The Official September 2014 Study Group Forum

sfoglia · Post by **sfoglia** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 1:16 pm

schmelling wrote:A day of relaxation seems to have done the trick. A personal best on today's PT.

PT 66 June 2012

LR: -0
LG: -1
RC: -2

Raw Score: 97
Scaled score 178

Seriously guys, if your scores are stressing you out, take a day and just decompress. It works.

OMG THIS IS FREAKING AMAZING.

Hand · Post by **Hand** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 1:17 pm

smccgrey wrote:
schmelling wrote:A day of relaxation seems to have done the trick. A personal best on today's PT.

PT 66 June 2012

LR: -0
LG: -1
RC: -2

Raw Score: 97
Scaled score 178

Seriously guys, if your scores are stressing you out, take a day and just decompress. It works.
Badass!!!! Nice work!!

Yeah good job! Supersolid across the board.

Colonel_funkadunk · Post by **Colonel_funkadunk** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 1:17 pm

schmelling wrote:A day of relaxation seems to have done the trick. A personal best on today's PT.

PT 66 June 2012

LR: -0
LG: -1
RC: -2

Raw Score: 97
Scaled score 178

Seriously guys, if your scores are stressing you out, take a day and just decompress. It works.

That's awesome

GreenTee · Post by **GreenTee** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 1:19 pm

Go schmelling! Way to 178!

schmelling · Post by **schmelling** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 1:46 pm

Post removed.

PeanutsNJam · Post by **PeanutsNJam** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:00 pm

What are your thoughts on a new approach I'm trying on RC. Currently I'm willing to try anything to get nearer to -0 (I'm at -2/-3 right now).

I'm treating it like LG. In LG, I'll diagram the thing, and spend a minute or two thinking about the game, understanding it. Getting the nuances, the traps, and making key deductions. This allows me to literally breeze through some questions, spending ~10 seconds on them. This is more efficient for me, because usually when I read the question first, I feel limited in my thinking. But if I just stare at the diagram itself, I can calmly look at the big picture, zoom out, and step into the test writer's mind for a minute.

I'm gonna try to do the same thing. I'm going to spend an inordinately long amount of time (5-6 mins) on each passage, reading for thorough understanding and detail. Then I'm gonna breeze through the questions. This has been more comfortable to me, but I can only get -3 while doing this. It's still a new strategy I'm trying.

Has anybody had any success with something similar?

BillPackets · Post by **BillPackets** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:06 pm

PeanutsNJam wrote:What are your thoughts on a new approach I'm trying on RC. Currently I'm willing to try anything to get nearer to -0 (I'm at -2/-3 right now).

I'm treating it like LG. In LG, I'll diagram the thing, and spend a minute or two thinking about the game, understanding it. Getting the nuances, the traps, and making key deductions. This allows me to literally breeze through some questions, spending ~10 seconds on them. This is more efficient for me, because usually when I read the question first, I feel limited in my thinking. But if I just stare at the diagram itself, I can calmly look at the big picture, zoom out, and step into the test writer's mind for a minute.

I'm gonna try to do the same thing. I'm going to spend an inordinately long amount of time (5-6 mins) on each passage, reading for thorough understanding and detail. Then I'm gonna breeze through the questions. This has been more comfortable to me, but I can only get -3 while doing this. It's still a new strategy I'm trying.

Has anybody had any success with something similar?

imo rc is the most flexible lsat w regards to approach. -2/-3 is pretty good, and your approach sounds fine too, but is there a particular q type that you are missing over and over again

Hand · Post by **Hand** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:09 pm

BillPackets wrote:
PeanutsNJam wrote:What are your thoughts on a new approach I'm trying on RC. Currently I'm willing to try anything to get nearer to -0 (I'm at -2/-3 right now).

I'm treating it like LG. In LG, I'll diagram the thing, and spend a minute or two thinking about the game, understanding it. Getting the nuances, the traps, and making key deductions. This allows me to literally breeze through some questions, spending ~10 seconds on them. This is more efficient for me, because usually when I read the question first, I feel limited in my thinking. But if I just stare at the diagram itself, I can calmly look at the big picture, zoom out, and step into the test writer's mind for a minute.

