The Official September 2014 Study Group Forum

Twitch · Post by **Twitch** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 12:48 am

mrhaart wrote: The fact that you bombed LG but managed to do as well as you ended up doing on the rest of the sections is still indicative of a strong test performance imho -- One of those "worst case scenarios" that left you with a still-solid score. Judging by your previous posts, you seem to be a natural at LR + RC -- Have any general tips, especially for RC?

Thanks! I have pretty strong analytical and verbal skills, but I think LR requires a really test-specific set of literary+analytical ability that can only be learned. I definitely have improved my ability in LR. I've missed 13 in LR before, but I've been focusing on LR a lot and it's definitely helped. Manhattan LR really changed my world. That's some good stuff right there if you haven't checked it out.

I am a really well-trained reader. I've read probably 18,000 books in my life. Maybe more. Additionally, I've tutored the SAT for 5 years, and LSAT RC is really, really similar to SAT RC, so I have an excellent base for that. The big thing about RC is being aware of the structural components of the passage and how they fit together.

When I read, I'm constantly weighing every new point against what was said before. How does this affect that? Does it bolster the previous statement? Does it set up an argument against it? Does it qualify it? Does it feature an everyday word in an uncommon usage? Does it reveal something about the author? Anything that strikes me as significant along those lines gets underlined, because it's going to be a question and I want to be able to come back to it quickly.

Besides that, if you can get faster at reading, you'll have more time to check your work. There are some really great speed-reading apps and websites out there, and slower readers tend to get bogged down in details as opposed to letting their minds pick up on overall points, so I'd recommend that, if speed is a problem.

One last thing to watch out for: incorrect answer choices that are half-right and half-irrelevant. I've seen a bunch of them on the LSAT and I know that my SAT students like to pick them a lot, because they recognize the wording from the passage in them, which makes them feel correct. If an answer choice is made of two clauses, the first of which is absolutely supported by the text and the second of which doesn't really have to do with it so much, the second part invalidates the first and it's out of scope, so should be discarded.

HTH!

def1000 · Post by **def1000** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 2:28 am

Checking in. I haven't Started my prep yet, but I just took a PT to see where I stood and scored a 156. I need a 170 to get into anywhere I would really want to go so I have some work to do.

Luckily I stand to gain a lot just by improving time management. Almost everything I got wrong stemmed from randomly guessing at the last 5 or so questions in the section. Particularly with logic games I got none wrong that I actually got a chance to attempt. LR, I missed 2 from my own mistakes in each section, and the rest were from timing. My worst section was RC where I got 9 wrong, five of which were actually my mistakes. I understand It's the hardest to improve, but 6 months is plenty of time to master it. At first I was discouraged by this starting score, but after seeing where I went wrong, I really think this test is one I can master.

Step 1 is to read the Powerscore RC Bible, because I already have it as a hand-me-down. Recs for other materials (preferrably free or cheap) are welcome. I do plan to do the bulk of my studying this summer, and take a prep course (testmasters?), but it couldn't hurt to get a leg up on things since I know where to focus.

Looking forward to the give and take here.

ChuggaChuggaChooChoo · Post by **ChuggaChuggaChooChoo** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 3:13 pm

Preemptive check in barring any admissions miracles...excited for redemption

rftdd888 · Post by **rftdd888** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 4:19 pm

This will be my third and final take. Decided to stand pat on a 167 and sit out a year to get a bigger score and more scholarship $$$. Is this anyone else's second or (in my case) third retake, and if so, how do you feel about it and/or how it may affect your cycle?

Good luck all

ChuggaChuggaChooChoo · Post by **ChuggaChuggaChooChoo** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 4:24 pm

rftdd888 wrote:This will be my third and final take. Decided to stand pat on a 167 and sit out a year to get a bigger score and more scholarship $$$. Is this anyone else's second or (in my case) third retake, and if so, how do you feel about it and/or how it may affect your cycle?

Good luck all

I'm in this boat, definitely agree with waiting for more $$. I think I rushed prepping for my first retake in Feb after I took the Dec one. Hopefully 6 months is more than enough time to murder this test.

yossarian · Post by **yossarian** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 5:40 pm

ChuggaChuggaChooChoo wrote:
rftdd888 wrote:This will be my third and final take. Decided to stand pat on a 167 and sit out a year to get a bigger score and more scholarship $$$. Is this anyone else's second or (in my case) third retake, and if so, how do you feel about it and/or how it may affect your cycle?

Good luck all
I'm in this boat, definitely agree with waiting for more $$. I think I rushed prepping for my first retake in Feb after I took the Dec one. Hopefully 6 months is more than enough time to murder this test.

Took twice two years ago. If I sit this cycle out, Sept 2014 will be my third and final.

