Advice Needed: Consistency Problems Forum

[eml123]

I am having problems with logical reasoning consistency. One PT I took, one LR section I missed 3 and the other LR section I missed 10. Im unsure why I am so inconsistent. Has anyone else overcome this? Or have any suggestions to improve consistency?

[fliptrip]

Sections vary in difficulty from test to test. For instance in December 2015, the presence of a funky game on made the games section much harder than the arguments section. I also happen to believe that the arguments section on PT-69 is harder than your typical argument section. But varying difficulty shouldn't throw your performance more than 2/3 points I'd say. Any wider variation in that is probably pointing out a weakness in your preparation or strategy in attacking questions. I think you're well prepared if you can articulate each type of arguments question you can get and can explain a basic strategy for attacking them. This is the kind of thing that PowerScore gives you, but it can definitely be derived in self-study as well.

[galadriel3019]

I had problems with this. It helped to figure out what "types" of questions I was getting wrong, and then I would do a string of those types of questions during a study session. The focused drilling really helped.

[Blueprint Mithun]

I am having problems with logical reasoning consistency. One PT I took, one LR section I missed 3 and the other LR section I missed 10. Im unsure why I am so inconsistent. Has anyone else overcome this? Or have any suggestions to improve consistency?

As the previous poster mentioned, identifying the different question types will help you hone in on which aspects of LR are giving you trouble. There are around 10-15 different question types in LR, depending on who you ask, as different prep guides have different categories. These range from "Flaw" questions, to "Parallel Reasoning," to "Strengthen," "Weaken," etc. The question type can always be identified just by reading the question prompt.

One of the first things we advise students at Blueprint is to read the question prompt before even reading the question's stimulus. Reading the prompt will allow you to identify the q.type and thus give your mind the correct frame of reference for tackling the question.

Chances are that there are certain question types that are giving you more trouble than others, and there were more of those on the section where you got 10 wrong. Once you figure out your weaknesses, you can focus on improving those, and you should stop seeing such a fluctuation in your scores.