I'm gonna try to do the same thing. I'm going to spend an inordinately long amount of time (5-6 mins) on each passage, reading for thorough understanding and detail. Then I'm gonna breeze through the questions. This has been more comfortable to me, but I can only get -3 while doing this. It's still a new strategy I'm trying.

Has anybody had any success with something similar?
imo rc is the most flexible lsat w regards to approach. -2/-3 is pretty good, and your approach sounds fine too, but is there a particular q type that you are missing over and over again

I think Bill is right w/r/t this being a section where you should just do what works for you. FWIW I typically blast through the passage with a level of attention sufficient only to answer 'what is the general point' kind of questions and then go back for nearly all other questions and go -0 to -2 on RC.

schmelling · Post by **schmelling** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:09 pm

Post removed.

hillz · Post by **hillz** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:11 pm

A little late but was just gonna pop in to say - don't worry about the essay at all! I took in June and it wasn't a big deal. I think it might be something that a low scorer or someone who has a difficult time writing should practice, but for most of us, probably not necessary. You're all pretty persuasive and witty on here so I think you'll be good. Better to conserve energy and practice for the graded sections!

sfoglia · Post by **sfoglia** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:18 pm

hillz wrote:A little late but was just gonna pop in to say - don't worry about the essay at all! I took in June and it wasn't a big deal. I think it might be something that a low scorer or someone who has a difficult time writing should practice, but for most of us, probably not necessary. You're all pretty persuasive and witty on here so I think you'll be good. Better to conserve energy and practice for the graded sections!

Thank you! A relief. I sometimes look at the questions, but, not really. I have way too much other studying to do, definitely.

schmelling · Post by **schmelling** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:21 pm

Post removed.

BillPackets · Post by **BillPackets** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:25 pm

schmelling wrote:Personally, If I take any longer than 4 minutes to read a passage it becomes a serious hustle to finish the the questions. My approach to RC is to read as quickly as I ca comprehend and then use what i've retained to eliminate answer choices that are unsupported, going back as I need to with the remaining ones. If I do the opposite and search for the correct answer right off the bat, I get questions wrong. Going directly for the right answer is the only way I can conceive answering 5-7 questions in roughly 2-3 minutes, as you'd be forcing yourself to to do by spending 5 or 6 minutes of reading, and reading comp questions and answers choices are just too tricky for me to do it that way. If you think it may work for you then give it a try.

pretty much agree w this idk the perfect read for rc is one where u get the structure/overall gist but also remember some key details/where the key details r located bc if u remember those details then the MSS/inference questions that are not related to the overall idea will b a breeze

hetookmetoamovie · Post by **hetookmetoamovie** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 2:55 pm

schmelling wrote:A day of relaxation seems to have done the trick. A personal best on today's PT.

PT 66 June 2012

LR: -0
LG: -1
RC: -2

Raw Score: 97
Scaled score 178

Seriously guys, if your scores are stressing you out, take a day and just decompress. It works.

I'm jelly, Schmelly! Great job!

hetookmetoamovie · Post by **hetookmetoamovie** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 3:01 pm

PeanutsNJam wrote:What are your thoughts on a new approach I'm trying on RC. Currently I'm willing to try anything to get nearer to -0 (I'm at -2/-3 right now).

I'm treating it like LG. In LG, I'll diagram the thing, and spend a minute or two thinking about the game, understanding it. Getting the nuances, the traps, and making key deductions. This allows me to literally breeze through some questions, spending ~10 seconds on them. This is more efficient for me, because usually when I read the question first, I feel limited in my thinking. But if I just stare at the diagram itself, I can calmly look at the big picture, zoom out, and step into the test writer's mind for a minute.

