Need a little advice on when to take the LSAT Forum

[Chowfun]

Okay I plan to take the test in June, but I was thinking about taking it for the first time in October. This means that any school I ED at will only take this score. I know this puts a lot of pressure on me to do well on the first exam, but I have no intention of taking it twice. I also think that since I'm studying now for it and because I am putting a lot of work and effort into it I should have the test mastered by October. I am worried I will not be prepared enough for June because I just started studying the last week in January. Does this line of thinking make sense?

The reason I am thinking this was is because the way I am approaching the exam.

I am learning each type of LR question and then doing about 30 practice questions on them and only when I am efficient in that section do I move on. Then on the weekend I go over every section I had done that week to freshen up and ensure I have a handle on it. So as a result I am still learning LR, because there are several different types of LR. I fear because of the way I am approaching this, I won't have much time to take a bunch of PT and master taking the test under pressure.

[bobbypin]

Take the June. This way, if you think you can do better, you have October to take it. There may be something that happens on test day that you didn't expect. Always give yourself an out.

[Chowfun]

I do see what you are saying. I guess I just have to buckle down more. For the past week I have been putting in 5 hours s day. Today I didn't because of prior commitments. Tomorrow I intend to put in more to make up for yesterday. This way I can clear through LR and hopefully RC and LG by end of March, which gives me April and May to PT myself to death.

[Nova]

Yeah, June is defintely ideal. 4 months is typically plenty of time.

[Chowfun]

Alright then maybe it's just my anxiety telling me I NEED MORE TIME! I NEED MORE TIME!! Lol

Is it normal not to have a section perfectly down before I move on? Like if I take 30 PRactice questions and get 25 right to 22 right I move on, because I think that i got the material down but I am making simple mistakes that either I am not focusing or not reading carefully or slow enough.

Should I be getting them all right and only then moving on? I do go over the ones I get wrong and 8 times out of 10 it's because I misread a sentence in either the answer choice or the passage. It can also be because I have it narrowed down to two and i just pick the wrong answer. I do go over it and find out why my answer is incorrect.

[oldschool123]

It's not as important to get every question in a section right before moving on as it is to recognize and understand the mistakes you're making. LSAT questions can be very tricky if they're read too fast or too carelessly--the test-makers count on you making mistakes like that and basically try and lure you into making those mistakes. Sounds like you have the right approach though in correcting your mistakes.

[Chowfun]

It's not as important to get every question in a section right before moving on as it is to recognize and understand the mistakes you're making. LSAT questions can be very tricky if they're read too fast or too carelessly--the test-makers count on you making mistakes like that and basically try and lure you into making those mistakes. Sounds like you have the right approach though in correcting your mistakes.

Yes that makes a lot of sense. I recognize why I make mistakes and I guess that's half the battle. Sometimes I register that something doesn't make sense, lets say if we are talking about a cannot be true question, but instead of picking it right away I glance at the remaining answer choices, and I get confused by one that is borderline incorrect. It is then I must remember to pick the one that openly rejects what is exactly written in the passage. Nonetheless I forget to do that sometimes and I'm like damn damn damn lol. Why do I keep doing that to myself? I guess I haven't gotten that ingrained yet.