LSAT time problem Forum

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waternfood

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LSAT time problem

Post by waternfood » Wed Mar 21, 2018 10:19 am

Hey everyone,

On the advice of the people in this forum and my own desires, I decided to re-take the LSAT. However, as I analyzed how I did last time, it seems like 95% of the question I got wrong I actually never go to. So time seems to be a big factor for me. English is not my first language but I am very used to reading and testing in English, considering my undergrad was completed in English.

What I was actually wondering is if anyone here had the same problem and was able to significantly improve? If yes, anyone could give me pointers on what they have done/what they have used?

I'm at 158, looking for 170+.
Study for first time = taking a few practice tests, read a book about lsat strategies once and procrastinated a lot. Ready to take it really seriously now though.

Thank you in advance.

LSAT_Ninja_Tutor

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Re: LSAT time problem

Post by LSAT_Ninja_Tutor » Fri Mar 23, 2018 10:22 pm

This test is learnable and I believe anyone can improve if they're using effective methods. Pretty much everyone has a time issue when the first start prepping. I did too. Why is this? That is one of the major challenges of the test. The test is designed with the expectation that most people will not be able to finish. They really are asking a lot of you in that 35 minutes. If everyone had unlimited time, most would probably score very well. However, they are testing how quickly you can process information and then make inferences from the information given. If you have trouble with this, that means you need to increase your knowledge of what they are expecting you to do in each question. They only way to improve timing is through lots of practice. With this practice you will develop and strengthen the skills needed to do well. One of the best ways to do this is with Blind Review. This is what pushed me to my 177. For every question you do, make sure you understand why the right answer is right and why the wrong answers are wrong. You should be able to verbalize this. Increase your accuracy first. Then worry about timing. If you don't see improvement after that, you need to question the effectiveness of the studying that you are doing.

Bla Bla Bla Blah

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Re: LSAT time problem

Post by Bla Bla Bla Blah » Sun Mar 25, 2018 1:46 am

Honest tp God, if English isn't a language that you excel at, then you will be brutalized by the Bar Exam even if you do get through law school itself. The Bar Exam will test you in a very nuanced way that requires a very keen understanding of the English language and the word tricks that they like to use in the MBE. A low score may actually be a gift to you on the LSAT as it is telling you, right off the bat, that law school probably isn't for you.

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BeeTeeZ

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Re: LSAT time problem

Post by BeeTeeZ » Sun Mar 25, 2018 4:42 am

Bla Bla Bla Blah wrote:Honest tp God, if English isn't a language that you excel at, then you will be brutalized by the Bar Exam even if you do get through law school itself. The Bar Exam will test you in a very nuanced way that requires a very keen understanding of the English language and the word tricks that they like to use in the MBE. A low score may actually be a gift to you on the LSAT as it is telling you, right off the bat, that law school probably isn't for you.
Before s/he takes the Bar or MBE s/he will be reading, researching, analyzing, and writing about the law in English for 3 years--during law school. If OP studied English with the intensity of law school, OP would be fluent in English well-within 3 years. After 3 years of law school, OP will know everything she needs to know about English to pass the Bar and MBE.

andrewhl

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Re: LSAT time problem

Post by andrewhl » Sun Mar 25, 2018 10:43 pm

Bla Bla Bla Blah wrote:Honest tp God, if English isn't a language that you excel at, then you will be brutalized by the Bar Exam even if you do get through law school itself. The Bar Exam will test you in a very nuanced way that requires a very keen understanding of the English language and the word tricks that they like to use in the MBE. A low score may actually be a gift to you on the LSAT as it is telling you, right off the bat, that law school probably isn't for you.
There are many international law school students who get through BAR and a lot of them didn't even live in English countries before they entered law school.
Whether they will excel as a lawyer may be uncertain since there will still be both cultural and language barriers for non-English speakers. But getting through an Exam won't be an issue for those who spend enough time with reading/writing training in a pure English environment.
And frankly speaking, OP's English looks pretty good based on his previous scores.
I believe any scores around 160 in LSAT means the test taker has already mastered English enough to understand test materials under timed condition, which is not easy even for a lot of native speakers.

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albanach

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Re: LSAT time problem

Post by albanach » Mon Mar 26, 2018 10:43 am

Accuracy first, then speed.

You need to start doing untimed tests. Get your accuracy up to where you need to be. Now you've mastered the questions, start narrowing in the time - 50 minutes, then 45 minutes, then 40 minutes all the while making sure your accuracy remains. Eventually, get it down to 35 minutes and take the exam. Don't sit the exam again until you're regularly scoring in your target rage on timed tests.

waternfood

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Re: LSAT time problem

Post by waternfood » Mon Apr 02, 2018 4:02 pm

Thanks everyone for the replies. Just to clarify to anyone still wondering, I believe I have absolutely mastered the English language. My undergraduate degree was heavily based on reading and writing and I've encountered no problems. I mentioned that English is not my first language because I thought it could be a factor influencing my speed, but it seems as if everyone's problem is speed. I will do some intense studying and concentrate on accuracy before I focus on time, as many of you suggested.

Wednesday

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Re: LSAT time problem

Post by Wednesday » Wed Apr 04, 2018 11:57 am

waternfood wrote:Thanks everyone for the replies. Just to clarify to anyone still wondering, I believe I have absolutely mastered the English language. My undergraduate degree was heavily based on reading and writing and I've encountered no problems. I mentioned that English is not my first language because I thought it could be a factor influencing my speed, but it seems as if everyone's problem is speed. I will do some intense studying and concentrate on accuracy before I focus on time, as many of you suggested.
If you believe that you have mastered the English language, then why even bring it up? You really aren't doing yourself any favours by saying that English is not your first language, in fact, you open yourself to critisim and remarks about your abilities. Americans are not always fond of bilingual people, and native speakers of English are known to have had a tendency to diminish the value of other languages, especially SOME other languages.

I strongly recommend that you forget you are not a native speaker of English and never use your ESL status as an excuse for anything, including LSAT. You can be a non-native speaker and have a better grasp of grammar, be more eloquant and have a wider active vocabulary than many/most native speakers. Native speakers usually have a much larger passive vocabulary (words they know), but that doesn't mean their active vocabularly (the words they actually use) is equally large or sophisticated. In other words, you can be a native speaker and still sound like a complete dumbass. Native speakers recognize complex syntactic structures faster than non-native speakers, but the difference is so small no one will ever notice it in real world. You can argue it can make a difference on LSAT since every second matters, and you may be right, but I wouldn't think that it would cost you more than 2-3 points.

Aim at being a better speaker of English than most native speakers, especially if you want to be a sucessful lawyer. If you have an accent and you would rather not, think about hiring a voice coach. It is hard, but possible to lose a foreign accent.

As for your timing issue, try different stratigies and see what works for you. You probably know or at least suspect what is causing the problem. Getting stuck when encountering unfamiliar words? Too many unfamiliar words? Not being able to accurately interpret complex grammatical structues? Some people are just not very fast, but I strongly believe than everyone can improve with practice. Good luck!

vattah

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Re: LSAT time problem

Post by vattah » Wed May 30, 2018 7:52 pm

albanach wrote:Accuracy first, then speed.

You need to start doing untimed tests. Get your accuracy up to where you need to be. Now you've mastered the questions, start narrowing in the time - 50 minutes, then 45 minutes, then 40 minutes all the while making sure your accuracy remains. Eventually, get it down to 35 minutes and take the exam. Don't sit the exam again until you're regularly scoring in your target rage on timed tests.
not the OP, but thanks for this answer, I too am having a time issue and this is immensely helpful.

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