December 2012 Re-takers Forum

[Poo-T]

hug me brothers.

[Poo-T]

hug me brothers.

Not you too bro.

It hurts to live

[Poo-T]

hug me brothers.

Not you too bro.

also 159. what'd you make?

[annet]

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

Hmmmmmm

And to answer your LG question, you might be like me and not super good at inferences. I would seriously consider velocity games. Dave Hall has a plug and chug approach that seems to get the job done. With PS I would find my self in a tiffy because I couldnt "hurdle the possibilities" or whatnot.

Go to velocitylsat.com and watch his games overview.

Edit: Velocity's approach sounds like a formalized version of what the poster above is talking about.

Worm speaks the truth. Velocity's games method worked well for me - I just got too lost/disorganized with PS. Also liked his RC although there aren't any earth-shattering secrets. LR... I was bad at it before Velocity, still bad at after. The Velocity games only course could be a decent investment.

[bitsy]

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.

what do you mean by "blanking"? do you just stare at the page?
where are your most common errors? are you running out of time? are there specific game types that give you more trouble?

i went -0 on lg-- keep moving, even when the setup seems wonky, because the questions themselves have a lot of info in them. always double check rule symbolization. any specific games you want to work on id be happy to help with.

[bitsy]

The only problem is that any system that demands major inferences (not a before b, b before c, then a before c easy type ones) gives people like rain and I a chance to just stare at the page wondering if we're missing something...then the freakout.

Velocity is mechanical, in the first lesson he tells you to always keep your pen moving, PS says take a moment and use "the registered trademark phrase" to beat the game.

Not that the other system is bad, but for those of us who's are a little less "The Big Bang Theory" an -0 can still be achieved through mechanical means.

oh i totally agree for a mechanical approach in most cases, but i was thinking specifically of zones and other rare types. i didnt set zones up correctly at first, because the rules didn't make much sense, but a lot of the ambiguity vanished once i had worked through four problems.

[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.

My breakthrough was when I stopped with all the fucking acronyms and super systems and did two things.

1. underlined stuff I found intriguing/important/conclusion

2. 3-5 word summary after every paragraph

Thanks Worm, maybe I'll try that and see how that works for me. Something is obviously not clicking in my brain during those passages.

[99.9luft]

Scored lower than before.
Gave up.
Decided to apply to a top 50 school
---
WOKE THE FUCK UP
---
Registered for Dec.
Good to be back.

[Alorain]

Thanks for all the advice guys. I'm going to check out Velocity's methods and see if I like it.

You guys are the best.

[Alorain]

Scored lower than before.
Gave up.
Decided to apply to a top 50 school
---
WOKE THE FUCK UP
---
Registered for Dec.
Good to be back.

YES brother! Thinking straight again. Good to have you.

[PickledPanda]

Scored lower than before.
Gave up.
Decided to apply to a top 50 school
---
WOKE THE FUCK UP
---
Registered for Dec.
Good to be back.

YES brother! Thinking straight again. Good to have you.

Package received. Much appreciated.

[desiballa21]

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

Hmmmmmm

And to answer your LG question, you might be like me and not super good at inferences. I would seriously consider velocity games. Dave Hall has a plug and chug approach that seems to get the job done. With PS I would find my self in a tiffy because I couldnt "hurdle the possibilities" or whatnot.

Go to velocitylsat.com and watch his games overview.

Edit: Velocity's approach sounds like a formalized version of what the poster above is talking about.

+1 for Velocity. Really helped me get perfect. But it's not too good when you have a weird game like zones.

[Cobretti]

Scored lower than before.
Gave up.
Decided to apply to a top 50 school
---
WOKE THE FUCK UP
---
Registered for Dec.
Good to be back.

welcome back

[desiballa21]

Scored lower than before.
Gave up.
Decided to apply to a top 50 school
---
WOKE THE FUCK UP
---
Registered for Dec.
Good to be back.

welcome back

[Alorain]

So, if it was my plan to pretty much focus on LG exclusively for the next month until Dec. 1st, what what you recommend I spend my time doing? Start off with un-timed practice, advancing slowly to timed games, and then timed sections? Should I drill by game type?

I really like the PS method for linear games, but often flounder in regards to sequencing and grouping games. Would using a combination of Velocity's methods on top of PS's be a poor idea?

So many questions, gah. This is my third attempt, and I really want to just knock LG out of the ballpark. I only went -7 on the rest of the test combined (-3 RC, -4LR) so I think I can afford to slack off a bit in those areas to iron out LG.


