On Track for the June 2010 LSAT -- Refractory Period Forum

[Knock]

Not to open a can of worms (okay, maybe that's a bit of my macabre point). Have you also evaluated the erasability of said pencils - whether the nub on the end is suitably sufficient to eliminate 95% of the marks its nib makes?

No matter how avaialble I my huge pink eraser (not a euphemism), I tend to always return the the pencil's end.

....just food for thought and one more thing upon which to obsess.

I actually use the white "clicky" eraser. I'm not willing to trust the erasibility of a regular pencil or the huge pink eraser. The white clicky eraser is the best I know of, and the only one I will trust for my LSAT erasing.

[honestabe84]

Not to open a can of worms (okay, maybe that's a bit of my macabre point). Have you also evaluated the erasability of said pencils - whether the nub on the end is suitably sufficient to eliminate 95% of the marks its nib makes?

No matter how avaialble I my huge pink eraser (not a euphemism), I tend to always return the the pencil's end.

....just food for thought and one more thing upon which to obsess.

I actually use the white "clicky" eraser. I'm not willing to trust the erasibility of a regular pencil or the huge pink eraser. The white clicky eraser is the best I know of, and the only one I will trust for my LSAT erasing.

I like the Pink Pearl erasers on Mirado Black pencils. The pencils also write really well.

[Knock]

Racked up my 4th 180 today. I really needed this, and it was definitely a great confidence boost. I went -1 LR -0 RC (-0 RC, aw yeah, back to back -0 on RC! was pretty stoked on this; especially since the PT58 RC was not an easy RC at all, especially the comparative reading) -1 LG (dumb mistake) -0 LR. A little disappointed with that LG miss, just a dumb mistake . I could've been in triple digits for raw score, which would've been cool. I actually had a little bit of trouble with this LG, thought it was the hardest one so far (even harder than PT57/dino's or PT55/bus's). There were a couple of difficult games, and I was running low on time and although I didn't have to guess, I had to rush the last two or three questions. Luckily, I got them all correct.

The 1 LR miss too was one I wasn't sure about, had it 50/50 but I think I just overthunk it. Pretty happy I didn't miss any assumption questions, or any that I hadn't circled. I think learning about the two different type of assumption questions, necessary and sufficient, helped me out a lot here.

Summary: 58 -- 06/03/10 ----- -1 LR -0 RC -1 LG -0 LR ------ 99/180 ----- 5 sections, w/ 11.3 as 3rd experimental

Anyways, i'm going to e-mail out the explanations to everyone who has requested them at this point. I don't want to get in trouble for any unauthorized distribution of materials or anything. So after this, i'll only send you the explanations if we've somehow interacted previously or I know you from around the forums. Hope you guys understand. They're not too hard to find really, just go searching for them.

[BigA]

Not to open a can of worms (okay, maybe that's a bit of my macabre point). Have you also evaluated the erasability of said pencils - whether the nub on the end is suitably sufficient to eliminate 95% of the marks its nib makes?

No matter how avaialble I my huge pink eraser (not a euphemism), I tend to always return the the pencil's end.

....just food for thought and one more thing upon which to obsess.

I actually use the white "clicky" eraser. I'm not willing to trust the erasibility of a regular pencil or the huge pink eraser. The white clicky eraser is the best I know of, and the only one I will trust for my LSAT erasing.

What is this eraser you speak of? The erasers on these pencils I have are just terrible. They come off in huge flakes while erasing. You've opened my eyes. I need to make a change before the test. Anyone??

[malfurion]

What is this eraser you speak of? The erasers on these pencils I have are just terrible. They come off in huge flakes while erasing. You've opened my eyes. I need to make a change before the test. Anyone??

Pretty sure he's talking about a Clic Eraser:

--ImageRemoved--

That's what I used all through college, anyway, but I'm old, so maybe he's talking about something else..

[zworykin]

So, what's the concensus opinion on those erasers? I bought a pack of big pink erasers instead, just on the off chance that a proctor might take offense to a "mechnical eraser." Yeah, paranoid, but better safe than sorry... Has anyone actually asked LSAC if they're acceptable?

[Knock]

What is this eraser you speak of? The erasers on these pencils I have are just terrible. They come off in huge flakes while erasing. You've opened my eyes. I need to make a change before the test. Anyone??

Pretty sure he's talking about a Clic Eraser:

--ImageRemoved--

That's what I used all through college, anyway, but I'm old, so maybe he's talking about something else..

Yup exactly.

So, what's the concensus opinion on those erasers? I bought a pack of big pink erasers instead, just on the off chance that a proctor might take offense to a "mechnical eraser." Yeah, paranoid, but better safe than sorry... Has anyone actually asked LSAC if they're acceptable?

