The Official December 2014 Study Group Forum

[some1uknown]

Damn, i'm in the mid 160 range and just need a little more to get to the low 170 range, sigh, here's to pounding myself for 15 more days

[hopeboaltberkeley]

Anyone have any experience with the Manhattan LG book?

I'm using the 7sage set ups right now because it works for me and the videos are great, but I got the LG book with the Manhattan bundle and I was wondering if it was worth a look? I definitely don't want to find myself using a set-up I'm not that familiar with or getting mixed up during a PT, but I also think it might be helpful to get a different a fresh perspective, since -0 is a once in a blue moon thing for me. Thoughts?

Their method for some grouping games is sort of weird and counter-intuitive to me, but they have some nice advice on "front-end" vs "back-end" games (games that require work up front vs during the questions). They also had some nice advice on substitution questions if I remember correctly. I like their writing style more than powerscore's and blueprint's too.

[santoki]

took 65 today, got a confidence boost.

but...i've seen the test before so it doesnt really count. STILL, ive taken tests that ive seen before and never seen a score this high for myself, so small victory.

PT65:
LR1: -2(-1)
LG: -0
RC: -2 <-- this right here is attributed partly to luck and also to having seen the passages before
LR2: -5(-4)
-----------------------
174 (176)

hopefully going to try to build on this and really figure out where i went right with RC and wrong with LG.

[dmarieb]

Anyone have any experience with the Manhattan LG book?

I'm using the 7sage set ups right now because it works for me and the videos are great, but I got the LG book with the Manhattan bundle and I was wondering if it was worth a look? I definitely don't want to find myself using a set-up I'm not that familiar with or getting mixed up during a PT, but I also think it might be helpful to get a different a fresh perspective, since -0 is a once in a blue moon thing for me. Thoughts?

I started with the Powerscore LG and switched to Manhattan and 7sage. Powerscore confused me, but I've found that 7sage and Manhattan are usually pretty similar.

[jw316]

Didn't get as far in the trainer today as I had hoped..

I did 2 chapters on LG (my weakest area) and timed LG sections from PT 52 and 53/review with JY. Timing still an issue for me: -4/-6 timed respectively but -1/-1 with BR.

** PT 52 -1 was because I wrote a rule as a negative (M not with K --> O with V). Written out "as a positive" (O with K or P with K --> O with V), the answer choice jumps at you because it says O with K and if O with K then immediately that queues the above --> O with V; pick it move on)

** PT 53 -1 was because it gave the placement of 2 individuals and asked for how many individuals can it be exactly determined and though I had 4 written in and 2 split options (M/O) and I found 2 additional so the total was actually 4 (the correct answer) but I mis-read and selected 2 (just the 2 I found).

***I've been trying to keep track of where I am in time after each game and I've noticed a few things so far:
1.) basically what happens is I'll get to a question that I know is taking me longer than it should and I just keep going with it instead of skipping it and coming back.

2.) I also tend to "double check" my work. Like if it's really-really-really obvious I usually move on, but even then sometimes I don't. For instance, doing a question and while working it out I inferred x is in 3 and then see answer choice "x is in 3" well then I tend to circle and move on but sometimes I still check the other answers for some reason...regardless it's a huuuuge waste of time if my diagrams are right, etc. and I spend all the time up front diagramming and trying to make inferences, then I need to go with it, instead of quickly reaching the conclusion that B is the correct answer and then spending time verifying A/C/D/E don't work before moving on to the next question.

3.) I need to almost always try to split up the diagram or "master the possibilities" WHEN there's a rule that clearly does that. Like 3 positions, MP have to be together but P can't be with F, and F is in position 1. Well immediately try to split it with MP in 2 and MP in 3 and then fill in from there. Far too often I try to keep it all in my head.

4.) At least I'm not really getting caught off-guard by answers/questions. As I'm doing it I have a pretty strong sense of if it's right or if it's wrong. So like if I take a section and only circled questions 15 and 24 then likely those are the only 2 I should expect to possibly be wrong when I grade it because only on those circled questions I wasn't 100% sure and likely came down to time and picked the answer I was most sure of, etc.

But yeah anyway, finishing the LG portion as quick as possible in the morning (last 2 chapters + 2-3 LG sections) then starting the last LR portion after that hopefully before lunch. Then back to RC for the last portion and then I'm ready for PTs on top of PTs. I'm excited!

Like I'm actually excited...to take like 14'ish PTs between now and the 5th.
Not just ready but excited and looking forward to it like it's a party or something....the hell is wrong with me.

