December 2013 LSAT Study Group Forum

[scandk]

Checking in. Still waiting on materials though... Is there anything I should add to this list of materials:
The Logic Games Bible
The Logical Reasoning Bible
The Reading Comprehension Bible
The LSAT Superprep
10 Actual, Official LSAT Preptests
Next 10 Actual, Official LSAT Preptests
10 More Actual, Official LSAT Preptests
10 New Actual, Official LSAT Preptests
PrepTest 62
PrepTest 63
PrepTest 64
PrepTest 65
PrepTest 66
PrepTest 67
PrepTest 68

Cambridge drills, answer explanations

To add to that:

Most answer explanations can be found here:

http://www.manhattanlsat.com/

All you have to do is use the search bar on the top right. You can also find explanations for LG/RC for each section on almost every PT.

Thanks guys, both look like great resources.

1) LSAT Trainer
http://www.amazon.com/The-LSAT-Trainer- ... at+trainer

2) BP LG
http://www.amazon.com/The-Blueprint-LSA ... print+LSAT

3) Manhattan LSAT LR
http://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-Logical ... an+LSAT+LR

BP LG > LGB, MLSAT LR and LSAT Trainer > RCB, LRB

[Nicolena.]

I'm prepping for a retake . Need to score in the 160-170 range from a previous score of 138

It's tough to do, but I think with a lot of hard work and the right tools big jumps are possible. I think for most people who score very low initially the main problem is a poor LSAT foundation. I scored a 146 on th Dec. 2012 LSAT and I've made significant improvements since reading guides and drilling by type. Anything is possible.

If you don't mind me asking, what were you main weaknesses and how did you improve them? What materials did you use? How did you pace yourself? I am very interested in hearing how you improved. Thanks!

[LegaleZy]

I'm prepping for a retake . Need to score in the 160-170 range from a previous score of 138

It's tough to do, but I think with a lot of hard work and the right tools big jumps are possible. I think for most people who score very low initially the main problem is a poor LSAT foundation. I scored a 146 on th Dec. 2012 LSAT and I've made significant improvements since reading guides and drilling by type. Anything is possible.

If you don't mind me asking, what were you main weaknesses and how did you improve them? What materials did you use? How did you pace yourself? I am very interested in hearing how you improved. Thanks!

When I first took the LSAT I really didn't have adequate time to prepare or te right materials. I walked into te LSAT essentially blind and my score showed it. My weakest section was and is LG. I had no idea how to set up a diagram, so the first thing I did was buy MLSAT LG and PowerScore. I read and drilled. I then started working on LR and focusing on each question type. Do I know the trick answers? Can I explain why an answer is right or wrong? RC is my strongest so I haven't focused too much on that. I'm also taking an MLSAT class which has helped as well. As far as materials I basically just bought ever book that's credited on this site. Dec. 2012 LSAT I got 6 LG questions correct an now I only miss 3 on average for the section. LR I can go -4 a section instead of -15. I'm not perfect and I have a long way to go, but I think what has helped me the most is understanding the questions and types and practicing those types. I spent a month on LG in isolation and then on LR and then a mixed review of both. Once I feel I'm at my strongest in those two sections I'll start adding in more full leng PT. Right now I just time one individual section and then review that section.

[mes10d]

Checking in.

Got a 158 on Oct '12 & a 155 on Dec '12 (in the middle of finals, shouldn't have taken it in the first place. Foolish.) I took maybe 5 pts and skimmed through the LG/LR Bibles. Was too focused on maintaining my high GPA and dealing with sorority politics, and kinda arrogantly assumed I could just rely on being smart to do well.

Just finished a pt today and got a 168 (-1 LG/-7 LR/-4 RC), but I want to consistently be scoring 172+ by November. Using LG/LR bible, Manhattan RC, and ordering the Cambridge books. (I think. I have a list somewhere.) I also have every single prep test in PDF format (save 65-69, I need to buy those in Nov.). I feel like actually studying each section by question type and finding some way to alleviate my test anxiety is going to help a lot. I just got finished with the LG Bible and am now consistently scoring -1/2, Grouping games test to get the best of me on occassion.

Also am now reading through the Qs on LR and recognizing key words like assumption, parallel reasoning, flaw in the reasoning, etc. Amazing what actually reading the Qs does for your score. -___-

We have all have a little over three full months, so I think we'll all be set! There are two guides on here on how to get a 180/179 - one from pithypike (sic) and another user I don't remember. I'd recommend lurking their topics/suggestions and adapting it, or just using it, to see how it'll work for you. I'm going with a personalized version of pike's guide to a 180, and so far it's helping a lot.

[lhn5007]

Checking in. Aiming for a 172+ on the December LSAT. I'm excited and scared at the same time! Haha

I've been studying on and off since the beginning of the year but am buckling down now in order to make real progress. I've been at a -3 average on LG, intending to make this a -0 by the end of September. Haven't taken a full PT yet since my original diagnostic of a 162 with Logical Reasoning being my toughest section. I feel like I have to get the LR foundations down before I start really PTing. In the midst of the LRB and will read the MLSAT LR book right after. Bought Cambridge packet to drill LR questions. Hopefully LR will click for me as easily as LG. I'm aiming to finish both LR books in the next 2-3 weeks. I'm focusing on RC last as that is my best section.

