The Official September 2016 Study Group - WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS Forum

[cgra1916]

I finished the Bibles. Reviewed it but still scoring like crap. Using 7Sage material now. Enjoying the Vids and the approaches vs PowerScore (ie reading the question stem first)

I'm finishing up the LR section. After that I'll run the Cambridge Bundle using the 7Sage blind review.'

Repeat for LG and RC.

Won't worry about Timed PTS 39-Present until I feel adequately prepared.

+1 to everything you said. Minus the PTing. I thought if I PTed while studying the material I could get ahead, and learned the hard way (high PTs followed by a huge decrease in my scores) that it is better to first fully understand the material, master it, and then hit the PT's.

Oh and love the read the question first before hitting the LR question method.. I still have to train myself on that though bc I find I forget sometimes.

So for LR, 7sage teaches you to read the question stem first? Do they teach this for RC as well?

re: LR yeah. For RC I don't like 7Sage's strategy so I don't use it. They mark up the passage like there is no tomorrow. For me, what I usually do is read it really slowly and then go into the questions. That said, RC is usually a hit or miss for me. (I haven't done this method since going through the Manhattan RC Guide). So, I'm going through the Manhattan guide and then Trainer for RC. So far, I have seen a lot of improvements with the Manhattan guide, that said I have taken a huge break from RC and am about to get back into it this week, we'll see what happens lol.

Yeah, I find that I like the powerscore bibles because their mark ups are simple, but in the only PT i've taken I don't remember marking up too much. I feel you though. I don't study RC as much as I feel I should be doing. Thanks again!

[MAPP]

June test-taker here - I figured I would drop by and offer encouragement and advice from time to time!

I'm finished with The Trainer & Cambridge Packets (I still use my own packets of just super-tough questions I missed in Blind Review).

Now it's just 2 PTs a week until game day.

I will answer any questions about the trainer, study plans, pacing, etc.

Good Luck everyone!

I haven't made my study schedule yet, but I'm planning on using a combination of powerscore LG w/ 7sage LG, Trainer for LR, and Manhattan for LR and RC. I have all PTs 1-76, and have the Cambridge LG and LR drills 1-38 (as well as some RC packets from the early PTs). Do you have any tips/nuggets of wisdom you wish you had heard before you began reading the books and drilling?

Pick methods and habits for each section that work for you and stick with them. The danger in using a variety of sources is not getting practice with "your" habits - whatever ones you settle on.

By habits do you mean things like reading the stem vs the passage first, diagramming LG sequencing with - vs >, creating sub-gameboards vs brute forcing the questions?

[YupSports]

June test-taker here - I figured I would drop by and offer encouragement and advice from time to time!

I'm finished with The Trainer & Cambridge Packets (I still use my own packets of just super-tough questions I missed in Blind Review).

Now it's just 2 PTs a week until game day.

I will answer any questions about the trainer, study plans, pacing, etc.

Good Luck everyone!

I haven't made my study schedule yet, but I'm planning on using a combination of powerscore LG w/ 7sage LG, Trainer for LR, and Manhattan for LR and RC. I have all PTs 1-76, and have the Cambridge LG and LR drills 1-38 (as well as some RC packets from the early PTs). Do you have any tips/nuggets of wisdom you wish you had heard before you began reading the books and drilling?

Pick methods and habits for each section that work for you and stick with them. The danger in using a variety of sources is not getting practice with "your" habits - whatever ones you settle on.

By habits do you mean things like reading the stem vs the passage first, diagramming LG sequencing with - vs >, creating sub-gameboards vs brute forcing the questions?

You've got it.

For LG, the main considerations are:

Do you have a constant notation strategy?

How often do you utilize sub-game boards?

Do you mark every time something can't go into a space?


For LR:

Do you always read the stem and passage in the same order?

Do you always know what the stem is asking you to look for?

Do you have a routine to get things done quickly for when you are stuck between two answer choices?


For RC:

Do you read for passage structure over everything else?

Do you notate or no?

Is your notation a system?

Do you know what the questions are asking of you?


Kind of a random list off of the top of my head - by no means all-inclusive.

[Desiigner]

Studying 4 hours today. Games are hard Will I ever improve? Lol.. I am constantly missing key inferences

[Mikey]

Studying 4 hours today. Games are hard Will I ever improve? Lol.. I am constantly missing key inferences

You definitely WILL improve because LG is the easiest section to improve in. It might not seem like it but trust me, it is. When I first started logic games I thought they were impossible to do, nonetheless do them timed xD. After doing them for a while, they start to become similar in the way you do them.. Give it time

[ngogirl12]

Yeah, I find that I like the powerscore bibles because their mark ups are simple, but in the only PT i've taken I don't remember marking up too much. I feel you though. I don't study RC as much as I feel I should be doing. Thanks again!

