Fluctuating scores

[ka98]

Hello! I am currently studying for the July exam and am aiming for the 170s, part of that means consistently getting -3 or less on each LR which is my current problem. I've been improving on LR this past month on average, but it still widely fluctuates (best score was -1, generally btw -3 to -8). On the ones that I do worse on, I go back and have the "duh" moments where I knew I could/should have gotten some of those answers correct, and if I were to rely solely on what I did and should have gotten right then I would receive no more than -2 to -3 on each LR section. Unfortunately that is not the case.

Other notes:
- I've been doing much better at timing, at times I'm left with 4 minutes, and rarely do I run out of time. Could it be that I've been rushing more?
- there is no specific question type that I consistently get wrong, and it is often an array of the hard - harder questions that trip me up (at the same time I get most of the hardest questions ie >39% correct).

Any advice on how to improve precision and narrow fluctuations? Additionally, on another note, will you be able to underline on the logical reasoning exam for the digital exam? I know that you're allowed to do so on RC but was unsure if the same was true for LR. A final menial question, if there's a stylus are you allowed to "cross out" answers (ie slanted line through it as you might write on the paper exam?)

Thank you!

[George George]

@ka98

Digital LSAT Functionality Qs
(1) You can underline in Logical Reasoning. Those functionalities will not change from section to section on the Digital LSAT. I recommend visiting https://familiar.lsac.org/ for demos.

(2) You are allowed to mark answer choices as incorrect on the Digital LSAT by clicking an icon to the right of the answer choice. Incorrect answers will then appear faded and not "selectable" as the correct answer. Again, see the above link for more on that.

Logical Reasoning "Duh" Moments
(3) Usually, when LSAT students go back and quickly realize what they missed (but should've seen the first time), this means that their brain, for whatever reason, was falling victim to confirmation bias. Essentially, confirmation bias makes your brain read something a certain way, and keeps you in a "loop" so that you literally are not seeing the text as presented in front of your eyes. For example, you might read a sentence and omit a prepositional phrase, because your brain is disregarding certain pieces as unimportant. (Our brains have evolved to do this.) So... how do you fight confirmation bias on the LSAT? Simple! You flag those Qs to review, and then you go back later after your brain has buffered and reread the stimulus. This delay should allow you to "see" the Q with fresh eyes (the same way as when you redo the problems as you review a PrepTest), and you should be able to level up this score. Since you, in particular, @ka98, mention you have additional time, going back to 2-3 Qs at the end that you've flagged as "close calls" or "not quite sure," should help you convert those points and help you hit your score goal in the 170s.

Best of luck!

[ka98]

Hello George,

Thank you for your advice and answers! As for the confirmation bias phenomenon (which I do believe is taking place), how do I mark the question as "for review" when I believe at the time that they are easy and 95% correct? often times it is the questions I mark as "hard" that I get correct and the ones that I didn't mark that I miss which makes it difficult to go back to find the right questions to review.

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi ka98,

During your PTs, you can differentiate your markings. I tended to draw a question mark next to questions that were tricky for me, and a check mark next to questions I thought were a slam dunk. It made it easy for me later to look and see what I was missing and why. If you are missing slam dunks, those can be the ones you flag on the digital test (there is a flag type feature on the digital test).

The key is to optimize the strategy for YOUR individual brain. It might feel like you are always missing the easy questions, because those feel the most frustrating when you miss them. When you actually mark questions as you go with some way to differentiate between tricky and easy, you'll be able to compare and see where you are losing the most points, and where you can stand to improve.

Hope that helps!
Rachael