HOW? So much frustration.

[nooyyllib]

Hey guys,

I've been prepping for the June 09 test and am going to extreme frustration.  I completed the LRB by powerscore, went over the methods about three times.  I've solved all the LRs the 10 real lsat book, 10 more real lsat book, the superprep and just finished one section of LR in the 10 next real lsat book.  I've been in the range of getting 6-10 wrong on each section CONSTANTLY.  Of course at the beginning I was at 10-16 wrong per section.  This is beginning to be extremely frustrating and SCARY.  The test is so close by (5 months) and I am not at where I want to be! Plus, to make things even worst, I haven't been timing all those sections I've been working on because working on accuracy is supposedly more important.  I know there are up to test number 59 available to purchase (I plan on doing so).  I am afraid I won't improve and I will run out of material.  PLEASE GIVE ME ANY ADVICE ON HOW TO IMPROVE ON LR.  What am I doing wrong? This is REALLY REALLY frustrating. 

[ManhattanLSAT]

Figure out which types of questions give you the most trouble.

If you've already gone through the LRB, but you're still getting 6-10 wrong on each LR section, you need to go through the LRB again. Go through it VERY slowly.

Don't worry about running out of materials. If you include the June 2007 exam (PDF on LSAC's website), and the Official LSAT PrepTest With Explanations (below), there are actually 61 exams available to you:

PrepTests 1-56, numbered = 56
Sample June 2007, not numbered = 1
SuperPrep, lettered (A, B, and C) = 3
Official LSAT PrepTest with explanations, not numbered. = 1

Very few people need (or want) to go through all 61.

LSAC has explained some of these exams. Go through LSAC's explanations in addition to the LRB if you haven't already.

The Official LSAT SuperPrep contains the Feb 1996, Feb 1999 and Feb 2000 exams (previously undisclosed), and it explains every answer choice.

The Official LSAT PrepTest with Explanations contains the stolen Feb 1997 exam with every answer explained.

If you identify certain question-types that give you difficulty, we can give you more advice.

[Lara]

Let's give a gracious tribute to ManhattanLSAT and HYSHopeful for their repeated posts of links to available prep books that amazon pulls up with one search ::books -> LSAT:: that are also referenced in the top sticky thread. Arming competitors with proper weapons to find the cradle of life is important.

Congrats boys for your good work. It is appreciated and nice to have servants stock the arsenal for others that can wield the weapons. Now please prepare some tea and get ready to clean the premises after nightly practice ends. I believe dinner is scheduled for 11 and is expected to be served on time, please do that.

The competitors bed time is scheduled for midnight and it would be nice if you could have the sheets clean and turned down by then.  You can retreat to your quarters upon completion. 

Cheers.

[onmytoes812]

First, let me give you the link to Pithpike's LSAT study guide. It's for 3 months but you can ajdust as necessary.

http://www.lawschooldiscussion.org/prelaw/index.php/topic,4014467.0.html

Also check out HYSHopeful's list of supplies. Stick with PowerScore, official PrepTests, and maybe some Princeton Review.  Kaplan is decent.  Everything else is a waste of your money.

Next, don't panic.  You have plenty of time. You're probably not approaching this the right way.   Right now you're scoring in the 150s range I would assume, based on your missed numbers.

Go back through the olde tests you've already completed, especially LR sections and starta  tally of missed question types. Then go back and review those sections.  For example, I'm currently going to be reviewing assumptions because they were a pretty weak section for me.  Actually I should probably be LSATing right now instead of being on here haha...Anyway, figure out your weak types and review that.  Then go back and re-take a few tests from the beginning of your studies.  You forget more than you think, I promise.
Read PithyPikes plan for LG study. It's really good and gives you the chance to time yourself without timing yourself (see how long it takes but don't constrain yourself to the 8:45). Some people can't get through all 4 games and it might be better for you to firgure out if you can do 3 and get them all right, thereby scoring better than if you rush through 4.  With his plan you do each game 3 times (not in a row obviously), ideally decreasing your time without decreasing your accuracy.
RC is tough.  Basically develop your own system and see what works and doesn't work for you.  Try to categorize questions if you can to see where you're going wrong.

As far as timing goes, start timing yourself to see where you are timewise and in a few weeks start constraining yourself to the 35 minutes.  Again, don't be afraid to reuse questions and sections. That just reinforces concepts in your head! Also practice with a bubble sheet because that actually adds time to your work.  You don't want to go into the real test thinking that you have enough time only to find out you hadn't practiced bubbling.

