LR Question Type Training Drills

[julie_kang]

Hello,

I'm currently preparing using the 12 week Powerscore study plan with all 3 bibles, 3 workbooks, and the 3 game type training books.

I really like how the drills in the game type training books work to enforce the lessons learned in the bibles. However, I find myself struggling through these questions and taking a long time (very long time) to complete each drill. ( specifically, the WEAKEN drill chapter exercise in the LR game type training book. The 'must be true' drill chapter was a slog, too.) Granted, these drills have a million questions each, but is it normal to be struggling through these at this stage? I'm following the schedule to a 'T' and devoting a large chunk of time daily.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Julie

[Adam Tyson]

Hey Julie, thanks for working with us. Sounds like you have a good game plan going, and you have some great resources in your hands.

As to how normal it is to be struggling the way you are, it depends. You didn't say how far into our program you are. Are you just getting started in prep for February, or are you just winding up in order to take the test this Saturday? Or are you somewhere else on that trajectory?

The drills are meant to be particularly challenging, and many of them are designed to be harder than what you typically encounter on the test. We want to push your boundaries and get you out of your comfort zone a lot of the time, to really hone those skills. In the early stages of the program, you should expect to be working pretty hard! As you move along, things should get easier as you begin to really build your skill set and get more comfy with the materials, the concepts, and the strategies.

Let us know where you are in your process, and maybe we can offer a little more insight into the matter. Meanwhile, keep plugging away - things will get easier with practice. Also remember that the goal is not to answer all the questions on the test, but to increase the number of questions that you answer correctly. Sometimes that means slowing down, not rushing, so that you can be sure that the questions you do answer come out in your favor. It's better to answer 18 questions and get them all right than to answer 25 questions and get only 15 right, right?

Keep pushing through! Looking forward to hearing more from you soon.

[julie_kang]

Hi Adam,

Thanks so much for writing. I appreciate your insight.

I am only on week 3 in the 12 week schedule, preparing for the February lsat. I spend the bulk of my days studying- roughly between 4-6 hours, with one day off per week.

The MBT drill in the game type training book was tough- as you know it's one of the earliest chapters in the schedule but it took me an excruciatingly long time to finish that one drill. In fact, I could not do it in one sitting- rather, I spread it out across 2 days..I think my brain was sore! Not only did it take me a long time, but many of my answers were wrong.

I'm sticking to the schedule and completing all assignments. However, I'm slightly behind now bc the drills have taken so much time. If I have difficulty with a drill, ( they are all difficult), should I continue along with the schedule, or stop, and redo the drills? Originally, I was thinking I would add more drilling each week per chapter; now after starting the study schedule I realize that there simply isn't enough time left over upon completion of the drills in the game type training book. (is that okay?)

Right now, I am doing everything according to the order of the 12 week schedule. After every chapter read, I make my own notes in a binder in summary fashion. I find this is helpful and an easy way to refer to material in the book without flipping through the bibles. Yesterday I completed the strengthen chapter and drills and found they were much more manageable than the earlier drills.

Is there anything else I should be doing? As I mentioned earlier, I am following the schedule religiously, and I'm working hard on a daily basis, just soldiering through. I'm willing to put the hard work in- but I feel as though I need a bit of guidance.

Can you kindly provide some more valuable insight?

Thanks,
Julie

[Adam Tyson]

Sounds like you are doing everything right to me. Your struggle with the earlier MBT and Weaken work may just be due to getting warmed up to the material, and as you get more comfortable with identifying conclusions, underlying reasoning, validity, etc. you are going to get better at everything. It wouldn't surprise me at all if you went back now and found some of the earlier drills to be easier now that you're more fluent with the LSAT.

As you move through the materials, when you find yourself quickly grasping a concept and doing well, feel free to skip some of the work and save it for later practice. Don't spent excessive time drilling on something that you are already proficient at. Instead, use extra time to dig into the concepts for the ones you are struggling with, like MBT. Read up on MBT in the Bible, go through explanations, use our other resources such as this Forum for additional help. As you get better, you will likely find yourself quickly getting back on track. Don't get bogged down in a drill if you realize that you are having a problem with the concepts, but look to other sources to build your skills up and then return to the drill later.

Keep doing what you're doing, and adjust the schedule as you need to fit your strengths and weaknesses. A little more time here, a little less there, and it should all balance out. No worries, sounds like you have a good plan and you're following it nicely!

[julie_kang]

Hi Adam,

Thanks again for your advice.

Another thing I wanted to ask is, when working on a MBT question, how do I know when to translate statements in the stimulus into conditional if/then (contrapositive) translations?

In the game type training book MBT drill, there are 106 or so questions, many of which contain conditional reasoning statements. Often, I am not certain when to just read them normally as is, or translate them into if/then etc.

