December 2012 Re-takers Forum

[Nolita Fairytale]

Checking in. 165, a tremendous improvement from my 162 cold diag. I knew I didn't exactly do great, but this is pretty awful.

-3 LG (-2 on zones and -1 on the second game (I still can't believe I missed that one));
-5 RC (I managed to miss negation in an answer choice; -2 on !Kung; that's pretty bad as RC and LG are my strengths, or at least I thought so);
-9 on LR (-3 LR1, -6LR2; I really thought I had this section down a week before the test ; I started the Manhattan guide last night (only did Powerscore for Oct) and I'm going to destroy LR in Dec );

To think I was disappointed with my last PT (PT66) score (172 because I misbubbled a couple)... Ugh. You're going down on Dec 1, LSAT!

[natashka85]

Hey,my diagnostic today was a 167 again,i missed 12 question i know why this happened and i am gonna kill all my mistakes
-2 RC,-2 LR,-5 LR,-3 LG,this is a shame for me i need to be more accurate and i need to improve.

[jns66]

Did anyone else not study between Oct 6 and now and feel like they know nothing? Where to start? Guess I'll whip out the LR flashcards and go from there. So rattled, I felt I had such a good grasp of this section before the test and now everything feels so unfamiliar.

+1

I'm about to take a practice test as kind of a diagnostic again since I haven't done ANY LSAT prep since the oct. test and my 162 just isn't going to cut it.

+1 kinda scared to start up again - spent the day killing trees....

[jackbauer10]

reposting this: I need a strategy for improvement in RC. I've already read the Manhattan Guide and it still isn't clicking. I need to get started ASAP. Anyone have methods or suggestions? TIA

[jns66]

reposting this: I need a strategy for improvement in RC. I've already read the Manhattan Guide and it still isn't clicking. I need to get started ASAP. Anyone have methods or suggestions? TIA

im interested in this - I managed to go -7 in reading somehow. usually one of my better sections. Have the Manhattan guide on rush order to my house as we speak.

[Cobretti]

reposting this: I need a strategy for improvement in RC. I've already read the Manhattan Guide and it still isn't clicking. I need to get started ASAP. Anyone have methods or suggestions? TIA

im interested in this - I managed to go -7 in reading somehow. usually one of my better sections. Have the Manhattan guide on rush order to my house as we speak.

same boat. i read the PS RC guide and it seemed pretty meh, do you guys recommend manhattan?

[bitsy]

reposting this: I need a strategy for improvement in RC. I've already read the Manhattan Guide and it still isn't clicking. I need to get started ASAP. Anyone have methods or suggestions? TIA

last night on chat, sinfiery shared his techniques for bumping his score up to a 176 on a retake. some days, he would do as many as 11 RC sections, and analyze all mistakes. seems like endurance plays a big role.

[jns66]

Is it general consensus that RC has changed the least and it is okay to pull from much older (as in the oldest) tests?

[PickledPanda]

I thought my 152 would be the low point of my week but apparently it gets worse, my firm doesn't have enough work for me and can't afford to keep me on until there's more work and now I need to look for a new job. Not entirely a shock because I spend more time on Facebook than I do working but still it sucks. Oh well, at least I'll have more time study.

The bright side! Also, a higher score could land more money to compensate for the lay off. I'm sorry all the same, though.

[chem!]

reposting this: I need a strategy for improvement in RC. I've already read the Manhattan Guide and it still isn't clicking. I need to get started ASAP. Anyone have methods or suggestions? TIA

last night on chat, sinfiery shared his techniques for bumping his score up to a 176 on a retake. some days, he would do as many as 11 RC sections, and analyze all mistakes. seems like endurance plays a big role.

I think endurance is HUGE in the test overall. If RC is a weakness, the above advice is excellent. The passages that have historically given me the most grief are the artsy ones, but I've got them down now b/c I've done so many of them. I'd kill for 4 science based RC passages, though.