I'm gonna try to do the same thing. I'm going to spend an inordinately long amount of time (5-6 mins) on each passage, reading for thorough understanding and detail. Then I'm gonna breeze through the questions. This has been more comfortable to me, but I can only get -3 while doing this. It's still a new strategy I'm trying.

Has anybody had any success with something similar?

TBH, I feel like the questions and answer choices in the recent RCs are a lot trickier, so I can't speed through reading them without sacrificing accuracy. but yeah, if you're doing this and getting -3, that's not too shabby. I usually take 3-4 minutes on a passage.

What I've tried in the past few RCs is taking a quick scan at the questions just to grab line # references or specific quotes and mark them. But I try not to waste more than 20-30s doing this. I've found this to be helpful for me, but I think the past few RCs I've done have been easier (content-wise). We'll see how the RC in PT65 goes.

GreenTee · Post by **GreenTee** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 3:05 pm

hetookmetoamovie wrote: TBH, I feel like the questions and answer choices in the recent RCs are a lot trickier, so I can't speed through reading them without sacrificing accuracy. but yeah, if you're doing this and getting -3, that's not too shabby. I usually take 3-4 minutes on a passage.

What I've tried in the past few RCs is taking a quick scan at the questions just to grab line # references or specific quotes and mark them. But I try not to waste more than 20-30s doing this. I've found this to be helpful for me, but I think the past few RCs I've done have been easier (content-wise). We'll see how the RC in PT65 goes.

This is actually a great idea. I might try this out this weekend.

ErgoSum · Post by **ErgoSum** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 3:12 pm

schmelling wrote:A day of relaxation seems to have done the trick. A personal best on today's PT.

PT 66 June 2012

LR: -0
LG: -1
RC: -2

Raw Score: 97
Scaled score 178

Seriously guys, if your scores are stressing you out, take a day and just decompress. It works.

Woooooo! Nice job

Some inspiration right here. Definitely going to relax a bit before my next PT and see how a clear mind does on it

Toby Ziegler · Post by **Toby Ziegler** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 3:52 pm

Game 4 in PrepTest C is a real SOB. Here's to hoping one like that doesn't show up in 2 weeks...

BJS · Post by **BJS** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 4:07 pm

Looks like this is going to be a 65+ hour work week by the time Saturday morning (PT time!!!!) hits. Because I'm recovering from a cold, I've been trying to get as much sleep as possible. This leaves me with about an hour or two everyday of leisure time (including meals). I'm able to get my study cycle in - 1 LG, 1 RC, and 10 LRs - but nothing more. I feel like I'm understanding LR better, but I dearly wish I had more time to actually drill it. I'm going to try to spend 2-3 hours after my Saturday PT drilling LR necessary assumption and parallel questions.

Colonel_funkadunk · Post by **Colonel_funkadunk** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 4:11 pm

Toby Ziegler wrote:Game 4 in PrepTest C is a real SOB. Here's to hoping one like that doesn't show up in 2 weeks...

I just drilled that the other day. I missed a rule and it made it like 80x harder

sfoglia · Post by **sfoglia** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 4:16 pm

BJS wrote:Looks like this is going to be a 65+ hour work week by the time Saturday morning (PT time!!!!) hits. Because I'm recovering from a cold, I've been trying to get as much sleep as possible. This leaves me with about an hour or two everyday of leisure time (including meals). I'm able to get my study cycle in - 1 LG, 1 RC, and 10 LRs - but nothing more. I feel like I'm understanding LR better, but I dearly wish I had more time to actually drill it. I'm going to try to spend 2-3 hours after my Saturday PT drilling LR necessary assumption and parallel questions.

I'm sorry to read this. I can kind of relate. I've been taking on a lighter workload because I'd have absolutely no breathing room otherwise - I study on my way to work, on the way home, and then until about an hour out from bedtime. I don't get to bed before 12am anymore, earliest. Usually closer to 1am.

Any chance you can sacrifice an hour of sleep every few days? Steal away for a full hour lunch during your workday?

