Improving above +160

[kev2015]

Dear Powerscore,

I am a student who has previously taken your full-length summer class, and I found it extremely useful. My diagnostic score was a 141, and i have received a 146 and 151 on the dec.2014 and june 2015 LSAT respectively. Now I am registered for the Feb. 2016 LSAT, which will be my last attempt within the 3-year limit, and I hope to score a 160 (and a bit higher would be even better!). My first language is not English, it is my third, and I am a science student, so when I started studying for the LSAT, it was quite hard. Now, I am scoring a 156-157 range for the prep-tests 1991-1992, and 2003-2004, and around 25 days ago when i did 2006-2009,i was in the 154-157 range. I do these tests with a scantron, and also the powerscore digital timer (bought it from your website). I usually do four sections uninterrupted, OR the first three sections together, and then with a break in between the first three sections and the fourth section. Although I see some improvement, I still have several questions that I would like to ask you.

1) I am a bit concerned with my current improvement and score, as one thing is that I have previously pretty much done all questions for practice, so I feel that I still have a memory of the RC passages, and some LG or LR questions. So I am not sure whether this is a real improvement? I am worried that this is not my "real level".

2) If I have done all previous practice tests before, how should I focus my study? I am just worried that everything I do now is not a real reflection of my ability.

3) Now I cannot finish all LR, LG, RC questions. For RC, I usually choose three passages, for LR I can finish 22 questions, and for LG I can do around 3 games to 3.5 games. For the reamaining questions that I have not done, I just choose D. I feel that it is better for me to focus on accuracy first, rather than trying to finish all questions. And one thing that i've realized is that when i have a look at the wrong questions the second time, I can get additional questions correct, and the right amount of additional questions correct to reach a 160. So I want to have your opinioin on whehter you think that this is the right strategy to use?

4) Since the real LSAT will have 5 sections, I am just wondering at what point of my study should I start including a 5th section. Should I start adding one now? Or later when I actually reach a 160 on my PTs?

5) I am currently using the powerscore digital timer that i bought from your website, however I feel that there is a problem here, as I rely a lot on it to estimate how much time left vs. number of questions i should do. For example, for RC, when I see that i have only have five minutes left, this makes me hurry on doing the questions. But since I will not have access to this on the real test (because it is hard to read from my own watch how much time exactly i have left), so I am wondering whether there is a virtual proctor that i can find online that will give me annoucements with 5 minutes left for each section.

6) Also, another question is that I feel that I am now stuck at a 157. Though I look back at the questions I've gotten wrong, as well as the ones i've gotten correctly, and can overall understand the questions i've gotten wrong, i still see no improvement in the next practice test i do. How can i change my study to make more improvements?

Sorry for asking so many questions! And thank you in advance for your patience and help. Your suggestions are very precious to me!

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hey kev2015,

Thanks for the questions, and for the kind words about our Full-Length LSAT class. Your score seems to have improved by at least 15 points, which is no small feat! I realize this isn't enough, but clearly what you've been doing so far has been working. You just need to be smart about how you work on it for the next two months.

Let me address your questions one by one:

1) I am a bit concerned with my current improvement and score, as one thing is that I have previously pretty much done all questions for practice, so I feel that I still have a memory of the RC passages, and some LG or LR questions. So I am not sure whether this is a real improvement? I am worried that this is not my "real level".

2) If I have done all previous practice tests before, how should I focus my study? I am just worried that everything I do now is not a real reflection of my ability.