Go through several later full-length tests.  Oh and practice/study in loud or distracting places sometimes, because you never know if homeboy beside you in the exam will be tapping his feet and chewing his gum really loudly. My personal favorite place for this is the treadmill, or somewhere like Barnes & Noble.
Good luck!

[ManhattanLSAT]

+1 on Pithypike study guide


-1 on Princeton Review and Kaplan

ONLY use books containing real LSAT questions.

[ssilver0210]

I know you are not supposed to post specific questions on this board, but feel free to e-mail me with some LR questions that are causing you trouble, and I'll see if I can help you to reformulate your thinking. Figuring out the errors in your thinking is more important than figuring out the errors on any individual problems.

There are also numerous great posters on this board who can help you out to fix your problems.

[nooyyllib]

Hey guys thanks.  I went through 11 past exams (22 sections of LR) and tallied the types of questions I got wrong.  Here's the result.

My weakest types are "must be true", "weaken", "strengthen", and "assumption"

My weak types are "method of reasoning", "flaw", "parallel reasoning", and "principle"

I plan on going over the weakest types on LRB really really thoroughly.  After that I'll continue to my weak types.  Hopefully after that improvements will show. 

How quickly does timing "come" once I get the accuracy up? That is my main concern.  My exams on June and this is January. 

Also, ssilver, i will DEFINITELY e-mail you 2 or 3 questions along with how I think through them.  So you can possibly pick out my errors.

I can't thank you guys enough.

P.S. please post any more advice if you have them.  Also, I have 9 exams left on 10 next real lsats.  Will I run out of material? I plan on working constantly.  Should i focus on my past exams i worked on (in reviewing the wrong questions?) 

lastly, there is a testmasters course that is up for registration in april in preparation for the june exam.  if my practice scores don't go up to a point where i want it to (170+ hopefully), should i take it? do you think after going over all these materials by myself and taking a course will have a reverse negative effect?

Thanks.

[onmytoes812]

Princeton Review's LSAT workout is generally considered to be decent for people who are looking to score on the higher range of the LSAT because they won't necessarily read into the PR study strategies and the combination of questions in that book are conceptually harder (when combined with each other) than the actual LSAT even though they aren't actual questions. That being said, try to stick to REAL questions only. Manhattan is right about that.

As for the listing missed types, I should clarify. That is to help figure out which types you're thinking about wrong so you can go back and correct your thinking.

By the way, you CAN overprepare so don't burn yourself out.  That being said, work hard.
Again, Good luck!

[crashvandicoot]

My weakest types are "must be true", "weaken", "strengthen", and "assumption"

My weak types are "method of reasoning", "flaw", "parallel reasoning", and "principle"

You're kinda all over the place, which is fine, because you don't really need to narrow anything down. Read through the entire Bible again, re-do all the questions and make sure you can explain to yourself why each answer is right, and why the other choices are wrong.

You can also try making flash-cards for each question type with POE strategies on the back.

Lastly, if Must Be True is one of your weakest, that's probably the biggest indicator of general misunderstanding. If you can't get Must Be True, which is the foundation for ALL the other question types, it means that you're having difficulty understanding argument and fact set structure. Work on these questions first. Once you can answer them consistently, move on.

[noumena]

Hey guys thanks.  I went through 11 past exams (22 sections of LR) and tallied the types of questions I got wrong.  Here's the result.

My weakest types are "must be true", "weaken", "strengthen", and "assumption"

My weak types are "method of reasoning", "flaw", "parallel reasoning", and "principle"

I plan on going over the weakest types on LRB really really thoroughly.  After that I'll continue to my weak types.  Hopefully after that improvements will show. 

How quickly does timing "come" once I get the accuracy up? That is my main concern.  My exams on June and this is January. 

Also, ssilver, i will DEFINITELY e-mail you 2 or 3 questions along with how I think through them.  So you can possibly pick out my errors.

I can't thank you guys enough.

P.S. please post any more advice if you have them.  Also, I have 9 exams left on 10 next real lsats.  Will I run out of material? I plan on working constantly.  Should i focus on my past exams i worked on (in reviewing the wrong questions?) 

lastly, there is a testmasters course that is up for registration in april in preparation for the june exam.  if my practice scores don't go up to a point where i want it to (170+ hopefully), should i take it? do you think after going over all these materials by myself and taking a course will have a reverse negative effect?

Thanks.

I should be much more worried than you. I'm signed up for the Feb. 8 session, and have been getting approximately as many wrong as you have been getting under timed conditions (about 15-20 total untimed). I'm seriously thinking about postponing it, but that $33 tag really smells. But then again, it would smell if I did poorly and had to pay another $117 to retake it. Good luck on your preparation.