[jcan91]

Did anyone else not study between Oct 6 and now and feel like they know nothing? Where to start? Guess I'll whip out the LR flashcards and go from there. So rattled, I felt I had such a good grasp of this section before the test and now everything feels so unfamiliar.

+1

I'm about to take a practice test as kind of a diagnostic again since I haven't done ANY LSAT prep since the oct. test and my 162 just isn't going to cut it.

Taking mine on Sunday, I think (no time before unfortunately). Also, won't be getting my Manhattan books until late next week IF that. So worried I won't have time to make use of them (and that my diagnostic will drop another ten points from my actual score...)

[PickledPanda]

Checking in. Went -11 on LR so I'm going to start reading through Manhattan tonight and start drilling from Cambridge tomorrow. Let's get to work.

Hell yeah man! I feel like we are 300 12 ready to take on the entire Persian Empire LSAC enterprise. We got this.

[Alorain]

166 December 2011.
166 October 2012.

The test is mocking me.

No fucking way Gabe. I got 166 in June, and 166 on this test too.

Someone HALP us!

[Alorain]

Also, guys. This is a plaintive cry for LG help.

I went -9 on the Oct. test, and -9 in June too. Things just aren't clicking for me the way i'm prepping. I shouldn't be blanking so hard on test day. LG is the one hump I need to get over. I would have had a 172/173 If I had gone -0/-1 in LG, as seems to be the norm among TLSers.

How did you all master LGs? I've been through the PS bible a good 3 times, have drilled a giant stack of LGs from PT1-40 several times ect. Its not like I've been totally slacking.

[Alorain]

Who's the best for LR questions by type? I've got to close this parallel flaw/reasoning and complex conditional gap in the next two weeks.

Cambridge LSAT has a nice bundle. If you know your way around the interwebz, it can be found...

Edit: 666

[PickledPanda]

Who's the best for LR questions by type? I've got to close this parallel flaw/reasoning and complex conditional gap in the next two weeks.

Cambridge does them by type and difficulty. Also, some of the prep companies have packets doing the same; They usually come in types from PT's 1-20 and 21-40. I would think one of them would be sufficient for a Dec. retake. You couldn't do both without sacrificing elsewhere by Dec.

http://www.amazon.com/LSAT-Logical-Reas ... +reasoning

[annet]

reposting this: I need a strategy for improvement in RC. I've already read the Manhattan Guide and it still isn't clicking. I need to get started ASAP. Anyone have methods or suggestions? TIA

Still debating a retake here. One thing that really helped me on RC was using Velocity/Dave's post-it method for a handful of RC sections. I was going -0 on PTs and went -2 on the test (-4 on LG, -disaster on LR). He's got the whole thing in his advice thread but the basic idea is to go through and put post-its over all of the answer choices. Then do the entire section and write out the answer, even for the ones where you technically "need" to see the choices. So, just, put something critical that the author would disagree with for those questions. For "mood" or "tone" questions write down a few adjectives. It's time consuming and no fun at all but it really got me looking to the passage and ONLY to the passage for answers (no assumptions, no analysis, no critical interpretation - either the author says it or doesn't).

[Cobretti]

Also, guys. This is a plaintive cry for LG help.

I went -9 on the Oct. test, and -9 in June too. Things just aren't clicking for me the way i'm been prepping. I shouldn't be blanking so hard on test day. LG is the one hump I need to get over. I would have had a 172/173 If I had gone -0/-1 in LG, as seems to be the norm among TLSers.

How did you all master LGs? I've been through the PS bible a good 3 times, have drilled a giant stack of LGs from PT1-40 several times ect. Its not like I've been totally slacking.

Try drilling without timing yourself for a while. Don't worry about time until you're seeing the patterns and making inferences like its second nature. Then really focus on time and try to get it down to 30 minutes.

[AKsnow]

reposting this: I need a strategy for improvement in RC. I've already read the Manhattan Guide and it still isn't clicking. I need to get started ASAP. Anyone have methods or suggestions? TIA

I'm in your same boat. The worst part.... I went -0 on !Kung..... FML. I can't even blame my shitty score on that passage or my -1 in zones.

