How do you know you're improving??

[uwofresh]

Hi guys, I've been studying my ass off for the LSAT past two months now with an online tutor.  I've done about 5 preptests totally untimed, and recently started doing some of the preptests timed, though not limited to 35minutes, but to how much time I am COMFORTABLE with. 

First, it took me 80 minutes to finish one LR section with 20-21 correct answers, and then slowly moved down to 50 minutes, and then 40 minutes and now to around 37-41minutes, scoring about 21-22.  Yet, I'm not exactly sure how much I've improved because there's always 2-3 questions that I've dealt with while going through the LRB.  I always get conscious whether having done those 2-3 questions is actually making me go quicker, and not because I have improved over the two months.
Am i being too paranoid???

[zerofact0r]

I'd be careful to really go over what you got wrong (and right) or else you'll run out of material. 

[RockyMarciano]

You may want to start taking the tests timed by limiting yourself to only 35 minutes. Also, always use the answer sheet that they provide you with. It is good to get used to bubbling the answers and taking note of the time it takes up. I think upon taking a few timed LSATs, you will be able to evaluate your results.

[zerofact0r]

If you're only missing 3-4 in 37 minutes, seems like a good start to me. 

[uwofresh]

If you're only missing 3-4 in 37 minutes, seems like a good start to me. 

Yeah, but I'm not sure whether recognizing 2-3 questions due to LRB is allowing me to score that high in that less of a time. 

[LSATguy]

I dont know about others but i can say that you have improved. Going down from 80 min to 37 min is an achievement though not something that you would be aiming for. Also you are getting 21-22 ques. right which is pretty decent. You just need to work on the time and try to eliminate the wrong answer choices within 20 seconds.

It would be good if you bought one of those silent timers. I personally bought the $30 silent timer from silentimer.com and i love it. The good thing about it is that it even tells you about time limits for every question after you put in the # of questions and time limit. Dont worry you will improve. 

[zerofact0r]

I'm confused, are you using the book as you do the questions?

[uwofresh]

I dont know about others but i can say that you have improved. Going down from 80 min to 37 min is an achievement though not something that you would be aiming for. Also you are getting 21-22 ques. right which is pretty decent. You just need to work on the time and try to eliminate the wrong answer choices within 20 seconds.

It would be good if you bought one of those silent timers. I personally bought the $30 silent timer from silentimer.com and i love it. The good thing about it is that it even tells you about time limits for every question after you put in the # of questions and time limit. Dont worry you will improve. 

Thanks buddy.
I already bought a silent timer from Powerscore.  I noticed that having a silent timer totally helps than using my stupid cell phone!

[uwofresh]

I'm confused, are you using the book as you do the questions?

Sorry, let me clarify what i said.
I've gone through the LRB last month and finished all their LR questions that they provided in the book.  Since those questions are directly from the LSAT, I tend to recognize them when I work on the preptests. 

I'm starting to think that this has allowed me to answer them correctly much faster than other questions, which may have allowed me to score higher and reduce my time.  Yet, I'm not 100% certain since I don't believe I'm smart enough to memorize ALL the previous questions I worked through in the LRB. 

I guess i'm being overly paranoid?

[zerofact0r]

I've never read the LRB, so I'm not sure how extensive it is, but: Try and find recent tests with have questions not in LRB, OR.. assume you wouldn't have correctly answered those questions and recalculate your score.  Can't possible see more then 1 or 2 per section.