encountering a lot of different kinds of games. So far there is one game per section that I have a lot of trouble on and sometimes don't even get. Does it come to the point where everything becomes routine and semi familiar? Also got reallllly stressed the other day mostly because of the routine of work study work study for a while. Had to take a night off to go visit my friend and feel a lot better now.