I would say they're definitely much better, although that's just going off memory/experience. I'm not really worried, I'd have to double check but I don't think there's any reason they wouldn't be allowed.

[bk1]

I would say they're definitely much better, although that's just going off memory/experience. I'm not really worried, I'd have to double check but I don't think there's any reason they wouldn't be allowed.

I think they might ban them because they seem similar to a mechanical pencil. I'm fine with the large white erasers you can buy which is what I will be using.

[BigA]

ahhh yes, those look familiar. Does seem like the best idea on test day. I'll make sure I get one quick. Should any office supplies store be good? Seems like it would have more precision erasing a single bubble on a scantron than the big pink or white erasers, though I'm just speculating here. To think I was about to go in with these shitty erasers on the back of my pencils

[Knock]

Fuck. Got a 172 on PT 59. Wow. Just got to try and put it completely out of my head this weekend and Monday.

[pinkzeppelin]

Fuck. Got a 172 on PT 59. Wow. Just got to try and put it completely out of my head this weekend and Monday.

Don't sweat it man, I bombed the last PT before my actual test and ended up rocking the real thing. You got this.

[b4uu4b]

Fuck. Got a 172 on PT 59. Wow. Just got to try and put it completely out of my head this weekend and Monday.

Don't worry about it mate, in your own words - better now than on the test right? I've been averaging about 176 since PT 50, and suddenly got a 173 yesterday on PT 58. It was a bad day, I made stupid stupid LR mistakes that I usually wouldn't but I went over the mistakes and realized that my mistake was just getting too familiar and overconfident with the questions. Its bad timing but I'd rather realize my overconfidence now then on Monday. I don't know what your circumstances were, but think about all the tests you've done and how you've rebounded well when you've done badly in the past.

Where did you make your most mistakes?

[Remnantofisrael]

Hey Knock, I'm with you. Yesterday I got a 171 on PT 57. Today 180 on PT 58. One test is just one test.

[Saltqjibo]

Man, nothing shook me more than dropping down to 169 (167 without some lucky guesses) last week. But I bounced right back into the mid 170s after a couple of days. Don't worry about it, its probably due to your mind starting to wander. On the real thing you will have adrenaline + laser focus.

[Knock]

Thanks a lot for the kind words guys. I'm about to drive on home for a (somewhat) relaxing weekend before the real deal, so I have to make this quick. I really appreciate everyone who has been so supportive, it has really meant a lot. This last PT, and missing 11 questions has been really jarring and weighing on my mind. It was especially strong because of the huge swing from yesterday, when I was feeling really stoked after my 180. Now i'm like the exact opposite lol. Anyways, you guys have definitely made me feel better though.

One last thing, in light of my last PT, do you guys think I should study this weekend (drill some games, study the LR questions that have been problematic in the past) or relax, giving my mind a complete break before the big day?

Anyways, i'll post more when I reach my destination.

[Chimica]

I have to say that I have flucuated on LR a fair amount and my worst scores have been when I feel like I've nailed it and all the questions were easy. And they were easy because I wasn't really reading them. I am doing the difficult LR questions and I do as well on those (-3.6 average) as I do on the normal ones (same speed) because I am fully engaged with each one.

So here's to your 172 being a bit of a wake-up call to not be too overconfident and you nailing it on the real thing.

[goawaybee]

One last thing, in light of my last PT, do you guys think I should study this weekend (drill some games, study the LR questions that have been problematic in the past) or relax, giving my mind a complete break before the big day?

relaxation is important, if you are incapable b/c you want to do some games or LR q's then you might want to handle that. I think the "relaxation" thing is all about letting go and finding things you enjoy that allow you to get your mind off the test...if that is even possible. I had a great deal of trepidation in regards to doing timed/scored stuff due to the psychological impact and me projecting how I will perform on the actual test based on most recent performance on PT's or timed sections.

I haven't touched anything for days but may do some games/LR today and a few tomorrow. I think I have detached enough and don't plan on "scoring" any of it, just going through the motions as if it were an exercise vs the most important moment in the last several years of my life.

You will destroy the shit either way sir. go get a massage, pimp out in the hot tub etc...eat some fruit and be easy. You got this thing, liberation is only a few hours away at this point. Little faith in yourself, plenty o confidence and the chapter will come to an end.

[NonTradHealthLaw]

Holy shit. Talk-Story was every bit as difficult as it was made out to be. I would definitely say that passage was much much much more difficult than Riddled Basins, and probably the hardest one I've done.

