Advise on consistency? Scores fluctuate from 165-171 Forum

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Larrymitchell808

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Advise on consistency? Scores fluctuate from 165-171

Post by Larrymitchell808 » Tue May 16, 2017 9:11 am

Hey, I'll get straight to it. I started at a 142, fast forward 8 months I'm now in the 165-171 range. Highest I've scored was a 172. My tests look something like this.
LG: -0/-1
LR: -1-5 (combined)
RC: -4/-8

It's clear that I have to work on RC the most. My question is as follows. When I do untimed work I am getting them all right, on every section, yes even RC. For some reason when that timer clicks on my approach changes somewhat and I'm making stupid mistakes. There have been LR sections timed I got all right, but for some reason I can't do it consistently.

Any advice would help as I've been stuck at the 165-171 range for a while now and I'm taking the june lsat.

Thanks!

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MediocreAtBest

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Re: Advise on consistency? Scores fluctuate from 165-171

Post by MediocreAtBest » Tue May 16, 2017 9:28 am

Are you running out of time on sections? Try doing a timed section and don't think about the time (if possible) and see how that ends up. I know on the sections I rush, I usually make bad mistakes, and I end up with some time to spare.

grades??

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Re: Advise on consistency? Scores fluctuate from 165-171

Post by grades?? » Tue May 16, 2017 9:34 am

You need more practice. I don't normally suggest this but one option is to only give yourself 30 minutes a section for a few days. Dont worry as much about the score, but train under a lot of pressure. Then going back to 35 it will feel much less pressured

Larrymitchell808

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Re: Advise on consistency? Scores fluctuate from 165-171

Post by Larrymitchell808 » Tue May 16, 2017 10:09 am

grades?? wrote:You need more practice. I don't normally suggest this but one option is to only give yourself 30 minutes a section for a few days. Dont worry as much about the score, but train under a lot of pressure. Then going back to 35 it will feel much less pressured
This is great advice, thank you. A lot of my mistakes are pressure related, when I try to pretend its the "real test" I tense up and score much lower.

grades??

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Re: Advise on consistency? Scores fluctuate from 165-171

Post by grades?? » Tue May 16, 2017 12:07 pm

Larrymitchell808 wrote:
grades?? wrote:You need more practice. I don't normally suggest this but one option is to only give yourself 30 minutes a section for a few days. Dont worry as much about the score, but train under a lot of pressure. Then going back to 35 it will feel much less pressured
This is great advice, thank you. A lot of my mistakes are pressure related, when I try to pretend its the "real test" I tense up and score much lower.
You need to put the pressure on during training so the actual game is easy. Same idea here. Find ways to pressure yourself. Get a noise generator online of people talking, coughing, etc and play it during the 30 minute sections. Stuff like that.

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zkyggi

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Re: Advise on consistency? Scores fluctuate from 165-171

Post by zkyggi » Tue May 16, 2017 2:20 pm

grades?? wrote:You need more practice. I don't normally suggest this but one option is to only give yourself 30 minutes a section for a few days. Dont worry as much about the score, but train under a lot of pressure. Then going back to 35 it will feel much less pressured
I strongly disagree. Giving yourself 30 minutes when you struggle with 35 is unlikely to actually make you better. Your problem isn't speed per se, it's process. When you review, see what kinds of mistakes you are making, and work that into your process. Since you're touching the 170s, missing one or two questions can be devastating, and the testmakers write the questions so that even those who understand the material mess up. Methodical and in-depth review will let you see how that is done, and you won't spend time on ACs considering the wrong answers that look appealing.

Getting accurate under 35 minutes is as much about doing easy questions fast as it is about doing hard questions slow, and it takes a bit of strategy.

Distractions, endurance, etc, are all fine things to work on, but those are mostly about simulating test-day. Timing is about learning the test itself, and you shouldn't change the test to do so.
Last edited by zkyggi on Sat Jan 27, 2018 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

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maybeman

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Re: Advise on consistency? Scores fluctuate from 165-171

Post by maybeman » Tue May 16, 2017 2:31 pm

zkyggi wrote:
grades?? wrote:You need more practice. I don't normally suggest this but one option is to only give yourself 30 minutes a section for a few days. Dont worry as much about the score, but train under a lot of pressure. Then going back to 35 it will feel much less pressured
I strongly disagree. Giving yourself 30 minutes when you struggle with 35 is unlikely to actually make you better. Your problem isn't speed per se, it's process. When you review, see what kinds of mistakes you are making, and work that into your process. Since you're touching the 170s, missing one or two questions can be devastating, and the testmakers write the questions so that even those who understand the material mess up. Methodical and in-depth review will let you see how that is done, and you won't spend time on ACs considering the wrong answers that look appealing.

