The Edge

[lsatayn]

I took the LSAT for the first time back in June, and scored about 6 points from where I want to be. In my two most recent practice tests, I've scored 4-3 points from my goal. I'm getting to a point where I tend to miss at most 3 or 4 questions in a section, and I'd like some specific advice on which techniques I should work on. I brought this up in my class, and Ron suggested working on prephrases and focusing on my weaknesses. This was great advice, and I wanted to ask other instructors and students for their input too.

Thank you!

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Lsatayn,

Thanks for the question. We're glad to help, but could you possibly give us some more information on where you are scoring, your performance in each section, and any strengths/weaknesses you've identified? I gather from Ron's advice that LR is an area you are working on, but without more details from you it will be hard to give you focused advice.

Thanks!

[lsatayn]

Sure, Dave.

I took the test back in June. My diagnostic score before the test was a 157, and I self-studied for three months using the Powerscore Bibles. In the lead-up to the June LSAT, my April test score average was 167.86, over 7 PTs. My May test score average was 171, over 4 tests. My June score was 169.

My goal is 175. I am taking the test in October. My August-September average so far is 170, with my last two PTs showing at 171 and 172. In order for me to hit a 175, I think I need to be averaging consistently between 174 and 176. So I still have a long way to go.

Based on the test analysis generated by Powerscore, these are my weaknesses:

In LR, the question types that I struggle with the most, in descending order: Justify the Conclusion, Assumption, Flaw in the Reasoning, Must be True, Sufficient & Necessary, Method AP, and Formal Logic.

In RC, MBT and Global Reference questions.

In LG, global questions seem to trip me up more than local questions.

Generally speaking, my scores for the RC and LG sections are more stable than my score for LR. They tend to stay pretty consistently at -1 to -3. But for LR, on a bad day, I might get 3 or 4 wrong in each section, whereas on a good day, I'll get only 1 wrong.

Reviewing my errors, I find that two or three each test are simply careless mistakes. This is frustrating, because more careful review of my errors I tend to do worse on the third section of any test, right before the break, regardless of content. Sometimes during the test, I begin to feel stress and anxiety, and lose focus.

I'm happy to provide any more relevant information!

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Lsatayn,

Thanks for the extra info! Based on your recent practice test results, you are now within one standard deviation of 175, so you are getting quite close. Better news it that even a 1 question improvement in each section would carry you to your goal. So it's reached the point where you don't have major weaknesses (which is good great news!), and the improvements have to come from incremental changes.

I'm going to recommend that you focus on a few areas over the next week. I'll list those below in order of study preference, along with my reasoning behind each recommendation:

• Method/Flaw questions: To really excel on the LSAT, you have to see reasoning in the abstract. Both Method and Flaw questions force you to see the big picture, and studying these questions invariably makes you better at all other kinds of questions (because if you can understand the big picture in abstract terms, then you can more easily weaken, strengthen, parallel, etc the argument). When examining these questions, also look at each of the incorrect answers, and try to imagine what changes would need to occur in the stimulus for the answer to be correct. And look at those incorrect answers to see if they fit one of the known forms of reasoning (such as an Error of Composition or an Appeal Fallacy) so that you can get faster and faster at recognizing the standard forms of reasoning as presented. Even a small improvement in these two question types can pay big dividends throughout the two sections.
  
  
  Must Be True questions: This question type is the bedrock of LR and RC, and so you can't have even the slightest weakness here. And, of course, improvements here also translate into better performance throughout the remainder of the sections because if you see the details better, you can more easily strengthen, weaken etc the arguments.
  
  
  Justify/Assumption questions: I consider both of these question types to be among the most difficult question types, so it's probably more a matter that you are running into some hard questions. Still, looking at both questions in isolation is worthwhile since you know you will see both on the test multiple times.
  
  
  Formal Logic: This would be the lowest priority element on the list, namely because FL occurs only rarely in LR. But, you also mentioned possible problems Sufficient & Necessary, and studying FL will make your SN skills better. The bottom line is that to really be good at FL, you must understand SN, so let's see what happens when you focus on it for a bit.

