December 2013 LSAT Study Group

[ftbchamp231]

My weakest spot is definitely RC. I have already taken all of the recent PTs when I was studying for the October tests. Is it even worth using the 1-20 RC passages to study for the new tests, at least for getting used to annotating?

Same thing for LR, if I take a newer test and realize I am weak at Sufficient Assumption questions, would drilling sufficient assumption questions from 1-40 be a good idea? Or are they that much different in structure?

I use those older sections for timing practice. The questions are definitely different but at least getting the mechanisms down regarding timing/reading speed is always good practice.

Thank you! That is what I will use them for. I'll do the questions more to test that I absorbed what I was reading.

[HardenUp]

Looking for some assistance here:

I'm scoring in the low 150's at the moment and am signed up for December already. I have decided that I won't bother taking the actual test until I'm scoring above a 165. In essence, has anyone heard of/ been able to jump 15 or so point on consecutive practice tests in a month?

If not, it'll have to get pushed back to February.

For a little background, I've been studying for 4.5 months so far (using Blueprint), but am going to school full time as well as working around 26 hours a week, so it's been difficult to spend the required time on studying. Next semester will be my last one for the undergraduate, but I'll still continue working following into next semester.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[toshiroh]

PT 60, 167
LR 1 -6
LG -3
LR2 -3
RC -5

So pissed at the LG score

[sandclock]

how much does everyone think retaking preps reflects your actual LSAT score?

[vicpin5190]

2 timed sections today, both LR. PT 55 Section 3 and PT 52 Section 3. -2 and -5. Second one it was evident that fatigue of the day had settled in and as such I missed some ones that I don't usually miss. On the other hand the first section I was just starting out for the day so I was a little bit more...."fresh" (or as fresh as you can be after a work day). Oh well. I got my LSAT timer in the mail today so I started using that for timing, which I think also may account for the poor showing on the second section, as I'm still getting used to moving from digital to analog. Surprisingly makes a big difference.

[062914123]

.

[Sinatra]

i <3 bee

[sandclock]

how much does everyone think retaking preps reflects your actual LSAT score?

it all depends on how you're prepping. are you accurately timing 5 section modern pts? are you taking 15 minute breaks, no more no less? are you starting in the morning, and are you being realistic about the level of noise, the environment, etc. etc.? are you using scantrons and #2s?


and even if you're doing all that stuff, it's still v possible that your test day performance will be a huge drop off from your pt scores (just see the retakers thread for proof)

i meant retaking preps specifically. Taking the preps you've already taken and doing them again - i know there must be a score increase from taking the prep you already took again but I was wondering if the score increase reflects a score increase in the actual test.

[usernotfound]

how much does everyone think retaking preps reflects your actual LSAT score?

it all depends on how you're prepping. are you accurately timing 5 section modern pts? are you taking 15 minute breaks, no more no less? are you starting in the morning, and are you being realistic about the level of noise, the environment, etc. etc.? are you using scantrons and #2s?


and even if you're doing all that stuff, it's still v possible that your test day performance will be a huge drop off from your pt scores (just see the retakers thread for proof)

i meant retaking preps specifically. Taking the preps you've already taken and doing them again - i know there must be a score increase from taking the prep you already took again but I was wondering if the score increase reflects a score increase in the actual test.

It can, depending on circumstances. It depends on how much you remember and how long ago you last took the same PT. I don't think it's the same as taking a fresh PT, but given a large gap in time between takes and not remembering the answers to any or 95%+ of the questions, I'd say the score can be reasonably representative, but it might be safe to consider it a score on the high side.

[wealtheow]

SOMEONE GIVE ME A BOOT TO THE ASS I AM LOSING STEAM HERE

blarrrrrgghhhh

[vicpin5190]

how much does everyone think retaking preps reflects your actual LSAT score?

it all depends on how you're prepping. are you accurately timing 5 section modern pts? are you taking 15 minute breaks, no more no less? are you starting in the morning, and are you being realistic about the level of noise, the environment, etc. etc.? are you using scantrons and #2s?


and even if you're doing all that stuff, it's still v possible that your test day performance will be a huge drop off from your pt scores (just see the retakers thread for proof)

I can't speak much to what test day is like, but I can definitely see how scores would be lower than how you practice if you don't adequately prepare for all potential aspects of test day. For example, like I mentioned in an earlier post, I switched to analog timing yesterday and it threw off my timing somewhat in LRs (i went too fast in a massive overcompensation reaction), and that's just one aspect of many that could be potentially different than how you PT. The one I'm most worried about is the potential 30 second gap between sections (besides the 15 minute break between 3 and 4). That one is going to be a tough one to swallow.