I'm so glad others struggled with this passage. At first I thought - oh what an interesting book, I may have to read this one - but after the final paragraph of the essay, that author can suck it. Test wasn't too bad overall, though I tanked the first section - doing it without a warmup. Glad Monday won't be after an intense work day.

[ocean]

hey, Knock. I asked you a question a long while back about how to improve the reading comprehension skill, you gave me a sort of abstract answer with the main point as "stick your gun with it after reading the passage", I found the remark very on point and helpful. Thank you for that.

Before PT55, I was plateauing at about 172,3, which is about 4 to 6 points below your level. I have made another jump to 174, 175, 177 after I start taking the exam at the actual test center, i left cell phone and the answer key sheet at where I work (the two most subconsciously distracting items), the lack of distraction must have something to do with it. I took PT59 on Friday and got a 170, no need to say, I was devastated because there is no more preptest for me to regain confidence (I did every single one of them just like you). I was very anxious to see how you did to bench mark my own drop, and it seems that I am still trailing 2 to 3 points behind you.

Time is a big issue for me on 59, i was completely out of my comfort zone in the LG and first LR, i am usually at 17 minutes mark at LR Q15/Q16, if I am at Q14, then there is problem, if i am not at 20 minutes mark when I reach Q18, no matter how confident I feel about my answers, it's a bad sign. The double checking of nuances and the consequent consumption of time are the only reliable indicator of how confident I should be about the answers, not how I feel. I missed 10 for the first two sections. Like you said, better now than Monday.

What I am doing for the weekend is re-experiencing 57, 58 and 59, to make sure that I am conscious of some bad habits, the most lethal one being dwelling on one question, refusing to move on.

Best luck to all of us, man. I know for sure that I did my best, I improved form 153 to where I am right now and English is not even my first language. Setting a bar too high is just like refusing to move on from an uncertain LR question, tragedy of being an perfectionist.

[zworykin]

For what it's worth, I simply cannot imagine Monday's test being as difficult as PT59.

The "170 curves" for PTs 18-59, unless I've screwed something up:

-13
-12
-12 (pt20)
-14
-12
-16
-14
-12 (pt25)
-14
-16
-13
-12
-14 (pt30)
-14
-14
-14
-13
-12 (pt35)
-12
-10
-12
-13
-10 (pt40)
-12
-11
-12
-10
-12 (pt45)
-9
-10
-8
-10
-10 (pt50)
-11
-8 (Jun 07)
-10
-11
-10
-9 (pt55)
-11
-11
-11
-14 (pt59)

The last time we saw a -14 (not counting non-disclosed tests, anyway) was PT 33 in Dec 2000. Of course, that was the fourth of four in a row so... maybe we shouldn't dwell on that part, haha. The last -13 was PT 39, Dec 2002. The last time there was even a -12 was PT45 in Dec 2004. I suspect 59 will turn out to be an outlier once we have a few more tests worth of data after it, and not the start of an upward trend.

I'm predicting another -11 curve and expecting a test along the lines of 56/57/58 in terms of difficulty.

Side note--look at those curves from 18-33. Guess we should all be glad we aren't having to take those tests. 23 and 27 were both -16!

And props to LSATBlog for providing the data.

[LSAT Blog]

The "curves" certainly have shifted a lot over the years.

For some context to that data, check out How Many Questions Incorrect and Still Score 170 / 160.

Here's a graph I made to display the data I compiled (for every released PT from June 1991-present, in chronological order)




Also, I analyzed the "curves" for June, Sep/Oct, and Dec and found that Dec exams typically have more generous "curves," and June exams typically have less generous "curves." For details, see: Easiest LSAT Curve: December | Hardest LSAT Curve: June.

[lebob]

so we have to miss less to get a 170, knowing this sure helps deal with stress lol

[LSAT Blog]

Past doesn't guarantee future. Trends don't necessarily continue.

Even if they do, you could look at it as a positive thing. A lot of people hated PT59 despite the -14 "curve."

[redsox]

The "curves" certainly have shifted a lot over the years.

For some context to that data, check out How Many Questions Incorrect and Still Score 170 / 160.

Here's a graph I made to display the data I compiled (for every released PT from June 1991-present, in chronological order)




Also, I analyzed the "curves" for June, Sep/Oct, and Dec and found that Dec exams typically have more generous "curves," and June exams typically have less generous "curves." For details, see: Easiest LSAT Curve: December | Hardest LSAT Curve: June.

What does the shading in the background from white at the bottom to blue at the top represent?

[Knock]

See you on the other side everyone. Stay focused, stay calm, and trust you instincts and practice.

We will all kill this and then celebrate after.