Lower LR section

[aryoung3@wisc.edu]

Hi,
I am taking the October LSAT this Saturday. Yesterday, I took a practice test and scored the best I ever have. I took a practice test again today and received the same score. However, my logical reasoning section scores have fallen and it is usually one of my strongest sections. When I'm doing the logical reasoning passages, I feel like I have forgotten everything I learned about how to tackle logical reasoning questions and even easy questions take me what feels like a long time. I also feel like I can't comprehend anything the stimulus is saying or retain any of the information, and this makes me think I might be just mentally exhausted but I'm not sure. I used to feel confident after finishing those sections and now I don't at all. My other sections have improved making up for this drop in my logical reasoning section score on my practice tests but I'm nervous I won't have as good of scores on my weaker sections on the test day and combined with my now lower logical reasoning scores, my overall score won't be where I want it to be. Any advice would be much appreciated!
Alex

[Clay Cooper]

Hi Alex,

Thanks for your question. It is a good one and is relevant for a lot of students at around this time in the test cycle.

From my experience, there are a couple of possible causes for your lower scores in LR. I will deal with each individual and if either of them sound likely to you, I would proceed appropriately.

One very common phenomenon at this stage of test prep is burnout (which you have mentioned as a possibility). If you have been working on LR a lot, or even working on the other sections enough to drain your brainpower, that could very well cause the type of effects you have been experiencing. If that is the case, I would recommend not doing any further prep between now and the test on Saturday - specifically, don't study LSAT stuff at all tomorrow.

The other primary possibility that occurs to me is that you might have focused on the other sections to the exclusion of LR, or nearly so. If that is the case (and your rising scores in those sections suggest that it is plausible), it is possible that refocusing a bit on LR tonight and tomorrow (though generally it is better not to prep on the day before the test, a little light review might serve you very well under the circumstances) might help significantly.

It is also possible that a combination of both of these phenomena have occurred for you - that you are burned out a bit but also that you have focused away from LR and it could use some work. If that is the case, I would recommend a version of the second strategy mentioned above - use what little prep remains to be done to review LR, but don't overdo it. Err on the side of preserving your rest and brainpower.

I hope that helps, please let us know if you have any other questions.