The Official June 2014 Study Group Forum

[whoopsiedaisye]

Yall - I have a question. Or rather, a matter of opinion.

I really want to drill my reading comprehension questions. Which Cambridge bundle should I buy? PrepTests 1-38 or PrepTests 40-60?

I really want to drill the comparative passages (trying to break my bad habit of zoning out while reading!), but I'm worried that if I buy the PrepTest 40-60 bundle I'll memorize the questions and/or answers so when I start drilling full PTs I'll get a score that doesn't fully represent my actual skill. Ya know what I mean?

Which one do you recommend I buy?

Happy studying everyone!

[alexrodriguez]

Buy them all.

Drill the earlier ones first.

Do your scheduled PTs

Use 40-60 for additional practice after you've done that PT.

That's what I would do.

I'm sure someone else has a better idea though.

[dd235]

Buy them all.

Drill the earlier ones first.

Do your scheduled PTs

Use 40-60 for additional practice after you've done that PT.

That's what I would do.

I'm sure someone else has a better idea though.

Ya I would start out with 21-40 and not even touch 40-60 until after you have taken them as PTs. Of course, if you are just planning on taking 20 or so PTs then you can do 41-50 or something like that as drills.

As far as wanting to practice with comparatives. They are actually very similar to normal passages. If you feel comfortable with the traditional ones, then you will be set on comparative. I know not everyone agrees, but I find comparative to be much more straight forward and easier to deal with.

[rebexness]

. I know not everyone agrees, but I find comparative to be much more straight forward and easier to deal with.

I agree completely.

Buy 1-38 to drill with.

Then use 39-71 as drills AFTER you have done them as PTs. (or whatever # of them you plan on doing as PTs)

[whoopsiedaisye]

Thanks for all of your answers! Looks like the consensus is to use PrepTests 1-38 first and to drill the remaining reading comprehension problems (PrepTests 40-60) after I've taken the practice tests. Appreciate the input!

[ExistentialThesis]

Is anyone else doing self-study? Trying to make sure that I stay motivated! Would love to hear about other's progress.

[rebexness]

Is anyone else doing self-study? Trying to make sure that I stay motivated! Would love to hear about other's progress.

I think almost everyone is doing self-study.

[alexrodriguez]

at the library studying for the LSAT

doing big things and feeling good about it.

[FlyingNorth]

at the library studying for the LSAT

doing big things and feeling good about it.

There we go, louie.

[charlie92]

Hi everyone who's also studying for the June LSAT. This is my first post on this forum but I've been lurking for a bit looking at some of the advice on LSAT prep and have found it to be really helpful and informative. Unfortunately, I've put myself in a pretty bad situation studying for the test and I was wondering if any of you could help me out with some advice.

I began my LSAT studying on February 10th, having bought the 4 month day to day schedule from lsatblog.blogspot.com (Steve Schwartz's site) and found it and his blog really helpful so far in understanding the LSAT. I preferred it over taking a course because of it's comparative inexpensiveness. Due to a bunch of reasons, some of them more legitimate than others, I started to fall behind pretty badly in doing the assignments for the day. As of now I'm far behind (weeks) where I should be at this point, but I've finally reached a point in my personal life where I can rededicate myself to the LSAT and to catching up to where I should be. My impulse is to try to catch up by doing multiple days worth of assignments in single days and avoiding days off until I catch up to where I should be. Do you think this would be worth it? I still want to take the LSAT in June and am willing to put in the effort in studying from this point on.

My second question has to do with courses. I said before I was hesitant about taking one because of the cost but I have had a lot of people tell me I really should take one to do the best I can do. Testmasters, which seems to be really well-regarded, is doing a 2 day a week course in my city starting on the 25th of this month and I am considering signing up. The only problem is that the course goes on after my graduation in May (I'm a college senior, and will be leaving this city after graduation) and I feel like it wouldn't be worth it to take a course that ends like that? Am I right to think that this wouldn't be worth it, and has anyone had any similar experiences? Could I contact Testmasters and explain my situation and see if they could lower the price or maybe give me some other incentive to sign up? I think that at this point my best option might be to find a good online prep course, which also has the advantage of being cheaper, and any recommendations there would be appreciated..

Yeah, sorry that came out kind of long and stream of conscious-y but any help or advice would be appreciated.

[rebexness]

I wouldn't worry about a course, honestly, unless you really have trouble sticking to a schedule without someone making you do so.

You still have plenty of time to study for June, but be careful about trying to zoom through material just to get through it. You want to be able to absorb as much as possible.

I would do a lot of prepping between now and the may registration day. Do a PT and see how close you are to your ideal score. There is always september, december, february, and next year and the year after that.

[unodostres]

I love the lsat.

[WaltGrace83]

I love the lsat.

Really? I want it to die. You may conquer with love; I conquer with fear

[Twitch]

Hey guys, hope things have been going well for y'ins.

I've been drilling up a storm over here. Yesterday I tackled flaws, one of my big weaknesses, and did 100 problems. First 58 were level 1. Did them almost entirely in my head and missed 7. Reviewed those and realized that the biggest reason I was missing them was due to inadequately isolating the premise and conclusion, so I did the next 42 (level 2/a bit of 3) on paper and missed 2. Harder problems, far lower rate of error. Felt good.

Looks like (at least for now) flaws are going on the short list of problems I really have to diagram to get right. Good to know. I feel like I'm making some progress on this thing.

[CocoSunshine]

I love the lsat.

Same for me. It changes how I think. I am spotting logic flaws in life everyday:)

[rebexness]

Hey guys, hope things have been going well for y'ins.