Yeah, no problem. Good luck with everything. All this talk of RC makes me want to dive back into it again, I think I'll hit it Thursday. It's really hard to balance studying for all 3 sections!

[ngogirl12]

Studying 4 hours today. Games are hard Will I ever improve? Lol.. I am constantly missing key inferences

I think once you go through the books, I really think the LG Bible is a must have and there is another one I can't remember the name Cambridge sells it, it has a weird picture on a black background.. I think those two books are terrific sources to begin with. I don't know if you purchased the Cambridge LG 1-38 in PDF form (I did) and it separates the games by chapter for different types, so I do a chapter at a time, and any game I'm slow at/don't get/or even get 1 wrong on, I take it to 7Sage and foolproof it. I find that's how I improve my accuracy..

AND I have heard that the more recent games are repeating the older LSAT's like from the first wave, so drill drill drill and it will become second nature to you. I'm hoping that by the time I hit the 60s and 70s I will have finished all the earlier games and be a pro at it! You will too, just be positive and diligent!

[jeremydc]

7sage LR Main Conclusion/Main Point Method - Look for the conclusion dummy!

-2 on the Cambridge LR Bundle/Difficulty 1 (35 questions)

[Mikey]

7sage LR Main Conclusion/Main Point Method - Look for the conclusion dummy!

-2 on the Cambridge LR Bundle/Difficulty 1 (35 questions)

I think the best advice I ever got for main point/conclusion questions is that you can almost be certain that the authors main point will be the first sentence OR after the words "but,yet or however" after explaining a phenomenon/concept.

Of course while having a good understanding of the stimulus

[cgra1916]

Studying 4 hours today. Games are hard Will I ever improve? Lol.. I am constantly missing key inferences

I put in some good work yesterday as well. I also have found myself in a similar situation, however I am mainly going straight into the explanations to try and understand the problem instead of taking many PT's.

Are you doing PT already?

[MAPP]

AND I have heard that the more recent games are repeating the older LSAT's

woah! This would be awesome, where did you hear this?

like from the first wave!

As in PTs 1-38?

[proteinshake]

AND I have heard that the more recent games are repeating the older LSAT's

woah! This would be awesome, where did you hear this?

like from the first wave!

As in PTs 1-38?

do you mean like pattern games? if so, then yes. the December 2015 LSAT had a VERY strange game that messed me up.

[Desiigner]

Studying 4 hours today. Games are hard Will I ever improve? Lol.. I am constantly missing key inferences

I put in some good work yesterday as well. I also have found myself in a similar situation, however I am mainly going straight into the explanations to try and understand the problem instead of taking many PT's.

Are you doing PT already?

No I won't start PTs until June or July.. For now just the Trainer and drilling by type with Cambridge packets

[wedidit1991]

Checking in here! I studied a couple years ago and took the test twice but I was definitely not in the right head space to do my best. Ended up graduating and getting a job, and now I've been working for the last two years. Finally decided to revisit and take the June 07 PT and wow, I forgot how much I HATED RC.

[proteinshake]

just picked up my copy of the Trainer, will be starting on it soon!

[appind]

I've looked at the LSAT Hacks site for explanations, but I don't like their explanations I find them to be a bit vague in their reasoning.

yeah, i thought it'd often gloss over some questions with legit debatable issues, as if someone looked at the answer key for the credited choice before writing to come up with reasons to justify it.

+1 a lot of self help books do this too, that's why I stick with the usual ones Manhattan/7 Sage/Trainer

I find when I spend a lot of time on a particular question type MSS/Weaken I start to see patterns within the question type. This only comes from reviewing the questions thoroughly though and through periods of frustration. My goal is to be at a very secure place by the time I start PTing lol.

anything that doesn't make one just accept the explanation for credited choice as if it's a presumptive choice can likely be useful in reviewing. I found mlsat forum to be a bit of use this respect.

[jeremydc]

7sage LR Main Conclusion/Main Point Method - Look for the conclusion dummy!

-2 on the Cambridge LR Bundle/Difficulty 1 (35 questions)

I think the best advice I ever got for main point/conclusion questions is that you can almost be certain that the authors main point will be the first sentence OR after the words "but,yet or however" after explaining a phenomenon/concept.

Of course while having a good understanding of the stimulus

Yup, good advice.

[jeremydc]

I got a bit lazy towards the end of the Main Conclusion LR Cambridge Bundle. Ended up with a -13 out of the 67 questions.

I have to remember that those are about half of the real questions available. Can't take it for granted.

