Timing problem with LR Forum

[ijomer]

recently i have been getting Perfects on LG and on time mostly, but LR and RC , I have a hard time finishing them on time!! (i am worried kuz Dec 2nd is when im writing LSAT for first time)

How does a person's speed increase? how much drilling is needed? i know it depends on the person specifically, but could you guys give me Tips and or reflect from your personal experiences?

Thank you

[framboozer]

Well how is your accuracy on LR and RC? How many are you getting right and how many are you answering before time is up? Time was always my biggest struggle.

[ijomer]

um -6 for both RC and LR when strictly timing

[CalAlumni]

What I do is have my analog watch placed in front of me and set it to 12. Every 4 or so minutes I glance at the time to make sure I'm on track. For LR I do the first 15 in 15 minutes typically so if I find one question harder later on I glance at the watch and determine how much time I can spend contemplating a hard answer before I need to move on.

For RC, I should be around 18 or so minutes into the section when I finish the second passage. I also glance occasionally to make sure I'm on track.

[breadbucket]

you absolutely cannot read a passage more than once, in fact I would say you only have enough time to 1) read the passage completely, 2) read the stem and stim, and 3) read the sentence that HAS the answer in it. You don't even have time to read several sentences and search for the answer among them. In other words, as you read the first time, you need to keep the question types in mind (i.e. attitude, main point, etc) and underline only those things which seem like they might answer one of those types of questions. Do not underline things that merely seem interesting, like dates, names etc, you need to be shooting for concepts that answer question types.

[framboozer]

um -6 for both RC and LR when strictly timing

Do you mean you have 6 questions left in each section when time is called? Or are you getting 6 wrong including the ones you didn't have time to get to? I think there's a big difference. I'm trying to gauge your accuracy.

[ijomer]

well i get 4 wrong and 2-3 i can't reach when i time strictly... when i do the section untimed i get 3 wrong

also, i was wondering, how much can someone increase their mark in two months of studying? i score between 160-167 nowadays, but before december, with extensive studying, how much can someone increase their score?

[nick_scheu]

It depends. Anything's possible. Some people improve a few points. Some improve more. Some stay the same.

I started studying roughly 6 weeks ago--cold diagnosed at 162. I took PT63 yesterday and got a 173, and PT64 today and got a 171. I'll be doing 65 and 66 tomorrow and Thursday. Hopefully I stay 170+. I'd be happy with anything 170+ on test day--I tend to be pretty hard on myself while preptesting*, so I think I have a good chance at that.

*E.g., I have trouble focusing unless in a quiet environment, so I preptest in busy cafes; Allowing no more than 15 or 20 seconds between each section; Marking any unbubbled questions as fully wrong (LG is the only section I sometimes don't finish... I'd bubble something in for those on test day and maybe get a freebie or two); Etc.

[ijomer]

wow great to hear nick, in these 6 weeks you're talking about, had you read bibles before, or were u completely new to LSAT?

also, how are you doing with timing? which section gives u most problem regarding to time? and which section do you lose points on regardless of timing problem??

you have some good scores! do you take a preptest daily and that is? or is there more to it?

[ijomer]

oh and we are opposites, ive been getting perfect score in LG and within time, but LR can be a pain...RC as well

[nick_scheu]

I bought the LG Bible about 5.5 weeks ago and spent some quality time with it. I also got the Manhattan LG book two or three weeks ago, which helped a lot with relative ordering and grouping questions. I also relied heavily on Manhattan's forums for explanations of LR and RC questions, and on LSAT Blog's YouTube LG explanations.

I took PT38-57, some of them twice, plus used some orphaned LG sections from the early-30s. With the test a week away, I opted to skip ahead to PT63 and later. I had a lot of ups and downs, so I hope my current 170+ streak (if you can call two a streak) holds.

At first I was taking a preptest or two per day, 3 or 4 days a week, but I'm pretty sure I burnt out. I took almost a week off, interrupted by one PT in the middle, and since Monday I've been back in good shape again. If I could do it again, and had no scheduling issues, I'd do one PT per day on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, with the other days used for review or book work.

I never have trouble with timing on the LR or RC sections—where by "never," I mean, I can finish with 5 minutes to spare in most cases. I have been forcing myself to go slower lately to eliminate errors, and that has actually resulted in some close calls. It's tough for me to use up the extra 5 minutes throughout the section without risking running out of time, but I've developed a decent rhythm.

As for LG, in some cases I barely have a chance to touch the last game (as in 64), though sometimes I finish them all with minimal errors (-1 on 63).

[ijomer]

that's great to hear you are on the right path!!!

Would you please tell me how you got a hold of timing LR and RC so well? it bothers me so much that after doing countless questions in LR i am not able to consistently finish within 35 mins

so tell me what was your approach to it? what do you usually do to speed up? did u gradually get better at timing for LR /RC? THanks in Advance Mate

[nick_scheu]

LR and RC always came fairy easy to me. I finished all the sections with 30 seconds or a minute to spare even when I was just starting.

General strategy helps with this--Process of elimination and all that. In many cases 3 answers are blatantly wrong. Deciding between just two is much easier--I find that the process of actually crossing off eliminated possibilities helps quite a bit. My error rate is far higher on questions on which I decide not to physically cross off answers.

As for timing, I typically set broad benchmarks. First ten questions (which are typically easy) should be finished by 00:10, and I should be to number 20 by 00:30 (11-20 tend to be among the hardest).

Someone else mentioned resetting a wrist watch to 12 at the start of each section, and this is exactly what I do. I reset it to 12, and then start my iPhone timer (I turn off the screen, to better simulate test day). I then keep track of the minute hand on my wrist watch. I typically check the watch at milestones, to minimize time use checking the time. That is, when I finish 10 I check the time and see if I'm ahead or behind, and do the same at question 20.

However, I rarely do anything other than reading the stimulus, stem, and answer possibilities, since LR and RC come naturally to me. If you struggle with them, it might be worth learning some of the more formal techniques. I suspect that's what would make the biggest difference for you.

[yaboy23]

LSAT sucks

[yaboy23]

How can one get to the 4th passage?