Knowing when to let a question go

[LSATrookie]

After several PTs, I notice I often get stuck on a question and spend way too much trying to get it right instead of letting it go and moving on to the next question. I know the LSAT is designed so that one can get a pretty good score if they get 80/85% right (at least where I would like to score). Knowing this, I still have a tendency to let one question bother me way too much, and this is true on all the sections. I feel as if these certain questions are costing me points down the road in sections, as I often fall short on time and end up in a rushed mind set.

So is there any general advice as to when to let a question go and move on? I feel as if I'm understanding the Powerscore methods very well and applying them on the tests, but certain test taking problems like these are lowering my score 5-10 points. Thanks!

[Steve Stein]

Hey LSATrookie,

Great question. It's so easy to get caught up in a difficult question, and the test-makers know it; that is why the questions are not presented in order of difficulty (it is true that the first question on an LR section, for example, is generally more straightforward than the last, but there is quite a bit of variety in the middle of the section).

Even if the test makers did want to put the questions in order of difficulty, everyone has a different set of strengths and weaknesses. All of this is to say, the questions that are most challenging for you will show up in random places in a section--so when you encounter one, skip it! The more quickly you skip over any question that even looks like it will be annoying, the better off you will be.

It's easy to overestimate the amount of time and effort it takes to recognize that a question is challenging. Generally, though, you can tell by reading just the first line or two. There is no reason to stick with a difficult question when you could be breezing through the more straightforward questions that happen to have been placed later in the section.

Take a practice section or two to get used to skipping right over the annoying ones, and I am confident that you will find that you have more time to review the tough ones--and you will likely get more of the easy ones as well, as you begin to take more control of the test.

I hope that's helpful! Let me know if you have any questions--thanks!

~Steve