On the PowerScore LSAT Discussion Forum, there have been discussions about how to best review practice LSATs and homework problems. Students often make a critical error when studying. I want to address that and lay down a framework for optimally reviewing the problems you complete. This will help you get the most out of the time that you spend studying.
What is the Critical Study Error Many Students are Making?
Most students review the questions they missed and not the ones they answered correctly. This is the most natural error in the world, but you must review every single question you complete in order to get maximum value from the time you spend studying. As I have discussed, you can’t get all of the information contained in a question by looking at it once. Although you may have answered a question correctly, you may not have fully understood the question. And, equally important, there may have been a way to do the question more quickly or more decisively. In other words, just because you answered a question correctly does not mean that you answered it optimally. Nor does it guarantee that you can repeat your performance the next time you encounter the same concept. Last, as Jon Denning has said, great test takers treat success in much the same way they treat failure. Further insight into victory is as likely to facilitate continued victory as an understanding of mistakes is to promote future avoidance.
As you review your practice tests and homework, look over questions you missed, but also assess questions you answered correctly. If the question was perfectly clear to you, check it quickly and move on. However, if you had any hesitation at all in choosing the answer, make sure to go over the problem in the same manner as if you had missed it.
The Methodology
Ok, with that critical piece of strategy covered, let’s outline a consistent approach to reviewing questions. In the past, we’ve talked a lot about how to take practice LSAT tests, so I’m not covering that here. Instead, I’m going to specifically talk about how to review any test or homework problems you complete. There are three ways you can approach reviewing questions. Why discuss three different ways? Because using a single way can become tiresome and feel unrewarding, so it’s useful to mix it up on occasion. In general, the first method is best when you first are studying or feel “stuck.” The second and third methods are better towards the middle or end of your preparation. All methods could benefit from a tracking mechanism. We offer tracker sheets in our free LSAT Self-Study Plans. Feel free to use those as-is or use them as a model for ones you create. Note that the final 7 steps will be identical in all method and are presented at the end. Let’s look at each.
Method I: Blind Review
This method delays your consideration of the answers until after you’ve had a chance to carefully examine each problem. Perfect for if you’re trying to determine whether you really understand each problem or if you were getting lucky. It’s especially useful if you are struggling at a score plateau or find your scores bouncing all around.
- After you complete the test or question set, do NOT check the answers. Instead, write down every question that you felt you struggled on at all or felt less than certain about. If you couldn’t finish certain questions, add those to the list with a notation that they were unfinished.
- Next, go back and review every question un-timed, including the ones you did not answer. Your goal is to understand each question as well as possible, so take your time.
- As you complete the review of each question, determine whether you would have kept the same answer choice or changed your answer to a different choice. If you change an answer, make notes in your tracker as to the reason you changed your answer. Example: “CE: Didn’t see the causal conclusion” or “Down to 2, missed a word in (B).”
- With every question now reviewed in detail, you can now check all your answers against the answer key. You should produce two separate scores. One score for your original timed performance and another score based on the answers you changed during your blind review. Your second score should be better!
- While your first score tells you what you should have received, your second score tells you the questions that really tricked you. So let’s go through each type of answer:
The ones you didn’t mark as a problem.
These can be your best friend or very dangerous. If you didn’t mark a problem as difficult and answered it correctly, then no problem. But if you missed it then this question tricked you. Stop and analyze it closely, and make a special note on your tracker about the question (later you’ll review all these super tricky problems together in order to find any deep patterns you might be missing).
The ones you marked as a problem but kept your answer the same.
If you mark a question as difficult but kept the same answer both times and it turns out to be the correct answer, then no problem. But if you missed it, then you’ve come across an idea or formation that you need to learn more about. Stop and review the problem, seeking outside explanations if needed.
The ones you marked as a problem but changed your answer.
If you changed your answer away from a right answer but to a wrong one, first determine why you changed your answer. What drew you from your good choice to a bad one? Then, make sure to mark these problems as well, because your grasp of the main concept or wording in the problem needs work. Stop and review the question until it is clear. If you changed your answer from a wrong one to a right one, then good! You saw a difference from the first pass to the second, which shows improvement. Make a note of what happened, and re-examine the problem so that next time you see the right answer the first time. And finally, if you were wrong with both answers (!), then review the problem thoroughly before placing it in the super tricky category from above.