[twiix]

I got a bit lazy towards the end of the Main Conclusion LR Cambridge Bundle. Ended up with a -13 out of the 67 questions.

I have to remember that those are about half of the real questions available. Can't take it for granted.

Just be glad you have a copy of that packet. I had my cart full of every PDF of sorted questions and I decided to go to bed and order it in the morning.. turns out they took them down that evening and I lost out on them all I need to put some effort in and sort all of the PT's I have into questions by type and start doing that. I know I have a weakness with some conditional logic and it'd probably be a good idea to start practicing that now (sooner).

[MAPP]

I got a bit lazy towards the end of the Main Conclusion LR Cambridge Bundle. Ended up with a -13 out of the 67 questions.

I have to remember that those are about half of the real questions available. Can't take it for granted.

Just be glad you have a copy of that packet. I had my cart full of every PDF of sorted questions and I decided to go to bed and order it in the morning.. turns out they took them down that evening and I lost out on them all I need to put some effort in and sort all of the PT's I have into questions by type and start doing that.

Wow that blows! Is there nowhere else to purchase questions by type anymore?

[proteinshake]

I got a bit lazy towards the end of the Main Conclusion LR Cambridge Bundle. Ended up with a -13 out of the 67 questions.

I have to remember that those are about half of the real questions available. Can't take it for granted.

Just be glad you have a copy of that packet. I had my cart full of every PDF of sorted questions and I decided to go to bed and order it in the morning.. turns out they took them down that evening and I lost out on them all I need to put some effort in and sort all of the PT's I have into questions by type and start doing that. I know I have a weakness with some conditional logic and it'd probably be a good idea to start practicing that now (sooner).

LG by type: http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/lo ... s.html?m=1

LR by type: http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/ls ... t.html?m=1

You can also buy Cambridge bundles on Amazon (much more expensive). Also, Manhattan has PTs 41-50 with all question grouped by type on Amazon.

[jeremydc]

I got a bit lazy towards the end of the Main Conclusion LR Cambridge Bundle. Ended up with a -13 out of the 67 questions.

I have to remember that those are about half of the real questions available. Can't take it for granted.

Just be glad you have a copy of that packet. I had my cart full of every PDF of sorted questions and I decided to go to bed and order it in the morning.. turns out they took them down that evening and I lost out on them all I need to put some effort in and sort all of the PT's I have into questions by type and start doing that. I know I have a weakness with some conditional logic and it'd probably be a good idea to start practicing that now (sooner).

Check your pm.

[twiix]

I got a bit lazy towards the end of the Main Conclusion LR Cambridge Bundle. Ended up with a -13 out of the 67 questions.

I have to remember that those are about half of the real questions available. Can't take it for granted.

Just be glad you have a copy of that packet. I had my cart full of every PDF of sorted questions and I decided to go to bed and order it in the morning.. turns out they took them down that evening and I lost out on them all I need to put some effort in and sort all of the PT's I have into questions by type and start doing that. I know I have a weakness with some conditional logic and it'd probably be a good idea to start practicing that now (sooner).

LG by type: http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/lo ... s.html?m=1

LR by type: http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/ls ... t.html?m=1

You can also buy Cambridge bundles on Amazon (much more expensive). Also, Manhattan has PTs 41-50 with all question grouped by type on Amazon.

Yeah this was originally the plan.. I have all of the PT's but it would have required scanning them and grouping them.. and if you are doing that for 30 pages per test, at 70+ tests, you're gonna have a bad time haha. But whoever runs that site is a saint for making that info available to the public.

I got a bit lazy towards the end of the Main Conclusion LR Cambridge Bundle. Ended up with a -13 out of the 67 questions.

I have to remember that those are about half of the real questions available. Can't take it for granted.

Just be glad you have a copy of that packet. I had my cart full of every PDF of sorted questions and I decided to go to bed and order it in the morning.. turns out they took them down that evening and I lost out on them all I need to put some effort in and sort all of the PT's I have into questions by type and start doing that.

Wow that blows! Is there nowhere else to purchase questions by type anymore?

"Purchase", yes. There are still the copies available for resale that have already been printed. You can do what proteinshake posted and categorize them yourself if you have time, or you can buy the books/pdf's off of anyone who still might have a copy. They're going to go up in price pretty significantly since they're no longer being printed. Amazon already has resellers that are charging 300+ for one volume of LG questions.. it's ridiculous

[tuesdayninja]

Just got my trainer and powerscore LG bible in the mail yesterday. And so my watch begins.

[proteinshake]

for those using the trainer along with the Bibles and Manhattan, are you drilling with the Trainer? I figure I'd do light drilling with the trainer and get more intense when I use the Bibles and Manhattan.