Getting accurate under 35 minutes is as much about doing easy questions fast as it is about doing hard questions slow, and it takes a bit of strategy.

Distractions, endurance, etc, are all fine things to work on, but those are mostly about simulating test-day. Timing is about learning the test itself, and you shouldn't change the test to do so.
+1. Speed comes with a better understanding of the test. You should still set timing objectives to get an internal clock, though (e.g., 10 questions in 10 minutes, then 15 in 15, etc.).

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Re: Advise on consistency? Scores fluctuate from 165-171

Post by AJordan » Tue May 16, 2017 2:38 pm

maybeman wrote:
zkyggi wrote:
grades?? wrote:You need more practice. I don't normally suggest this but one option is to only give yourself 30 minutes a section for a few days. Dont worry as much about the score, but train under a lot of pressure. Then going back to 35 it will feel much less pressured
I strongly disagree. Giving yourself 30 minutes when you struggle with 35 is unlikely to actually make you better. Your problem isn't speed per se, it's process. When you review, see what kinds of mistakes you are making, and work that into your process. Since you're touching the 170s, missing one or two questions can be devastating, and the testmakers write the questions so that even those who understand the material mess up. Methodical and in-depth review will let you see how that is done, and you won't spend time on ACs considering the wrong answers that look appealing.

Getting accurate under 35 minutes is as much about doing easy questions fast as it is about doing hard questions slow, and it takes a bit of strategy.

Distractions, endurance, etc, are all fine things to work on, but those are mostly about simulating test-day. Timing is about learning the test itself, and you shouldn't change the test to do so.
+1. Speed comes with a better understanding of the test. You should still set timing objectives to get an internal clock, though (e.g., 10 questions in 10 minutes, then 15 in 15, etc.).
This worked for me as well. What questions are you missing most?
Last edited by AJordan on Sat Jan 27, 2018 2:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Larrymitchell808

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Re: Advise on consistency? Scores fluctuate from 165-171

Post by Larrymitchell808 » Tue May 16, 2017 8:22 pm

AJordan wrote:
maybeman wrote:
zkyggi wrote:
grades?? wrote:You need more practice. I don't normally suggest this but one option is to only give yourself 30 minutes a section for a few days. Dont worry as much about the score, but train under a lot of pressure. Then going back to 35 it will feel much less pressured
I strongly disagree. Giving yourself 30 minutes when you struggle with 35 is unlikely to actually make you better. Your problem isn't speed per se, it's process. When you review, see what kinds of mistakes you are making, and work that into your process. Since you're touching the 170s, missing one or two questions can be devastating, and the testmakers write the questions so that even those who understand the material mess up. Methodical and in-depth review will let you see how that is done, and you won't spend time on ACs considering the wrong answers that look appealing.

Getting accurate under 35 minutes is as much about doing easy questions fast as it is about doing hard questions slow, and it takes a bit of strategy.

Distractions, endurance, etc, are all fine things to work on, but those are mostly about simulating test-day. Timing is about learning the test itself, and you shouldn't change the test to do so.
+1. Speed comes with a better understanding of the test. You should still set timing objectives to get an internal clock, though (e.g., 10 questions in 10 minutes, then 15 in 15, etc.).
This worked for me as well. What questions are you missing most?
There isn't any specific question type I am missing most, which is why I decided to reach out for help. It's different question types, usually in the "tough" part of the section (questions 13-19) or on a tough RC passage. I look over the test and 9 times out of 10 my reaction the ones I got wrong are "you gotta be kidding me". Mostly stupid mistakes.

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zkyggi

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Re: Advise on consistency? Scores fluctuate from 165-171

Post by zkyggi » Tue May 16, 2017 9:02 pm

Larrymitchell808 wrote:
AJordan wrote:
maybeman wrote:
zkyggi wrote:
grades?? wrote:You need more practice. I don't normally suggest this but one option is to only give yourself 30 minutes a section for a few days. Dont worry as much about the score, but train under a lot of pressure. Then going back to 35 it will feel much less pressured
I strongly disagree. Giving yourself 30 minutes when you struggle with 35 is unlikely to actually make you better. Your problem isn't speed per se, it's process. When you review, see what kinds of mistakes you are making, and work that into your process. Since you're touching the 170s, missing one or two questions can be devastating, and the testmakers write the questions so that even those who understand the material mess up. Methodical and in-depth review will let you see how that is done, and you won't spend time on ACs considering the wrong answers that look appealing.

