Improving your time

[WashLaw]

So i think I have a pretty good mastery of the actual material at this point. I just hit 172 untimed today. However, it's going SLOW. I usually have to take about 10 extra minutes from each section. So how do you improve your timing? Is it one of those things where you just keep working with the material and get faster? Should i start doing timed sections and get done what I can?

[EarlCat]

Speeding up without losing accuracy requires exactly what you're doing--slow, untimed practice.  The speed will come if you'll focus on mastering the content.

Pacing is another issue, and you should begin to time yourself at some point to know (in your gut) how long you can spend on each question.

[TimMitchell]

I improve my time by thinking of Margret Thatcher during coitus

But seriously, folks... EarlCat is once again 100% correct. Pacing and timing is probibly the most important aspect for many people, I know it was for me. Learning to work under preasure and pace yourself effectively is very important. You'll have to learn when to cut your losses on a question or when you've taken too long on a question. The Logic Reasoning bible has some great points about it, including one thing I overlooked. That thing was that it is important to take less time on many of the first questions in the LR section. Although you have about 1:20 min a question, the ones towards the middle and end are almost invariably harder than the first 10. I would pace myself for around 1:20 on the first questions, often taking extra time double checking answers to make sure they are air tight, only to suffer later by answering quickly on harder questions. Moreover, the harder questions usually will hinge on subtle ro easy to miss words to get the correct answer, small details that rushing will hurt even more.

Anyway, I hope this helps. Congrats on your current Prep Score, I am of the school of thought it is important to do some untimed prep tests before working on your pacing and time.

[Scentless Apprentice]

Really?

I just pulled out my Superprep (yeah my Superprep), and I just looked through a few LR sections, the two I looked both had 4 level 1 difficulty questions & in one section the highest was a 4, which there was only one of, and in the other there was one level 5. The rest were mostly level 2's & a few 3's here and there.

Ahh, I just went back and reread your post Tim, it's not exactly clear because you said "the ones towards the middle and end are almost invariably easier than the first 10." I think that is incorrect.

[meggo]

yeah I think he meant invariably harder. Timing it's true, is one of the most difficult things. For me, I'm hoping excessive practice doing timed (and perhaps pulling some untimed in there) PT's will get me down. This was my biggest problem on the LSAT. In the first section (RC), I had two questions wrong until I reached the last passage, panicked about time, then couldn't focus on the content, and proceeded to get 5 questions wrong. Repeat for all the remaining section. I think controlling potential panic in regards to timing is important as well. If you find that you have gone over, don't try and rush through all the rest just to get them done. If you have 5 questions left and a finite amount of time, it's better to go slower and get 3 of those questions absolutely correct, than rush through, get all 5 done but not necessarily get them correct.

[TimMitchell]

Really?

I just pulled out my Superprep (yeah my Superprep), and I just looked through a few LR sections, the two I looked both had 4 level 1 difficulty questions & in one section the highest was a 4, which there was only one of, and in the other there was one level 5. The rest were mostly level 2's & a few 3's here and there.

Ahh, I just went back and reread your post Tim, it's not exactly clear because you said "the ones towards the middle and end are almost invariably easier than the first 10." I think that is incorrect.

Whoops... Fixt

[DerekShiHarvard]

So i think I have a pretty good mastery of the actual material at this point. I just hit 172 untimed today. However, it's going SLOW. I usually have to take about 10 extra minutes from each section. So how do you improve your timing? Is it one of those things where you just keep working with the material and get faster? Should i start doing timed sections and get done what I can?

Do timed full LSAT tests. Period. The only way you are going to learn is by forcing yourslfto increase plow through the whole test at one time. Anyone can get a great score doing untimed practice tests. It's the timed ones that count.

Anyone that disagrees with me... is... well, WRONG.

[Scentless Apprentice]

So i think I have a pretty good mastery of the actual material at this point. I just hit 172 untimed today. However, it's going SLOW. I usually have to take about 10 extra minutes from each section. So how do you improve your timing? Is it one of those things where you just keep working with the material and get faster? Should i start doing timed sections and get done what I can?

Do timed full LSAT tests. Period. The only way you are going to learn is by forcing yourslfto increase plow through the whole test at one time. Anyone can get a great score doing untimed practice tests. It's the timed ones that count.

Anyone that disagrees with me... is... well, WRONG.

Well, actually, there a number of posters on this board that advocate this method. Two that come to mind are EarlCat & HYSHopeful, both of whom scored over 175. I think it makes sense to not "plow" through the test under the time constraint, without taking the time to disect each question type, and to try to understand the common ways the test makers attempt to trip up the average test taker. Especially for those who are in the first month or so of their prep. 

[Lindbergh]

Speeding up without losing accuracy requires exactly what you're doing--slow, untimed practice.  The speed will come if you'll focus on mastering the content.

Agreed.

[Lindbergh]

So i think I have a pretty good mastery of the actual material at this point. I just hit 172 untimed today. However, it's going SLOW. I usually have to take about 10 extra minutes from each section. So how do you improve your timing? Is it one of those things where you just keep working with the material and get faster? Should i start doing timed sections and get done what I can?

Do timed full LSAT tests. Period. The only way you are going to learn is by forcing yourslfto increase plow through the whole test at one time. Anyone can get a great score doing untimed practice tests. It's the timed ones that count.

Anyone that disagrees with me... is... well, WRONG.

You are...how do I say... an IDIOT.

(I wouldn't be so precise, except your advice is not only flatly incorrect, but it's also expressed in a negative, annoying manner.)

P.S.:  What does "increase plow" mean?