Timed VS Untimed

[acruz1]

Untimed I score consistently at a 155. Timed I score a 140.
I feel I have a fairly strong understanding of the LSAT. I have about 19 days before I take the March LSAT. I would like to score at least a 150-153. I plan on taking it again in April.

At this point in my studying how often should I be taking timed sections (individual sections plus full lengths) and reviewing?

Should I just completely focus on timing and reviewing now?

Thanks in advance for your assistance!

[Paul Marsh]

Hi acruz1! Good question.

It's difficult for me to say recommend how to allocate your time without knowing what you've already studied. Have you taken a full-length course with PowerScore? If not, have you worked with a private tutor? Have you worked through the LSAT coursebooks or PowerScore Bibles?

I always recommend starting with going through the coursebooks/Bibles first (ideally with a full-length course or tutor, but at least work through them solo if that's not possible). The rigorous practice test + review portion of preparation is best served after. The reason for this is that the coursebooks/Bibles contain the "tools" for how to approach every question type on the LSAT. To make a simple analogy - if you're trying to learn to be a handyman, you need to go out and buy some tools before you can really get better at fixing things. Without first gathering these "tools", just taking endless practice tests isn't very helpful. On the contrary, if you haven't learned the correct way to attack every problem, taking a lot of practice tests can simply reinforce incorrect ways of approaching certain question types and make it more difficult to change your approach to those questions later. So if you haven't completely gone through the coursebooks/Bibles yet, or if there's any area of those books that you don't understand or struggle to apply, I strongly recommend taking the time to change that. Even though the test is approaching fast, it's not too late to add new tools to your belt! Before taking practice test after practice test, make sure that your way of approaching every question type on the LSAT is in line with that of the coursebooks/Bibles. Again, timed tests are not necessarily the best way to practice that. Instead, slowly working through the problems in the coursebooks and Bibles, as well as untimed practice of sections to make sure your approach to each question type is correct, are more important.

Once you are confident that the way you attack each problem is the same as what's in the coursebooks/Bibles, that's when it's time to hammer the practice tests. At this stage, frequently taking timed practice tests is very important. And carefully reviewing each question you struggled with on those practice tests is equally essential! Did you simply make a dumb mistake? Just move on and vow to be more careful. Or was there something in the way you approached the question that could be improved upon? In that case, review the section in the books, or ask a tutor (on this forum or through a private lesson) about it. If you believe you've soaked up everything from the coursebooks/Bibles, then practice tests and review should be the vast majority of your study time. If you're really at that stage, then my weekly study schedule would probably look something like this:

Day 1: Practice test
Day 2: Review practice test, working through every problem that gave you trouble. Look out for patterns: are there specific question types or concepts that you struggle with.
Day 3: Address the patterns that you noticed on Day 2. Review the relevant areas of the coursebooks/Bibles, or ask a PowerScore tutor about it
Days 4-6: Repeat Days 1-3.
Day 7: I'd say go outside but we're in a pandemic. Watch Lord of the Rings or something.

Hope that helps, and good luck with the rest of your studying!