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Nazia's LSAT Diary:
Lazy (Post) Rainy Sunday: In need of LSAT Advice.
So the thunderous rain has stopped. Yipee.
Today the game plan is to do at least 3 timed sections. I’m going to start with Logical Reasoning. I need some heavy work on those especially when it comes to timed.
Some kind of stamina to get through it within 35 minutes! Yikes!
By the way, there hasn’t been an urge to go on Youtube in the past…hour? Go me?
Back to the issue at hand. Timed Sections. Other than a timer what has helped you fellow lads and ladies get through 35 minutes and finish 25 questions? Any advice? Other than “practice.”
Kidding. Everything I read says practice.practice.practice.
Which is what I intend to do.
I’m going to do a timed section now and will be back after to talk about the results.
Wish me luck!
______________________________
Well, that went well.
Yeah, right.
Yesterday I had a plan to do three time LSATs.
Result: One untimed LSAT ( Logical Reasoning) … really.
You must be scratching your head wondering what happened.
Well I’ll tell you. LSAC happened.
Those tricky writers caught me in a stump for an evaluate the argument question which had me going through everything all over again and reviewing. Was that useful? Did I waste my time in re-visiting? Should I have just continued through the questions in the prep test?
Although I am writing it in October, I have a practice test scheduled this Saturday and I really really need to work on my timing. I feel that although it was useful to go revisit certain techniques and concepts of the different types of questions, my timing is still an issue that I haven’t practiced yet.
I’m going to try and do 2 timed tests today.
Will report back with the results!
______________________________
Results are in
I did it.
2 timed tests.
How’d I fair on the scoring? Let’s not talk about that now shall we, but the main thing is that I got it done in the timed limit (35 freaking minutes; holy shiznat)
Some thoughts that were running through pre, during and post.
Pre: Obviously, I had my game face on. I had the music playing in the background ( I need music to study..although we’ll discuss this later) Water on my side. Pencil(s) & Erasers. Comfortable lighting.
AC on. Phone hidden. Door Locked.
During: Holy mother of good lord… I’m reading the questions to slowly… oh now I’m reading them too fast… oh wait. Great. Now I’m re-reading them over and over again.. oh snap look at the time. 10 minutes left and I’m on question 10 only! ..Wait what song is this? Oh I don’t like this song. I knew I should have had it on shuffle. Damnit.
Post: And the confidence level drops even more. 160+ will you ever be achieved? Got this wrong. Oh that’s right. Wrong. Wrong.. oh wait why did I get this wrong… OH darn! I missed that part.Great.
(BTW the only sections I did were LR and RC)
Calculate score. Oh boy.
Grab a pint of B&J and some good ol’ Big Bang Theory reruns.
Here’s something to ponder on: Music while studying? Is this something I should re-think even during the timed sections? Does it matter?
______________________________
Another day, another result
I did two timed tests.
Today the game plan is to do at least 3 timed sections. I’m going to start with Logical Reasoning. I need some heavy work on those especially when it comes to timed.
Some kind of stamina to get through it within 35 minutes! Yikes!
By the way, there hasn’t been an urge to go on Youtube in the past…hour? Go me?
Back to the issue at hand. Timed Sections. Other than a timer what has helped you fellow lads and ladies get through 35 minutes and finish 25 questions? Any advice? Other than “practice.”
Kidding. Everything I read says practice.practice.practice.
Which is what I intend to do.
I’m going to do a timed section now and will be back after to talk about the results.
Wish me luck!
______________________________
Well, that went well.
Yeah, right.
Yesterday I had a plan to do three time LSATs.
Result: One untimed LSAT ( Logical Reasoning) … really.
You must be scratching your head wondering what happened.
Well I’ll tell you. LSAC happened.
Those tricky writers caught me in a stump for an evaluate the argument question which had me going through everything all over again and reviewing. Was that useful? Did I waste my time in re-visiting? Should I have just continued through the questions in the prep test?
Although I am writing it in October, I have a practice test scheduled this Saturday and I really really need to work on my timing. I feel that although it was useful to go revisit certain techniques and concepts of the different types of questions, my timing is still an issue that I haven’t practiced yet.
I’m going to try and do 2 timed tests today.
Will report back with the results!
______________________________
Results are in
I did it.
2 timed tests.
