The Official September 2014 Study Group Forum

[Louis1127]

I'm about to do a PT a bit differently today in the spirit of really getting an introspective look at my live skills. I'm going to do the PT timed but after each question I'm going to stop the clock for long enough to log my thought process and series of thoughts as I answered the question. That way I can really see where my process is off for the questions I miss, hopefully I will also be able to see the questions I was lucky to get correct--where my process was wrong or far from optimal.

Jeffort suggested this as a way of really getting the most out of blind review. (See: http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 6&t=233494)

I am going to do something similar over my next 2 or 3 PTs.

I am currently having problems with LR, and on my last PT I missed some questions that I really, really shouldn't have. I'll take the games and RC timed but do LR "untimed" essentially. You are right that it's going to take a while

[valen]

I'm about to do a PT a bit differently today in the spirit of really getting an introspective look at my live skills. I'm going to do the PT timed but after each question I'm going to stop the clock for long enough to log my thought process and series of thoughts as I answered the question. That way I can really see where my process is off for the questions I miss, hopefully I will also be able to see the questions I was lucky to get correct--where my process was wrong or far from optimal.

Jeffort suggested this as a way of really getting the most out of blind review. (See: http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 6&t=233494)

Well I certainly underestimated how long and tedious this process would be for LR sections. Took me upwards of an hour just to write out my thought process for each LR question from the first LR section. 5 Pages of notes just for these LR questions. A short paragraph outlining my mental process, which particular words led me to choose one choice over another, how much time each individual question took. Ugh. After one section LR and the LG section I am dead. I did start at 7:30 pm though which is abnormally late for me. Maybe I'll try to catch an early night and wake up early to finish the other 2 sections before work.

My score won't accurately reflect testing conditions, but this entire process is a learning experience, so I'm okay with that.

Definitely curious to hear the outcome of this method. I feel like it'd mostly be beneficial for sections or question types you have particular trouble with.

[Gray]

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[Gray]

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[CptnAwesome]

First post in this thread; my LSAT studying has been kind of sporadic. I took the June '07 test a couple of years ago to see where I was. I think I scored like a 156 or 157 on it, and completely bombed LR. After that, I took some time off, and started reading the PowerScore LG and LR Bibles. School and some other factors got in the way, and I ended up just reading them off and on for about a year, not doing any substantial studying. I finally completely settled on the September '14 test, and bought the LSAT Trainer and Cambridge packets around the end of May. I skimmed through the LR and LG Bibles and took PT 52, like the Trainer says to do, and got a 165. Then I started working through the Trainer.

Halfway through, I took PT 57, and did pretty awful (-12 LR, -6 RC, and -2 LG). The Dinosaur game completely threw me off and took me super long. People around my house were being super loud too, so I was doing the test really distracted. I decided to finish the Trainer and then see how I'd do.

I finally finished most of the Trainer today. I've done all the recommended drills for LR and LG in it, but none for RC (which I plan on starting this week). I took PT 58, and got a 170 (with about 2-3 minutes left in each LR section). I went -2 LG, -2/-2 LR, and -5 RC. So I'm really happy, and plan on start drilling hard for the next month. I have some trouble with grouping games (mostly time) and I take a little too long when reading RC passages. I'll probably take another PT once I get my speed adjusted and get better on LG. Looking forward to contributing to this thread, and hope everyone's studying is going well!

[agalfano]

Hello all,

Took a decent break after June, and now finally getting back into the swing of things. I notice a lot of you mention "writing out explanations for LR questions." Can someone who does this give me an example of what they actually write out? I feel that this will be a good strategy to really hone in on your skills but I would like to hear the ways that you guys do it! Thanks!

[mornincounselor]

Post removed.

[agalfano]

Thanks for the response counselor!

[some1uknown]

Prep test 70

LR -14
LG -4
RC -11 (WTF)

-29 72/101 for a 159.

Anyone have useful tips for improving to single digits on LR? I seem to get anywhere between 10-15 wrong everytime and it's becoming frustrating

[vracovino]

Prep test 70

LR -14
LG -4
RC -11 (WTF)

-29 72/101 for a 159.

Anyone have useful tips for improving to single digits on LR? I seem to get anywhere between 10-15 wrong everytime and it's becoming frustrating

Have you individually drilled each question type and thoroughly reviewed wrong answers?

