Testing a new LR strategy Forum

[JohnV]

Anyone try this with any success? I've been starting sections at question 10 instead of question 1. I've noticed that this allows me to take on the harder questions (tending to show up in the middle/late-middle first, while my brain is fresh, instead of when I would normally be getting a little worn out.

So far, I've scored -0 and -2, which makes me very happy considering I've never been able to ace one (-1 several times) and had been plateauing at -3 to -4. Anyone else study like this? Anyone else take the test with this strategy with decent results?

EDIT: New for me, could very well be very old for many others, I just haven't heard it suggested here often/at all.

[CardozoLaw09]

I've actually thought about doing this but haven't put it in practice yet. After question 10 where do you go from there? Like, do you do questions 10 - 20 and then the first 9 and then the last few?

[IgosduIkana]

Never heard of this or thought of this, will have to try this out! Thanks.

[boblawlob]

Why can't you just do the first 10 questions in 8 minutes?

[M.M.]

Interesting. Will give it a try. I personally found slight gains came from doing the first 10 questions quickly, but this could be supplemental.

[JohnV]

I've actually thought about doing this but haven't put it in practice yet. After question 10 where do you go from there? Like, do you do questions 10 - 20 and then the first 9 and then the last few?

I go 10 to the end, then the first 10 last. If I feel like I need a mental break at at ~20 I reserve the option to go back to the first 10 but so far I haven't needed it.

Why can't you just do the first 10 questions in 8 minutes?

That's what I had been doing before (usually came out to be a little more than that) but the problem I'd run into is I'd hit the hard questions in the middle and I get flustered, my mind seems to get foggy and I lose the sharp concentration needed to be able to ace the section. I always finish the section with at least 3 minutes to spare, even on a bad day, but my accuracy fails when I'm just muscling thing questions that give me trouble and make me feel like I'm "falling behind".

[cookiejar1]

I heard about sprinting to 15 and then starting at the end going backwards to 16.

[JamMasterJ]

OP, I switched to this about a month before my LSAT and it worked really well for me. I know several others who made the switch successfully after I told them about it.

[M.M.]

One thought I'd like to add: while this might keep your mind fresh, it also takes away the confidence boost obtained by answering easy questions that many prep companies seem to tout. Personally I do very well on LR, so I doubt I'll need such a boost, but maybe people should keep that in mind.

[JamMasterJ]

One thought I'd like to add: while this might keep your mind fresh, it also takes away the confidence boost obtained by answering easy questions that many prep companies seem to tout. Personally I do very well on LR, so I doubt I'll need such a boost, but maybe people should keep that in mind.

hitting 13-26 with a fresh mind is so much more valuable to most people than gaining confidence on what they know to be easy questions.

[Triveal]

Yeah, I don't really feel like it's much of a confidence boost if you know the early questions are easier. I'm going to try this tomorrow, thanks OP.

[flem]

Just skip around. Any time I see anything I don't immediately like (complicated syntax, super boring science-y shit, long passages, etc) I just skip it and come back to it. The whole "questions are easy at the beginning and harder at the end" is only partially true.

[JohnV]

One thought I'd like to add: while this might keep your mind fresh, it also takes away the confidence boost obtained by answering easy questions that many prep companies seem to tout. Personally I do very well on LR, so I doubt I'll need such a boost, but maybe people should keep that in mind.

I think that's a good strategy to keep early on in your studying but the confidence boost largely disappears, as others have already mentioned, when you expect to come out of the first 10 or so without missing any. It almost becomes a confidence drain if you struggle on any of the early questions because you expect to fly through them.

[M.M.]

One thought I'd like to add: while this might keep your mind fresh, it also takes away the confidence boost obtained by answering easy questions that many prep companies seem to tout. Personally I do very well on LR, so I doubt I'll need such a boost, but maybe people should keep that in mind.

I think that's a good strategy to keep early on in your studying but the confidence boost largely disappears, as others have already mentioned, when you expect to come out of the first 10 or so without missing any. It almost becomes a confidence drain if you struggle on any of the early questions because you expect to fly through them.