How’d I fair on the scoring? Let’s not talk about that now shall we, but the main thing is that I got it done in the timed limit (35 freaking minutes; holy shiznat)
Some thoughts that were running through pre, during and post.
Pre: Obviously, I had my game face on. I had the music playing in the background ( I need music to study..although we’ll discuss this later) Water on my side. Pencil(s) & Erasers. Comfortable lighting.
AC on. Phone hidden. Door Locked.
During: Holy mother of good lord… I’m reading the questions to slowly… oh now I’m reading them too fast… oh wait. Great. Now I’m re-reading them over and over again.. oh snap look at the time. 10 minutes left and I’m on question 10 only! ..Wait what song is this? Oh I don’t like this song. I knew I should have had it on shuffle. Damnit.
Post: And the confidence level drops even more. 160+ will you ever be achieved? Got this wrong. Oh that’s right. Wrong. Wrong.. oh wait why did I get this wrong… OH darn! I missed that part.Great.
(BTW the only sections I did were LR and RC)
Calculate score. Oh boy.
Grab a pint of B&J and some good ol’ Big Bang Theory reruns.
Here’s something to ponder on: Music while studying? Is this something I should re-think even during the timed sections? Does it matter?
______________________________
Another day, another result
I did two timed tests.
LG & LR.
Right now I’m praying to god that I get LG for the 4th surprise test on my LSAT. My final score wasn’t great at all. No siree.
Did I manage to get through all the questions ..in LG i did. But not in LR (I so bombed that section, terribly).
I really need to re-evaluate something. But I have a practice test this Saturday.So now I’m in a dilemma should I stick to just getting the timed aspect of the test down or should i go and re read all the discussions of LR? What to do. What to do. What to do.
____________________________
A More Defined Approach
As I may have mentioned before I had signed up for a Mock LSAT. It was this past Saturday. I won’t know how well I did until later on this week with list of my strengths and weaknesses but even without the results I know I need to step up my LR and RC majorly! However what was surprising is the eerie calm I felt before the test. There were no nerves, no freak out; maybe because I knew deep down inside that this was a mock and not the real thing? Hmm, maybe. Nonetheless I felt relieved and a sense of pride only about the nerves.
If we’re talking about how well I did on the test well I can say with a good amount of enthusiasm that Logic Games, I do not fear you anymore. What I do need to do with you however is read your clues more carefully, I need to make more inferences before the game more often. I did find that I wasn’t too rushed in this section, I finished in the appropriate amount of time allowing me to review my answers and take a breather. I remember reviewing the first section which was LG but the third section which was also LG I found my self just taking a breather. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that. Something to ponder on.
On to LR.
oh boy oh boy oh boy.
I don’t know what to say except god you really are going to be the death of me aren’t you? In this section for sure I can say that I did not pace myself, I read over each question and stimulus.. well not each but a nice amount of stimulus’s and questions twice because sometimes the information just went over my head.
Here is what I did not do:
Last but not least, RC.
I don’t have much to say about this section… surprised? Yeah I would be too. But there is a reason why.
I spent to much time reading and understanding the passage that I didn’t leave myself enough time to answer the questions not just for that specific passage but the other 3 as well! So I ended up quickly scribbling in bubbles onto the scantron.
BAD MOVE! I hope to god that I don’t end up doing that on the real thing.
And there it is. That’s the end of it. I took the next day off to decompress and start over. I know now where I need to put a lot of my focus on and where I feel comfortable. I feel confident in my study schedule. Do I feel confident in my answers? No. The past two months, I have only timed myself a handful of times (5 or so) and I have stayed within the 140-156. It fluctuates. Which also scares me a little more.
I hope that that changes now.
____________________________
Are you sure there’s a light at the end of the tunnel?
As of right now I doubt it. I’m ready to do something, anything, explosive that would cause maximum damage or would cause the light bulb to suddenly flicker on regarding the Flaw in Reasoning Questions and the Method of Reasoning.
Every time I get an answer wrong it always feels like a brand new cut.. oh gosh that sounded terribly emo, didn’t it?
Its not the stimulus that is confusing me, I can see myself paraphrasing the answer or figuring out where the flaw in the argument is or how the speaker makes his/her argument. Its the answer choices that cause me to go all *does jazz hands* I can’t seem to put their wording into my own words, for instance one of the answers that I had gotten wrong was because of the difference in words of ” assume ” and “presuppose.”