Thanks,
Julie

[Adam Tyson]

Certainly whenever you see obvious indicators like "if" or "unless", you know to analyze the stimulus conditionally. But what about when you don't? If you are stuck, and you suspect that perhaps there might be conditional argumentation at work, try paraphrasing the argument using an "if...then" structure. If you can do that without changing the meaning of the argument, then you can analyze it conditionally.

Consider this example, which has little or no obvious indicators:

Hospitals that experience high rates of post-operative infections would benefit from modernizing their infection control procedures.

We can turn that into an if...then pretty easily:

If a hospital has high rates of post-op infections, then they would benefit from modernizing..."

How do we know that? There are some indicators hidden. "Hospitals that" is the same as "All hospitals that". This is similar to "people who", which really means "all people who." You can often find hidden indicators like that. Another common one is the word "to" - "To get to the top of the mountain" is the same as "In order to get to the top of the mountain".

Paraphrasing can really help, but don't force it. If it doesn't naturally fit into an if...then structure, then it's probably not conditional and you should look for another way to analyze it. Practice that, and you'll get better at figuring out when to make that conversion and when it's a waste of effort.

Good luck!

[julie_kang]

Hi Adam,

I'm heading into week 5 of the 12 week study schedule using all of the LR materials. I have a real dilemma and I'm in a bit of a panic.

I'm spending at least 20 -25 hours per week studying and I'm staying on schedule for the most part, until recently... I'm having trouble completing all of the exercises assigned in all the trainer type books. For example, for this week, I was only able to complete half of the Grouping games assigned in the Games type trainer book (there are 22 games in total). Same with the RC assigned questions from the RC question type trainer book where I completed about half of the assigned....I think there are about 24 questions. Same with the LR questions assigned from the question type trainer- there are over 100 questions for this week's assignment combined with the RC and LG assignments. The only reason why I am not completing every single question assigned is because I am already a bit behind in the study schedule, and if I finish every single question, I will get further and further behind in my studies, so much so that I fear I will not be able to complete the entire 12 week study schedule in time for the test in February. This week for example, I still have yet to do prep tests 55 and 56. How should I proceed?

Would you suggest that I complete every single question from the incomplete assignments I mentioned above before proceeding with the prep tests part of the weekly schedule? Or should I just go ahead and complete the prep tests and leave the incomplete questions for another time. It's a bit demoralizing that even though I am devoting many hours working on my studies, I am still unable to complete every single assignment in the type trainer books according to the schedule. Help.

Your guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Julie

[Adam Tyson]

The time frame is pretty tight here, so I would advise you to do only as many questions as you need in any given drill to get comfortable with the strategies and techniques covered by that drill. Once you get the hang of it, feel free to move forward, and get those practice tests in. You may have time later to go back and do some of the ones you skipped, or you may not. Don't stress! Take plenty of breaks, get plenty of rest, and just move forward at a pace that is working well for you.

The self-study programs are not meant to constrain you or box you in. Be flexible with them, and make them work for you rather than feeling like you are working for them. Adapt the schedule to your situation, your availability, and your needs. Don't ever feel like you have to do every single thing we suggest, in that exact order. Otherwise, you are on the fast road to stress and burning out.

Keep going, and don't worry!

[julie_kang]

Thanks Adam.

As for the prep tests in the study schedule- should these be done under timed conditions? (4 hrs)

[Adam Tyson]

You'll get mixed opinions on that question, Julie. I am one of those that thinks any full practice test should be done under timed conditions, and that untimed practice is best done with problem sets and test sections (from tests that you are willing to "burn" instead of using as a real practice test). Other folks think there is value in doing untimed tests. It's really up to you, but I prefer to time them, because 1) that gives you a more realistic result (a 178 on an untimed test really doesn't indicate what you can do within the time constraints); 2) it gives you good, realistic practice for the real thing, so that test day feels more normal and familiar and comfortable; and 3) it gives you the opportunity to deal with test anxiety and find strategies to overcome it.

In my ideal world, every practice test would have 5 sections. Most published tests have only 4 - no experimental section - so that means taking apart one test and spreading its 4 sections out among 4 other tests to simulate the experimental section. This helps build your stamina for the real test, again enhancing the realism of the practice test and better preparing you for the real thing.

If you happen to have a book that has 10 4-section tests in it, that very conveniently gets rearranged into 8 5-section tests with no leftover bits.

Timing should be 35 minutes per section, with three sections back-to-back with only minimal pauses between sections, just long enough maybe to sharpen a pencil and reset a watch. After section 3, take a 10-minute break, and then complete the final sections in 35 minutes each. If you finish a section early (rare for most folks, but it happens), do not move on to the next section, because you cannot do that on test day. Instead, use the extra time to check your answer sheet for stray marks or misbubbling, and to review questions that you struggled with to see if you might now see them differently. Make everything about practice simulate the real test to the best of your ability.

Good luck!