Best Plan Moving forward to the December LSAT

[Kdup]

Hi Powerscore,

Hope all is well. So, I spoke with Adam a while back about my plan of attack to the December test. We last chatted in the forum on August 18. I began doing the two-month self prep around the first of august with the bibles and focusing on really drilling down the concepts.. untimed practice for the past month and a half with practice test prior to 2007. So, I've been doing untimed drills, timed drills, and taking full-length and practice test(only two thus far June 2008 and June 1994) and using the blind review method to really help. I did as Adam said and focused on just 5 point increases and really harping on the conditional and causal reasoning questions. My diagnostic score blind without any notion of the test or anything was a 137. After about a month and half on the two practice tests I scored a 145 both times. So, that 8 point increase was nice. But, I want more. I am aiming to score anything in the 160s. I am taking the in person LSAT prep course in New Orleans, LA, starting in October. I wanted to review the bibles prior to starting the class so I come in already knowing where my strengths and weaknesses are. Thus far, I see my strengths lie in Logic Games and my weaknesses lie in Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension. Not necessarily in terms of not understanding the question, but sometimes getting down between two contenders and selecting the wrong answer out of the two. I also consistently miss assumption questions and weakening questions and a very small amount of justify the conclusion in LRquestions.... In RC questions...I find myself at times attacking the passage, but sometimes spending too much time analyzing the passage that I don't have enough time to answer the questions. So, I'm trying to figure out what strategy I can use to see that increase in score to first get into the 150s and then move into the 160s. Is a score increase from a 145 to a 160 realistic with the time frame for the Dec 2 test? Also, how do you suggest I approach the class? I want to make sure I'm taking full advantage of course. Regarding additional practice from now until Dec 2, how often do you feel that I should be taking prep test, and if so those after 2008? I initially planned to take every practice from 2008-to Sept 2017. *sigh* whew! That was a lot. But, I just wanted to make sure you all had a through since of where I am. It's crunch time. lol.

[Dave Killoran]

Hi K,

Thanks for the questions! There are a few related questions coming in at this time, so I'm going to first refer you to reply I just wrote, then I'll go in and reply directly to a few of your more specific questions

Ok, here's another December study plan-related question that you might find useful: Prep for the December LSAT.

With that link covered, let's look at your message in detail:

Hi Powerscore,

Hope all is well. So, I spoke with Adam a while back about my plan of attack to the December test. We last chatted in the forum on August 18. I began doing the two-month self prep around the first of august with the bibles and focusing on really drilling down the concepts.. untimed practice for the past month and a half with practice test prior to 2007. So, I've been doing untimed drills, timed drills, and taking full-length and practice test(only two thus far June 2008 and June 1994) and using the blind review method to really help.

Perfect. I'd move almost fully into timing everything, and do portions untimed only if you really are struggling with an idea (because if the concept is unclear, going fast doesn't help; so make sure you have the idea locked in first).

I did as Adam said and focused on just 5 point increases and really harping on the conditional and causal reasoning questions. My diagnostic score blind without any notion of the test or anything was a 137. After about a month and half on the two practice tests I scored a 145 both times. So, that 8 point increase was nice. But, I want more.

Also, perfect. I love students who want more and who aren't satisfied with the increases they've achieved thus far. As I like to say, unless you have a 180 there is always room for improvement, but you have to want it in order to get it!

I am aiming to score anything in the 160s. I am taking the in person LSAT prep course in New Orleans, LA, starting in October. I wanted to review the bibles prior to starting the class so I come in already knowing where my strengths and weaknesses are. Thus far, I see my strengths lie in Logic Games and my weaknesses lie in Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension. Not necessarily in terms of not understanding the question, but sometimes getting down between two contenders and selecting the wrong answer out of the two.

Getting down to two answers and choosing the wrong one isn't a terrible problem to have. Why? Because a lot of students can't even reliably get it down to just two answers, and so you need to look at this as a positive, not a negative. Now, the key is to learn those extra little things that will help you properly and consistently knock out that wrong answer and choose the right one.

I also consistently miss assumption questions and weakening questions and a very small amount of justify the conclusion in LRquestions.... In RC questions...I find myself at times attacking the passage, but sometimes spending too much time analyzing the passage that I don't have enough time to answer the questions. So, I'm trying to figure out what strategy I can use to see that increase in score to first get into the 150s and then move into the 160s. Is a score increase from a 145 to a 160 realistic with the time frame for the Dec 2 test?

It will take a lot of work, to be honest. The LR issues you mention relate to clearly isolating the conclusion as well as having a full and comprehensive understanding of how conditionality works not just on a concrete level but an abstract one as well (here's a challenge: explain the conditional relationship between a regular Assumption of an argument (otherwise known as a Necessary Assumption) and that of a Justify the Conclusion question (otherwise known as a Sufficient Assumption). It's tricky for most experienced students to do, but whether or not you can explain it to someone else will prove whether you know the ideas or not.

In RC, I can't tell the issues there from where I'm sitting. It requires a balance of reading for detail and gaining a broad view of where everything in the passage is sitting (which is one of the great uses of Viewstamp), but that balance is in the application, and a broad discussion doesn't do much as far as changing your score. But that is the area to focus on, and to test yourself with as you look to improve in RC.

Also, how do you suggest I approach the class? I want to make sure I'm taking full advantage of course. Regarding additional practice from now until Dec 2, how often do you feel that I should be taking prep test, and if so those after 2008? I initially planned to take every practice from 2008-to Sept 2017. *sigh* whew! That was a lot. But, I just wanted to make sure you all had a through since of where I am. It's crunch time. lol.

Your idea of knowing your strengths and weaknesses beforehand is right on the money! But, from there, look to really hear what the instructors are saying. Most students get caught up in doing the problems and trying to solve them on their own that they don't listen as closely to the teachers as they should. Make sure to hear the analysis because you can do problems anytime!
Also, I'd consider doing more tests if possible. I'm a huge fan of doing as many LSATs as possible, mainly because the more questions you see, the more you get to know their style as well as what they are capable of!


That's a start—please let me know if it helps!

[Kdup]

HI Dave,

This helps a lot! I look forward to keeping you all updated with my progress.

Best,

K

[Dave Killoran]

HI Dave,

This helps a lot! I look forward to keeping you all updated with my progress.

Best,

K

Awesome, thanks for letting me know! We're here for you and look forward to those updates