Stuck On the Bubble

[Rosaline]

Hello,

I've gotten the same score on the practice tests for 4 tests in a row. I'm really frustrated and am wondering if you have any advice about how I can change my approach? I don't feel like I'm getting faster. A big problem is that I'm still only getting through about 3 reading comp sections, 2 -3 logic games, and about 21 LR questions. With LR I I'm getting a lot of the easy/moderate ones, but messing up the difficult ones. When I review the ones that I missed I'm consistently stuck between 2 answer choices in LR and pick the wrong one, particularly on Strengthen/Weaken questions. I don't know how to break out of my patterns. I'd love to be able to push through and get those extra points before the September test. Any advice you would be greatly appreciated. Right now I take a test every Saturday and I've been trying to review it by no later than Sunday. During the week I finish up homework that I didn't have time to do during the course. Do you think factoring in another practice test during the week would be helpful? I really don't want to waste these next few weeks doing the same thing and getting the same results.

[Jonathan Evans]

Hi, Rosaline,

Thanks for your question and for sharing your analysis of your current performance.

Here are a couple ideas to consider as you review:

• Are you using the blind review method on your practice tests? Even if you are, it might be worthwhile to review this helpful post from Dave Killoran: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/the-be ... tice-tests
• On your reading comp, have you broken down your pacing? How much time are you spending on the passage? Are you efficiently getting through the passages using the ViewSTAMP approach and appropriate annotations so that you have sufficient time to answeer the questions? Have you considered skipping a passage to come back to it later? In other words, if you start reading a passage and find it extraordinarily difficult to understand, consider returning to it last.
• Same type of question on games. Are you occasionally skipping a difficult game to return to it later? If a game is difficult to understand or the rules are complex/convoluted, consider returning to it later. Try at a minimum to work through three games perfectly even if it means you do not attempt a fourth game. Given your average of 2-3 games, getting through a solid three would be an excellent goal.
• On LR, difficulty with Strengthen/Weaken questions can often stem from difficulty prephrasing. Are you anticipating the kind of information that would address a weakness (strengthen) or attack the gap in the reasoning (weaken)? Have you mastered every aspect of causal reasoning. Cause/effect reasoning is heavily tested on Strengthen/Weaken questions. During your review, when you see these "down to two" situations, remember that there are lots of down to two scenarios in which you end up picking the right answer. We don't notice those as much during review because we got them right! Make sure that in your review of questions that you missed that you step through the reasoning from start to finish to figure out what you would need to do in a similar situation to do good analysis, prephrasing, and process of elimination to arrive at the correct answer.
• On the entire test, make sure your pacing is solid. Remember to feel free to do questions on a game/passage out of order if that's helpful. Also, on LR remember that there's a general order of difficulty, but if you encounter a killer question, skip it and come back to it on your second pass. Keep your pencil moving, and keep your momentum moving forward.

I hope this helps! Please follow up with further questions.