[OVOXO]

how much does everyone think retaking preps reflects your actual LSAT score?

it all depends on how you're prepping. are you accurately timing 5 section modern pts? are you taking 15 minute breaks, no more no less? are you starting in the morning, and are you being realistic about the level of noise, the environment, etc. etc.? are you using scantrons and #2s?


and even if you're doing all that stuff, it's still v possible that your test day performance will be a huge drop off from your pt scores (just see the retakers thread for proof)

Kaplan’s “LSAT Proctor Anywhere” is pretty good. Those fucking sneezing and whispering voices make me want to pull out my hair or smash my ipad. DL it.

[MikeSpivey]

How is the level of calmness for Dec?

[vicpin5190]

How is the level of calmness for Dec?

I'm staying as calm as I can. This is my first take so there's some added pressure to perform well the first time, since I'd ideally like to apply this round, but I'm just trying to take it a day at a time. I'm excited to apply but also it's not imperative I do, which has helped mitigate a lot of stress.

[ManoftheHour]

How is the level of calmness for Dec?

I'm freaking out.

[toshiroh]

How is the level of calmness for Dec?

I'm pretty calm at this point. I'm not freaking out or anything. I'm just ready to get it over with.

[wealtheow]

How is the level of calmness for Dec?

lots of nervous energy over here, but not entirely negative. very eager to take the test! partly because, like toshiroh, i just really want this over with, but i'm also kind've excited to see if i will do better this time around.

[MikeSpivey]

Kudos to all of you calm folks. Carry on.

For more normal people I am thinking about making the same offer I have on the past 2 tests, which is I will field phone calls from whoever calls. I seem to have had, for some, a calming/confidence instilling effect.

If you think you would be interested let me know. I would need a critical mass because for EST people this would require me to get up as early at 4:30am-ish. Let me know!

[alecks]

can anyone point me to a good article / video / whatever on tackling flaw questions? or does anyone have advice? I'm still struggling the most with these, and it seems like drilling is not really improving anything.

[Otunga]

Kudos to all of you calm folks. Carry on.

For more normal people I am thinking about making the same offer I have on the past 2 tests, which is I will field phone calls from whoever calls. I seem to have had, for some, a calming/confidence instilling effect.

If you think you would be interested let me know. I would need a critical mass because for EST people this would require me to get up as early at 4:30am-ish. Let me know!

Are you suggesting you field calls on test day?

[vicpin5190]

2 timed sections today, 1 LR, 1 RC plus some LR Method/Flaw/Nec Assump/RC drilling prior.

PT 56 LR#1, scored -3. Not too shabby.
PT 40 RC, scored -5, ugh. Went -0,-2,-1,-2 (have yet to review so I'll see where I went wrong). Not panicked, but definitely need to tighten up the ship there.

Both timed with the LSAT Timer watch, and finally implemented an answer sheet for the LR section to get practice with that. I think with RC I went to fast due to the LSAT timer, and still probably going to fast with LR too (I caught 2 errors on my checking of answers that saved my score). Need to adapt to this watch, I tend to think I'm further behind in time than I actually am...

[HeavenBeyond]

+1 Stressed Out.. FML

[dasani13]

Can someone tell me the type of these 2 questions please?

#19 and #21 both from PT 62 Section 2.

Thank you in advance.

[Hotguy]

Can someone tell me the type of these 2 questions please?

#19 and #21 both from PT 62 Section 2.

Thank you in advance.

Must be true and most strongly supported....?

[wealtheow]

realized i am never going to get through all the cambridge LR so i'm only drilling the types that trip me up: weaken, point at issue, principle. kind of pissed i bought the bundle now.

took last week off from PTs, but now proceeding to 3x a week with 5 sections (LG as 5th 'cause that's my main concern right now). I'm taking 62 tomorrow, 63 on Sat, and 65 on Sunday - if anyone wants to review any of those, let me know

and just curious - when is everyone planning on taking 70? i know several of the oct retakers took it a couple days ago. i was hoping to take it a little closer to the real deal, perhaps the monday beforehand.