Timed Vs Untimed PTs Forum

[Alucard]

I have been doing one Timed PT one week and one Untimed different PT the week after. I am scoring in the low 160s on the timed tests and low 170s in the untimed ones. So an average of about 10 points difference between the two. Is this normal for most ppl? (at least those of you who do timed and untimed PTs). What do you guys suggest I focus on from now on when preparing, more accuracy drills until I hit the 180 mark on the untimed tests or pushing my timing so that the gap between the timed and untimed tests is smaller?

My plan is to keep going with accuracy drills doing so many questions per type of question from Kaplan Mastery book until I run out of questions to practice without timing myself, then I am going to do full sections timing myself every time meanwhile I will keep doing 1 PT every week until I am out of all other materials and all I will have left is hitting one PT after the other until the OCT. test. Any recommendations/suggestions?

[3|ink]

I recommend you stop taking untimed PTs. Take timed PTs. October is coming fast.

[JacobH]

Yea, start waking up at 7 and taking the timed tests at 9:00-9:15 so you can get used to the grogginess of waking early.

[JJDancer]

I am someone who recommends doing untimed practice but you seem to be doing really well with it (low 170s) which indicates that you won't benefit as much from the untimed anymore. You need to focus on this "pushing my timing so that the gap between the timed and untimed tests is smaller."
When you start hitting 165-170 timed, then you can worry about pinpointing whatever you might be missing. Now I would say do more timed sections as practice and see what shortcuts you can use for LG. Do more timed LR practice to familiarize yourself with what to look for in the stimulus / train your mind on what sorts of answers/pitfalls there are for different question types.

[Alucard]

Thank you guys, I will start doing timed PTs until the real thing (unless I break the 170 mark with more than a week before that test then I might do one last untimed PT).

[EarlCat]

I disagree. Speed comes from accuracy and accuracy comes from deliberate study. If I replaced the LSAT with 2nd grade math, could you come in under 35 mins a section? Is that so because you recently did a bunch of timed drills? Or is it because you've done so much of it untimed that the answers just come naturally?

While you should take timed tests to get a feel for your pacing, your increases in speed and accuracy are a product of being more familiar with the content of the test.

I have been doing one Timed PT one week and one Untimed different PT the week after.

If this is all you're doing you need to up the quantity quite a bit.

[Alucard]

I am doing 1 PT a week currently because I am working full time and barely have an hour or two to study a day which I spend doing Kaplan mastery book tackling each type of LR questions (about 100 questions each type or so), then I will move to RC once I am done with LR (Almost done). As far as games go I don't have a big room for improvement as I usually score 0 to -3. RC is my weakest section with a minimum of -11 (I scored -16 before). I am working on passages untimed one at a time and trying to get all answers right because I miss 1 or 2 on untimed ones whereas timed sections of RC hit me hard as I barely finish 3 sections and guess the fourth passage (English is not my first language so I am slower than average in reading but picked up a lot since I started doing LSAT preparation in April of this year).

[3|ink]

I am doing 1 PT a week currently because I am working full time and barely have an hour or two to study a day which I spend doing Kaplan mastery book tackling each type of LR questions (about 100 questions each type or so), then I will move to RC once I am done with LR (Almost done). As far as games go I don't have a big room for improvement as I usually score 0 to -3. RC is my weakest section with a minimum of -11 (I scored -16 before). I am working on passages untimed one at a time and trying to get all answers right because I miss 1 or 2 on untimed ones whereas timed sections of RC hit me hard as I barely finish 3 sections and guess the fourth passage (English is not my first language so I am slower than average in reading but picked up a lot since I started doing LSAT preparation in April of this year).

I'm working full-time and taking the Testmasters course. I still manage to get 3-4 tests in weekly. Unless you're working 50+ hours (which may be the case), I can't see the problem.

[Alucard]

I am doing over 60 hours a week at the moment but I am taking my annual vacation in few weeks so I am doing those PTs on weekends but once I start my vacation I will be hitting PTs every other day or so until test date (I reserved PTs 45+ for when I am off work and to be the most recent ones I do before the real thing).

[EarlCat]

I am doing 1 PT a week currently because I am working full time and barely have an hour or two to study a day which I spend doing Kaplan mastery book tackling each type of LR questions (about 100 questions each type or so), then I will move to RC once I am done with LR (Almost done). As far as games go I don't have a big room for improvement as I usually score 0 to -3. RC is my weakest section with a minimum of -11 (I scored -16 before). I am working on passages untimed one at a time and trying to get all answers right because I miss 1 or 2 on untimed ones whereas timed sections of RC hit me hard as I barely finish 3 sections and guess the fourth passage (English is not my first language so I am slower than average in reading but picked up a lot since I started doing LSAT preparation in April of this year).

Ok, I was afraid you were doing just that one test a week.