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Sun Mar 16, 2014 5:58 pm

Post removed.

bamfrosty · Post by **bamfrosty** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 2:55 am

Reporting for duty. Was originally going to prepare for June, but this semester's class schedule plus work has eaten into my study time. I've been studying off-and-on since last May. Read all three Manhattan books and am currently working through the Cambridge LG packets. I feel pretty strong on RC/LR (-1/2 per section) but my games still stink (-7 or so).

Good luck to everyone

Jeffort · Post by **Jeffort** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 3:11 am

yossarian71 wrote:
ChuggaChuggaChooChoo wrote:
rftdd888 wrote:This will be my third and final take. Decided to stand pat on a 167 and sit out a year to get a bigger score and more scholarship $$$. Is this anyone else's second or (in my case) third retake, and if so, how do you feel about it and/or how it may affect your cycle?

Good luck all
I'm in this boat, definitely agree with waiting for more $$. I think I rushed prepping for my first retake in Feb after I took the Dec one. Hopefully 6 months is more than enough time to murder this test.
Took twice two years ago. If I sit this cycle out, Sept 2014 will be my third and final.

It won't be your final take once those old scores/cancels become 2 years old in whichever month administrations this year they were from in 2012. If you take the June test you'll still have two more takes later this year if both those from before were in 2012 or earlier. The limit is three takes in any given two year window, once an administration is two years old it doesn't count towards the limit anymore.

Mauve.Dino · Post by **Mauve.Dino** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 1:02 pm

After February destroyed my confidence, I've been taking a long time to get back into the studying groove.

I hang out in the cool Harvard/Yale threads to live vicariously through others.

Ugh. February was so terrible, I can't even remember taking the test.

That score was real, though.

Back to the LSAT Trainer, I guess. I need to really focus on RC this time; I have a feeling that I lost a lot of points on that section.

alpha kenny body · Post by **alpha kenny body** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 8:14 pm

I started drilling again and I do not plan on re-reading Manhattan LR, however, I plan on buying the LSAT Trainer this weekend. After reading that, I will probably just do timed sections from 1-38 and then PT from 40-52, 61-70 as I am using 52-60 for drilling. Any other suggestions are welcomed. Let's make this thread not boring. PLEASE.

mrhaart · Post by **mrhaart** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 1:15 am

Twitch wrote:
mrhaart wrote: The fact that you bombed LG but managed to do as well as you ended up doing on the rest of the sections is still indicative of a strong test performance imho -- One of those "worst case scenarios" that left you with a still-solid score. Judging by your previous posts, you seem to be a natural at LR + RC -- Have any general tips, especially for RC?
Thanks! I have pretty strong analytical and verbal skills, but I think LR requires a really test-specific set of literary+analytical ability that can only be learned. I definitely have improved my ability in LR. I've missed 13 in LR before, but I've been focusing on LR a lot and it's definitely helped. Manhattan LR really changed my world. That's some good stuff right there if you haven't checked it out.

I am a really well-trained reader. I've read probably 18,000 books in my life. Maybe more. Additionally, I've tutored the SAT for 5 years, and LSAT RC is really, really similar to SAT RC, so I have an excellent base for that. The big thing about RC is being aware of the structural components of the passage and how they fit together.

When I read, I'm constantly weighing every new point against what was said before. How does this affect that? Does it bolster the previous statement? Does it set up an argument against it? Does it qualify it? Does it feature an everyday word in an uncommon usage? Does it reveal something about the author? Anything that strikes me as significant along those lines gets underlined, because it's going to be a question and I want to be able to come back to it quickly.

Besides that, if you can get faster at reading, you'll have more time to check your work. There are some really great speed-reading apps and websites out there, and slower readers tend to get bogged down in details as opposed to letting their minds pick up on overall points, so I'd recommend that, if speed is a problem.

One last thing to watch out for: incorrect answer choices that are half-right and half-irrelevant. I've seen a bunch of them on the LSAT and I know that my SAT students like to pick them a lot, because they recognize the wording from the passage in them, which makes them feel correct. If an answer choice is made of two clauses, the first of which is absolutely supported by the text and the second of which doesn't really have to do with it so much, the second part invalidates the first and it's out of scope, so should be discarded.

HTH!

This is extremely helpful/insightful advice -- I totally get what you mean by 'incorrect answer choices that are half-right and half-irrelevant' -- they're extremely tempting, especially under timed pressure, but your point about being able to distinguish stuff that sounds aligned with the passage (and that is ultimately irrelevant) from stuff that is actually indicative of the more important points (main points, author's opinion) is something I'll definitely have to improve upon. Unfortunately, RC overall is still something of a mental bum-rush for me -- I have a hard time letting go of the details in favor of focusing on the big picture/main points, but I've noticed that I do comparatively well when I am able to trust in focusing on the more important points. Thank you for this!

