179 LSAT, 154 diagnostic, taking questions, giving advice... Forum

[ruleser]

Thanks for your tips/info. I love people who put the positive/don't set limits attitude out there. I've retaken 3 times and am going a 4th because I know I have high 170's in me - and I think it may be important not to think even that but to think/know 180 is possible - do you agree with that? Last exam I got 168 - -6 on LG, -5 RC, -3 LR - seems to me should be able to get -0 LG from what everyone says, and RC I started -2. What did it take you to get from -1 or -2 per section on LR to -0, and what was your number 1 error you used to make on RC?

Damn dude. I thought its 3 times and done?

You can take more than three times if they're spaced out in time enough or if a school grants you a waiver to take it again. It's useful for victims of recurring performance anxiety or people confident that they're smarter than the LSAT keeps telling them (and telling them and telling them and telling them) they are.

Yes - I got a waiver from a school I am bordeline at with my highest score.

My story (though i didn't have to share with them to get the waiver) is that I have had work conflicts and wasn't supposed to be able to take in Oct or Dec, but the night before in Oct I said forget it, I want to apply this year, so I skipped my work committment and showed up never having practiced - got a 162, was pretty happy but knew a few more points could help and, even though I had only 1 month til the Dec test and was working like crazy so had no time to study, I figured just being my second time I would add a couple -skipped another work committment, but oops, went down 1. So as the cycle went on I said this is ridiculous, I can do better, so I did a prep course, set to take it again in June, but work conflicted with the date again - I literally was heading a cruise to Alaska the week before the test, flew back into town at 8pm the night before after a week of glacier tours, etc. Still got 168, but didn't have full time to prep LG's/RC (got -3 total LR, but -6 LG and -5 RC) After my choice school saying I was border if I reapplied next cycle, I asked for a waiver and they gave it - so if I can add those 6 LG, plus at least a couple RC, I'll be golden...

See, not as silly as it seems once you have the details...

[Lmao Zedong]

So are the last 2 sections guaranteed to be authentic?

The exp. section has always appeared in the first 3 sections. There is no official rule saying that it must appear in the first 3, as far as I know (maybe someone can prove me wrong), but LSAT has never broken with the trend.

Neat. So if the exp. is not a LR then you know immediately which section was the exp., right?

you could have something like LG LR LG RC LR, and then you wouldn't be able to tell which LG was exp. of course, in theory you could also have RC LR LG LR LR, and actually be able to pick out the exp. LR. but i dunno how often either one of those formats shows up, or if they show up at all.

[ruleser]

So are the last 2 sections guaranteed to be authentic?

The exp. section has always appeared in the first 3 sections. There is no official rule saying that it must appear in the first 3, as far as I know (maybe someone can prove me wrong), but LSAT has never broken with the trend.

Neat. So if the exp. is not a LR then you know immediately which section was the exp., right?

you could have something like LG LR LG RC LR, and then you wouldn't be able to tell which LG was exp. i dunno how often that sort of thing happens though.

Very common - all three times I've taken it that was my setup

[Lmao Zedong]

Very common - all three times I've taken it that was my setup

well, there's the answer. man, i think i'd hate that setup.

[ruleser]

Very common - all three times I've taken it that was my setup

well, there's the answer. man, i think i'd hate that setup.

I did because LG's were my worst section, but now I think I'd prefer it because extra LR/RC really probably taxes the brain - it's nice to just have the 2 LR and 1 RC

[rondemarino]

<deleted for hijacking the the thread>

[Helmholtz]

Thanks for your tips/info. I love people who put the positive/don't set limits attitude out there. I've retaken 3 times and am going a 4th because I know I have high 170's in me - and I think it may be important not to think even that but to think/know 180 is possible - do you agree with that? Last exam I got 168 - -6 on LG, -5 RC, -3 LR - seems to me should be able to get -0 LG from what everyone says, and RC I started -2. What did it take you to get from -1 or -2 per section on LR to -0, and what was your number 1 error you used to make on RC?

Damn dude. I thought its 3 times and done?

You can take more than three times if they're spaced out in time enough or if a school grants you a waiver to take it again. It's useful for victims of recurring performance anxiety or people confident that they're smarter than the LSAT keeps telling them (and telling them and telling them and telling them) they are.

