Chances of getting 175+? Forum

[burtlantin]

I started to study the PS and MLSAT books at the beginning of this month and PT'd a couple of low-170s (171/172) under strict conditions. What are my chances of getting a 175 or higher by June?

And tips/recommendations would be highly appreciated. Thanks all.

Edit: I did study for a couple of months last summer but I stopped in August and just picked this back up a couple of weeks ago.

[mvonh001]

What is your score breakdown?

[burtlantin]

For the Oct 2002 (I think):

-1 LG
-3/-1 LR
-6 RC

I feel like I can definitely improve the RC, but I'm not sure if I can get to where I want to be in a few weeks.

[mvonh001]

Your very similar to me as I'm

-1 LG
-3/-2 LR
-6/-9 RC

Im trying to break 170, RC is holding me back like you. I have faith however, It took me about 2 weeks to get my LR to ~-2/-3 from -7/-8, So I'm confident that if you approach your reviewing time with proper diligence, then you should be able to alter your methods for picking answers and improve your score.

[RhymesLikeDimes]

It's possible, but it took me 2 months to get my first 175+, and 4 to be consistently above that.

[Beercules]

I'm in the same boat as you. I recently made big gains in my RC by doing one thing, and one thing alone - reading slower. I was totally underestimating the amount of time I had to finish the section and wound up speedreading/skimming every passage. I started pacing myself (within the time constraints of course) and was able to go from -5/-6 to -1/-2/-3.

Like anything else, drill. You will make gains.

[toothbrush]

When I took the lsat and during prep I consistently scored LG -0, LR -1/-2 and RC -5

No matter what I did I could not get better at RC. When I made gains in RC by doing x method I couldn't keep up with it. This isn't to say that you won't get better at RC but take it very seriously if you want to get better at it. Even when you improve; don't be complacent.

[mvonh001]

I'm in the same boat as you. I recently made big gains in my RC by doing one thing, and one thing alone - reading slower. I was totally underestimating the amount of time I had to finish the section and wound up speedreading/skimming every passage. I started pacing myself (within the time constraints of course) and was able to go from -5/-6 to -1/-2/-3.

Like anything else, drill. You will make gains.

I think this is part of my problem. I don't take a full 3.5 minutes to read the passage, when I do untimed sections and take my time I rarely read it for longer than 4 minutes, but then i breeze through the answer choices. I gotta take my mind out of the "time is a problem" camp and put it in the "fuck time, read properly" camp.

However this advice to slow your roll when reading seems counterintuitive when you are bombarded by info about skimming the passages, i.e. getting the gist of it, reading for structure, etc. So I'm supposed to read slowly, but only pay attention the the forest, not the trees?? That seems crazy! but apparently it works.

[burtlantin]

What is your "sweet spot" in terms of time spent reading the passage? i.e. 2.5 minutes, 3.5 minutes? And how much time, if any, do you have left over after answering all of the questions in the section?

[Dr. Dre]

OP take it in october

[burtlantin]

OP take it in october

How far off do you think I'll be? I don't think I'd be devastated with 170+.

[bp shinners]

What is your "sweet spot" in terms of time spent reading the passage? i.e. 2.5 minutes, 3.5 minutes? And how much time, if any, do you have left over after answering all of the questions in the section?

I probably clock in, reliably, at 3.5-4 minutes/passage. You can't just read the passage. You need to read, tag the paragraphs, look for info that might show up in questions (they always ask about the same stuff), and also think about what you're reading and how it might show up in the questions.

When reading a passage, I can tell you what at least 80% of the questions will be (along with a ton of stuff that will show up in incorrect answers). So I'm not spending 4 minutes reading; I'm spending that time analyzing what I'm reading in the context of the LSAT.

The other thing you need to do to improve RC is to get better at the questions. Flipside of what I said before - I can get at least 3/4 RC questions right without reading the passage because of the common features of correct answers. Start to look at logical force - not just in the LR words (must, needs, etc...), but also in the word choice for RC answers. If something says "not possible", it's unlikely to be correct. Same with "irrelevant", "scornful", etc... The LSAT doesn't like strong language.

