Getting Past 170-173 Plateau
Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2015 2:53 pm
Hi all,
Planning on taking the December exam. I've been studying on and off for about four months, and have read through the LSAT trainer + the Powerscore books for LR and LG. I have also purchased preptests 40-70 from Cambridge. My diagnostic was a 159, but I found that I was quickly able to get into the 166-168 range and then the 170-173 range shortly thereafter. At this point, however, I'm experiencing my first plateau: I have been scoring within the 170-173 range for the past ten preptests (I take 2-3 per week, and currently on PT 54), and am getting quite frustrated that I can't go any further (my target on test day is 175+). I wrote a breakdown of my experience with each section below:
Logical Reasoning
In terms of score, this section is my most volatile. I've scored anywhere from -0 to -8 (total for both sections), sometimes within days of each other. I circle questions I find difficult for review, and I cut out questions I got wrong and make "flashcards" out of them, with explanations on the back of each card. I review these cards in my downtime throughout the day (on the train, etc). I have used the Cambridge drill packets occasionally, but I have yet to find any real pattern for the questions I am getting wrong, so I am not exactly drilling away my weaknesses.
Reading Comprehension
Averaging -1 or -2, sometimes -0 or -3. I have a yellow notepad that I use to review missed and circled questions. I don't bother making flashcards for RC, because I think the individual questions are kind of useless without the attendant passages. This section doesn't give me too much trouble, although sometimes I find myself panicking and trying to get to the questions too quickly without understanding the passage first.
Logic Games
Like most students, this was my most difficult section at first. At this point, I believe I have come as close as I ever will to mastering the concepts, but I find that I often make very silly diagramming mistakes that sabotage my score (on a recent PT, I mistook "consecutive" for "simultaneous"). The result is that I score anywhere from -0 to -4, depending on whether or not I make stupid mistakes. I always retake LG sections on PT's the next day, and write down my mistakes on a master document.
Health, Fitness, Mental Well-Being
Standard stuff: I try and usually succeed in getting 8 servings of vegetables a day, and I get a nice balance of macro-nutrients (carbs, proteins, fats, etc) while staying away from junk food. I run for at least 30 minutes either in the morning or in the early afternoon. I also meditate for about 20 minutes a day. Despite this, I still often feel anxious and quite miserable due to the plateau. Sleep is a bit of a different story. I go to bed at 11pm in order to wake up at 7am (to take a test at 8:30), but I often find that the way I feel after waking up varies tremendously for unknown reasons. Recently, I wrote a test on zero hours of sleep (had to meet a work deadline) and scored a 173, the upward bound of my plateau; a few days later, after a full eight hours of sleep, I scored a 168 and fell asleep almost immediately after I graded the test.
Based on this information, can anyone suggest any modifications to way I approach my prep in order to break past my plateau? Thanks for slogging through all of this information.
Planning on taking the December exam. I've been studying on and off for about four months, and have read through the LSAT trainer + the Powerscore books for LR and LG. I have also purchased preptests 40-70 from Cambridge. My diagnostic was a 159, but I found that I was quickly able to get into the 166-168 range and then the 170-173 range shortly thereafter. At this point, however, I'm experiencing my first plateau: I have been scoring within the 170-173 range for the past ten preptests (I take 2-3 per week, and currently on PT 54), and am getting quite frustrated that I can't go any further (my target on test day is 175+). I wrote a breakdown of my experience with each section below:
Logical Reasoning
In terms of score, this section is my most volatile. I've scored anywhere from -0 to -8 (total for both sections), sometimes within days of each other. I circle questions I find difficult for review, and I cut out questions I got wrong and make "flashcards" out of them, with explanations on the back of each card. I review these cards in my downtime throughout the day (on the train, etc). I have used the Cambridge drill packets occasionally, but I have yet to find any real pattern for the questions I am getting wrong, so I am not exactly drilling away my weaknesses.
Reading Comprehension
Averaging -1 or -2, sometimes -0 or -3. I have a yellow notepad that I use to review missed and circled questions. I don't bother making flashcards for RC, because I think the individual questions are kind of useless without the attendant passages. This section doesn't give me too much trouble, although sometimes I find myself panicking and trying to get to the questions too quickly without understanding the passage first.
Logic Games
Like most students, this was my most difficult section at first. At this point, I believe I have come as close as I ever will to mastering the concepts, but I find that I often make very silly diagramming mistakes that sabotage my score (on a recent PT, I mistook "consecutive" for "simultaneous"). The result is that I score anywhere from -0 to -4, depending on whether or not I make stupid mistakes. I always retake LG sections on PT's the next day, and write down my mistakes on a master document.
Health, Fitness, Mental Well-Being
Standard stuff: I try and usually succeed in getting 8 servings of vegetables a day, and I get a nice balance of macro-nutrients (carbs, proteins, fats, etc) while staying away from junk food. I run for at least 30 minutes either in the morning or in the early afternoon. I also meditate for about 20 minutes a day. Despite this, I still often feel anxious and quite miserable due to the plateau. Sleep is a bit of a different story. I go to bed at 11pm in order to wake up at 7am (to take a test at 8:30), but I often find that the way I feel after waking up varies tremendously for unknown reasons. Recently, I wrote a test on zero hours of sleep (had to meet a work deadline) and scored a 173, the upward bound of my plateau; a few days later, after a full eight hours of sleep, I scored a 168 and fell asleep almost immediately after I graded the test.
Based on this information, can anyone suggest any modifications to way I approach my prep in order to break past my plateau? Thanks for slogging through all of this information.