Oh and also Casual Reasoning vs Conditional Reasoning.But lets not add more to my plate of worries shall we?
Holy goodness gracious. Holy mother of goodness gracious.( that’s as kosher as I can go for tumblr)
As everyone else, a lot is riding on this test for me. Sometimes when I go on forums and read the posts either about LSAT test day experience, or study tips or how to achieve the perfect score using so and so’s method. Some competing against others.
At the end of the day I realize everyone else is in the same boat as I am and the whole mumbo jumbo about how competitive it is getting in [law school or getting the perfect score on the LSAT] gets thrown out the window because I stop seeing it as a competition and start seeing it for what it truly is; at the end of the day we’re are struggling with the same fear and hope, be it LR, RC or LG.
And for some reason that takes away the nerves, not completely but enough where I know come test day I’m not going to worry about the person next to me or behind me or in front of me. I don’t see them as competition. They won’t achieve me the 160+. That’s going to come from my own worth, my own strength.
However as great as that little epiphany is, I still don’t get Flaw Arguments.
Crappers.
Back to the drawing board.
Photo by bobaubuchon
Right now I’m praying to god that I get LG for the 4th surprise test on my LSAT. My final score wasn’t great at all. No siree.
Did I manage to get through all the questions ..in LG i did. But not in LR (I so bombed that section, terribly).
I really need to re-evaluate something. But I have a practice test this Saturday.So now I’m in a dilemma should I stick to just getting the timed aspect of the test down or should i go and re read all the discussions of LR? What to do. What to do. What to do.
____________________________
A More Defined Approach
As I may have mentioned before I had signed up for a Mock LSAT. It was this past Saturday. I won’t know how well I did until later on this week with list of my strengths and weaknesses but even without the results I know I need to step up my LR and RC majorly! However what was surprising is the eerie calm I felt before the test. There were no nerves, no freak out; maybe because I knew deep down inside that this was a mock and not the real thing? Hmm, maybe. Nonetheless I felt relieved and a sense of pride only about the nerves.
If we’re talking about how well I did on the test well I can say with a good amount of enthusiasm that Logic Games, I do not fear you anymore. What I do need to do with you however is read your clues more carefully, I need to make more inferences before the game more often. I did find that I wasn’t too rushed in this section, I finished in the appropriate amount of time allowing me to review my answers and take a breather. I remember reviewing the first section which was LG but the third section which was also LG I found my self just taking a breather. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that. Something to ponder on.
On to LR.
oh boy oh boy oh boy.
I don’t know what to say except god you really are going to be the death of me aren’t you? In this section for sure I can say that I did not pace myself, I read over each question and stimulus.. well not each but a nice amount of stimulus’s and questions twice because sometimes the information just went over my head.
Here is what I did not do:
- Look for the conclusion.
- Paraphrase the conclusion.
- When I was down to 2, I really just eenie meenie minnie moe’d.( this was especially true for the weaken questions)
- And of course, I didn’t pace myself.
- I really need work on LR. Really and truly.
Last but not least, RC.
I don’t have much to say about this section… surprised? Yeah I would be too. But there is a reason why.
I spent to much time reading and understanding the passage that I didn’t leave myself enough time to answer the questions not just for that specific passage but the other 3 as well! So I ended up quickly scribbling in bubbles onto the scantron.
BAD MOVE! I hope to god that I don’t end up doing that on the real thing.
And there it is. That’s the end of it. I took the next day off to decompress and start over. I know now where I need to put a lot of my focus on and where I feel comfortable. I feel confident in my study schedule. Do I feel confident in my answers? No. The past two months, I have only timed myself a handful of times (5 or so) and I have stayed within the 140-156. It fluctuates. Which also scares me a little more.
I hope that that changes now.
____________________________
Are you sure there’s a light at the end of the tunnel?
Really.. Is there?
As of right now I doubt it. I’m ready to do something, anything, explosive that would cause maximum damage or would cause the light bulb to suddenly flicker on regarding the Flaw in Reasoning Questions and the Method of Reasoning.
Every time I get an answer wrong it always feels like a brand new cut.. oh gosh that sounded terribly emo, didn’t it?