BJS · Post by **BJS** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 4:22 pm

sfoglia wrote:
BJS wrote:Looks like this is going to be a 65+ hour work week by the time Saturday morning (PT time!!!!) hits. Because I'm recovering from a cold, I've been trying to get as much sleep as possible. This leaves me with about an hour or two everyday of leisure time (including meals). I'm able to get my study cycle in - 1 LG, 1 RC, and 10 LRs - but nothing more. I feel like I'm understanding LR better, but I dearly wish I had more time to actually drill it. I'm going to try to spend 2-3 hours after my Saturday PT drilling LR necessary assumption and parallel questions.
I'm sorry to read this. I can kind of relate. I've been taking on a lighter workload because I'd have absolutely no breathing room otherwise - I study on my way to work, on the way home, and then until about an hour out from bedtime. I don't get to bed before 12am anymore, earliest. Usually closer to 1am.

Any chance you can sacrifice an hour of sleep every few days? Steal away for a full hour lunch during your workday?

The worst part is that I'm salaried, so I don't even have the consolation of making more money from the extra hours. Unfortunately, my schedule is just that full - I actually don't really take a lunch break. This is our busiest month of the year. My boss told me last night at a meeting - "We just need to make it through September." Yea, I hear ya boss.

I spend a lot of my time driving (I drive 2000+ business miles per month), but I can't spend any of that actually "studying" for the LSAT. Aside from work productivity - calls, texts, quick emails, etc - I spend my time in the car listening to audiobooks (just finished the entire Game of Thrones series), SCOTUS orals, and brainstorm my personal statement. Before I got sick, I was staying up until midnight and 1am. But I can't afford to be sick during the LSAT and I have a tendency to let sicknesses linger on, especially with the stress and hours of work inhibiting my natural recovery.

sfoglia · Post by **sfoglia** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 4:27 pm

BJS wrote: The worst part is that I'm salaried, so I don't even have the consolation of making more money from the extra hours. Unfortunately, my schedule is just that full - I actually don't really take a lunch break. This is our busiest month of the year. My boss told me last night at a meeting - "We just need to make it through September." Yea, I hear ya boss.

I spend a lot of my time driving (I drive 2000+ business miles per month), but I can't spend any of that actually "studying" for the LSAT. Aside from work productivity - calls, texts, quick emails, etc - I spend my time in the car listening to audiobooks (just finished the entire Game of Thrones series), SCOTUS orals, and brainstorm my personal statement. Before I got sick, I was staying up until midnight and 1am. But I can't afford to be sick during the LSAT and I have a tendency to let sicknesses linger on, especially with the stress and hours of work inhibiting my natural recovery.

Oh my gosh. I don't know if I would be able to push through. That sounds insane! Someone should make an LSAT-on-tape study guide.

BJS · Post by **BJS** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 4:32 pm

sfoglia wrote:
BJS wrote: The worst part is that I'm salaried, so I don't even have the consolation of making more money from the extra hours. Unfortunately, my schedule is just that full - I actually don't really take a lunch break. This is our busiest month of the year. My boss told me last night at a meeting - "We just need to make it through September." Yea, I hear ya boss.

I spend a lot of my time driving (I drive 2000+ business miles per month), but I can't spend any of that actually "studying" for the LSAT. Aside from work productivity - calls, texts, quick emails, etc - I spend my time in the car listening to audiobooks (just finished the entire Game of Thrones series), SCOTUS orals, and brainstorm my personal statement. Before I got sick, I was staying up until midnight and 1am. But I can't afford to be sick during the LSAT and I have a tendency to let sicknesses linger on, especially with the stress and hours of work inhibiting my natural recovery.
Oh my gosh. I don't know if I would be able to push through. That sounds insane! Someone should make an LSAT-on-tape study guide.

The job is from hell (and because it's nonprofit the pay sucks). I feel like it's amazing preparation for BigLaw...although in BigLaw I'll be advancing my career, getting paid well, and doing something I enjoy. I think of these two years as my time in the wilderness. Something I'll look on with stern, world-weary appreciation in my memoirs.