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I took a cold diagnostic recently and scored in the lower 170s. I loosely timed it, except the Logic Games section, where I went more than twice over the limit. I've started working through the PowerScore LG bible, which seems to be helping somewhat, but this is by far the most difficult section for me. Given that I would like to score as high as possible on the October test, what should I focus on to get my speed up? I can't seem to spend less than 11 minutes per game, at least up to this point. What has worked for others and how much of a time improvement can I realistically expect by October?

You took it untimed?

Take it timed and come back. LG speed improves with drilling.

tfleming09 wrote:You took it untimed?

Take it timed and come back. LG speed improves with drilling.

Agreed. Low 170s untimed could easily translate into low 150s timed.

privatemember2012 wrote:I took a cold diagnostic recently and scored in the lower 170s. I loosely timed it, except the Logic Games section, where I went more than twice over the limit. I've started working through the PowerScore LG bible, which seems to be helping somewhat, but this is by far the most difficult section for me. Given that I would like to score as high as possible on the October test, what should I focus on to get my speed up? I can't seem to spend less than 11 minutes per game, at least up to this point. What has worked for others and how much of a time improvement can I realistically expect by October?

You should definitely work on getting your time per game down to 8 minutes and 45 seconds max.

Since you haven't finished the LGB yet, I would start by finishing that. This way, you will at least have some insight on a solid approach to most game types that you are likely to encounter on the test. I would also recommend drilling the specific game types for which you have already completed the corresponding chapter in LGB.

Try to figure out what is taking you so long to complete each game. Are you missing key deductions that would have helped you to answer the questions faster? Are you noticing any patterns in the type of deductions that you are missing?Are you finding that some questions are requiring much trial and error to find the answers?

To clarify, I was able to complete all the other sections, so it looks like I should be focusing almost exclusively on LG. At this point, with it timed I'd be missing 1-2 every section and about 8 on LG. Anyone have experience with drastically improving LG?

Everyone drastically improves in LG. Just finish the Bible, do a lot of drills, and relax - it will come to you and you won't even know why.

nmop_apisdn wrote:

tfleming09 wrote:You took it untimed?

Take it timed and come back. LG speed improves with drilling.

Agreed. Low 170s untimed could easily translate into low 150s timed.

Nah, such a drastic drop is unlikely. Low 170s while you loosely time it (whatever that may mean) means you "get" the LSAT. However, when you do strictly time it a drop in your score is very likely.

Manhattan LSAT Logic Games book is pretty solid as well. PS gets a lot of love around here, but I think they go a little to far with the underfunded, overbalanced etc. Use whichever one helps you understand the games.

LG games are the easiest to improve upon. Read the Powerscore LG bible and drill, baby, drill.

Free LG video explanations can be found here too if you're stumped: http://7sage.com/logic-game-explanations/ -- the games are explained in a PAINFULLY PAINFULLY PAINFULLY slow manner but it can help you grasp what you need to know for any similar games.

I went from -8 to -0 in a month of constant drilling.

If you find the explanations too slow, you can adjust the playback speed on Chrome and Safari using the links below the video ("Playback rate: 1.0x | 0.8x 1.0x 1.2x 1.4x 1.7x 2.0x 5.0x").

CookieJar1 is right, solid foundation + constant drilling is the way to beat logic games.