Last month or so

[shipra_mehta]

Hi,

I'm taking the December 2011 LSAT and I'm a little worried that I'm not doing enough to prepare for the test. I've done the Cambridge LSAT LR Volume 2, I'm working on the Manhattan LSAT Logic Games Book & I've been working through the 1st book of PrepTests which is Preptest 7,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16 and 18. I'm about to take PrepTest #12 this week and I thought I would go over all the questions I got wrong this week based on the process that http://www.manhattanlsat.com/blog/index ... lanations/ indicates. What else can I do?

Thanks

[ohthatpatrick]

You didn't mention whether you've ever taken part in an LSAT class or worked with a tutor. If you haven't, I'm assuming that it's unfeasible for you to do so, or else I would definitely recommend that process/resource.

It would also be nice for you to be practicing on more recent tests. Older tests are still largely consistent with newer tests, but there are subtleties to newer ones as well as formatting changes (one of the four RC passages is a short dual-passage comparative reading) that the older tests do not have.

The test just given this month was test 64, just to give you a sense of how high the numbers go.

Are you keeping track of your strengths and weaknesses? Beyond just going back and looking up wrong answers, are you noticing trends in your performance? Is one section better/worse than the others? Do certain question types routinely trip you up? Is time more of an issue on some sections rather than others?

Most students have a variety of specific issues that would benefit from more targeted practice.

For example, if time is an issue in LR, you should practice doing the first 10 questions in only 10 minutes (then bump it up to the first 12 Q's in 12 mins, etc.)

If time is an issue in games, you should be practicing normal games (such as numbered ordering, or in/out games) with aggressive time limits. Try to do a normal ordering game in only 6 minutes, for example.

If there are certain game types or LR question types that often trouble you, you should focus only on that type for a few study sessions until you fully understand and conquer it.

Generally, doing complete prep tests is something you save for the end of your prep. Understanding and working on your weaknesses is more the focus early on.

It may be more difficult for you to do this topic-specific practice if you don't have any books/resources that are already organized by different themes (such as game type, question type).

Finally, when you go over your practice tests, you should really go over every question. You can spend more time on the ones you got wrong or didn't understand well, but there are two reasons to also look at correct answer:

1. You may have gotten it right by luck or for the wrong reasons. You may have been "down to two" and just gone with one of them, without understanding clearly why one answer was correct and the other was broken. Actually determining how to justify picking the correct and eliminating the wrong answer in a down-to-two situation is the source of most learning in LR and RC.

2. Even if you understand how you got the answer correct, you should try to reinforce the general LSAT pattern underlying the question, so that on a future problem, you will be even more quick and confident about choosing the right answer.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[shipra_mehta]

I am not having a specific problem with timing on any of the sections, it just depends on the kind of games that are in each of the sections.

In terms of the books that I have used, I've used the Manhattan Atlas Strategy Guide for Logic Games, & the LR book by Morley which organizes all the LR questions from PrepTests 21-40 by type. I'm also doing all the practice LG games that are "fake" from the Manhattan Atlas website & I am planning on starting on the Games Arcade this weekend. Before December, I also want to go through the Logic Games section of all the PrepTests 55 and later so that it gives me a more current feel on what the LG section is like.

I haven't been able to take a class as I was originally supposed to take the test in October but I wasn't ready for it & I pushed it till December.

What I have noticed is that I really struggle with some types of LR questions and as my book is organized by Type, it really helps me focus in on which type of questions give me the hardest time but other than going over the actual questions, I am not quite sure how to become better at a specific type, such as the Flawed questions and the Paradox questions as they give me the most amount of trouble.

I know this is pretty arbitrary but is there an approximate minimum number of hours I should be spending every day or every week?

I really appreciate the help.

Thanks.