Method II: Delayed Blind Review
The second method of review has you to delay your understanding of why you missed the question in favor of having a second opportunity to figure the question out while working on it. This method can provide you with a deeper understanding of the questions and a better ability to understand how and when to apply the right techniques:
- After you complete the test or question set, immediately check the answers.
- Write down every question that you missed or that you answered correctly but found to be a challenge, but do NOT write down the correct answer.
- Next, after taking a break of anywhere from a few hours to a few days, go back and review every question, including the ones you answered correctly. Your goal is to understand the question as well as possible, and to re-answer each question that you missed or felt was challenging.
- If there is any obvious deficiency that’s causing you to miss questions in the set you just completed, go study that topic immediately. For example, let’s say that you noticed that you kept mis-diagramming conditional rules in Logic Games. If that’s apparent to you, go study that topic right then. The idea is that if you see that something is causing your problems, don’t delay in attempting to address it.
Method III: Immediate Review
The last way provides immediate gratification, and is useful if you are low on study time:
- After you complete the test or question set, immediately check the answers.
- Write down every question that you missed or that you answered correctly but found to be a challenge.
- Next, go back and review every question, including the ones you answered correctly. Your goal is to understand the question as well as possible.
- If there is any obvious deficiency that’s causing you to miss questions in the set you just completed, go study that topic immediately. For example, let’s say that you noticed that you kept mis-diagramming conditional rules in Logic Games. If that’s apparent to you, go study that topic right then. The idea is that if you see that something is causing your problems, don’t delay in attempting to address it.
The Final Steps to All Methods
- As you complete the review of each question, make notes in your tracker regarding reasons you missed the question. Example: “CE: Didn’t see the causal conclusion” or “Down to 2, chose wrong one.”
- If there is any obvious deficiency that’s causing you to miss questions in the set you just completed, go study that topic immediately. The idea is that if you see that something is causing your problems, don’t delay in attempting to address it.
- Wait a few days, then redo the questions you missed or gave you trouble. Take a few days off from studying that particular test or set of problems. After another three days (preferably longer), return to the question set and review any question that was confusing.
- If you still can’t answer the problem correctly or figure out what you did wrong, consult an answer source. If you’ve given yourself at least two strong looks at the question and still do not understand it fully, consult an external answer resource. That might mean asking your PowerScore LSAT course instructor or tutor, looking at one of our publications, or posting a question on our LSAT Forum.
- Every 10 to 14 days, review your tracker and note the areas where you are having problems. Then restudy the concepts in your course books, in the Bibles, or with your tutor.
- When you run into difficulty, don’t panic and don’t place undue weight on isolated results. Your performance will naturally vary, especially as you complete more and more problems and tests. These variances are natural (see my article on The Casino Effect), and you must understand that subtle variations in your performance are natural.
- If you do have a legitimately bad result (such as an unusually low practice test score), don’t look at that as the end of the world. Failure, while not desirable, can provide you with certain benefits. So, if you do suffer a legitimate reversal of fortune (and not just the random kind mentioned in #9), then make sure you get every possible benefit from that failure.
Pick One and Give it a Go!
I covered the main ways to review questions because some people prefer one approach over the other. When you are just starting out, experiment with all three and see which one you prefer. If you like to mix things up, use different strategies depending on how you feel about the test or problem set you just completed. Sometimes you absolutely have to know why a problem is wrong, and sometimes you can wait. If you think you could use some outside help getting you to your full potential, review your results with a tutor!
Teresa says
Hi Dave,
I’ve been studying for 7 weeks now but not meaningfully. My diagnostic was a 144. I began with the Princeton review book for basic understanding. After I finished that book I mainly used Khan academy for questions but realized it was not effective. I took a prep test yesterday and scored a 142. My goal is a 180. I have the LSAT Trainer and do a chapter a day. Spring semester I will be taking 5-3 credit classes and 2-1 credit minis for a of total 7 classes. I have worked my spring schedule to do 30 hours a week for LSAT. I ordered LSAC prep tests about 35. I’m worried because I’m having trouble understanding questions in RC/LR. It takes me a few minutes like 3 or 4 minutes to connect questions and support. RC-15 LG-14 LR-11 wrong. How can I structure my time better to fix my issues? I really want to improve to the high 160s by the end of February. I want to take the June LSAT 2021. I am determined and plan to take a course towards the end of my self study. Should I switch books to Powerscore Bibles?
