Timing for Drill Sets

[trey.holmes22@gmail.com]

I've been trying to follow the 3 month study plan outlined by powerscore to prepare for the June LSAT to be applying this fall and I have a couple of questions about recommendations for how to approach the timing of the sets. They are fairly time intensive; for example, the 108 question drill set for Must Be True: V1 took a combined ~6 hours to complete, and I'm not sure the full extent of the set was worth the time. Granted I'm probably working at close to double the pace I would need on the real LSAT, but even still 4 hours for one of the three problem sets recommended in that week is a significant time sink.

1. Should we be trying to complete these drill sets in final LSAT pace? For example, I've been working through the basic and advanced linear games section in timed sections of 35 minutes, giving myself a break between each 35 min section. I haven't missed any questions but only get through ~2 games in that amount of time, and for the LSAT games section there would obviously be 4 games I'd be trying to complete in that time. Not missing any questions seems like a good thing, but if I'm taking too long does it really matter?

2. How important is it to complete all the questions in every drill set? Referencing the Must Be True example, I'm sure this is a pretty fundamental question type and its important to have a solid foundation, but I feel like I could've gotten most of the benefit having only completed a fraction of the set, and moreover could be further along in my prep if I hadn't spent all that time on that one section.

[Chandler H]

I've been trying to follow the 3 month study plan outlined by powerscore to prepare for the June LSAT to be applying this fall and I have a couple of questions about recommendations for how to approach the timing of the sets. They are fairly time intensive; for example, the 108 question drill set for Must Be True: V1 took a combined ~6 hours to complete, and I'm not sure the full extent of the set was worth the time. Granted I'm probably working at close to double the pace I would need on the real LSAT, but even still 4 hours for one of the three problem sets recommended in that week is a significant time sink.

1. Should we be trying to complete these drill sets in final LSAT pace? For example, I've been working through the basic and advanced linear games section in timed sections of 35 minutes, giving myself a break between each 35 min section. I haven't missed any questions but only get through ~2 games in that amount of time, and for the LSAT games section there would obviously be 4 games I'd be trying to complete in that time. Not missing any questions seems like a good thing, but if I'm taking too long does it really matter?

2. How important is it to complete all the questions in every drill set? Referencing the Must Be True example, I'm sure this is a pretty fundamental question type and its important to have a solid foundation, but I feel like I could've gotten most of the benefit having only completed a fraction of the set, and moreover could be further along in my prep if I hadn't spent all that time on that one section.

Hi Trey,

As for your first question: we typically say that speed follows accuracy, not the other way around. Accuracy is paramount—it's useless to be fast if you're getting questions wrong. I believe the 3-month study schedule recommends that you really start focusing on nailing the timing around 7 weeks out from your test.

Second question: no, you don't have to complete all the questions in every drill set, especially if they are taking you several hours. Work on identifying the question types that are most difficult for you. However, we also wouldn't recommend only completing "a fraction" of each set—always do a bit more than you think is sufficient!

Hope this answers your question!