EDIT: I promise I'll calm down and stop being neurotically obsessive soon. I just need to get my study plan hammered out ASAP because time is ticking, and this is my last shot.

[chadbrochill]

Ok guys, here's my tentative study plan:

Taking a PT every Saturday and Wednesday from here on out. Taking it at 8:30 am in different locations (Currently planning Starbucks, Barnes & Nobles, public libraries, etc). Doing this for PT's 59-67 this way, and would love to coordinate Tinychat review seshs.

From PT's 41-58 I had about 10 LR/RC sections I did bad enough where I'm going to redo them completely
Every other section I'm going to review every right/wrong answer (Neglected this in October).

Also I have ~400 LR questions and ~50 RC Passages by type I still do, but I will do this after my reviews, and before getting backed to timed sections.

I also plan to spend 2-3 hours a day reading the Economist (I have 2 yrs worth of issues I've never touched).

My plan emphasizes review and stressful test environments.

[GabeQuixote]

Tomorrow: PT 40 with a breakdown of score, where I went wrong.

Printed all the Cambridge LSAT LR. Drilling my parallel (reasoning) tomorrow.

Tonight though: I am Bailey's. In a shoe.

[PickledPanda]

Even though your target area is LG, do not neglect LR and RC. Make sure you spend sometime reviewing areas you've mastered so you don't make progress in one area and slip in another. I spent a month doing nothing but games(went from -7 to - 0/1, and my LR dropped by 4 points.

If you studied 4 hours in a given day, then you should do 2.5 on LGs .75 on LR and .75 RC. Something along those lines.

[fruitoftheloom]

So, if it was my plan to pretty much focus on LG exclusively for the next month until Dec. 1st, what what you recommend I spend my time doing? Start off with un-timed practice, advancing slowly to timed games, and then timed sections? Should I drill by game type?

I really like the PS method for linear games, but often flounder in regards to sequencing and grouping games. Would using a combination of Velocity's methods on top of PS's be a poor idea?

So many questions, gah. This is my third attempt, and I really want to just knock LG out of the ballpark. I only went -7 on the rest of the test combined (-3 RC, -4LR) so I think I can afford to slack off a bit in those areas to iron out LG.


EDIT: I promise I'll calm down and stop being neurotically obsessive soon. I just need to get my study plan hammered out ASAP because time is ticking, and this is my last shot.

I think it's fine to mesh what works for you with PS with what works from other places. That's what I did.

[gettingerdone]

Is it the consensus that as a retaker its more important to be drilling or PTing? I have tons of drilling material I can repeat but like many of you have done all the PTs out there (at least the ones from 40-66). Would it be a bad plan to just take one or maybe two repeat PTs a week and focus the rest of my energy on drilling?

Btw in Oct I went -7 LR combined -6 LG and -6 RC. Hoping to get LG down to at least -2 and was doing much better on LR during PTs so hoping to get that down to -5 at a maximum. Really hoping to get a 167+ in December, hoping it's possible given the time frame. Let's do this.

[Poo-T]

I can't take this feel anymore

I'm gonna drive off a cliff listening to Springsteen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8yphj2hUI8

[desiballa21]

How did y'all drill w/ Cambridge? I'm going through Manhattan simultaneously. Read the chapter then drill the corresponding type? How many per day? Should I do more than 1 type per day? Went -11 total on LR and it seemed a lot of people thought LR was cake so I've got quite a bit of shoring up to do here.

[bitsy]

How did y'all drill w/ Cambridge? I'm going through Manhattan simultaneously. Read the chapter then drill the corresponding type? How many per day? Should I do more than 1 type per day? Went -11 total on LR and it seemed a lot of people thought LR was cake so I've got quite a bit of shoring up to do here.

id also be interested in this, since i currently have my printer belching out a fat stack of cambridge

[HawkeyeGirl]

Checking inn...

Since I don't suffer from test fatigue and have a demanding and sporadic work schedule, what would your thoughts on only doing single sections be? With maybe 2 PTs on Saturdays and Sundays? The problem is, I can usually sneak away for 35 mins a few times a day, but it's impossible to sneak away for 2.5 hours.

My weakness is RC (-5) and slightly LR (-4). I missed 2 on games, but I chalk that up to zones throwing me off, and I hadn't been thrown off by a game since the birds in the forrest on my 3rd PT... Now that I know that feeling, I think I can manage to go -0/-1 on games in Dec, even if they do throw us a zone-like game again.

[Alorain]

Worm, this is the one i'm talking about:

[