Postponing to Dec + needing study advice Forum

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adrie24

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Postponing to Dec + needing study advice

Post by adrie24 » Thu Aug 17, 2017 5:38 pm

Hi! This may sound super frazzled.. please bear with me!
I've been taking a blueprint prep course and all in all, it has been great. I had been signed up to take the test in September but today I decided be realistic and postpone to December. I know I want to focus on getting into a T14 school, and so I know that my score has to be 168+. We had just taken our 3rd timed PT in class and I still had not improved at all- granted, there are still 3 more PTs lined up in our schedule, but the test is in a month and I am not getting the score I wanted at all. My diagnostic was 148 and after the 3rd PT I have only gone up to a 150. For the 2 PTs that we had taken so far, when I followed 7sage's blind review method, I would get 165+. Obviously, there is a HUGE gap here, and I'm trying to figure out how to fix it. Ideally, I'm hoping to get above a 165 in the real thing. It seems that my issue is lack of focus/timing when taking under test conditions. For some reason, it's almost like my mind completely blanks and I'm seeing the words on the page but not comprehending any of it when under timed conditions. I have to reread the stimulus multiple times (then still forget what I just read), and then I panic and can't focus or understand anything. Not sure if this is an attention/focus problem or just lack of practice taking the test timed? When blind reviewing and doing the questions without the time constraint, I get them right. I have never been a good tester but I have been studying my butt off and not seeing any improvement (apart from when I blind review) has been extremely discouraging.

Also, obviously, I don't think I should just drop my course. I'll still attend lessons as there is just a month left and I guess I'll still take the scheduled practice tests?

I'm looking for advice on how to go on from here, as now I have four more months to prep before the December exam. In blueprint, the PTs done would be 68-72. I also have PT 42-80 and already preordered 81! I'll be saving the more recent ones to do leading up to December. I've already read the LSAT trainer (did it concurrently with my BP class... did all the drills but just didn't do the practice tests as some of the BP scheduled tests were the same). Should I pick up the power score bibles? Do a timed section a day? Get a tutor? Take a break? Help!!!

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GnarMarBinx

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Re: Postponing to Dec + needing study advice

Post by GnarMarBinx » Thu Aug 17, 2017 8:18 pm

adrie24 wrote:Hi! This may sound super frazzled.. please bear with me!
I've been taking a blueprint prep course and all in all, it has been great. I had been signed up to take the test in September but today I decided be realistic and postpone to December. I know I want to focus on getting into a T14 school, and so I know that my score has to be 168+. We had just taken our 3rd timed PT in class and I still had not improved at all- granted, there are still 3 more PTs lined up in our schedule, but the test is in a month and I am not getting the score I wanted at all. My diagnostic was 148 and after the 3rd PT I have only gone up to a 150. For the 2 PTs that we had taken so far, when I followed 7sage's blind review method, I would get 165+. Obviously, there is a HUGE gap here, and I'm trying to figure out how to fix it. Ideally, I'm hoping to get above a 165 in the real thing. It seems that my issue is lack of focus/timing when taking under test conditions. For some reason, it's almost like my mind completely blanks and I'm seeing the words on the page but not comprehending any of it when under timed conditions. I have to reread the stimulus multiple times (then still forget what I just read), and then I panic and can't focus or understand anything. Not sure if this is an attention/focus problem or just lack of practice taking the test timed? When blind reviewing and doing the questions without the time constraint, I get them right. I have never been a good tester but I have been studying my butt off and not seeing any improvement (apart from when I blind review) has been extremely discouraging.

Also, obviously, I don't think I should just drop my course. I'll still attend lessons as there is just a month left and I guess I'll still take the scheduled practice tests?

I'm looking for advice on how to go on from here, as now I have four more months to prep before the December exam. In blueprint, the PTs done would be 68-72. I also have PT 42-80 and already preordered 81! I'll be saving the more recent ones to do leading up to December. I've already read the LSAT trainer (did it concurrently with my BP class... did all the drills but just didn't do the practice tests as some of the BP scheduled tests were the same). Should I pick up the power score bibles? Do a timed section a day? Get a tutor? Take a break? Help!!!
All you need is more times practice! You should get your hands on the practice tests up to 40, and use them for timed drills to get used to the timing. Doing timed drill sections gets you much more used to pacing in a testing condition. I would also recommend the lsat trainer for LR and RC, as well as the LG bible (if you still need work in LG). I think most people get flustered in their first few LSATs, but you eventually learn how to pace yourself and it becomes less stressful over time. It's all in the practice!

adrie24

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Re: Postponing to Dec + needing study advice

Post by adrie24 » Fri Aug 18, 2017 5:12 pm

Thank you for your response! I actually have gone through the Trainer which helped immensely with my LR and RC (RC being my weakest). I'll definitely keep doing timed drills. You're right- it seems that I just need more practice with timing. I'm glad I postponed :)

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