Its not the stimulus that is confusing me, I can see myself paraphrasing the answer or figuring out where the flaw in the argument is or how the speaker makes his/her argument. Its the answer choices that cause me to go all *does jazz hands* I can’t seem to put their wording into my own words, for instance one of the answers that I had gotten wrong was because of the difference in words of ” assume ” and “presuppose.”
Oh and also Casual Reasoning vs Conditional Reasoning.But lets not add more to my plate of worries shall we?
Holy goodness gracious. Holy mother of goodness gracious.( that’s as kosher as I can go for tumblr)
As everyone else, a lot is riding on this test for me. Sometimes when I go on forums and read the posts either about LSAT test day experience, or study tips or how to achieve the perfect score using so and so’s method. Some competing against others.
At the end of the day I realize everyone else is in the same boat as I am and the whole mumbo jumbo about how competitive it is getting in [law school or getting the perfect score on the LSAT] gets thrown out the window because I stop seeing it as a competition and start seeing it for what it truly is; at the end of the day we’re are struggling with the same fear and hope, be it LR, RC or LG.
And for some reason that takes away the nerves, not completely but enough where I know come test day I’m not going to worry about the person next to me or behind me or in front of me. I don’t see them as competition. They won’t achieve me the 160+. That’s going to come from my own worth, my own strength.
However as great as that little epiphany is, I still don’t get Flaw Arguments.
Crappers.
Back to the drawing board.
Photo by bobaubuchon
You can do it! I'm also working on the LR section but I've been only doing it untimed. You can do it! And congrats on LG :D.
ReplyDeleteKeep trying. As frustrating as it seems, I am sure that you will be able to break through and hopefully get better in the timed portion.
ReplyDeleteOkay its like we have the same brain. Ha. I'm having the same issues with LR section, especially some of the harder ones, and I'm always wondering whether or not going back to the LR Bible really helps at all? Or does it just make me more hopelessly confused that there isn't a "one technique works fits all" type method?? (OH IF ONLY!)
ReplyDeleteDo you feel like you've made some head way in the last few weeks, especially with trying to get a grasp of the LR section, its such a crummy bit of work. Hopefully we'll figure it out. In the meantime, GOOD LUCK!
P.S. Try not to listen to music, really bad idea! Its going to completely mess with you on testing day (although your calmness during the mock was awesome)but you might as well try and create the same conditions when you practice. I've always had the same problem, I like some noise in the background, so I've had to train myself out of it. Makes a big difference! :)
Thanks guys!! (:
ReplyDeleteLinda - I hope your studying has been going "pull your hair out-free" (: LG is def. my most comfortable section. OH, before I forget I forgot to add this in my diary, but there is this GREAT game called "Set" (if you want I could send you all a link) that is functions like a Logic Game, you're given 4 rules ( constraints) and 12 cards are laid out in front of you and you have to make a set of 3 cards that match the constraints to a TEE. Its nerdy but oh so fun! It's helped me a lot in LG.
MTOM- Honestly I am constantly going over the Bible. Especially when I go over to check my answers I look at the questions I got wrong and go straight to that chapter in the Bible. Some days it helps but other days ( I was actually talking to study partner of mine and he agreed) some days its like when I read it in the Bible, it clicks. The grass is green, sky is blue, clouds are white. But when I apply it to the PT Q's it goes out the window.
I say you and I develop a " one technique fits all method"
I do feel like I have been having some luck with LR these last two weeks. It scares the bejeebus out of me when I see that I got 4 or 5 questions right in a row. I'm so skeptical when it comes to be getting answers correct on the LR section. Its not that "everything clicked" its more me reading the premises more carefully, underlining words ( which i presume are keywords) oh and keeping a copy of websters dictionary with me on the side because at times I feel like I fail at the english language when simple words get misread or misunderstood .. I know it sounds weird but its true.
I'm trying a lot to cut down the music but its a crazy addiction, I've done this through HS and through all my years in Uni. It's crazy. Either Youtube is always on or Itunes. It's crazy. I find myself in the midst of studying ( if there is no music on) to just automatically going on these websites or pulling up a LSAT playlist while I'm doing a PT.. sometimes it happens in the middle of a timed PT where I'm like " Oh snap, where is the music!" Its a crazy addiction I have. Any pointers on how you trained yourself out of it?