Increasing LG speed

[bella243]

Dear LSAT pros,

Could you please so kindly advise me on how to best increase LG speed? When I take untimed sections, I usually get between -1 to -4 on this section. Timed sections, however, typically yield only 8-10 correct answers and I only manage to complete two games and maybe start a third one. Accuracy suffers a bit, too, as I find that the time pressure sometimes means that I find even easier questions more challenging and struggle to predict what the correct answer should include (which is something I should aim for, based on my practice so far). I have less six weeks until my exam, and was wondering what the best strategy is in the next few weeks for increasing speed. Should I do only timed practice and then a very thorough review? Or mix it up with untimed sections? Try and do logic games every day? Please let me know!

As for specific games, I find advanced linear games and games with slightly unusual elements like unusual rules or uncertainty in numerical distribution, to be more time consuming as I try to figure out the setup in order to avoid brute forcing my way through the questions. I'm also currently trying to avoid getting stuck on very time consuming questions and instead eliminate what I can, guess, and move on (5 ifs, justify, rule substitution, for example). I also keep global could be rue question until the end of the game, so I can hopefully eliminate as many choices as I can.

Thanks so much and I look forward to hearing from you.

[jacklaj93]

Lsat Pros,

I heartily second this as topic of discussion, and find that my situation corresponds exactly with that outlined by the previous poster. In my case, the point at issue may well be a good, old-fashioned lack of brain cells. That said, there must surely be at least some baseline strategies for ramping up speed without seeing accuracy go the way of Gallipoli.

To put a finer point on it, have you encountered students who can successfully approach local questions without necessarily redrawing an entire diagram. In another words, is there a shortcut, or is this something that necessarily only comes with considerable practice?

Very much looking forward to your thoughts.

Thanks!!

Cheers,

Jacklaj

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hello both,

Great conversation topic. Let me give you some thoughts on how to increase speed.

1) The first thing you should do is really counterintuitive. You need to slow down. Put in the work up front in the games. Rushing into the questions without doing a complete job with your diagram will slow you down. You'll eventually need that information, but instead of having it organized up front, rushing will make you pull out the information you need bit by bit. Do that work up front, so it's organized and flow faster. You need to be careful when making this initial diagram, because any errors you make in this set up will come back to haunt you in question after question.

2) Draw those mini-diagrams. If you've done the work up front, built that main diagram, you've learned the basic structure of the game. The mini-diagrams should be quick to draw, and they are the fastest way to approach local questions. They are a way to organize what you know about the game.

3) Redo the games. Any time that you do a timed game section, do it a second time untimed BEFORE you look at answers. How did you diagram change when you had the extra time? What could you have done the first time around to see those inferences up front? Did your answers to any questions change when you did it untimed? What mistake did you make in the rush of timing?

4) Do A LOT of games. I can't stress this enough. DO MORE GAMES. Exposure counts here. The more games you do, the less unfamiliar the different rules become. You will know how to approach the game because you will have seen a similar rule/game/structure before. Draw the diagrams, write explanations, and try your best to figure the games out on your own. Using resources like these forums is tempting---you can have someone else figure out the game for you! But resist the temptation to look up explanations whenever possible. Try to construct the explanation on your own. The process of developing that explanation will force you to really understand the game.

5) Determine your best strategy. This will differ from person to person. Your goal is to get the most questions correct. Finishing all 4 games, but with only 50% accuracy will result in a poorer score than doing 3 games with 90% accuracy. Figure out what strategy you want to use, and make sure you reevaluate it often. Just because a strategy worked for you at one point in your study doesn't mean that it's the right strategy by the end of your study.

Hope that helps!
Rachael