Yes - I got a waiver from a school I am bordeline at with my highest score.

My story (though i didn't have to share with them to get the waiver) is that I have had work conflicts and wasn't supposed to be able to take in Oct or Dec, but the night before in Oct I said forget it, I want to apply this year, so I skipped my work committment and showed up never having practiced - got a 162, was pretty happy but knew a few more points could help and, even though I had only 1 month til the Dec test and was working like crazy so had no time to study, I figured just being my second time I would add a couple -skipped another work committment, but oops, went down 1. So as the cycle went on I said this is ridiculous, I can do better, so I did a prep course, set to take it again in June, but work conflicted with the date again - I literally was heading a cruise to Alaska the week before the test, flew back into town at 8pm the night before after a week of glacier tours, etc. Still got 168, but didn't have full time to prep LG's/RC (got -3 total LR, but -6 LG and -5 RC) After my choice school saying I was border if I reapplied next cycle, I asked for a waiver and they gave it - so if I can add those 6 LG, plus at least a couple RC, I'll be golden...

See, not as silly as it seems once you have the details...

No, still silly.

[ruleser]

No, still silly.

[Helmholtz]

No, still silly.

To reiterate, you took it once without studying. You took it the second time without having enough time to study but decided to take the test anyway. The third time, you had to work on a cruise a week before the test and got into town at 8 PM the night before.

..........................?

[ruleser]

No, still silly.

To reiterate, you took it once without studying. You took it the second time without having enough time to study but decided to take the test anyway. The third time, you had to work on a cruise a week before the test and got into town at 8 PM the night before.

..........................?

That's just called reality - I could not get the time free for any of the dates. Only real option was to put it all off a year, which was the original plan, but as the date came I just didn't want to wait that long and who knew if the next year would be different - I really took a lot of heat for what I missed in Oct - still have enemies at work for not showing up for something that left high level people hanging. If I didn't take in Dec, I couldn't have a chance to increase the score for the cycle, so I gave it a go. The cruise thing, what could I do - and at least I took a course to prep, and studied as much as I could on the cruise (missed lots of potential fun)

To me it was more a frustating than silly thing - you just want to take a damn test, and work gets in the way every time. Looks like I am good for this time though - so far, more than a month out, in very good prep shape, and no conflicts - and will take a few days off from work before the test...

But yeah, if I wasn't in it dealing with all this stuff, I can see where someone would think taking it without studying is goofy

[jarofsoup]

Did your score ever drop and made you feel like you were going to get a low score on the test? And how did you cope with burn out?

[JJDancer]

Did your score ever drop and made you feel like you were going to get a low score on the test? And how did you cope with burn out?

+1

And may I ask what was your lowest score in the week/2 weeks before the test?

[rondemarino]

That's just called reality - I could not get the time free for any of the dates. Only real option was to put it all off a year, which was the original plan, but as the date came I just didn't want to wait that long and who knew if the next year would be different - I really took a lot of heat for what I missed in Oct - still have enemies at work for not showing up for something that left high level people hanging. If I didn't take in Dec, I couldn't have a chance to increase the score for the cycle, so I gave it a go. The cruise thing, what could I do - and at least I took a course to prep, and studied as much as I could on the cruise (missed lots of potential fun)

To me it was more a frustating than silly thing - you just want to take a damn test, and work gets in the way every time. Looks like I am good for this time though - so far, more than a month out, in very good prep shape, and no conflicts - and will take a few days off from work before the test...

But yeah, if I wasn't in it dealing with all this stuff, I can see where someone would think taking it without studying is goofy

Now I gotta ask ... what exactly do you do for a living?

[MixedGirl2009]

With a full-time job, how many hours per day/what was your daily study routine like (i.e. 2 sections/day)? I am currently working 8 to 7 about 6 days a week and I am physically exhausted I can barely keep my eyes open and it is affecting my concentration levels - inspire me!

I am currently scoring mid-60s yet aiming for a 170+ end of September, I am planning on 2 sections + review 4 days a week and 2 days a week (weekends) for 2 to 3 practice tests + review. Is this a good idea? I really admire that you increased 9 points in about a month!!

