#LSAT Time Management Tips? – http://t.co/iGEirQE93T – "get comfortable with being uncomfortable."
— LSAT PREParation (@LSATPreparation) May 5, 2013
Time is the currency of life. It is also the currency of the LSAT.
Your LSAT test score is NOT a reflection of whether you can answer LSAT questions. It’s a reflection of effectively you answer questions relative to other test takers. Most people can correctly answer most LSAT questions if they have enough time time. Most test takers do NOT have sufficient time to answer all LSAT questions in a meaningful way. That said, there is no penalty for putting the wrong answer on the LSAT. Make sure you select an answer to every question.
Some thoughts on LSAT Timing
Your must pace yourself so that you answer as many questions correctly as you can. This is NOT the same as thinking about and interacting with every question.
1. You might do better by interacting with three of the four logic games or three of the four reading comprehension passages and guessing on the remaining one. Instead of spending approximately 9 minutes on each of 4 passages or games you might spend 12 minutes on each of three passages or games. Guess the on the last passage or game. For some LSAT test takers, interacting with fewer questions results in more correct answers.
2. Accept the principle that you will “run out of time”. Learn to “run out of time” when you encounter the questions that are hardest for you. You should attempt the logic games in the order that you like them best. Same goes for reading comprehension passages. Scan each logical reasoning section to identify the questions that you think will be most problematic. Leave those questions for last.
3. Your goal is to respond to each question efficiently. This means:
A. You must always get your “best guess on record”; and
B. Remember that its always better to get a question wrong very quickly than to invest far too much time in getting in right.
4. As the above “tweet” suggests, you will always be under time pressure. Get used to being uncomfortable. Part of your LSAT prep is learning to perform under the restrictive time conditions.
Some Thoughts On Practicing LSAT Timing
“There are many people who KNOW WHAT TO DO”, but “CAN’T DO WHAT THEY KNOW”.
Nowhere is this more true than on the LSAT. You must do lots of practice LSAT testing under the time constraints of the test. How many? There is no “one size fits all answer”. My suggestion is that you do enough practice tests so that on test day you “will be comfortable being uncomfortable”.
Remember:
“Its not practice that makes perfect, its’ perfect practice that makes perfect.”
John Richardson