Getting accurate under 35 minutes is as much about doing easy questions fast as it is about doing hard questions slow, and it takes a bit of strategy.

Distractions, endurance, etc, are all fine things to work on, but those are mostly about simulating test-day. Timing is about learning the test itself, and you shouldn't change the test to do so.
+1. Speed comes with a better understanding of the test. You should still set timing objectives to get an internal clock, though (e.g., 10 questions in 10 minutes, then 15 in 15, etc.).
This worked for me as well. What questions are you missing most?
There isn't any specific question type I am missing most, which is why I decided to reach out for help. It's different question types, usually in the "tough" part of the section (questions 13-19) or on a tough RC passage. I look over the test and 9 times out of 10 my reaction the ones I got wrong are "you gotta be kidding me". Mostly stupid mistakes.
If you're making "stupid" mistakes, you need to review your mistakes and really internalize your mistakes. I know early in prep it is easy to write off stupid mistakes, but they really persist until you break those habits--and they are habits. You are either reading too quickly or too uncritically, and both can be fixed easily by acknowledging that you are doing it. When you look at your mistakes, you should never, ever miss an easy question at your scoring range. If you are, it isn't the time, it is a problem with your approach to the questions. I had the same issue, and by addressing it I broke into the 170s without doing anything besides review.
Last edited by zkyggi on Sat Jan 27, 2018 8:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

Larrymitchell808

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Re: Advise on consistency? Scores fluctuate from 165-171

Post by Larrymitchell808 » Wed May 17, 2017 8:45 am

zkyggi wrote:
Larrymitchell808 wrote:
AJordan wrote:
maybeman wrote:
zkyggi wrote:
grades?? wrote:You need more practice. I don't normally suggest this but one option is to only give yourself 30 minutes a section for a few days. Dont worry as much about the score, but train under a lot of pressure. Then going back to 35 it will feel much less pressured
I strongly disagree. Giving yourself 30 minutes when you struggle with 35 is unlikely to actually make you better. Your problem isn't speed per se, it's process. When you review, see what kinds of mistakes you are making, and work that into your process. Since you're touching the 170s, missing one or two questions can be devastating, and the testmakers write the questions so that even those who understand the material mess up. Methodical and in-depth review will let you see how that is done, and you won't spend time on ACs considering the wrong answers that look appealing.

Getting accurate under 35 minutes is as much about doing easy questions fast as it is about doing hard questions slow, and it takes a bit of strategy.

Distractions, endurance, etc, are all fine things to work on, but those are mostly about simulating test-day. Timing is about learning the test itself, and you shouldn't change the test to do so.
+1. Speed comes with a better understanding of the test. You should still set timing objectives to get an internal clock, though (e.g., 10 questions in 10 minutes, then 15 in 15, etc.).
This worked for me as well. What questions are you missing most?
There isn't any specific question type I am missing most, which is why I decided to reach out for help. It's different question types, usually in the "tough" part of the section (questions 13-19) or on a tough RC passage. I look over the test and 9 times out of 10 my reaction the ones I got wrong are "you gotta be kidding me". Mostly stupid mistakes.
If you're making "stupid" mistakes, you need to review your mistakes and really internalize your mistakes. I know early in prep it is easy to write off stupid mistakes, but they really persist until you break those habits--and they are habits. You are either reading too quickly or too uncritically, and both can be fixed easily by acknowledging that you are doing it. When you look at your mistakes, you should never, ever miss an easy question at your scoring range. If you are, it isn't the time, it is a problem with your approach to the questions. I had the same issue, and by addressing it I broke into the 170s without doing anything besides review.
Thank you for that, gives me confidence knowing there's a cure. Does it make sense that its a mixture of timing and reading uncritically on certain questions? I usually only have this problem when the first 5-7 questions didn't go as fast as I would have liked and then I feel "rushed" which leads to not looking over all the answer choices on questions that have better answers, which is 2 out of the 3 I'm getting wrong. I won't get an easy question or a question with one good answer wrong, I'm getting the ones where they give u an ok answer but then answer choice E is the greatest weakener on earth and I just never made it that far into the answer choices. When do I know to look.over all of the answer choices and when to move on for timing purposes?
I've spent a lot of time on untimed work to really understand the test, and I do, but there's something about my timing strategy that's throwing me off. Maybe it's a combination of timing and uncritically reading?

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