Stressing about the June 2010 LSAT - Prep advice welcome Forum

[CMDantes]

Hello all,

I've been lurking these boards for a couple months now, and figured it was time I finally joined up.

Anyway, I'm taking the June 7th LSAT and am already starting to freak out a bit. I really am shooting for a 167+, so I've given myself a lot of time to start studying/practicing this test. So far I've only gone through some of the kaplan mastery books, but they haven't been much help as far as learning methods to succeed consistently. I'm taking a Testmasters course beginning on March 22nd, but I feel like I need to be doing more before the prep course begins. I want to get there and be in the position to really absorb what they're teaching so I can destroy this test when the time comes.

I bought the "10 real, official, LSAT tests" book and the "Next 10" by LSAC, should I start taking these on the weekends? Or during the week after work/school? What did you guys find was helpful in preparing for a prep course?

I heard somewhere that I should look into a logic course, but my university cancelled the only logic class it was offering this semester. Does anyone have some recommendations of books I should buy for a gentle introduction to what I'll be seeing in the Logic Games and Logical Reasoning portions of the test?

[nsideirish]

Powerscore Logic Games Bible....if you really work through it completely 3 or 4 times, there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to pull a -0 or a -1 on the LG section every time. I am taking the June 2010 as well. I took a few PTs over winter break and was scoring in the low 160s because I was doing a terrible job on the LG section. I ordered the LG Bible and have gone through it once so far and am already vastly improving. I am working through it again trying to get down to the -0/-1 range.

[kacee]

My advice, based on 3-4 months of self-study that has landed me getting comfortably 175+ on full practice tests. Hope it helps in some way, it certainly is helping me waste time while I can't sleep due to dreading the test itself in 26 hours.

I found the Powerscore Logic Games AND Logic Reasoning Bibles to be immensely helpful. Especially the Games... once you've worked through the book and done a number of practice sections of Logic Games there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to get them all correctly almost every time! They are very learnable.

So learnable in fact that I suggest (even though those are the most intimidating to begin with, at least were for me) that you make sure not to focus on them too much (as I did), since it will be the other two sections that will prove most difficult to master. Take your time working through the LRB and try to get as much from it as you can. Once you start taking practice tests you'll see a pattern in the type of LR questions you tend to get wrong. Going back and reviewing those chapters of the LRB slowly and carefully can make a HUGE difference. I don't see the point in taking a logic class, to be honest. The stuff you will learn in there will not be likely to help you with the majority of the kind of logic on the LSAT.

As for the TestMasters course - idk if you've already paid or what, but after having done 3-4 months of self-study that only cost me the two Bibles and practice tests, I wouldn't really recommend a course to anybody except those who don't think they could motivate themselves to learn on their own. It seems like the different companies all teach the test differently, and trying to conform to their methods while teaching yourself could prove problematic (especially if you use the bibles). You know how you learn best... if you think you will benefit from a course then it's worth it. It sounds like you are willing to work on this yourself, though, and I think the combination of the bibles and developing your own natural methods will make getting consistently good scores easiest.

As far as practice tests are concerned, I suggest you make copies of all the logic games before you do the practice tests themselves. The LR and RC sections are a bit harder to re-try later as you tend to remember them more but after you've done a dozen or more logic games, going back to the first one you did can make it seem fresh and let you squeeze more practice out of it. Take it easy with the practice tests til you finish the LGB, as that will make a world of difference. Do a few sections and see where you stand. If you're getting a good portion of them right, start timing yourself. Getting used to the pace you'll need to work at and balancing speed and accuracy are as important as knowing the answer. Also, I don't think you need to do full, 4-section-at-a-time practice tests until you've pretty much gotten where you want to be score-wise doing the sections individually.

Logic Games: With your practice test copies, do each GAME individually, timed. 4 games, 35 mins = 8m45s per game. Time yourself for each individual game (I liked http://online-stopwatch.com/, or my phone's stopwatch) and write the time on the top. Games that you did not do correctly or that took 10+ minutes you should set aside and try to make a point to revisit them at a later date (after you've done more games and bumped those out of your memory a bit).