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 1:32 pm

Post removed.

WaltGrace83 · Post by **WaltGrace83** » Sat Mar 22, 2014 2:01 pm

Checking in. I am registered for June but progress is slow and steady. Just wanted to say "hey" to everyone in here as I may be taking the test with you.

manillabay · Post by **manillabay** » Sun Mar 23, 2014 12:06 am

Checking in. Wrapping up all my drilling from Cambridge packets. Decided I'm going to print out individual sections now from tests 1-40 so to work on my time and get some experience of it all being mixed together. Then, once finals end, it's PT'in' time all summer long! I can't wait for summer (mainly because, though, my school life sucks right now.

Let me know if anyone wants to take some PT's together over this summer and discuss them together. Working with other students always gives me some perspective.

ChemEng1642 · Post by **ChemEng1642** » Sun Mar 23, 2014 9:12 pm

Checking in!

May be retaking the LSAT in September for more scholarship money - still haven't decided yet since I was LSAT nonstop for the 3 months before the Feb LSAT and now that I have been out of practice for nearly 2 months I can't image going back in

I'm surprised people are starting so early though! When do you recommend starting to study if you are retaking?

Also I can't believe I just discovered the blind review method on 7sage - wish I had done this before my last exam!

Back to school · Post by **Back to school** » Mon Mar 24, 2014 11:52 am

Checking it. It's going to be my third attempt at the test. I took October 2012 and October 2013. I have all tests, LSAT Trainer, all of Manhattan books, Cambridge drills. Hope to make the most of it. I did not have a luxury of teaching a SAT test before so I'm not going to disclose my current score breakdown to save myself from embarrassment

To put it mildly, I have a lot to work on.

manillabay · Post by **manillabay** » Sun Mar 30, 2014 12:30 am

Almost done finishing drilling all LR by type. I am doing a lot better than I was when I started out. I'm anticipating May 10th to see if my hard work will actually result in a better score.

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 8:31 pm

Post removed.

manillabay · Post by **manillabay** » Tue Apr 01, 2014 11:44 pm

mornincounselor wrote:I'm afraid our group has gone cold. Let's reignite it.

I've arrived at the first major RC lesson in the Trainer. I'm very excited to start this section. I think I'll do a timed test when I finish this swatch of lessons.

I'm actually EXCITED to do a preptest now.

same. I'm holding off until I've seen everything from pt's 1-38 before taking PT. Gonna start with 53

BillPackets · Post by **BillPackets** » Wed Apr 02, 2014 12:51 pm

I'm obsessed with the LSAT and fall asleep at night to thoughts of "I can eliminate A, C, D..."

urbanecologie · Post by **urbanecologie** » Wed Apr 02, 2014 10:17 pm

I can't wait to become one of those "LG is the easiest section! I got a -0 there, of course!" types. If it doesn't happen soon, I may have to take the December test.

Also, a guy with a 3.7x GPA and a 172 LSAT posted today about being rejected/WL throughout the T10.

*studies furiously* *buries face in prep book*

Like_Spike · Post by **Like_Spike** » Thu Apr 03, 2014 5:32 pm

Checking in for September. Currently finishing up my last year of undergrad and will be taking this upcoming year off with the intention to apply for the '14-'15 app cycle. Planning on hitting the ground running post-graduation and throughout summer. Will take it again in December if necessary but that's a last resort as I want to apply early.

Will be keeping tabs and posting on the Prep Forum so I'll see everyone around. Best of luck, people.

manillabay · Post by **manillabay** » Thu Apr 03, 2014 6:12 pm

Guys, we can do this. We are the few, the proud, the dedicated. We have to knock this test out of the park. We have to be ready. Circular reasoning game? Sure, no problem. 5 Level four Parallel Reasoning questions? Yeah, throw em' at me, I'm ready. RC passage about nuclear physics? Phh, that's easy. This is us guys. we have to prepare for battle. We have to be ready for anything that this battle might throw at us. The other side always has in it's arson an array of miscellaneous curve balls that they think will throw us off track, that will divert us, that will cause us to fold our arms and turn around. We have to proudly say NO! We are prepared for this! We have learned and now understand the logic of ANYTHING the LSAT has. I'm not worried about a spatial Logic Game. Mauve Dinosaurs? Phh, how about you give me some quadruple layer sequencing with two subsets? I ain't scared of you LSAT, you know why? Because I've attacked you day in day out, and anything 'new' or 'creative' you try to throw at me, I'll say, oh yeah? I'm not scared, because I'm ready.

Are you guys ready for Battle? This is no game. This is LSAT.

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Fri Apr 04, 2014 6:11 pm

Post removed.