What's the best way to cram for logic games?

[iceepop]

Let me start by saying that I hate logic games with a fiery passion.  They are the source of my nervousness with regards to the LSAT. 

I am signed up for the June test, and my scores on the logic games are basically what have determined my grades on the practice tests.  When I do well on the logic games, I score in the low- to mid-160's.  When I bomb the logic games section, I score only in the mid- to high-150's.

Now I'm not looking for anything miraculous.  I would be content with even a 160 on the real thing (though I'd obviously love to get a 165, which is my top practice score so far, and I am very afraid of getting a 154, which is my lowest).

Anyways, what is the best approach for me with the 5 weeks I have left to study?  I have been taking practice tests and doing practice problems for each section, but simply doing the practice logic games over and over does not help if I cannot learn some sort of method.  I have the LG bible.  Should I just start studying that and try to go through the whole thing?  I'm sort of clueless about the LG section of the test.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[DerekShiHarvard]

I have the LG bible.  Should I just start studying that and try to go through the whole thing?  I'm sort of clueless about the LG section of the test.

Read your logic games bible cover to cover and do your best to internalize the methods it teaches. Efficient diagram creation is essential, and I am confident that you can learn this from the bible. Practice these methods on your practice LSATs... review wrong answers and even redo games that give you trouble.

If you don't see any significant improvement by the time test day rolls around, you need to postpone your test until October. It would be absurd to not receive a great score because of weakness in one section of the test.

[LSAT All Star]

Iceepop:

Can you be any more specific about the problems you are having with the games?

[iceepop]

I don't know the different styles of games, so I basically just try to use what little knowledge I have of diagramming and make it work for every type of game.  Sometimes it works out okay, sometimes it fails miserably.

[just Trev]

jeffort, it may even be helpful to let this poor fellow in on what kind of effort other people are putting in to get a good score on the june test.  (refer to lsatdiscussion study group)  the method of trying to cram 40 days before june lsat is simply not going to work unless you are super brilliant, or incredibly lucky.  consider postponing until oct. test.

[casper13]

I must admit that the title of this thread made me spit my water out all over. Cram for LG, sweet I tell ya sweet.

[jms297]

First off I have to say I don't think starting to study over a month before the exam is as absurd as some others here seem to think. Everyone puts in a different amount of work to prepare for this exam depending on the distance between their starting point and goal score, strengths/weaknesses, priorities, and willingness/ability to spend time on it. 
Iceepop: If you haven't learned any methods you're right, just doing more problems won't necessarily help.   Go carefully and thoroughly through the Logic Games Bible and I'm sure you'll be able to improve your score a bit or at least get rid of some of that fluctuation you are talking about.  If you can dedicate some time to doing that and then practicing more games over the next month or so you should see an improvement- the question is how much of an improvement do you really want/need?   If you are comfortable with putting whatever amount of work you want to into your prep and then letting the chips fall where they may on test day that's one thing, if you don't even want to bother taking the test if you are going score anything below a 165 or whatever, that's another.  If you are leaning more towards the latter then I would agree that postponing to October makes sense.  If not, good luck! 

[iceepop]

The problem is not that I haven't done any studying until now--it's that I've studied badly.  I took my first diagnostic during my sophomore year, and I have been doing practice tests  going through Kaplan books that were given to me, and going through parts of both bibles.  Unfortunately, I've just been sort of aimlessly going through the study books without a real plan.

Obviously, I regret not doing a better job of studying, and there's a pretty good chance that I will take again in the fall, but I would like to do some damage control on the logic games before the June test.  If I can even improve to the point where I have a "safety net" where I will get no fewer than 15 questions right on LG (but hopefully more), then I think I can achieve a pretty solid score, as I have done well pretty consistently on the other sections.

[casper13]

The problem is not that I haven't done any studying until now--it's that I've studied badly.  I took my first diagnostic during my sophomore year, and I have been doing practice tests  going through Kaplan books that were given to me, and going through parts of both bibles.  Unfortunately, I've just been sort of aimlessly going through the study books without a real plan.

Obviously, I regret not doing a better job of studying, and there's a pretty good chance that I will take again in the fall, but I would like to do some damage control on the logic games before the June test.  If I can even improve to the point where I have a "safety net" where I will get no fewer than 15 questions right on LG (but hopefully more), then I think I can achieve a pretty solid score, as I have done well pretty consistently on the other sections.

Why not just put of till the Fall. The LG is by far the easiest section to acquire skills in. It is, in my opinion, the easiest to actually learn and get timing down with just practice of LG's. There is not really any reason to not improve on LG if you put the time in is all. No point in retaking it or taking it with the knowledge or the attitude of doing damage control in the fall. Take the time during the summer, practice the LG's and do them over and over again. Believe me I have done tons of LG's so far and it is a very learnable skill. I went from only 7 right onmy first diag to getting nearly 20 right until I got sidetracked by my UG studies. Do sell yourself short. And devising a plan is very important as it helps add structure, those syllabuses teachers make every semester have a reason to them. Make a mini syllabus for yourself for your studying, you'll thank yourself for it when you are maxing out that LG section.