Logic games push for September test Forum

[bamfrosty]

Hi all, I've been preparing for the September test for a while now, but I'm still inconsistent with logic games. The one PT besides my diagnostic that I've taken was a 176 on the September 2007 test, which I took back in May. I went -2 on LG, but I am not capable of reliably scoring in that neighborhood. It isn't uncommon for me to go -4/-5 if I feel particularly flummoxed by a set. At this point in my prep I'm considering abandoning LR/RC stuff outside of PTs and just pushing as hard as I can on LG. I can usually pull a -0/-1 on RC and LR sections, sometimes -2.

So far I've been using the LSAT Trainer and I've generally liked it, but I feel like I might need some more focused instruction on the games. I'm doing the drills outlined in the 16 week study guide on the site, which are generally just full LG sections from various PTs. I time myself on these and then review with 7sage, but I feel like I've plateaued.

A lot of my problems come down to rushed readings of rules and question stems, but sometimes I really just cannot wrap my head around a key inference that I should have found during setup.

What especially worries me is the chance that I will encounter a game like the one on the June test or anything else out of left field like that. I recently did a section with a circle game and barely eked out a -6.

If you ever hit a wall with the games and found a way to break past it, please let me know how you did. I would really appreciate any experience you guys may have had. So many people have insisted that LG is the most learnable section that I feel pretty bad about failing to master it given how much time I've put in.

[dontdoitkid]

A few questions for you -

1. How do you review? (Drill the entire section timed, drill each game timed, simply compare answers, etc).

2. Had you had any issues doing any of the games untimed prior to when you started taking all of the tests timed?

3. What times of inferences are you missing/question stems are you misreading? Is it the same types over and over again, or are you finding that it varies every time?

Congrats on the 176!

[bamfrosty]

1) I review by going over my past work once time has run out and seeing if I made any obvious mistakes. I circle problematic questions on my first pass to make this process a little easier. I then grade the section and try not to take note of what the correct answer is. I then go to the questions I missed and try to figure out the right answer and what went wrong on the first go-round. If it was a silly mistake (like failing to read an "EXCEPT") I make note of that in red ink/capital letters. If it was something more related to a fundamental misunderstanding of the game I watch the 7sage video for the whole game.

2) Yeah, the time makes things more difficult but I was never an untimed pro. Without strict time constraints I can brute force through games, but certain deductions still don't leap out at me.

3) I generally do poorly on conditional grouping/in-out games, especially with ones with subcategories (the new/old music game murdered me). The stained glass grouping game was also bad for me. I tend to rush through ordering games and make careless mistakes, but I know that the answer to that is just to be more focused.

Thanks for the help btw

[dontdoitkid]

1) I review by going over my past work once time has run out and seeing if I made any obvious mistakes. I circle problematic questions on my first pass to make this process a little easier. I then grade the section and try not to take note of what the correct answer is. I then go to the questions I missed and try to figure out the right answer and what went wrong on the first go-round. If it was a silly mistake (like failing to read an "EXCEPT") I make note of that in red ink/capital letters. If it was something more related to a fundamental misunderstanding of the game I watch the 7sage video for the whole game.

2) Yeah, the time makes things more difficult but I was never an untimed pro. Without strict time constraints I can brute force through games, but certain deductions still don't leap out at me.

3) I generally do poorly on conditional grouping/in-out games, especially with ones with subcategories (the new/old music game murdered me). The stained glass grouping game was also bad for me. I tend to rush through ordering games and make careless mistakes, but I know that the answer to that is just to be more focused.

Thanks for the help btw

Sorry about the delay, I'm trying to post more frequently here but studying sidetracks quite a bit (although I suppose that's a good thing)

I'm not sure if I asked, but does your method in response 1 apply to individual section drills, or while you are taking a full timed PT? It sounds like you've got a partial version of a Blind Review, which is good, but you might benefit from making the following changes:
1. If you are doing a timed section or an entire test, try to apply your first step while you are still in testing mode. In other words, if you are not completely sure that your
answer is correct, circle it as you answer and move forward. That way you can learn to recognize some early issues while still training yourself on working within the 35
minute time constraint.
2. Your second step was to "grade the section and try not to take note of what the correct answer was." Prior to any of this (especially including the reviewing) - I would take
a second pass through the section, either after the drill is finished or after the entire PT is finished, depending on what you are taking. This second pass will be untimed,
and you will only be allowed to redo questions that you have circled (working under the assumption that any questions not circled are questions you are very confident
about.
3. Once the second pass through is completed, grade each set of answers (your original timed answers and your Blind Review answers) and compare them. Be sure to
acknowledge and work through any questions that you still got correct, but this will provide you with consistent feedback for which questions you are getting incorrect
because of timing constraints (which may prevent you from finding inferences, or force you to rush, etc.) and for which questions that you are fundamentally struggling
with. Over time this will give you a better analysis of your performance, and consequently you'll be able to improve more efficiently from it.
4. A much better explanation of this method can be found here - http://7sage.com/the-blind-review-how-t ... at-part-1/

2) If you aren't an untimed pro yet, keep working through timed drills and tests, but as many have said before, review each and every question again, sometimes both timed and untimed, and you'll increase your untimed skill, which will better prepare you to tackle the questions timed.

3) Which new/old music game was this? The one with the old and new records for the different types of music?

Glad to help, let me know what else I can do.