Dave Killoran says
Hi Teresa,
Thanks for the message! How about I tell you how the books work, and then hopefully that will give you the right information to make the decision? I suggest that since you know yourself better than I can, and so you will know if what we do here will appeal to you 🙂
Our approach is to be comprehensive and detail-oriented. And we use that approach since that’s what the LSAT is. We want to give you tools to solve problems, and strategies and methods to understand what the test makers are doing to you. We’re also aimed at students who want to score high, and so while we start with the basics, we do try to move fairly quickly from there into some very high material. Many, many high scorers have use the LSAT Bibles before, including students who received 180s.
From a comparison standpoint, as far as what you’ve used I’d say the following:
Princeton Review: A long time ago this company was a big deal in the SAT space, and from there they moved into a bunch of different tests like the ASVAB and Dental Admission Test. But, as I understand it, they went through a bankruptcy and then were sold several times to different companies. Since then they haven’t been a player in the LSAT space in my opinion, and I don’t consider what they do to be LSAT-centric (and how could it be–they have books for dozens and dozens of tests it seems). We’ve had numerous students use their materials and then come to us, and they’ve made many comments to us about being very happy they found us.
Khan: I think Khan is great as a study tool because they give you free LSATs. And everyone likes free stuff! So, on that count I think doing the questions they have is useful. But, as many students have told us, it’s not really a course. they don’t talk strategy very much and the explanations leave a lot to be desired.
Trainer: This is probably the best of the lot that you’ve used so far. Because it’s an all-sections-in-one book, students tell us that it’s less comprehensive than the LSAT Bibles, and less detailed oriented. I consider it a good entry book, but not on the level of the Bibles.
Personally, I feel strongly you’d benefit from the information in our books, but that’s a decision I want you to be comfortable about 🙂
I hope that helps you in your decision, and feel free to ask us additional questions. We’re happy to help!
Teresa says
Thank you! All my Preptests came in today. I started my spring schedule early to get into the routine. When I get a tutor I will definitely go with you guys.
Melissa Camp says
Hi there,
Can you please suggest a simpler method for reviewing past tests or sections? I am trying to figure out how to incorporate these review methods into my studying but I am kind of hitting a wall. They don’t seem compatible with the online Flex test format offered here on the Powerscore website. They seem to be written more for people working with paper copies of the test.
For instance, if I wanted to try the first method of reviewing (which is the one that makes sense for me because my score is bouncing around) I could take the test a first time and use the flag feature as I proceed, marking each question that was hard or on which I guessed. The instructions say to write all these question numbers down when you’re done with your first, timed, attempt at the test. I can manage that by just clicking ‘Review’ which gives me all my flagged and guessed questions. So I write all the flagged question numbers down.
Now I am supposed to review the whole test again with no time restriction and somehow make a new record of my second, un-timed answers. The answer I chose first needs to be visible so I can make a note about why I changed it if I do. But the only way I can think to do that is to record all my first run answers in an excel sheet or something and then have a neighboring column for the second attempt, a third column for the ones which I flagged and a fourth column for the correct answer choice. I would need excel formulas to show me which ones I flagged and changed, which ones I flagged and missed, which ones I didn’t flag but missed the first time or the second time or both and so on….
I like the idea of giving us a review method but this seems over the top. How can I take the test a second time with no time limit in the digital online flex format and still have access to my first attempt answer choices without breaking out an excel spreadsheet? Is there a better way to use the features of the site to review mistakes and tricky questions quickly and effectively?
Thank you,
Melissa
Jon Denning says
Hi Melissa – thanks for the questions, they’re good ones!
A combination of the Flag feature and the Show/Hide Correct Answers feature should allow you to do exactly what you’re looking for here: as you work through a section or test, flag any questions about which you’re uncertain or that you’d like to review, then on the Results page that’s automatically produced when you finish you’ll see your answers and flags, but not the correct answers (they’re hidden by default). So when you scroll down to the individual question results you’ll be able to see the questions that you marked, but you won’t know whether the answer you selected is correct or not. To review the flagged items, just click on those individual questions (the question number on the left) to pull them up, untimed, and then select the answer you believe is correct on this second pass. Do that for each flagged question, jotting down your “new” (second-attempt) answers as you go.