Any advice for someone struggling with LR? How learnable is this section?

Good luck to all of my fellow splitters!

[paglababa]

How's this work - everyone is registered already? Or do people register after the October administration is done?

Anyone here plan on sitting in October too? Do you already sign up for December too as insurance policy? Or does one sign up after Oct 5th? What do you even do that month? It sounds like studying would be such a waste if you found out you got a 17X.

[ManoftheHour]

How's this work - everyone is registered already? Or do people register after the October administration is done?

Anyone here plan on sitting in October too? Do you already sign up for December too as insurance policy? Or does one sign up after Oct 5th? What do you even do that month? It sounds like studying would be such a waste if you found out you got a 17X.

I registered the day the June 2013 results came out.

[062914123]

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[Nicolena.]

I thought I'd share this. I just found a really great site that explains LR fairly well. However, it only covers PTs 53-69, but check it out. I have found it very helpful in seeing where I am misinterpreting.

http://www.ivyglobal.ca/lsat/lsat_practice_tests.asp

[ManoftheHour]

I thought I'd share this. I just found a really great site that explains LR fairly well. However, it only covers PTs 53-69, but check it out. I have found it very helpful in seeing where I am misinterpreting.

http://www.ivyglobal.ca/lsat/lsat_practice_tests.asp

Damn. Thanks.

[RobertGolddust]

PT 46 today

RC: -3
LR1: -7
LR2: -5
LG: -6

raw score 78, for a scaled score of 161.

Its likely I'm pushing October back till December.

I feel like I'm on the verge of a breakthrough with LR. However, I still haven't mastered sufficient assumption questions despite lots of practice, I've yet to learn principle questions, and my MBT/MSS game needs work.

Love the helping questions though, I rarely ever miss a flaw, weaken/strengthen, or necessary assumption. If anyone wants to PM me I would love to chat about the test, specifically about SA/MBT/MSS questions.

[Gamine]

PT 46 today

RC: -3
LR1: -7
LR2: -5
LG: -6

raw score 78, for a scaled score of 161.

Its likely I'm pushing October back till December.

I feel like I'm on the verge of a breakthrough with LR. However, I still haven't mastered sufficient assumption questions despite lots of practice, I've yet to learn principle questions, and my MBT/MSS game needs work.

Love the helping questions though, I rarely ever miss a flaw, weaken/strengthen, or necessary assumption. If anyone wants to PM me I would love to chat about the test, specifically about SA/MBT/MSS questions.

Took this PT on Sunday and got that exact score! That really put me off especially since I scored in the high 170s last week on PT 45.

I also have a massive problem with MSS questions - I just never seem to get them right. LG is fine but it just takes me too long and I can't finish on time. That last RC passage just confused the hell out of me. I got all of those questions wrong! At least LR seems to be clicking. I haven't gone through parallel questions which I need to do because I have trouble with parallel flaw questions. I think I'm going to drill quite a lot more and withhold from taking a PT until September.

[lhn5007]

I thought I'd share this. I just found a really great site that explains LR fairly well. However, it only covers PTs 53-69, but check it out. I have found it very helpful in seeing where I am misinterpreting.

http://www.ivyglobal.ca/lsat/lsat_practice_tests.asp

Thanks a lot, the explanations will be very useful.

[FalParsi]

Hello all, joining the thread. I was planning on October but my LG performance is not even close yet, so December it is.

I took the LSAT once, back in 1998, and scored 174. My prep test results leading up to that were 171, 173, 177 and 172. Silly me, for assuming I could walk away for years and expect my scores to still be there when I got back...

Last week, I started my studies by doing PT7 and got a 170, which I should have been happy about even though it was my lowest score ever. (Mostly from LG mistakes due to time pressure, partly from being blinded by my own opinions about an RC passage.) But I thought, "No problem, I'll get this together by October."

I read the intro chapters of the LSAT Trainer, and a couple of days later did PT52. I made myself take it first thing in the morning, and ended up shutting down on LG -- got frustrated and couldn't think straight -- and missing an easy LR question due to time pressure. Got a 165 and started to worry.

Since my GPA from many years ago is awful, I need a very high score to have a chance at the schools on my list. So, here I am. I switched from an 8-week plan to a 16-week plan on the LSAT Trainer site and I'm feeling a lot less stressed about this.

Good luck, everyone!

[RobertGolddust]

Gamine, congrats on the 170! I recently drilled parallel/flaw and I think it was quite rewarding for my overall LR game. That last RC section (46) was extremely hard. I broke it down into two viewpoints, social legal theorist, and consequentialist (harm) legal theorist, the main point being social theorist necessarily adhere to the principle of consequentialist legal (harm) theorist. Other than those two points, I had no idea what the passage was talking about. Thankfully the questions were not overly subtle so I was able to brazen out a -1 on the section. RC is like a logic game, there's a couple key points that show up on every question.

