LR Studying Habits for the Last Month Forum

[jenkim]

Hi all,

I am in a bit of a dilemma before the December '14 LSAT. I am consistently scoring -0 to -2 in LG, around -3 in RC, but fail miserably in LR with -12 (average -6 per section) or more. I have all the quality books and materials -- a majority of the prep tests (60+), months of Blueprint courses and books, LSAT Trainer, Logical Reasoning Bible, Kaplan -- but still seem to be struggling on LR. For the past month and a half, I have been taking a prep test a day with time to review, about 35 altogether, but this has not led to any significant increase in my score. I seem to be missing a wide diversity of questions and whether I time myself or not, that does not seem to be the problem. I guess I could also use more help on complex diagramming and recognizing flaws in reasoning. I am probably more burnt out than anything as I balance a full-time job and graduate school with studying -- although I still aim for 3-6 hours a day of studying.

With only about three weeks left, how should I better prep and improve my logical reasoning? I was thinking about revisiting all the drills, doing them all, and concentrating only on logical reasoning for the next couple of weeks since my other sections are strong enough. If I could get a -6 or -8 from LR altogether, that would completely make the difference for me for getting into the T15. Alternatively, I could still do the remainder of the prep tests and continue with thorough review hoping for a change, but I am worried that all the time it takes to review does not translate into results, which means wasted time.

Thanks so much for any help or suggestions!

[nlee10]

Hi all,

I am in a bit of a dilemma before the December '14 LSAT. I am consistently scoring -0 to -2 in LG, around -3 in RC, but fail miserably in LR with -12 (average -6 per section) or more. I have all the quality books and materials -- a majority of the prep tests (60+), months of Blueprint courses and books, LSAT Trainer, Logical Reasoning Bible, Kaplan -- but still seem to be struggling on LR. For the past month and a half, I have been taking a prep test a day with time to review, about 35 altogether, but this has not led to any significant increase in my score. I seem to be missing a wide diversity of questions and whether I time myself or not, that does not seem to be the problem. I guess I could also use more help on complex diagramming and recognizing flaws in reasoning. I am probably more burnt out than anything as I balance a full-time job and graduate school with studying -- although I still aim for 3-6 hours a day of studying.

With only about three weeks left, how should I better prep and improve my logical reasoning? I was thinking about revisiting all the drills, doing them all, and concentrating only on logical reasoning for the next couple of weeks since my other sections are strong enough. If I could get a -6 or -8 from LR altogether, that would completely make the difference for me for getting into the T15. Alternatively, I could still do the remainder of the prep tests and continue with thorough review hoping for a change, but I am worried that all the time it takes to review does not translate into results, which means wasted time.

Thanks so much for any help or suggestions!

Congrats with your LG and RC score first of all!

Are you having problems with accuracy or timing with LR?

[jenkim]

I feel that it is accuracy, and the overall stress of going through different 24-26 scenarios and questions at once. The timing is fine.

[maroon175]

I'm actually in the same boat. I stumbled across general LSAT tips by Velocity and one of the key things they emphasize for improving on LR is recognizing patterns in LR questions.

Velocity's strategy for improving LR pattern recognitions skills are as follows:

Start here:

Part (A)

Go through an entire LR section, looking at each question. For each one, answer the following questions:

1. What exactly does the question demand from you? (You must be able to answer for 26 of the 26 questions)

2. What can you expect the right answer to do? (You must be able to answer for 26 of the 26 questions)

3. What can you expect the right answer to sound like? (You must be able to answer for at least 22 of the 26 questions)

4. What is one wrong answer likely to say? (You must be able to answer for 26 of the 26 questions)

Part (B)

Then, go back through that section (without bothering with questions this time) and read each passage. For each, answer the following questions:

1. What is the main conclusion of the argument? (You must be able to answer for at least 20 of the 26 passages - no main conclusion for Inference and Resolution Questions!)

2. What is wrong with the argument? (You must be able to answer for at least 16 of the 26 passages - several passages don't exhibit flawed reasoning)

3. How is this flaw typical of others you've seen? (You must be able to answer for at least 10 of the 16-19 passages that exhibit flaws)

4. Which words are likely to be most important in determining the correct answer (no matter what question you might be asked)? (You must be able to answer for at least 20 of the 26 questions)

If you cannot answer all eight of these questions in the proportions indicated, then you do not yet have a strong enough grasp of the fundamental principles involved, and you'll know what you need to work on!

-http://www.velocitylsat.com/lsat-prep-tips

I've yet to try this out myself. I actually can't really see how this exercise would make me faster at going through LR sections, but I think it's worth giving it a shot! Hopefully this helps you!

Has anyone tried this out before? Care to share thoughts/experiences or any other LR tips?

[maroon175]

Hi Dave Hall ..just noticed your recent posts on the forum. If you're reading this, could you please expand on the Velocity strategy above? I'm wondering, for example, how often should one do this drill and if you could maybe elaborate on how it works?

[Dave Hall]

Hi Dave Hall ..just noticed your recent posts on the forum. If you're reading this, could you please expand on the Velocity strategy above? I'm wondering, for example, how often should one do this drill and if you could maybe elaborate on how it works?

Hey!

So, the big idea is that with the LSAT—just like almost anything else I can think of—if you want to get faster at it, you need to get better at it.

Certainly on this test speed is not a separate entity from skill; speed is a measurement of your facility with the material.

Starting from that principle, we can begin to work on pattern recognition; every time I see a question as being like other questions I've seen before, then my work becomes simpler and speedier as a result. I won't have to analyze that question—I'll recognize the problem and the answer by type.

Does that help clarify what we're trying to do?

[maroon175]

Hi Dave Hall ..just noticed your recent posts on the forum. If you're reading this, could you please expand on the Velocity strategy above? I'm wondering, for example, how often should one do this drill and if you could maybe elaborate on how it works?

Hey!

So, the big idea is that with the LSAT—just like almost anything else I can think of—if you want to get faster at it, you need to get better at it.

Certainly on this test speed is not a separate entity from skill; speed is a measurement of your facility with the material.

Starting from that principle, we can begin to work on pattern recognition; every time I see a question as being like other questions I've seen before, then my work becomes simpler and speedier as a result. I won't have to analyze that question—I'll recognize the problem and the answer by type.

Does that help clarify what we're trying to do?

It does! thank you!