[objection_your_honor]

I can get at least 3/4 RC questions right without reading the passage because of the common features of correct answers.

That's amazing.

[Dr. Dre]

I can get at least 3/4 RC questions right without reading the passage because of the common features of correct answers.

That's amazing.

[itachiuchiha]

I can get at least 3/4 RC questions right without reading the passage because of the common features of correct answers.

That's amazing.

truly is amazing. PLEASE WRITE A BOOK. I'LL BUY

[Dr. Dre]

truly is amazing. PLEASE WRITE A BOOK. I'LL BUY

Yeah! tell Trent and Matt, bruh.

[jrsbaseball5]

I can get at least 3/4 RC questions right without reading the passage because of the common features of correct answers.

That's amazing.

[LexLeon]

I can get at least 3/4 RC questions right without reading the passage because of the common features of correct answers.

That's amazing.

It's literally incredible.

[itachiuchiha]

What is your "sweet spot" in terms of time spent reading the passage? i.e. 2.5 minutes, 3.5 minutes? And how much time, if any, do you have left over after answering all of the questions in the section?

I probably clock in, reliably, at 3.5-4 minutes/passage. You can't just read the passage. You need to read, tag the paragraphs, look for info that might show up in questions (they always ask about the same stuff), and also think about what you're reading and how it might show up in the questions.

When reading a passage, I can tell you what at least 80% of the questions will be (along with a ton of stuff that will show up in incorrect answers). So I'm not spending 4 minutes reading; I'm spending that time analyzing what I'm reading in the context of the LSAT.

The other thing you need to do to improve RC is to get better at the questions. Flipside of what I said before - I can get at least 3/4 RC questions right without reading the passage because of the common features of correct answers. Start to look at logical force - not just in the LR words (must, needs, etc...), but also in the word choice for RC answers. If something says "not possible", it's unlikely to be correct. Same with "irrelevant", "scornful", etc... The LSAT doesn't like strong language.

matt, you should make a thread that should be stickied containing some of the common features of correct RC answers. Or seriously write a book!

[mvonh001]

What is your "sweet spot" in terms of time spent reading the passage? i.e. 2.5 minutes, 3.5 minutes? And how much time, if any, do you have left over after answering all of the questions in the section?

I probably clock in, reliably, at 3.5-4 minutes/passage. You can't just read the passage. You need to read, tag the paragraphs, look for info that might show up in questions (they always ask about the same stuff), and also think about what you're reading and how it might show up in the questions.

When reading a passage, I can tell you what at least 80% of the questions will be (along with a ton of stuff that will show up in incorrect answers). So I'm not spending 4 minutes reading; I'm spending that time analyzing what I'm reading in the context of the LSAT.

The other thing you need to do to improve RC is to get better at the questions. Flipside of what I said before - I can get at least 3/4 RC questions right without reading the passage because of the common features of correct answers. Start to look at logical force - not just in the LR words (must, needs, etc...), but also in the word choice for RC answers. If something says "not possible", it's unlikely to be correct. Same with "irrelevant", "scornful", etc... The LSAT doesn't like strong language.

matt, you should make a thread that should be stickied containing some of the common features of correct RC answers. Or seriously write a book!

Yes, Do this... Please

[burtlantin]

I can get at least 3/4 RC questions right without reading the passage because of the common features of correct answers.

This is literally one of the more beautiful things I have read this month. I also took the time to read your other posts. Honestly, if you wrote a book on this, I'd sleep with it under my pillow.

[Dr. Dre]

I can get at least 3/4 RC questions right without reading the passage because of the common features of correct answers.

180 poast bro.

[09042014]

Do a PT everyday. You should be able to increase 4-5 points if you have the raw ability to get to 175. Test day jitters might get you. But taking a PT everyday helps. Because test day just feels like another PT.

You gotta get that RC under control. Kinda of like BP said, a lot of RC is just like LR.