Score stagnating - any tips? Forum

[pineappledazzler]

My LSAT score seems to be stagnating - diagnostic 163, improved to a consistent 168-170. I have been studying for just under 2 months, and am taking the December test with an ideal goal score of 175+. I went up consistently until about 2.5 weeks ago, and since then the PTs I've taken have stayed within the range mentioned above. LG and RC have proven pretty consistent with specific areas to target for improvement, but LR is where I could gain the most. Any tips for getting out of the slump and getting to where I should be?

[09042014]

Try to find a pattern of what you get wrong. I was constantly either getting parallel reasoning wrong, or wasting a lot of time with it, and I focused on it for an afternoon, and I never got one wrong again.

[typ3]

Is LG consistently 0? If not there is more you can do to raise your score.

I agree with Desert, find what type of problems you are missing and fix that problem type.

Re-read the bibles. If you're missing any in RC then you can certainly improve. Redo old passages that you missed a question on. Read some overly wordy and dense material to improve your reading ability.

[Jeffort]

ok, your practice range is excellent. To be getting 170's or close to it you cannot be missing that many questions, especially if you have been taking recent PT's timed.

You said LR is your main problem. How many LR problems are you typically missing? It cannot be more than 10 total unless you are getting near perfect scores in the LG and RC sections.

You need to drill down and figure out what your specific problems/errors/misunderstandings/mistakes/etc. are with the questions you are missing. With your score range it doesn't sound like you have a problem with the basics (common concepts, question types, etc.) and it sounds more like performance issues/mistakes under the time pressure. Does this fit your situation?

[pineappledazzler]

I am typically getting 0-2 wrong on LG and on RC (all Inference-based questions for RC, usually, so that's the type of RC I already know I can target). The issue is that across the two LR sections I have been getting up to 8 wrong - but across varying types of questions - parallel, stregnthen/weaken but also at various times paradox, flaw, assumption which then on another PT I will do well on - it's just the inconsistency of which LR I'm getting wrong that's frustrating me.
In terms of time, I have never had any issues with time pressures except initially on LG which I've taken care of mostly - otherwise I usually have 5 min. to spare at the ends of each other section.

[Jeffort]

I am typically getting 0-2 wrong on LG and on RC (all Inference-based questions for RC, usually, so that's the type of RC I already know I can target). The issue is that across the two LR sections I have been getting up to 8 wrong - but across varying types of questions - parallel, stregnthen/weaken but also at various times paradox, flaw, assumption which then on another PT I will do well on - it's just the inconsistency of which LR I'm getting wrong that's frustrating me.
In terms of time, I have never had any issues with time pressures except initially on LG which I've taken care of mostly - otherwise I usually have 5 min. to spare at the ends of each other section.

Have you thoroughly reviewed the LR questions you've gotten wrong in order to determine, question by question, why you selected an incorrect answer choice and why you rejected the credited answer? Doing that is the only way to flush out and identify your errors/weaknesses so that you can then figure out what to do to fix them.

When reviewing the problems get as specific as possible in terms of trying to remember what you were thinking each step of the way on each question. Meaning recollecting things like "I rejected C because... and went with A because I thought XYZ". Without seeing the specific questions you have gotten incorrect on recent practice tests and hearing what your thought process was with each one it's hard to say what your issue is. However, given your scoring range and that the LR types you are missing are scattered, it's probably a situation of you missing the hardest/harder questions per section along with a few due to basic careless errors.

Is it the case that with most of the LR questions you are missing that when you go back and review them you realize that you misunderstood/did not fully/properly understand the argument/stimulus and it's structure at the time? For instance, not seeing the assumption(s)/flawed reasoning in the argument the first time you worked it?

Even though the LR question types you are missing seem to be random, whatever is causing you to miss them is not, it never is.

[pineappledazzler]

Thanks for the tips! I'm going to go back and review all the LR questions I've gotten wrong on the tests I've taken again.

[peterb0y]

^better hurry up, the lsat's in like an hour

[Jeffort]

^better hurry up, the lsat's in like an hour

I just woke up for a bathroom break and read this. LMFAO

Then I noticed that the OP said she is taking it in December and I felt like an idiot for laughing. Ok, not so much, it is still pretty funny!

[toolfan]

try taking a step back from it. sometimes walking away from it for a day or two can do you a lot of good. for me, digesting what i learned was a very important process. i found that if i studied too soon after my last study session, i wasn't doing as well--not retaining what i learned. when i took it a bit easier and let it sink in, i did better.

[pineappledazzler]

I'm taking the December LSAT - I have a lot of hours to go....
In any case, I've found that my weakest LR types are assumptions and flaws, comprising most of what I've been getting wrong, so any further suggestions based on that? Specific ways to attack those?

[pineappledazzler]

bumping this up to see if there are any other tips!