Aside from PTs and drilling over the next two weeks, also going to do the 10 hardest LG that someone posted in the thread and review a couple chapters in the Powerscore LGB (rare types/forgotten few, etc.)


Any thoughts?

Edit: to clarify the above PT 52/53 scores weren't 4 wrong/6 wrong as in mis-answered but like 1 wrong and 3 unanswered because time was up and 1 wrong and 5 unanswered because time was up.

[Big Red]

.

[Rhymes With Wolf]

PT 42: -6, 175
LG: -1 (the wording of question 19 is stupid as hell)
LR1: -1
RC: -2
LR2: -2

Eh, I'm ashamed to say I went a little over on most sections, so I'm not going to read into this PT beyond the fact that it demonstrated I still have the basic concepts down. Which is strange, because I really thought I bombed this test while taking it; maybe it was the guilt of going over that was eating me up. While it's no excuse, I will start taking my PTs in the morning instead of after the gym (for which I went fasted at around 11:30, came back at 2:30, showered, and ate; today I had three cuties).

Gotta get my speed up, but I'll probably wait until next week before obsessing over the time, as this is only day two of doing sections/timed sections/multiple sections.

[Rigo]

[Big Red]

.

[Rigo]

[hopeboaltberkeley]

I'm a splitting fanatic. Love doing work on the front end and flying through all the questions.

Explains why you like 7Sage so much. They do a lot of split diagramming. I have a lot of trouble doing so efficiently. But I'm just reading the Blueprint guide on this right now and they say something like half of the games on recent tests can be split in a helpful way.

[koala-fy]

Random, but...what are you guys doing about Thanksgiving? Like in terms of studying. I kind of want to take the day off and just enjoy, but then again, it's so close to the test. Thoughts??

[Rigo]

[Rigo]

[koala-fy]

Random, but...what are you guys doing about Thanksgiving? Like in terms of studying. I kind of want to take the day off and just enjoy, but then again, it's so close to the test. Thoughts??

I'm def taking the day off. Nothing major planned from Wednesday thru Sunday actually. Maybe some drilling, not no PT's. I'll be out of town though, so my itinerary is full.

Okay good. Let's all just fatten up instead

[sfoglia]

Damn so jealous of this LG speed.

Yeah, but I feel like it's going to hurt me in the long run. Yesterday I ran through diagramming rules and misdiagrammed and couldn't answer a single question correctly in 11 minutes.

I think I'm going to maybe go through rules twice from now on. Do you guys think that be a worthwhile use of extra time?

I would do the same, until I started checking off each rule as I diagrammed it. I read them all first, then I create my skeletal diagram, and then I map out rules, checking off as I go. Then I double-check my rules one more time.

It sounds time-consuming, but it really isn't. And it's super helpful if you are prone to stupid diagramming mistakes and accidentally skipping a rule.

Also, I am anywhere from -0 to -3 on LG. -3 in September. Wasted points.

[sfoglia]

Random, but...what are you guys doing about Thanksgiving? Like in terms of studying. I kind of want to take the day off and just enjoy, but then again, it's so close to the test. Thoughts??

Take the day off. Let you brain process, IMO. I always did much better after I'd take an entire day or two off. I felt guilty and lazy about it, but it proved entirely advantageous every single time.

[sfoglia]

Damn, i'm in the mid 160 range and just need a little more to get to the low 170 range, sigh, here's to pounding myself for 15 more days

Hang in there. Pick your strongest area and polish it off. Drill Cambridge packets like nobody's business. You can do this!

[mist4bison]

.

[koala-fy]

Taking a PT and eating an entire pizza to myself.

Is the pizza happening regardless of how you score? I'm really into this idea...I'm also relentlessly hungry for pizza.

[Rigo]

[mist4bison]

.

[unodostres]

i split my gameboard from 96' game 4 in too many ways instead of doing it with just the o's. i did it with the number of slots. that fucked me so hard i didn't even get through half the quesitons.

just remember how you split, banana split or doing the splits, you gotta split the right split

[secadc11]

PT 55 + Section 2 from PT 67

LR1 -4
RC -2
LR2 -1
LG -0

LR3 -2

172 (or 175 if you took the two best LR sections)

This test really proved to me that I need to do a little warmup. By far my worst section was the first one, and I could feel it as I went.. just wasn't mentally into the test yet. Definitely going to keep that in mind come December 6th.

[KanGaHru]

I will be in the Bahamas from Thanksgiving - Sunday (the 30th)....So no studying for me during those days