The key to working with questions you've already seen is actually quite simple: don't approach them as a student; approach them as in instructor! In other words, treat each question as if you have to teach it to someone else. This requires an above-average conceptual understanding of the material, which forces you to break down the arguments a lot more thoroughly, pay attention to language shifts and nuances in expression, identify causation and conditionality, etc. That's why it works! Naturally, it will take a lot longer to get through each question, but I promise you - it's well worth it! Our CEO even wrote a blog post on this topic a while back, the link to which I've included below:

Retaking the LSAT When You've Seen All of the Practice Questions

3) Now I cannot finish all LR, LG, RC questions. For RC, I usually choose three passages, for LR I can finish 22 questions, and for LG I can do around 3 games to 3.5 games. For the remaining questions that I have not done, I just choose D. I feel that it is better for me to focus on accuracy first, rather than trying to finish all questions. And one thing that i've realized is that when i have a look at the wrong questions the second time, I can get additional questions correct, and the right amount of additional questions correct to reach a 160. So I want to have your opinion on whether you think that this is the right strategy to use?

While I agree with you on the importance of maintaining a high level of accuracy, let's face it - this is a timed exam, and you're wasting valuable points by not finishing your sections. Meanwhile, you're also getting some of the questions wrong, which isn't surprising. After all, some questions are a lot more difficult than others. So, if you think about it, you're probably spending 5-6 minutes in each section answering questions incorrectly, which is precisely the amount of time you'd need to finish the section and get those last few points.

Here's a new strategy for you: if a question doesn't seem to make a lot of sense, or you're having a lot of trouble distinguishing between two answer choices, flag the question and move on! If time allows at the end, you can return to that question. But even if you don't, the worst that can happen is that you got the question wrong without wasting any more time than you absolutely have to. The questions that are most challenging for you will show up in random places in a section (more likely towards the middle and second half of each LR section than in the first, but you never know!). The more quickly you skip over any question that even looks like it will be annoying, the better off you will be. It's also 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 the stimulus.

I realize this is easier said than done. As a rather stubborn test-taker myself, I hate quitting, especially after sinking (what seems like) a lot of time into a particularly challenging LR question. It's a sunk cost, which used to make me terribly unhappy. However, don't throw good money after bad! The probability of getting the question right after the first 1:45 min decreases substantially. In the end, even if you got that one difficult question right, the opportunity cost of solving it is probably higher than the potential benefit (a single point), because you invariably end up guessing on a few questions in the end.

In RC, instead of giving up on one full RC passage like you're doing now (which probably costs you 5-7 points), try something else: pick one question from each passage and skip it, but aim to finish all four passages. By now, you should be well aware of what types of questions typically take a long time to solve. For instance, if you come across a MBT question without a Concept or Specific reference ("The author is most likely to agree with which one of the following statements?" or "The passage provides enough information to answer which one of the following questions?"), it can take a really long time to dig out the relevant information from the text. An even worse question type is the MBT-EXCEPT ("The passage mentions each one of the following, EXCEPT:"), which requires you to prove four of the five answer choices by returning to the passage. If you see a question like this, move on! The goal is not to get every single question right, but to budget your time appropriately so you can avoid guessing on a big chunk of questions at the end. Skipping 3-4 difficult questions is well worth it if it allows you to answer the questions in the last passage (or game).

Speaking of games, same advice applies to that section as well. Usually, there is one - exactly one - question in each game that is designed to be exceptionally challenging. If you can spot it and move on, you might be able to just finish your section!

4) Since the real LSAT will have 5 sections, I am just wondering at what point of my study should I start including a 5th section. Should I start adding one now? Or later when I actually reach a 160 on my PTs?

Yes, start adding a fifth section now. If pacing is an issue, you may need to improve your stamina a bit too. No better way to do that than doing 5-section tests.

5) I am currently using the powerscore digital timer that i bought from your website, however I feel that there is a problem here, as I rely a lot on it to estimate how much time left vs. number of questions i should do. For example, for RC, when I see that i have only have five minutes left, this makes me hurry on doing the questions. But since I will not have access to this on the real test (because it is hard to read from my own watch how much time exactly i have left), so I am wondering whether there is a virtual proctor that i can find online that will give me announcements with 5 minutes left for each section.