[some1uknown]

Prep test 70

LR -14
LG -4
RC -11 (WTF)

-29 72/101 for a 159.

Anyone have useful tips for improving to single digits on LR? I seem to get anywhere between 10-15 wrong everytime and it's becoming frustrating

Have you individually drilled each question type and thoroughly reviewed wrong answers?

I do try to drill each question type but they seem a bit scattered in terms of ones that i'm missing i.e. one test i'll miss 4 flaw questions and get all the weaken questions and next test i'll get all the flaw questions but miss a weaken question.


As for going over, I go over each question that i got wrong as well as those i was unsure of by reasoning out why the correct answer is right

[ilikebaseball]

Prep test 70

LR -14
LG -4
RC -11 (WTF)

-29 72/101 for a 159.

Anyone have useful tips for improving to single digits on LR? I seem to get anywhere between 10-15 wrong everytime and it's becoming frustrating

Have you individually drilled each question type and thoroughly reviewed wrong answers?

I do try to drill each question type but they seem a bit scattered in terms of ones that i'm missing i.e. one test i'll miss 4 flaw questions and get all the weaken questions and next test i'll get all the flaw questions but miss a weaken question.


As for going over, I go over each question that i got wrong as well as those i was unsure of by reasoning out why the correct answer is right

Right there with you. I miss probably 5-7 LR, but its a different type every time. No pattern at all whatsoever. I really wish it was, because it would make this whole process much easier.

[Comstock]

Just did PT 50:

RC: 25/28 (-3)
LR 1: 22/25 (-3)
LG : 21/22 (-1)
LR 2: 21/25 (-4)

Score: 169

Pretty happy with the fact that this is my 2nd highest score ever and only one raw point off 170, but a little disappointed that my LR only improved by 1 from the last PT. However, I went over the LR sections with a blind review and got them down to -2 total, with most of the answers I got wrong being very dumb and me misreading certain parts of the stimulus, so I'm confident this can be corrected and improved on at least a little bit, if not a lot. Also, I felt way more confident in general in the sections and was pretty sure I didn't do worse than -4 on each section, which was the case.

Also a very minor concern but still a concern nonetheless is the damn -1 on LG. For the past three PTs I have made one dumb mistake in my LG, always going 21/22. Now, I'm very happy with -1 on LG, especially from where I started, but clearly I understand all the games and I'm doing well on them, I'm just making one dumb mistake constantly. If I can cut that down, that could mean an additional one point on the scaled score almost every time (for example, today it would have put me at 170, which would have been very nice to see.

Still a good day and can't complain too much. Rest of the week I'll be going through Manhattan RC, with a few 35 minute timed sections of LR and LG to keep myself fresh on that. Hope everyone else is doing well.

[dasani13]

Just did PT 50:

RC: 25/28 (-3)
LR 1: 22/25 (-3)
LG : 21/22 (-1)
LR 2: 21/25 (-4)

Score: 169

Pretty happy with the fact that this is my 2nd highest score ever and only one raw point off 170, but a little disappointed that my LR only improved by 1 from the last PT. However, I went over the LR sections with a blind review and got them down to -2 total, with most of the answers I got wrong being very dumb and me misreading certain parts of the stimulus, so I'm confident this can be corrected and improved on at least a little bit, if not a lot. Also, I felt way more confident in general in the sections and was pretty sure I didn't do worse than -4 on each section, which was the case.

Also a very minor concern but still a concern nonetheless is the damn -1 on LG. For the past three PTs I have made one dumb mistake in my LG, always going 21/22. Now, I'm very happy with -1 on LG, especially from where I started, but clearly I understand all the games and I'm doing well on them, I'm just making one dumb mistake constantly. If I can cut that down, that could mean an additional one point on the scaled score almost every time (for example, today it would have put me at 170, which would have been very nice to see.

Still a good day and can't complain too much. Rest of the week I'll be going through Manhattan RC, with a few 35 minute timed sections of LR and LG to keep myself fresh on that. Hope everyone else is doing well.

What if your LR score improved 1 point every PT you took?

[vracovino]

Prep test 70

LR -14
LG -4
RC -11 (WTF)

-29 72/101 for a 159.

Anyone have useful tips for improving to single digits on LR? I seem to get anywhere between 10-15 wrong everytime and it's becoming frustrating

Have you individually drilled each question type and thoroughly reviewed wrong answers?