[InnoSource]

when people say diagnostic..does this mean before they even prepared for the lsats...and they just took it without knowing what it looks like or maybe just being vaguely familiar with its contents? ...

or having prepared for the lsats but clearly not taking it on official test date.

[Diuretic]

when people say diagnostic..does this mean before they even prepared for the lsats...and they just took it without knowing what it looks like or maybe just being vaguely familiar with its contents? ...

or having prepared for the lsats but clearly not taking it on official test date.

Generally, a diagnostic refers to the very first PT one takes without any prep.

WIth regards to the OP and anybody willing to answer, I was curious to the distribution you usually spend on a single passage in RC, in terms of time reading the passage vs time answering questions. Half, Half? 3 min : 5min? How well has it worked for you? I've been doing about half half, with careful reading of the passage once. On recent tests it doesn't seem to work for me due to the presence of harder, more time consuming questions (analogy, application questions). RC is by far my worst and most inconsistent section with 2-5 wrong each time on recent tests, its killing me .

Thanks to the OP and anyone willing to help.

[JJDancer]

when people say diagnostic..does this mean before they even prepared for the lsats...and they just took it without knowing what it looks like or maybe just being vaguely familiar with its contents? ...

or having prepared for the lsats but clearly not taking it on official test date.

Diagnostics can be cold meaning you didn't study at all and may/may not have known the structure of the exam.
But my first PT (my diagnostic) was taken after I did a few sample problems and was aware of the structure of the exam and what a logic game was.

[JJDancer]

when people say diagnostic..does this mean before they even prepared for the lsats...and they just took it without knowing what it looks like or maybe just being vaguely familiar with its contents? ...

or having prepared for the lsats but clearly not taking it on official test date.

Generally, a diagnostic refers to the very first PT one takes without any prep.

WIth regards to the OP and anybody willing to answer, I was curious to the distribution you usually spend on a single passage in RC, in terms of time reading the passage vs time answering questions. Half, Half? 3 min : 5min? How well has it worked for you? I've been doing about half half, with careful reading of the passage once. On recent tests it doesn't seem to work for me due to the presence of harder, more time consuming questions (analogy, application questions). RC is by far my worst and most inconsistent section with 2-5 wrong each time on recent tests, its killing me .

Thanks to the OP and anyone willing to help.

I usually spend 3 minutes reading and 5 minutes answering questions (sometimes there are up to 7 questions in a passage and to read the stem as well as the answer choices and pick an answer would be too much to do 7 questions in 3.5/4 minutes).
Though I sometimes run out of time for 1-2 questions in RC too.

[Stanley Otto Swift]

Sorry I neglected so many questions. I'll be around for a few days so feel free to ask more if you have them.

[lebob]

so, for the last 14 days before the test, any specific advice?

tapering down? going more hardcore? PTs? playing around? etc etc

thanks!

[luxxe]

Sorry I neglected so many questions. I'll be around for a few days so feel free to ask more questions if you have them.

do you think that taking full practice tests or drilling types of questions is more beneficial? i was planning on saving the most recent ones (beginning with 41 or so) to take timed, but using the other earlier ones to drill skill sets (especially with LG types).

[Stanley Otto Swift]

so, for the last 14 days before the test, any specific advice?

tapering down? going more hardcore? PTs? playing around? etc etc

thanks!

I think it depends on where you are in relation to your target score, although going hardcore always seems to be the best route for me. Is your LG perfect? If not, go hardcore on that.

[Stanley Otto Swift]

Sorry I neglected so many questions. I'll be around for a few days so feel free to ask more questions if you have them.

do you think that taking full practice tests or drilling types of questions is more beneficial? i was planning on saving the most recent ones (beginning with 41 or so) to take timed, but using the other earlier ones to drill skill sets (especially with LG types).

I'd say doing full PTs is "more" beneficial. Your plan sounds very similar to what I did.

[iwanta170]

Sorry if this has already been asked..

How did you prepare for the RC section and what are all of the strategies you utilized during that section when you took the test?

[Stanley Otto Swift]

taking questions again if anyone has anything