The digital timer is a wonderful way to develop a proper pacing technique, but unfortunately you can't bring it to the test center. While I'd encourage you to use it up until you start finishing your sections without having to guess on the last 4-5 questions, here's a Virtual Proctor that you should probably begin using in January:

Take Practice LSATs Using Our Virtual Proctor

6) Also, another question is that I feel that I am now stuck at a 157. Though I look back at the questions I've gotten wrong, as well as the ones i've gotten correctly, and can overall understand the questions i've gotten wrong, i still see no improvement in the next practice test i do. How can i change my study to make more improvements?

Well, part of your score improvement will come from implementing a better pacing strategy, as outline above. The rest will come from developing a more solid conceptual mastery of the material. It goes without saying that, generally speaking, the more ambitious your target score is, the more effort it will take to get there. Oftentimes, the amount of effort it takes to get from the mid-150s to the low-160s is exponentially greater than the amount of effort it took to get this far. In other words, while absolutely doable, you will probably see diminishing returns on your investment: that initial 15-point jump may have taken a few months in the beginning; once you hit the mid-150s, it could take another two months to jump half as much! Roughly 30% of the LR questions on your test will classify as "moderate-to-high difficulty." Additionally, one out of every four games (and one out of every four RC passages) will be similarly difficult. To get a score in the 160's, you cannot afford to miss more than 25 questions in total (so, -5/6 in each of the two LR sections, -6/7 in RC, -4/5 in LG). That’s when students often seek professional help - through online instruction, tutoring, or a combination of both - in order to identify and fix specific gaps in their skill set or knowledge base. You may also want to take a look at the two Advanced LSAT courses we offer, which cater specifically to students such as yourself:

Advanced Logic Games
Advanced Logical Reasoning

Also, check out the Two-Month Self-Study Plan we have designed for students in your position:

2-Month LSAT Study Plan

For more info on score plateaus, check out these blog posts:

Plateau-Busters: Overcoming Selective Attention
How To Focus Your LSAT Study
Why Breaks from the LSAT Can Increase Your Score
Wait! Did My LSAT Score Just Go Down?

Finally, let me let you in on a little secret: just like you, I am not a native English speaker. In fact, I didn't become fluent in English until I was 17, after I learned to speak 3 other languages... with various degrees of success. While it certainly made the Verbal section of the SAT's tougher than expected, thankfully the LSAT is all about information synthesis, rule application, inductive and deductive reasoning, etc. Logic, like math, is the same in every language. As long as you understand English well enough to grasp the meaning of the written text (and you clearly do) and have the vocabulary of a college-educated human being (I assume you went to college in the U.S.), the fact that you aren't a native speaker should have no bearing on your ability to do well.

Hope this answered most of your questions, but if not - please don't hesitate to write back and let me know if I can be of any further help!

Best,

[kev2015]

Hi Nikki,

Thank you so much for all these suggestions!! They are extremely helpful!! But I still have some additional concerns…

1) I have just done the June 2012 LSAT as a full-timed practice test yesterday (with 5 sections), and I got a 153. I don't know what happened on this test!! This is a test that i have not seen before. I know that you might say that endurance might be a factor in this low score, however, I have just done a full-timed practice test with 5-sections earlier this week, and I still managed to get a 161. But I have previously done this practice test. And for the past month, i have been constantly doing timed practice tests (4 sections), and all my scores were between 157-161. But I have done all these PTs previously. So this was the concern that I had earlier about on how I feel that when I re-do the PTs that I have done previously, the score is not very accurate and reflective of my "true level". I have followed your suggestions on trying to approach each question as an instructor, and I feel that I can almost understand and analyze every single question correctly. The score on this June 2012 LSAT PT makes me feel that I have not been improving at all for the past two months, though I strongly feel that I have improved. Do you think that it might be because I have not improved at all, or perhaps that my study strategy has been wrong? But when I re-did the PTs i've seen before, clearly there has been an improvement in my score.