I've been drilling up a storm over here. Yesterday I tackled flaws, one of my big weaknesses, and did 100 problems. First 58 were level 1. Did them almost entirely in my head and missed 7. Reviewed those and realized that the biggest reason I was missing them was due to inadequately isolating the premise and conclusion, so I did the next 42 (level 2/a bit of 3) on paper and missed 2. Harder problems, far lower rate of error. Felt good.

Dumb question, but do you eliminate wrong answers first? My accuracy rate went up significantly when I began making an effort every time to get rid of wrong answers. (Following the steps in the Trainer, basically)

[unodostres]

I love the lsat.

Really? I want it to die. You may conquer with love; I conquer with fear

haha i learn to love it.

[Twitch]

I love the lsat.

Same for me. It changes how I think. I am spotting logic flaws in life everyday:)

Me too. I really do love it.

Your post made me think of a comment that really inspired me, which I found on a highly analytical blog post regarding LSAT standard deviations across race and gender. It said:

"I do well on tests, but I admit that these tests only show how good one is at taking these tests. These tests don’t test my definition of intelligence. Hey, I don’t know what IQ score Arnold Schwarzenegger has, but in my book, he is a genius three time over (bodybuilding, building a vast financial empire, building his not-over political career). The smartest people don’t bother much with these tests. There are more important things in life…"

I can't even.... process how ridiculous this comment is. My brain was in flaw mode so I emailed the quotation to my study partner along with the following:

The argument is most vulnerable to criticism on all of the following grounds EXCEPT...

(A) it takes for granted that the author is clearly the smartest people because he doesn't bother much with this test
(B) it takes for granted that money, politics, and bodybuilding are incompatible with bothering much with this test
(C) it takes for granted that the smartest people adhere to the author's personal definition of intelligence
(D) it cites irrelevant evidence as a way to prove the author's conclusion
(E) it fails to prove that Arnold Schwarzenegger has a measurable IQ score

So anyway...spotting flaws in everyday life? Gotcha covered.

[Twitch]

Hey guys, hope things have been going well for y'ins.

I've been drilling up a storm over here. Yesterday I tackled flaws, one of my big weaknesses, and did 100 problems. First 58 were level 1. Did them almost entirely in my head and missed 7. Reviewed those and realized that the biggest reason I was missing them was due to inadequately isolating the premise and conclusion, so I did the next 42 (level 2/a bit of 3) on paper and missed 2. Harder problems, far lower rate of error. Felt good.

Dumb question, but do you eliminate wrong answers first? My accuracy rate went up significantly when I began making an effort every time to get rid of wrong answers. (Following the steps in the Trainer, basically)

Not a dumb question, but yes; I always have. It's far easier to spot the right trees when I've mowed down half the forest. Not that I would do that, because nature.

[Straw_Mandible]

Hey guys, hope things have been going well for y'ins.

I've been drilling up a storm over here. Yesterday I tackled flaws, one of my big weaknesses, and did 100 problems. First 58 were level 1. Did them almost entirely in my head and missed 7. Reviewed those and realized that the biggest reason I was missing them was due to inadequately isolating the premise and conclusion, so I did the next 42 (level 2/a bit of 3) on paper and missed 2. Harder problems, far lower rate of error. Felt good.

Looks like (at least for now) flaws are going on the short list of problems I really have to diagram to get right. Good to know. I feel like I'm making some progress on this thing.

Question: What does it mean to do LR questions "on paper" vs. "in your head"? I rarely annotate or diagram anything when I do LR questions, so I'm curious about this.

[FlyingNorth]

Hey guys, hope things have been going well for y'ins.

I've been drilling up a storm over here. Yesterday I tackled flaws, one of my big weaknesses, and did 100 problems. First 58 were level 1. Did them almost entirely in my head and missed 7. Reviewed those and realized that the biggest reason I was missing them was due to inadequately isolating the premise and conclusion, so I did the next 42 (level 2/a bit of 3) on paper and missed 2. Harder problems, far lower rate of error. Felt good.

Looks like (at least for now) flaws are going on the short list of problems I really have to diagram to get right. Good to know. I feel like I'm making some progress on this thing.

Question: What does it mean to do LR questions "on paper" vs. "in your head"? I rarely annotate or diagram anything when I do LR questions, so I'm curious about this.

+1

[DMW723]

Can anyone offer advice on what I should add in as an experimental section for my PTs? I have all of them, and I'm drilling Cambridge LR 1-20; 21-40 packets. I've had relative success in everything but RC seems to be my most inconsistent section.

When PTing the more recent tests, would adding an experimental RC section from tests 1-20 be a good idea? I just feel like reading comprehension is the only aspect of the test that I can only get better at through doing the actual sections, so the more exposure the better.

[rebexness]

Yep, I would do RC as your experimental.
However, instead of the really early PTs, you could redo sections youve already done. I plan to do a mix of previously done RC passages and grabbing 4 science passages from the cambridge packets.

[Louis1127]

Can anyone offer advice on what I should add in as an experimental section for my PTs? I have all of them, and I'm drilling Cambridge LR 1-20; 21-40 packets. I've had relative success in everything but RC seems to be my most inconsistent section.

When PTing the more recent tests, would adding an experimental RC section from tests 1-20 be a good idea? I just feel like reading comprehension is the only aspect of the test that I can only get better at through doing the actual sections, so the more exposure the better.

I would make the experimental on your PT whatever section you are the worst in. Gotta turn your weakness into your strength.

That's what Lebron did after he lost in the finals the first time. His post game was his weak point. Now it is one of his many strengths.

Yes, I just compared you to Lebron. Ball up!

[Louis1127]

If I was clever/motivated enough to make a meme of this I would, but I am not. So you'll have to sue your imagination.

Imagine that Futurama meme that says:

Not sure if getting better as I go through Cambridge packets...

Or Cambridge's difficult classifications are wrong