After working on these, let's revisit this in a week or so and see how you are progressing. Then, as needed, we can see if there are other areas to work on.

Last, let me address your observation about careless errors. From your description, it might not be that they are careless, but rather generated from fatigue (which you somewhat allude to by noting they often occur in the last section before the break). Have you thought about taking 6-section practice tests in order to overdrive your system and build up your test stamina? The LSAT is no doubt a grueling mental exercise, but I can tell you that 5 sections feels a lot easier once you've taken a 6-section test. Just a thought!

Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!

[lsatayn]

Hi Dave,

Great advice.

I took another PT yesterday - 56/Dec 2008 - after focusing on Assumption/Justify questions. Although I didn't see any improvements in my overall score, I did much better on Assumption/Justify questions (-1). It takes practice to implement it swiftly, but the Assumption-Negation Technique is magic.

I also added an extra 35-minute section of just Assumption/Justify questions. To combat fatigue, I am going to continue practicing with one or two extra sections.

I'm going to hit Method/Flaw and Strengthen next. Keep you posted!

Lsatayn

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Lsatayn,

Great, glad to hear you saw improvement in those questions!

I'd probably go back and hit the Method/Flaw ones heavily, if you can. Those will make you better at seeing the structural relationships present in all arguments. And one thing I like to do is examine the incorrect answers and try to figure out what kind of argument would be needed to make those wrong answers into right answers. I think that Method/Flaw are some of the most useful questions because they give you so much insight into how the test makers think, and the language they use to describe arguments in general. If you can lock in on their language, that's half the battle.

Good luck and please keep me posted on your progress!

[lsatayn]

Hi Dave,

I recently took the June 2011 test. 173 (94 raw), if I hadn't misbubbled, 174 (95 raw)

LR1: -1 (Point at Issue Q14)
LG: -0 (G1: grouping, underfunded; G2: Linear sequencing; G3: Pure sequencing; G4: ? red balls and white balls)
LR2: -2 (Method of Reasoning "proceeds by" Q19, Resolve the Discrepancy Q26)
RC: -4 (P1: last question, relevance of a ruling to a future hypothetical case; P2: last question, work as it is characterized in the passage gives the most support for which of the following generalizations; P3: 2nd to last question, both passages mention X primarily in order to.., and 1 question misbubbled).

The LG experience was exciting. All the practice is really paying off. For RC, the three questions I got wrong were all at or near the end of the question set, which is a pretty big hint that I get careless when I'm about to move on to the next passage + that later questions are harder for me.

LR Family breakdown: Prove (Point @ Issue, MoR); Help (RD)

For nearly all the sections, I finished with some time left over (2-5 minutes) for the first time in a while, so if, during the test, I'd felt unconfident about the questions I ended up getting wrong and circled them, I'd have had enough time to go back and review them.

I also added one LR set to the end of this test to continue combating test, especially LR, fatigue.

Based on this data, any further advice?

Thank you!

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Lsatayn,

Thanks for the update. First off, congrats on the great score--very impressive! I'm really happy for you

At this level, there's not much advice that can be given. The questions you missed really come down to how they struck you during the exam; they weren't missed because of some general weakness in your knowledge or ability. I do think, however, that your insight on the missed RC questions is likely spot on. The test makers are very well aware of the natural tendency that everyone has to think "let's just finish this question fast and get to the next game/passage" as they get near finishing each passage or game. But, now you are aware of this issue, and you've shown that when something comes on your radar, you know how to fix it. This one is simply a matter of making sure you don't speed over those last questions (especially since the test makers like to throw some tricky stuff in those questions exactly to exploit this tendency).

The test is less than two weeks away, so I'd recommend that you continue what you are doing--it's clearly working . If you do finish sections early during the exam, definitely follow your own advice and look over the ones you were uncertain about this post has some thoughts on that, by the way: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid/297 ... -You-Do-It ). And, keep working on the fatigue issue. The more questions you can do in one sitting, the more used to test fatigue you will become. You will get tired during the exam--everyone does! But, if you've done a lot of questions when you are tired, you will be in better shape to handle that fatigue and minimize its effects.

Thanks, and again, congrats to you on the great progress so far!