Logic Reasoning: As soon as you feel comfortable doing these with some accuracy, start timing. Timing is so important for this one. The first ten are almost always very easy and you should get to the point where you can pick out the answer quickly w/o need to double-check, and finish the first 10 in ten minutes (I liked using the stopwatch to check that, too). That leaves 25 mins for the next 15-17, though at first you should prob start with 40 or more minutes for a whole section, though get to 35 asap. LR can be a tricky bitch. LRB helps you learn strategies for specific question types and it helped me immeasurably with the trickiest ones, and also how to save precious time on long questions.

Reading Comprehension: This is probably the hardest one to learn. There's really no strategy ala the other two, and your best method will probably be different than someone else's. I think the best thing to do is to do them steadily over your practice, timed (40-45 mins to start). You'll naturally get better at drawing the meaning from a passage as you get more used to it, and the wording of the questions and typical answers will get more obvious as they pop up time and again.

Oh, and the most important thing... Review the hell out of your practices!! Anything you got wrong you should be looking at hard, figuring out what makes your answer wrong and the right one right. Doing all the rest and not doing this part is a waste of time. LR will especially benefit from careful review.

I know this post is dragging on but I'm going to keep going as I have more to say. A couple months before the test make sure to start doing FULL practice tests. 3 sections, then a break, then 2 more (mix in a section from a diff test). Or at least 4 sections together if you don't have the time for 5 in a row all the time. Be strict with your timing!! Grab some scantrons and practice bubbling, also, for timing and accuracy's sake. As the test gets closer, these should probably be all you're doing. Also note that the only timing device you can use at the LSAT is an analog watch. I practiced these last few weeks by turning on the online stopwatch and setting my analog watch (not on my wrist) at 12:00, then starting them at the same time, then turning off my monitor so I couldnt see the countdown. I tried to use the same benchmarks (~8 mins per LG, <10 mins for first 10 LR q's) and to balance keeping tabs on the time left with not looking at the watch too much. After each section I set the clock back to 12:00 so I didn't have to do any math. At the 7 hand, time's up!

Blah blah blah. I think I'm sufficiently tired of rambling to try going to sleep again... wish me luck. Hope this helps, you'll do great. This test was almost embarrassingly study-able. What does that imply, since Law Schools put so much weight on LSAT scores? Hmmmm....

[JDHopeful]

This is incredibly helpful for me too, thanks for this...

[Knock]

Great Post - Tagged. Any more advice would be welcomed as well!

[crislaw]

Awesome post Kacee! Thanks for taking the time to provide such great advice!

[hellojd]

Very helpful K, thanks

[CMDantes]

That's excellent advice, thank you so much for your help.

[angioletto]

My advice: don't waste your time and energy stressing. Use it to study or go out and relax to clear your head.

Easier said than done, I know - but THAT was what gave me a 9 point increase on my re-take.

[kacee]

Figured I could add to this, now that I've taken the real thing!! I felt EXTREMELY prepared and ready when I walked in there, so I guess that might indicate that my study methods were legit. I feel like it's possible that I did perfectly, but I doubt it... but I am 90% positive I did 175+! Go me!! I'm very pleased some people found it helpful, so I might as well throw in whatever comes to mind, just in case it might help someone. I feel like mentally vomiting up the past few weeks/months. Heh..

The analog watch practice was so clutch!! It really got my timing perfect. (I reset it to 12:00 between every section, right after the proctor said to put my pencil down.) In fact, because of the distractions of practicing at home, I actually went faster on the real test because my thoughts didn't wander at all. I never had to stress about running out of time because I could just glance at my watch and decide if I needed to speed up or slow down. !! Once I figured out that I was going faster than usual, I was able to slow down, which I am sure made a huge difference. !! This applies to everything, but mainly LR: Because I wasn't rushing, EVERY question whose answer didn't leap out at me, I read/scanned every answer choice and made sure I could eliminate all the others. Even the ones that did leap out I usually scanned. If you think you will have the time, it is SO MUCH better to take the time and consider a question until you're sure of an answer, rather than marking and going back to it later. Besides the fact that it will be on your mind and you'll have to remember to go back, once you do go back, you have to re-read the question and all the answers again, to get back to where your mind was before. THEN AGAIN, if you really get hung up, leaving the question and coming back could give you fresh perspective. Do both if you need to but don't leave the answer blank just in case...