[Alorain]

My friends, are we taking over this thread for our re-taking studying purposes? Is this where we make our stand?

[chadbrochill]

Also, guys. This is a plaintive cry for LG help.

I went -9 on the Oct. test, and -9 in June too. Things just aren't clicking for me the way i'm prepping. I shouldn't be blanking so hard on test day. LG is the one hump I need to get over. I would have had a 172/173 If I had gone -0/-1 in LG, as seems to be the norm among TLSers.

How did you all master LGs? I've been through the PS bible a good 3 times, have drilled a giant stack of LGs from PT1-40 several times ect. Its not like I've been totally slacking.

I'd highly recommend this site:
http://7sage.com/logic-game-explanations/

Do an LG section in 35 mins
Immediately after, watch the explanations, especially the beginning when they point out every inference. (Helpful even on games you got right)
For ones you didn't "get", immediately re-do them after review the way you "should have" done it.

Try keeping a spreadsheet so you know which ones you aced (-0 w/10 mins to spare) and which ones you'd like to go back to. Also helpful to keep track of the days you did them.

It sounds like a lot of work, but the things you learn build up fast. I went from around where you are to consistent -0's in about 7 days doing ~4 LG sections a night.

[Chardee_MacDennis]

Also, guys. This is a plaintive cry for LG help.

I went -9 on the Oct. test, and -9 in June too. Things just aren't clicking for me the way i'm prepping. I shouldn't be blanking so hard on test day. LG is the one hump I need to get over. I would have had a 172/173 If I had gone -0/-1 in LG, as seems to be the norm among TLSers.

How did you all master LGs? I've been through the PS bible a good 3 times, have drilled a giant stack of LGs from PT1-40 several times ect. Its not like I've been totally slacking.

How much time are you spending on setup? For most games, if you build a great setup, you can break the game down into scenarios, or at least skeletons.

The next time you drill games, really dig down into the rules. Understand what they're saying explicitly and what they're implying. Combine as many rules as you can. Do this without timing and really make sure you you get your setup consistent.

Also, the better you are with making deductions and combining rules, the less you'll be thrown when you see an unfamiliar game type (like zones, which doesn't lend itself to huge deductions).

Basically, you just need to get really familiar with each game type, since there are only a few that the test can throw at you.

Make sense?

[PickledPanda]

My friends, are we taking over this thread for our re-taking studying purposes? Is this where we make our stand?

Yes and "The Almighty says this must be a fashionable fight. It's drawn the finest people."

[Cobretti]

My friends, are we taking over this thread for our re-taking studying purposes? Is this where we make our stand?

Yes and "The Almighty says this must be a fashionable fight. It's drawn the finest people."

Wish we weren't here, but good to be doing it with you guys...

[fruitoftheloom]

Also, guys. This is a plaintive cry for LG help.

I went -9 on the Oct. test, and -9 in June too. Things just aren't clicking for me the way i'm prepping. I shouldn't be blanking so hard on test day. LG is the one hump I need to get over. I would have had a 172/173 If I had gone -0/-1 in LG, as seems to be the norm among TLSers.

How did you all master LGs? I've been through the PS bible a good 3 times, have drilled a giant stack of LGs from PT1-40 several times ect. Its not like I've been totally slacking.

Logic Games were difficult for me too. I tried using the PS method and it only worked for me for some types of games. Even though they say not to, on all ordering games I end up drawing a diagram (someone in my test room made fun of hearing me draw these huge lines all over my book), but it worked for me. Basically - if it's 8 "spots" I would do 8 really long vertical lines and do my clues at the top. I put the rules at the top because when I have them at the bottom and work next to the question I forget/don't apply the rules. I used this approach on the zones game and had zero issues. If you want me to send you a pic of what my logic games look like, I still have some marked up games around. Personally - I'd rather spend an extra 30 seconds drawing ginormous lines because it worked better for me.

I guess the message from me is - if you try something from PS and it doesn't work for you, quit using it like that.