I actually logged on this morning to add to my post: that this advice (look for the confidence boost) will probably not apply to 90% of TLSers... most of the people the prep companies deal with, people will not have practiced / studied nearly as much whereas those on here will usually have taken 20+ PTs.

[JamMasterJ]

One thought I'd like to add: while this might keep your mind fresh, it also takes away the confidence boost obtained by answering easy questions that many prep companies seem to tout. Personally I do very well on LR, so I doubt I'll need such a boost, but maybe people should keep that in mind.

I think that's a good strategy to keep early on in your studying but the confidence boost largely disappears, as others have already mentioned, when you expect to come out of the first 10 or so without missing any. It almost becomes a confidence drain if you struggle on any of the early questions because you expect to fly through them.

I actually logged on this morning to add to my post: that this advice (look for the confidence boost) will probably not apply to 90% of TLSers... most of the people the prep companies deal with, people will not have practiced / studied nearly as much whereas those on here will usually have taken 20+ PTs.

true

[Mr.Binks]

This strategy worked pretty well for me as well. However, it's noteworthy that if you're a slower test taker (i.e., you struggle to finish the entire section), then it might be better to just do the easy questions first. No sense in missing questions you'd otherwise get right because of a lack of time.

[Br3v]

Heard of it, fairly common on here, but I almost hae a sigh of relief when I see LR. I like my system so havent had the need to try anything new yet.

[ilovelawtays]

I do 1 - 15, skip to the last question and work backwards to 20, and then do 16 - 20.



....


I used to think you all were crazy, but now I feel like I'm becoming one of you...

[TheThriller]

I do 1 - 15, skip to the last question and work backwards to 20, and then do 16 - 20.



....


I used to think you all were crazy, but now I feel like I'm becoming one of you...

Haha, it happens gradually

[heebie-jeebies]

I do 1 - 15, skip to the last question and work backwards to 20, and then do 16 - 20.

I do all the primes up to 23, then work backwards on the even numbered questions and when I get to 4, I reverse direction again and knock out the odd numbered questions. Call me crazy, if you wish, but it works for me.

[JohnV]

Just took my daily LR section and scored -2. Last 2 questions I answered (9 and 10) I made some really careless reading mistakes, no real excuse considering I had 5 minutes to spare. Still, -2 isn't bad considering before it was basically the best I could expect so I'm really happy about the over-night gains I'm seeing.

[TylerJonesMPLS]

Everyone should expect to spend more time on the questions at the end of an LR than the questions at the beginning. The harder questions are more frequent at the end of the section, and in the last five questions there are usually at least 2 that are as difficult as any questions before. Of course, this varies. But, if you look at SuperPrep LRs, you will see that there are more 5s (most difficult questions according to the LSAC) than in any other part of the LR. So why does the LSAC put the hardest questions at the end? They are hoping you will be mentally fatigued by the time that you get to the hardest questions.

So why not foil the LSAC's evil plan by doing the LR section backwards, and doing the hardest questions when you are fresh. Then, when you are feeling tired and are more likely to make careless mistakes, you are answering the easier questions.

I've tried this and it worked well for me.

But ONLY do it if you know all the question types well, and if you feel you have mastered them all, and if you have a good sense of timing, and if you have practiced bubbling in backwards.

(It's not a bad idea to practice bubbling in no matter what order you do the questions in. Really. I know someone who had his heart set on Yale, but he misbubbled a whole section. He retook the LSAT and did really well, and he wrote to Yale and all the other schools he was applying to and explained the mistake. But Yale still averaged his score, and he didn't get in. He's a law professor now, but he is still bitter about not getting accepted by Yale.)

[alexg89]

I think one of the most important aspects of preparing for the LSAT is building mental stamina. I think you should be able to do them from question one to the last (in sequential order) without losing focus otherwise you really haven't trained yourself to conquer a 5 section test. Although of course some people will do better when altering their strategy.