Dulled pencil tips. Not really that important, I know, but I flattened my four pencil tips before the test because it fills in bubbles faster. That can be a good 30 secs, really... Hey also don't buy pencils. So many people had brand new boxes of pencils w/ them. I KNOW you all have old-fashioned pencils lying around. Such a waste to buy new ones!! I had one pencil my Bio teacher gave me in HS that I found last night. It said, "SET UP FOR SUCCESS!" and gave me an awesome vibe, I used it for the whole test except the writing sample. Good vibes are useful too

I know of an extremely helpful web resource for studying but I don't think I should post a link here. PM me if you want the link.

Having to pee can be really distracting so I dehydrated myself a little the day before the test and went to the bathroom right before I checked in, and again during the break... no harm in being over-cautious. During the break I also did some good stretching and re-centered, which was easy because I felt so good about the first 3 sections. Attitude is so so so much! The few times I got anxious or stressed I could tell how much slower and worse I got. Shake it off and move on.

I studied all night Thursday after class until late, slept in kinda late Friday and didn't do a damn thing LSAT related. Drank a few beers, read a little, played some video games... very relaxing. Trouble falling asleep though and once I did, dreamed I missed the test (of course) but once my alarm went off I went into go-mode, and with the help of some stimulants, was chomping at the bit come 8:45. I think taking the time off is very important so that you don't have it on the brain too much the day before. Plus, you let your intense lead-up study week soak in. I doubt anything you do on Friday will help much anyway.

Stop by the test center beforehand so it's a bit more familiar; helped me feel more comfortable when I got there. Knew where the bathrooms were, etc. Avoid standing in lines... no point really. Avoid thinking too hard. Just relax and know that you have it in the bag and that you studied way more than most of these people and it's gonna show in your score.

I think that's about it. Pretty exhaustive explanation of my methods, but as I said, they worked for me (or at least I feel like they did!!). If you have any questions at all feel free to ask here or PM; makes me feel useful. I'll probably reply to this thread again in 20 days when I get my score, so I have some raw data to back up my claims! Good luck to all.

[Knock]

Figured I could add to this, now that I've taken the real thing!! I felt EXTREMELY prepared and ready when I walked in there, so I guess that might indicate that my study methods were legit. I feel like it's possible that I did perfectly, but I doubt it... but I am 90% positive I did 175+! Go me!! I'm very pleased some people found it helpful, so I might as well throw in whatever comes to mind, just in case it might help someone. I feel like mentally vomiting up the past few weeks/months. Heh..

The analog watch practice was so clutch!! It really got my timing perfect. (I reset it to 12:00 between every section, right after the proctor said to put my pencil down.) In fact, because of the distractions of practicing at home, I actually went faster on the real test because my thoughts didn't wander at all. I never had to stress about running out of time because I could just glance at my watch and decide if I needed to speed up or slow down. !! Once I figured out that I was going faster than usual, I was able to slow down, which I am sure made a huge difference. !! This applies to everything, but mainly LR: Because I wasn't rushing, EVERY question whose answer didn't leap out at me, I read/scanned every answer choice and made sure I could eliminate all the others. Even the ones that did leap out I usually scanned. If you think you will have the time, it is SO MUCH better to take the time and consider a question until you're sure of an answer, rather than marking and going back to it later. Besides the fact that it will be on your mind and you'll have to remember to go back, once you do go back, you have to re-read the question and all the answers again, to get back to where your mind was before. THEN AGAIN, if you really get hung up, leaving the question and coming back could give you fresh perspective. Do both if you need to but don't leave the answer blank just in case...

