Not improving!

[mbeattheheat]

I'm planning on taking the September LSAT and have been studying for about 2 months now! I've gone through the Bibles twice, spent about a month just drilling and have began to work on full timed PT's and deep review. My diagnostic was a 149 and my highest PT was a 156, but I'm feeling very frustrated lately because my PT scores have been all over the place and seem to only be getting worse despite my review getting better (or so I thought). My most recent PT was a 151 and I am definitely feeling discouraged after that. It seems like when I do review (mainly LR), it isn't clicking in my brain on how to not make the same mistakes again. I'm not finding one specific question type that I always get wrong which doesn't help either. When I go through a section after reviewing a PT, I feel pretty confident in most of my answers yet I still get many wrong. I've been doing the blind review method which I thought would help but I go into a fresh PT making mistakes again. I really feel stuck and I feel like I'm not learning how to improve/ missing something important! All the advice I've read on how to improve your score highlights going through PT after PT to improve familiarity, but I feel like it is counterproductive for me to go through PT's if my score isn't improving. It seems like I just continue to practice the same (wrong?) way to answer the questions. I'm hitting a serious wall and the only thing keeping me from giving up is how bad I want to get into my #1.

A few other things:
When I first began studying, LG was one of my strongest where I would only get MAX -3. This has gotten worse and I feel like I've forgotten how to approach this section since LG was the first Bible I read. Should I focus more on this to see more improvements? Timing is a challenge for me on LG but when untimed, I can score high.
For RC, I tend to miss an entire passage because I read detail for detail. I was reading on this blog and ran into someone who got the advice of David Killoran about reading less for detail. This approach doesn't make much sense to me because I feel like if I don't read for detail, I won't know the answers. Does anyone have good advice on this?
And again, will continuing to do PT's without improving really help? I feel like I'm going to waste fresh PT's if I continue doing them with the wrong approach.

I now realize why they say not to underestimate the LSAT!

[Jonathan Evans]

Hi, MBeattheHeat,

Don't feel discouraged! Your situation is not at all uncommon. It might be time to hit the reset button and see if we can get on the right track for September (if you are not already registered for September, that deadline has passed and you will need to register for November.

First, are you following a self-study plan? If not, you should get on one and follow the assignments week by week. They are available here: http://students.powerscore.com/self-study/

It is essential that you be systematic about your LSAT preparation. It is also essential that balance your work on all three LSAT section types (as you have noted with your fluctuations on LG).

Have you inputted your scores into the LSAT score analyzer (available on the self study page)? It might be helpful to use our tool to break down your performance by question type and difficulty level.

It might be time to go back to the basics and follow the assignments from the beginning of the self-study plans. Use this opportunity to review and relearn core concepts and skills.

Don't be afraid to cover concepts you've already tackled. You will likely find areas where you might have missed some key concepts or other opportunities for improvement.

You are clearly being smart and strategic about your practice tests. I commend you on your blind review and in-depth efforts to engage with problems that give you difficulty. However, if you feel as though your approach to certain problems is not effective, it is essential that you revisit the basics.

1. Follow along to the assigned lessons and practice material in the Bibles and Workbooks.
2. Make certain that you do adequate review of your work so that you are satisfied that your approach is sound and that you can predictably and repeatably get the questions right. Don't be afraid to work through the same problems, especially the more difficult ones, multiple times.
3. Do continue to do in depth review of your practice tests, but don't be afraid to push forward and take another test. Sometimes the best way to get through a wall is to stop beating up against the same wall and attempt to break through another one.

Above all, be very targeted about issues you're having. Is there a question/game/passage that gives you trouble? Search for an existing explanation or ask us about it here! One you've got an explanation, work your way through that question/game/passage again.

Is there a concept you find challenging? Same thing! We have a wealth of information available here and are at work 24/7 to respond to your questions. Preparing for the LSAT is a team effort. Continue with your systematic work. Take a deep breath. Hit the reset button. Redouble your commitment either to September or November, and reach out to us for help. We're here for you!

[mbeattheheat]

Thank you for your advice Jonathan, I really appreciate it!

I went through the LRB again pretty briefly and the only concepts I don't think I have a great grasp on are formal and informal logic with significant and necessary conditions (this tends to take me SO long on the actual test) and somewhat cause and effect reasoning. The only thing about cause and effect reasoning is that I don't immediately identify it when I see it in the stimulus but when theres a weaken question, for example, I tend to get those correct even without directly identifying that it's a cause and effect question. Do you think this is holding me back?

As for the score analyzer, I've been using that throughout my studies! It definitely helps to see what I'm missing but the problem there is that there isn't one specific question type that I always get wrong. I feel like I get a good mix of everything wrong which is definitely not helpful because I don't know what to focus on.

That being said, I've been putting a lot of focus on LR in general lately because it seems I keep getting worse and worse. Now, I often second guess myself for every single question and just feel like I've confused myself with the amount of analyzation I've done. I don't know how to move forward with this problem and it's definitely causing me the most stress.

I know many are in the same boat as I am and feel frustrated by the amount of work put into studying with little return. I am signed up for the September LSAT but I'm not sure I can get to where I want to be in a month. I know that with rolling admissions it's best to apply AS EARLY as possible to have a better chance, especially applying to competitive schools that I plan on applying to, so my question is how bad would it be to sign up for the November test? Does this throw off my entire application plan? I know that my application will still be looked at but if my chances get more and more slim the longer I wait, would it just be better to take the entire year and continue studying and apply the following year? I am going to be a senior in the fall. What are your thoughts on this?

Thanks again for all of your help!

[Jonathan Evans]

MBeattheHeat,

Ultimately the decision is yours, but from what you're telling me it sounds as though you're reaching a kind of LSAT burnout situation in which you are losing some of your confidence and starting to second-guess yourself. These kinds of psychological factors to test-taking do not necessarily get better just with more practice. That's kinda why I encouraged you to hit a "reset button" in my earlier response.

You have done a considerable amount of preparation and have covered material sufficient to prepare yourself for September. You also have several weeks remaining to prepare for the test. In addition, the September score would put you in the first couple rounds of rolling admissions depending on when you complete the rest of your application. For these reasons, in your position, I would likely try to budget my remaining time getting geared up for September so that I can keep my plan in place. Personally, I don't function very well if I have something big hanging over my head. If I have a deadline, I tend to get work done and do it well.

With respect your specific areas of difficulty, consider the links that Dave shared here perhaps to get a slightly different perspective on conditional reasoning:

lsat/viewtopic.php?f=12&p=46448#p46448

In re causal reasoning, while ideally it is good to spot cause and effect reasoning in your initial analysis, if you're getting the questions right and prephrasing well, it sounds like you're in solid shape.

Try to be slightly zen about the test. Don't "overthink" questions. Follow the primary objectives for LR. Be confident and remember that you're the one in charge. If you are doing your own analysis and coming up with prephrases, trust that process. Everyone misses questions. Save the worrying about missing questions for your review. While you are taking the test, maintain your focus and concern yourself only with the problem you are working on. Do not worry about the problem you did two minutes ago. Do not worry about the upcoming problems. Be 100% committed to accomplishing the task at hand. If you find yourself getting flustered or losing your focus, put your pencil down, close your eyes, and count to ten.

This goes for your practice as well. Don't run yourself into the ground. Set fixed amounts of time to practice, set a goal, achieve your daily goal, and then call it a day.

Do your preptests and do targeted review, but get pumped and get confident for the big day, whether you choose to do it in September or November. Believe in yourself, and you will succeed.