Then when you’re done, at the top of the results page select Show Correct Answers and the right answers for each question will display, revealing how you did. You can check several things at this point: how accurately you flagged questions (did you mark the ones that you missed indicating your uncertainty was called for, did you fail to mark any you missed indicating you were overconfident, etc), how well you did on your first, timed pass (original answers vs correct answers), how different your untimed results were (did any flagged questions’ answers change on your second attempt, did your performance improve untimed and by how much, etc), and so on.
Finally, you can add any of the questions that you’d like to review later to a collection library using the Save feature on the far right, allowing you to return to important items in the future as needed. In other words you can build a set of key questions to revisit down the road, either to remind yourself of important ideas, or to confirm that you truly understand initially-challenging content, or simply as a collection of warm up items that you intend to work through pre-test.
I hope that helps you out with Blind Review, but please let me know if you have further questions!
Sebastian says
Hi! I was curious whether using an editing service for my personal statement would harm my admission chances (if they ask for it)? Even if the other aspects are fine.
Dave Killoran says
Hi Sebastian,
No, it wouldn’t. It’s more or less the same thing as having a friend read your essay and make comments, although professional editors are obviously quite good at seeing problems (your friends might be too, but typically not quite on the same level). I don’t know of an instance yet where it’s been an issue, and in any case it’s very rarely asked.
Thanks!
John says
Thank you for the response!
I did also have two kind of random questions if you could address them.
1. For safety schools, where i am above 75th percentile gpa and lsat, is it almost a given you would get in if you don’t have any dings like a really bad ps or any c&f issues?
2. Is it bad if your personal statement is focused on an area like say education law and the school does not have a specific program or emphasis on that area of law?
Thank you!
Dave Killoran says
Hi John,
Thanks for the reply! Here you go:
1. Generally yes. Although a bad PS can be a huge issue: I’ve seen 180s rejected from schools before due to arrogant essays, so you do need to be a person they want to see every day.
2. No, especially if it becomes something you might help expand when they are there (perhaps start a new journal?). The law school “team” is made by having people who play all positions, so they won’t look at this negatively 🙂
Thanks!
John says
Hi!
I just wanted your thoughts on my chances at a t14 school. I have a 167 with a 4.03 cum and i would say average rest of application (ps, lor, etc..). I am a URM but not sure if this is enough to comfortably make it in (without it being a reach).
Thank you!
Dave Killoran says
Hey John,
With that profile, your chances are really good across the spectrum of schools in the T14. the T3 will always be iffy simply because they are very hard to predict, but I’d expect multiple acceptances with money in the T14 as a whole. So, nail the essays and take your shots!
Thanks and good luck!
Ace says
Hello Dave,
I began studying for the LSAT two weeks ago. My cold diagnostic yielded a 153 and after two weeks dropped to 150, yet blind review pulled the score up to a 163. Part of me shivers at the thought of the LSAT dictating which Law School I attend. That said, with 35 hours a week to study for the LSAt, LG being strongest (Missing one or two points) to RC, the weakest section, Is it truly possible to jump20 points by the October or November Test this year? I truly appreciate your devotion to assisting students!
Dave Killoran says
Hi Ace,
Thanks for the message!
First, don’t worry about that score drop. That’s normal, and this explains why that happens: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/why-did-my-lsat-score-go-down-when-first-i-started-studying/
Second, that’s a solid amount of time for weekly study, and time spent is probably the biggest factor in score increases. So yes, that’s the kind of time you need to make that leap! Make sure to spend a lot of time on both LR and RC. It looks like reading speed and/or comprehension of their challenging text may be causing you some issues, so you want to attack that head on!
You can get there, and keep working hard!
Marah says
Hi!
How do you recommend students track their ~issues~? Should we do it by question type, skill type, or what?
Thanks in advance!
Dave Killoran says
Hi Marah,
We have a Performance tracker over at https://studentcenter.powerscore.com/self-study, and inside that I recommend that students print out several sheets and then track it primarily by question type, followed by reasoning type. That way it’s easy to sere any developing issues 🙂
Thanks and good luck!