Dulled pencil tips. Not really that important, I know, but I flattened my four pencil tips before the test because it fills in bubbles faster. That can be a good 30 secs, really... Hey also don't buy pencils. So many people had brand new boxes of pencils w/ them. I KNOW you all have old-fashioned pencils lying around. Such a waste to buy new ones!! I had one pencil my Bio teacher gave me in HS that I found last night. It said, "SET UP FOR SUCCESS!" and gave me an awesome vibe, I used it for the whole test except the writing sample. Good vibes are useful too

I know of an extremely helpful web resource for studying but I don't think I should post a link here. PM me if you want the link.

Having to pee can be really distracting so I dehydrated myself a little the day before the test and went to the bathroom right before I checked in, and again during the break... no harm in being over-cautious. During the break I also did some good stretching and re-centered, which was easy because I felt so good about the first 3 sections. Attitude is so so so much! The few times I got anxious or stressed I could tell how much slower and worse I got. Shake it off and move on.

I studied all night Thursday after class until late, slept in kinda late Friday and didn't do a damn thing LSAT related. Drank a few beers, read a little, played some video games... very relaxing. Trouble falling asleep though and once I did, dreamed I missed the test (of course) but once my alarm went off I went into go-mode, and with the help of some stimulants, was chomping at the bit come 8:45. I think taking the time off is very important so that you don't have it on the brain too much the day before. Plus, you let your intense lead-up study week soak in. I doubt anything you do on Friday will help much anyway.

Stop by the test center beforehand so it's a bit more familiar; helped me feel more comfortable when I got there. Knew where the bathrooms were, etc. Avoid standing in lines... no point really. Avoid thinking too hard. Just relax and know that you have it in the bag and that you studied way more than most of these people and it's gonna show in your score.

I think that's about it. Pretty exhaustive explanation of my methods, but as I said, they worked for me (or at least I feel like they did!!). If you have any questions at all feel free to ask here or PM; makes me feel useful. I'll probably reply to this thread again in 20 days when I get my score, so I have some raw data to back up my claims! Good luck to all.

Thanks again for sharing Kacee! please do share once you receive your score, although i'm sure you did well!

[CMDantes]

Wow Kacee, congratulations! I'm happy to hear you did so well, and that your positive attitude made the difference. I'd like to echo the above poster and encourage you to share with us your score.

Also, thanks for the excellent advice. I just did my first untimed PT and I managed to get a 161 completely cold, so I hope that by applying your tactics AND doing the prep course I can emulate your test day experience. Please continue to share your advice as you think of it, and once again congratulations!

Oh and expect a PM from me!

[am060459]

solid advice Kacee.

[JDoodle]

Regarding the course: I would definitely suggest going through your prep materials twice before going to your class. I took a powerscore class and I've heard testmasters and powerscore are very similar. The class is literally a teacher reading from the book, but the materials are great. I used the class mostly to review and reinforce the things I already knew. Some of the people in my class had never even looked at a test before, and I think the differences in how we were doing were indicative of that.

[swflgirl]

I would like to say as a newbie to this forum that I really appreciate kacee's post and attitude. I have found some of the other people on this forum to be condescending and rude in regard to those of us who are just starting out and who are not as well informed. That is why we are here, to share and learn, so thank you kacee.

[dynomite]

I would like to say as a newbie to this forum that I really appreciate kacee's post and attitude. I have found some of the other people on this forum to be condescending and rude in regard to those of us who are just starting out and who are not as well informed. That is why we are here, to share and learn, so thank you kacee.

Agreed. kacee's attitude and general helpfulness is a nice change of pace from some of tone of the rest of this board. I'll add to kacee's words of encouragement something that an LSAT instructor said to me once that definitely helped:

"Treat mistakes on Practice Tests as a good thing. Every mistake you make on a practice test is an opportunity to prevent a mistake on the real thing."

Yes, obviously it's frustrating to miss questions and see PT scores below your goals (especially as the test approaches, they're apt to upset you). But you need to always keep in mind that you're studying for a reason. Missing questions helps you start to figure out which parts of the test are hard for YOU, and where you need to direct your OWN studying.

