Can't stop memorizing knowledge in PTs Forum

[prismatic space]

I read the powescore bibles and did many untimed sections from PTs. An annoying habbit of my brain was to memorize as much knowledge as it could during the drills. This was especially true when I was doing the LR sections, because I could even refer to the materials with another person as long as our topic was related to the materials. Sometimes one LR question was about astronomy, and I would be so absorbed by the content that I even turned to take an online course in astronomy instead of following my LSAT schedule. It has taken too much time and energy for me to do such meaningless things but I just don't know how to stop the brain from doing them and focus on getting more questions right. ..What is wrong with my reading methods? Any help will be appreciated.

[Mikey]

If there's a topic that interests you on the LSAT, just make note of it so you can search about it later on..

I'm not really sure what advice to give tbh, you need better self control for this. Are the topics so interesting that you're atleast getting questions right? If so, then that's good.

[prismatic space]

If there's a topic that interests you on the LSAT, just make note of it so you can search about it later on..

I'm not really sure what advice to give tbh, you need better self control for this. Are the topics so interesting that you're atleast getting questions right? If so, then that's good.

Making notes is a great idea...I was also advised not to use the internet especially not to read news so that I can focus on LSAT in the last few days...getting really nervous when June 25th is drawing near...Thanks for your advice.

[Platopus]

I'm not sure I ever heard of anyone having this problem, so my advice might miss the mark, but you definitely need to stop studying with access to internet if it's to the point where you literally stop studying to look up information in a passage.

Also I apologize if this is totally inaccurate, but I did a quick google search to see if my beliefs were at least partially supported. From my understanding Asian cultures tend to focus more on rote learning and memorization, and by deduction of your test date, I'm assuming you are from Asia as opposed to Australia or New Zealand, so perhaps there is a cultural thing going on here. So maybe you just need to make a shift in perspective in the way you approach the test, as it is certainly NOT about any of the "facts", but only the argument structure/reasoning. Feel free to call me out if I'm being wildly ignorant, in which case I apologize in advance; I'm just trying to flesh out some of the causes of why this is happening so we can help you overcome it.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/education/m ... s-by-heart

[it's allgood]

I read the powescore bibles and did many untimed sections from PTs. An annoying habbit of my brain was to memorize as much knowledge as it could during the drills. This was especially true when I was doing the LR sections, because I could even refer to the materials with another person as long as our topic was related to the materials. Sometimes one LR question was about astronomy, and I would be so absorbed by the content that I even turned to take an online course in astronomy instead of following my LSAT schedule. It has taken too much time and energy for me to do such meaningless things but I just don't know how to stop the brain from doing them and focus on getting more questions right. ..What is wrong with my reading methods? Any help will be appreciated.

That sounds like classic ADHD!

[prismatic space]

I'm not sure I ever heard of anyone having this problem, so my advice might miss the mark, but you definitely need to stop studying with access to internet if it's to the point where you literally stop studying to look up information in a passage.

Also I apologize if this is totally inaccurate, but I did a quick google search to see if my beliefs were at least partially supported. From my understanding Asian cultures tend to focus more on rote learning and memorization, and by deduction of your test date, I'm assuming you are from Asia as opposed to Australia or New Zealand, so perhaps there is a cultural thing going on here. So maybe you just need to make a shift in perspective in the way you approach the test, as it is certainly NOT about any of the "facts", but only the argument structure/reasoning. Feel free to call me out if I'm being wildly ignorant, in which case I apologize in advance; I'm just trying to flesh out some of the causes of why this is happening so we can help you overcome it.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/education/m ... s-by-heart

You are perfectly right...I have an engineering degree in a T3 university in China, I basically have the habbit of memorizing as much knowledge as I can, which is now a real problem..Guess it does require a big turn in the way of studying. Thanks for your deduction, I basically feel it's shameful to blame my past education so didn't even bother to mention it...

[prismatic space]

I read the powescore bibles and did many untimed sections from PTs. An annoying habbit of my brain was to memorize as much knowledge as it could during the drills. This was especially true when I was doing the LR sections, because I could even refer to the materials with another person as long as our topic was related to the materials. Sometimes one LR question was about astronomy, and I would be so absorbed by the content that I even turned to take an online course in astronomy instead of following my LSAT schedule. It has taken too much time and energy for me to do such meaningless things but I just don't know how to stop the brain from doing them and focus on getting more questions right. ..What is wrong with my reading methods? Any help will be appreciated.

That sounds like classic ADHD!

You know in Chinese magazines, they often publish articles saying Chinese students who were thought by their teachers to have ADHD get to do very well when transferred to US schools. I guess I have misunderstood the US education by assuming you guys are very very active in class...

[it's allgood]

I read the powescore bibles and did many untimed sections from PTs. An annoying habbit of my brain was to memorize as much knowledge as it could during the drills. This was especially true when I was doing the LR sections, because I could even refer to the materials with another person as long as our topic was related to the materials. Sometimes one LR question was about astronomy, and I would be so absorbed by the content that I even turned to take an online course in astronomy instead of following my LSAT schedule. It has taken too much time and energy for me to do such meaningless things but I just don't know how to stop the brain from doing them and focus on getting more questions right. ..What is wrong with my reading methods? Any help will be appreciated.

That sounds like classic ADHD!

You know in Chinese magazines, they often publish articles saying Chinese students who were thought by their teachers to have ADHD get to do very well when transferred to US schools. I guess I have misunderstood the US education by assuming you guys are very very active in class...

Well.....if it was in a Chinese magazine, then it must be what really happens in all of the US educational system then!

[prismatic space]

I read the powescore bibles and did many untimed sections from PTs. An annoying habbit of my brain was to memorize as much knowledge as it could during the drills. This was especially true when I was doing the LR sections, because I could even refer to the materials with another person as long as our topic was related to the materials. Sometimes one LR question was about astronomy, and I would be so absorbed by the content that I even turned to take an online course in astronomy instead of following my LSAT schedule. It has taken too much time and energy for me to do such meaningless things but I just don't know how to stop the brain from doing them and focus on getting more questions right. ..What is wrong with my reading methods? Any help will be appreciated.

That sounds like classic ADHD!

You know in Chinese magazines, they often publish articles saying Chinese students who were thought by their teachers to have ADHD get to do very well when transferred to US schools. I guess I have misunderstood the US education by assuming you guys are very very active in class...

Well.....if it was in a Chinese magazine, then it must be what really happens in all of the US educational system then!

Darn it that was from my high school readings which were ten years ago...I hate this way of exploitation on one's memory, which is why I choose not to apply for graduate schools in China. I'd rather just have a bachelor's degree than become a sacrifice to massive pursuit of meaningless titles.