[Pyromancer]

Will be taking December also for my third (and final!) test. Did a 159 in February (albeit I was sick) and then a 160 in June which I thought I had done much better on. Endurance becomes a big factor for me I think with -5 on LR1, -4 on LG, -10 LR2, and -8 on RC. Those last two sections were 3 and 5 on the test and LR is normally my strong point so I really need to figure out the focus thing somehow as I literally doubled my wrong answers on the second half and could have easily gotten mid to high 160's had I not encountered this. If anyone has any tips besides full length PT's it'd be greatly appreciated!

[ManoftheHour]

Will be taking December also for my third (and final!) test. Did a 159 in February (albeit I was sick) and then a 160 in June which I thought I had done much better on. Endurance becomes a big factor for me I think with -5 on LR1, -4 on LG, -10 LR2, and -8 on RC. Those last two sections were 3 and 5 on the test and LR is normally my strong point so I really need to figure out the focus thing somehow as I literally doubled my wrong answers on the second half and could have easily gotten mid to high 160's had I not encountered this. If anyone has any tips besides full length PT's it'd be greatly appreciated!

I had the same problem. Did a 162 on the first one then a 163 on the next despite the fact that the first time around, I was PTing around the high 150s and low 160s and the second time around I was PTing between the high 160s and low 170s. Did you do an experimental? I neglected it throughout and I think I paid the price. Also, I'm finding that drilling helps with both stamina and accuracy. When you've drilled 200 LR problems straight, seeing a 35 minute 25-26 question LR section doesn't seem so scary or draining anymore.

We'll see though. Take what I say with a grain of salt. My highest score is still, at it stands, a 163. If I get a 170+, then I'll be a lot more confident in my advice.

Any actual high scorers want to chime in?

[Logicgames14]

Having a really difficult time with LG and making inferences. The setup is easy but making all the rules correctly is where I mess up or I forget the conditional or contrapositive.

[Nicolena.]

How much does everyone sleep?

Do you feel it is much more difficult to concentrate when you are lacking sleep? Is there something you do to fix it on days you don't get as much sleep as you should? I have trouble concentrating, but I probably only sleep about 5-6 hrs a night.

Thanks!

[062914123]

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[ZVBXRPL]

PT 39:2:21

Cognitive psych....

I don't understand why the correct answer is (E). Alternatively, by making the inference: most skilled artists are good at abstract reasoning, would it be acceptable to say that some skilled artists are famous? Why or why not? Conversely, if most skilled artists are famous (E) then wouldn't some skilled artists not be famous (C)?

[ManoftheHour]

Bro, you can't just post LSAT questions. It's copyright. C is a premise booster. We already know SOME aren't from the second sentence. It says "most are" which means "some aren't." Premise boosters for "justify" and sufficient assumptions questions are always wrong because we need something in addition to the provided premises to make the conclusion make sense.

The cognitive psychologist's conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

We don't need to assume C because it's already given.

[062914123]

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[crestor]

Bro, you can't just post LSAT questions. It's copyright. C is a premise booster. We already know SOME aren't from the second sentence. It says "most are" which means "some aren't." Premise boosters for "justify" and sufficient assumptions questions are always wrong because we need something in addition to the provided premises to make the conclusion make sense.

The cognitive psychologist's conclusion follows logically if which one of the following is assumed?

We don't need to assume C because it's already given.

How does gmatclub posts all the questions and answers right there? I'm really curious about this lol.

[Pyromancer]

Will be taking December also for my third (and final!) test. Did a 159 in February (albeit I was sick) and then a 160 in June which I thought I had done much better on. Endurance becomes a big factor for me I think with -5 on LR1, -4 on LG, -10 LR2, and -8 on RC. Those last two sections were 3 and 5 on the test and LR is normally my strong point so I really need to figure out the focus thing somehow as I literally doubled my wrong answers on the second half and could have easily gotten mid to high 160's had I not encountered this. If anyone has any tips besides full length PT's it'd be greatly appreciated!

I had the same problem. Did a 162 on the first one then a 163 on the next despite the fact that the first time around, I was PTing around the high 150s and low 160s and the second time around I was PTing between the high 160s and low 170s. Did you do an experimental? I neglected it throughout and I think I paid the price. Also, I'm finding that drilling helps with both stamina and accuracy. When you've drilled 200 LR problems straight, seeing a 35 minute 25-26 question LR section doesn't seem so scary or draining anymore.

We'll see though. Take what I say with a grain of salt. My highest score is still, at it stands, a 163. If I get a 170+, then I'll be a lot more confident in my advice.

Any actual high scorers want to chime in?

I was going 4 section PT's for awhile because those were the ones I had in all my books but after I do my review of the June LSAT I'm going to switch to the 5 as that extra section can make a huge difference. Drilling also seems like a great idea, I have the Kaplan mastery books so I may go on a tear through those and see what I can accomplish. It's just really frustrating when everything seems to be falling into place and then when you take the real thing it just doesn't connect for some reason.

On another note, received a fee waiver from Duke yesterday with a 160 and 3.7 GPA. What gives? Is this just a tease to boost their reject numbers?