As kacee said, make sure to note and attack any question you had trouble with.
- What kind of question was it?
- Why did you have trouble?
- What should you have noticed that you didn't?

Edit: Another thing to remember:

TLS is not representative of the general population. Here's a posting I found from a while back.

I generally know that often a 172 is the cutoff for the 99th LSAT percentile, 170 for the 98th LSAT percentile, a 165 is generally the 93rd LSAT percentile, a 160 is generally the 84th LSAT percentile and a 151 or 150 is the median, or 50th LSAT percentile.

When you see people on this board talking about scoring a 175 or some such, don't let that discourage you from being proud of your own score. You don't need to be in the top 1% of all LSAT takers to a) get into a fantastic law school or b) have a successful career as a lawyer.

[lawschoolhopeful123]

To OP, I am in the same boat as you! I am also aiming for a 167+ but don't know if I will be able to make it. I think I studied too much this time and stressed myself out. This time around, I will begin serious studying in April and will probably use one of those condensed schedules on the LSAT blog. Good luck to both of us!

[CMDantes]

I don't think it's possible that you've studied too much, actually. I've read that a lot of people get burnt out, and the solution is to take a small break from it.

It's kind of like tapering for athletes. Train really hard then take a week off and come back stronger than before.

Either way, I'll be posting on this thread or making new ones as my progress continues.

Right now I'm going to read some of this Plato's Republic (political theory class) and go over my first PT. I took it cold and managed to get a 161, and this is the earliest PT available. So I'm optimistic at this point, and as Kacee pointed out, attitude is tremendously important.

Good luck to you! Keep posting here with your progress

[kacee]

I don't think it's possible that you've studied too much, actually. I've read that a lot of people get burnt out, and the solution is to take a small break from it.

It's kind of like tapering for athletes. Train really hard then take a week off and come back stronger than before.

Definitely, definitely true. Every time I took a break and came back I was much better than ever, and refreshed and ready to take more tests. Good solid breaks (at least a day or two of doing a lot of non-scholastic stuff) are essential imo.

I took it cold and managed to get a 161, and this is the earliest PT available.

Grats!!! I really like the early PTs for their logic games. Otherwise, unless you think you're going to do ALL the PTs, I would do mostly 30s and 40s until the last month when you should do all the 50s. The old LGs are much harder though, so really good practice... makes all the recent ones seem like a joke.

[s0ph1e2007]

Grats!!! I really like the early PTs for their logic games. Otherwise, unless you think you're going to do ALL the PTs, I would do mostly 30s and 40s until the last month when you should do all the 50s. The old LGs are much harder though, so really good practice... makes all the recent ones seem like a joke.

Careful
Just FYI the Feb LG were pretty different from the older ones
but maybe that is a trend that wont continue (although I doubt it)


My one advice to yall would be to make sure you have LG down in 30 minutes.
A lot of plug and chug going on in Feb 10 test. (original, not make up... i heard make up LG was much easier and more traditional [which sucks lol])

[ljbc03]

What do you do when you've taken all the PTs and are retaking?

Any suggestions??

[jarofsoup]

Make photo copies of all the logic games and after you take the prep tests do them over and over and over again. It helps you gain speed. Also be super strict on timing. These are things I will be doing for that test

[kacee]

Got my score! 175 to be honest I thought I did a little better than that since I had ample time to finish each section slowly and carefully. Goes to show how those tricky questions get you... had I another week or two of practice I would have probably spent it doing the last 15 questions of LR sections with a 25 minute time limit and reviewing which ones I got wrong, and looked up difficult RC passages to practice on. That's where I'm guessing my lost points went; no way to tell with the Feb test but I felt extremely confident about the LG section so I doubt I lost much there.

good luck with the rest of your studying! If you keep up with what you've started I think you've got it in the bag.

[HiLine]

Congratulations kacee! Too bad you didn't get a 180 though.

[CMDantes]

Woo that's an excellent score, congrats Kacee.

I'm sure you'll have no problem getting into your dream school. Where are you headed?