I do try to drill each question type but they seem a bit scattered in terms of ones that i'm missing i.e. one test i'll miss 4 flaw questions and get all the weaken questions and next test i'll get all the flaw questions but miss a weaken question.


As for going over, I go over each question that i got wrong as well as those i was unsure of by reasoning out why the correct answer is right

I've only taken a few PTs so my experience is limited, but I noticed I did much better on the LR sections once I slowed down and treated the questions methodically like I did when I was drilling. This helped me not panic as well as answer the easy questions quickly and efficiently.

[ilikebaseball]

My LSAT Trainer just came in today... you guys think it may be too late to go through it and then still have 6 weeks left to PT? I only gotta go through the RC/LR parts

[dasani13]

My LSAT Trainer just came in today... you guys think it may be too late to go through it and then still have 6 weeks left to PT? I only gotta go through the RC/LR parts

You have more than enough time!

[Comstock]

Just did PT 50:

RC: 25/28 (-3)
LR 1: 22/25 (-3)
LG : 21/22 (-1)
LR 2: 21/25 (-4)

Score: 169

Pretty happy with the fact that this is my 2nd highest score ever and only one raw point off 170, but a little disappointed that my LR only improved by 1 from the last PT. However, I went over the LR sections with a blind review and got them down to -2 total, with most of the answers I got wrong being very dumb and me misreading certain parts of the stimulus, so I'm confident this can be corrected and improved on at least a little bit, if not a lot. Also, I felt way more confident in general in the sections and was pretty sure I didn't do worse than -4 on each section, which was the case.

Also a very minor concern but still a concern nonetheless is the damn -1 on LG. For the past three PTs I have made one dumb mistake in my LG, always going 21/22. Now, I'm very happy with -1 on LG, especially from where I started, but clearly I understand all the games and I'm doing well on them, I'm just making one dumb mistake constantly. If I can cut that down, that could mean an additional one point on the scaled score almost every time (for example, today it would have put me at 170, which would have been very nice to see.

Still a good day and can't complain too much. Rest of the week I'll be going through Manhattan RC, with a few 35 minute timed sections of LR and LG to keep myself fresh on that. Hope everyone else is doing well.

What if your LR score improved 1 point every PT you took?

Then I would be very happy I get what you are saying and you are 100% right that its a long process so it will take time and a gain is a gain; I was just doing really well with LR last week after dedicating the entire week to it I was hoping for a bit more a boost, but as long as it consistently trends upward it will be all good

[chimera]

My cat keeps jumping on my desk while I'm studying and/or attacking by precious black ticons while bubbling, writing, or anything else. Is this a credited method of prep for distractions on test-day?

[Oskosh]

Has studying ever pissed you off? Reading Comprehension just did that to me lol. That stupid article about African Americans and transnationalism, and the article about the UN charter. The questions they were asking just came off as extremely ambiguous to me. Specifically, I hate the stupid "illustration" questions that go out of their way to be as equivocal as possible. Ugh.

[ilikebaseball]

Just knocked out the first 70 pages in the Trainer. Just went over basic concepts. About to take a PT and call it a night.

[danmcc413]

Just finished up PT46 and got a 168...same problem keeps plaguing me on PTs - LR. If I could get my LR to consistently be -6 or better I would be really pleased with where I'm at, so that's my goal.

I got:
RC: -3
LR1:-5
LR2:-3
LG:-0

Anyone have any recommendations for really shoring up LR all around? I tend not to do poorly on a particular type of question but rather with more difficult ones so I've bought the Cambridge Difficult LR questions pack and intend to drill those. If anyone has any input and has had a similar issue and experienced a breakthrough that would be wonderful. Hope all has been going well for everyone - just about two months left...

[ilikebaseball]

I'm on my 15 minute break from PT65 but holy shit, did the games seem a little trickier on this one to anyone else? Like, I don't think there was one "gimme" game. There were no games like the bus/dinosaur game, but all of them were well above average in difficulty, for me at least. Still only got -1, but it took all of 35 minutes to get it and was a tad bit frustrating.

[MtnGinger]

I've just been drilling since June but I think I may get back into taking PTs on my day off Thursday. I just really don't want to any advice besides "just suck it up"?

[dasani13]

I've just been drilling since June but I think I may get back into taking PTs on my day off Thursday. I just really don't want to any advice besides "just suck it up"?

Start drilling without taking many breaks.