To Time OR NOT TO TIME...Please help!

[uwofresh]

Hey all, I need an advice on how to prepare for the LSAT.
Last year, I took Kaplan courses and got absolutely nothing from it. (The best i ended up scoring on some LSAT preptests were 149)
This time around, I chose to study with LRB AND LGB.  So far I studied for 8 hours a day, for two and a half weeks.  I just scored 155 on the preptest, albeit one logic game was the one from the LGB.
Yet, I still made silly mistakes on a lot of LR questions and i think this is due to the fact that I'm getting too anxious with timing and end up skimming through the stimulus. 

So, would it be better to just slow down and just go through several preptests slowly, to make sure I know why certain answer is the right choice, and make sure I know how to handle different types of questions I learned from the LRB?

If I should do this, should I buy the earliest 10 preptests rather than going through the next 10 and the other 10 preptests, so I won't be wasting precious preptests?  I'm writing it in October, and I feel like I'm gonna be running out..since I study like a crazy monkey...

[guyboston]

What is your LSAT goal?

The best advice seems to first get ALL the preptesets you can.  Save the newer ones for later.  But try to work only on PrepTests. 

I started off reading both the LGb and the LRB.  Then I started doing sections untimed.  After you finish the section meticululously go over the questions you got wrong and those you were iffy on.  Make sure you understand why the right answer is the right answer and even why you chose the wrong one.

By then hopefully you will be familiarized w/ the type of questions on each section.

Then move on to timed sections.  Maybe start w/ 40 minute sections instead of 35.  And then move down. 

My goal was to understand the test and then work on my speed.

Good Luck 

[uwofresh]

My goal is to get arond 158-160...
I have a competitive GPA (3.75, 3.73 over last two yrs: 86.7%, 85% over last two yrs) and I think this would be fairly safe for Canadian Law school.
I'm spending about 7-8 good hours a day, 6 days a week, and I'll be continuing this until October 1.

Anymore advices?

[V]

Understand as much as you can untimed.  But BEWARE:  it's a whole other animal under timed conditions.  So allow yourself the time you need to learn and understand what you need to know to get to your goal.  Once you hit that, insert the timer.  Go from there.  You learn A TON about yourself under the clock after you've learned what you need to learn to get to the destination.

hope this helps.

[Amanda H.]

Start out untimed, then gradually increase your speed once you have understanding down.

And you shouldn't need to work 6 days a week, 7/8 hours a day.  3-4 days a week should be fine, with shorter study sessions.  If you study too much, you may burn out, and you'll probably get more benefit/improvement with a more moderate schedule. 

The key is steady work over time.

The most important thing is that you work through the most recent 20-25 exams.  I would work through those exams in waves, so that you get to do older/newer exams untimed, then slow-timed, then faster-timed, then regulation timed.

[ragnar]

My goal is to get arond 158-160...
I have a competitive GPA (3.75, 3.73 over last two yrs: 86.7%, 85% over last two yrs) and I think this would be fairly safe for Canadian Law school.
I'm spending about 7-8 good hours a day, 6 days a week, and I'll be continuing this until October 1.

Anymore advices?

7hours times 6 days times 18 weeks = a butt load of studying. i thought that ive studied quite a bit, im geussing itll be about 100 - 150 hours when all is said and done. And to tell you the truth i dont think any more than that would be all that beneficial.

just curious, there seems to be a lot of smart people on here testing in the 160's 170's, how many hours has evryone studied? How many hours does everyone recommend?

[voce]

Over about three months, I took a full, timed practice test every Saturday morning (starting at 8:00 am, just like test day). I also did one practice section every day during my lunch hour at work. This doesn't work for everyone. Some people should start out untimed, but the timing is key. You need to get a sense for how much time you can spend on a question before you need to move on to the next one--or how you'll decide which parts within a section you'll tackle first (e.g., which logic games might be easiest). Everyone does it differently, but I think it's important to do a significant number of practice tests timed.

[BoscoBreaux]

Hey all, I need an advice on how to prepare for the LSAT.


So, would it be better to just slow down and just go through several preptests slowly, to make sure I know why certain answer is the right choice, and make sure I know how to handle different types of questions I learned from the LRB?

Start untimed, and go on from there.

Speed is a function of familiarity, and unless you are familiar with the nuances of the questions, you cannot develop the speed necessary to score adequately on the LSAT. Once you can answer the questions accurately without time being a factor, then you work on your speed to the point where you answer the most questions you can given your proficiencies. (Some persons score higher by going slow, even not answering a couple of questions they don't get to. Optimally, however, you want to take care with each question, and just finishing in time to do a quick check of your work for bonehead mistakes.)

[Amanda H.]

Hey all, I need an advice on how to prepare for the LSAT.


So, would it be better to just slow down and just go through several preptests slowly, to make sure I know why certain answer is the right choice, and make sure I know how to handle different types of questions I learned from the LRB?

Start untimed, and go on from there.

Speed is a function of familiarity, and unless you are familiar with the nuances of the questions, you cannot develop the speed necessary to score adequately on the LSAT. Once you can answer the questions accurately without time being a factor, then you work on your speed to the point where you answer the most questions you can given your proficiencies. (Some persons score higher by going slow, even not answering a couple of questions they don't get to. Optimally, however, you want to take care with each question, and just finishing in time to do a quick check of your work for bonehead mistakes.)

Excellent post.

[uwofresh]

Thanks for the great advice guys!
Amanda, I took your advice and started my online tutor sessions with the ppl you recommended.  They set me up with a schedule on 6 waves (Since I want to do more than 25 preptests).  At first, I wanted to start timing myself right away because I was getting anxious and wanted to see how much I've improved.  But I realized that I would tend to get frustrated and just end up wasting precious preptests.
Now I think about it, I should make sure I sit down and go through them slowly and build up my knowledge and endurance over the 4 months I have left.  No point in making the repeated mistakes and getting frustrated at a earlier point.

Also, I noticed ppl saying that the newer preptests are harder and it seems like majority of the ppl are agreeing with this.  This is kinda freaking me out even though I know I shouldn't be worrying about that at this point...but exactly How much harder does it get?? Is it SIGNFICANTLY noticable to the point where it would make 5-6 point difference?

Secondly, is there a legitimate way of improving my reading comprehension?  This area is by far the weakest part for me, and since day one, I have not been able to improve in this section.  Even though I go through the wrong answers, I just can't seem to get a grasp of it.  Any advice would be really apprecaited.  Thanks!