2) I have done all PTs from 2003-2009, 1991-1993, and currently I only have 14 unseen or at least PTs that I haven't done very recently left (All of 2010/2011/2013 PTs, June, Oct. 2014 PTs, Oct, Dec. 2015 PTs). So I don't know how should I allocate the PT that I have left, and also how should I direct my study? I am registered for the Feb. 2015 LSAT, and this will be my last and third attempt.

Another question is that you suggested me to spend less time on each question in order to do more questions, however I think that while this might work for the LR, it would probably not work for the LR and RC. This is because I can barely finish 3 RC passages, and 3-3.5 LG, so I really don't know how I can accelerate my speed as to be able to approach a fourth passage or game. One thing is that there is also some time needed to spend to read the passage or do the game set-up, so I don't know if it would worth the time for me to do the previous questions more quickly (this might decrease accuracy) in order to start the fourth passage/game, because I might only be able to do 1-2 additional questions. Do you have any suggestions as to how should I approach this trade-off?

Thank you again in advance for your patience and help!!

[kev2015]

I have just done the Oct. 2012 LSAT, and I ended up with a 153 again! I am getting extremely frustrated and worried right now, as I seriously feel that I have been improving. But this doesn't seem to be reflected on my actual test performance. What do you think that I should do now? Thanks again!!

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hey kev2015,

I hear you - it's a frustrating process for sure. Without knowing more about how you're approaching each question type or game, it's difficult to diagnose problems "remotely," so to speak. One of the reasons you're struggling is surely a matter of strategy and timing: you're probably spending too long on certain questions that you're getting wrong anyway, which is costing you both time and lost points. But the bigger issue, I think, is that you're getting certain low-to-medium difficulty questions wrong, which is almost always symptomatic of conceptual issues with the material. For instance, if you know how to attack Assumption questions and are able to properly negate the various answers that you regard as contenders, you shouldn't miss many Assumption questions, if at all. Likewise, if you instinctively apply the Hurdle the Uncertainty principle to Defined Grouping Games where a larger number of variables are "competing" for a limited number of available spaces, you shouldn't have trouble with such games.

Will there be an exceptionally difficult Assumption question or an Overloaded Defined Grouping Game that you miss? Absolutely! But you should be able to get the majority of these questions right if you have sufficient mastery of the basic concepts and formations being tested. If your score is in the low-150s, barring a really lopsided distribution curve of your mistakes, I think you need to return to the basics.

If I were in your shoes, I'd re-take the full-length LSAT class or opt for a Live Online class. You can do so at a significant discount, and it will get you back on track. There are clearly concepts you haven't mastered yet, and a class can help you do that. It will also keep you on track and provide a good study plan for the next 6 weeks. Best of all, you'll be able to ask questions to your instructor whenever you need help. In fact, with the Online classes, we have a second chair instructor whose only job is to answer students' questions for the duration of the class. Something to consider for sure.

Whether you re-take the class or not, you need to take all 14 of the remaining Practice Tests you have over the next six weeks. That's roughly two tests/week, in addition to whatever other homework you're working on during that time.

To answer your other question, the strategy I mentioned in my previous post does apply to LG and RC, assuming there is usually one difficult question per passage or game that you can skip to save time. I'm not asking you to do all the questions more quickly; do them at the pace that allows you to obtain maximum accuracy. However, there is often one really difficult question in each passage or game, which may be worth skipping if it affords you the luxury of attacking the last passage or game. Give it a try a few times and see if it works. Also, you didn't mention how long you spend reading each passage, but try to keep it down to 3-3:30 mins. If it takes you longer to read them, you're probably focusing too much on the details and not enough on the big picture (aka VIEWSTAMP).

Last, don't let a single (or even two or three) bad scores get you down. Ups and downs are a normal part of the process. Make sure to learn from your mistakes by thoroughly reviewing each and every practice test you take.

Hope this helps a bit! Good luck!