The Official October 2015 Study Group Forum

TheProdigal · Post by **TheProdigal** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 10:26 am

whacka wrote:
MikeSpivey wrote:How it goes in here?
Hi Spivey! I can't complain, I'm working on my PS now and still contemplating a retake. Do you have any insight on the surge in test-takers in June and how it might affect this admissions cycle?

http://spiveyconsulting.com/blog/how-th ... -and-next/

whacka · Post by **whacka** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 10:30 am

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ms9 · Post by **ms9** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 10:49 am

Also from yesterday's NLJ:

http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=12 ... re_twitter

ugg · Post by **ugg** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 12:33 pm

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SirArthurDayne · Post by **SirArthurDayne** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 1:59 pm

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kbrizz · Post by **kbrizz** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 7:09 pm

theugg wrote:Too tired and too lazy to want to practice

This. This. This.

Also feel like I'm getting too bogged down in LG and need to do more LR UGH

Sera Numquam · Post by **Sera Numquam** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 9:24 pm

Relieved to see I'm not the only one suffering from logic games. I don't know what happened...months ago I was going 0-2 depending on the game and now I'm -6/-8.

MrBalloons · Post by **MrBalloons** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 9:30 pm

It's pretty frustrating. LG is supposed to be the "learnable" section and whatnot but it's still my weakest point. I'm approaching -0 in the other two sections, but still routinely run out of time on LG/hit a roadblock with a game setup.

Sera Numquam · Post by **Sera Numquam** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 9:37 pm

MrBalloons wrote:It's pretty frustrating. LG is supposed to be the "learnable" section and whatnot but it's still my weakest point. I'm approaching -0 in the other two sections, but still routinely run out of time on LG/hit a roadblock with a game setup.

I thought that I had "learned" it, but apparently not. Going near -0 in the other 2 sections is a good buffer though! What's your target score?

Dexter97 · Post by **Dexter97** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 10:29 pm

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ffamran · Post by **ffamran** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 11:09 pm

Hi, study group!

I'm completely new but I think I will be spending a lot of time in here... I don't have a real-life study group/partner and I'm getting really worn out studying alone.

I've never taken the LSAT before, in fact I was not even considering law school as an option until about 3 weeks ago... took a diagnostic LSAT and did really well, and now I'm waist-deep in preparation...

pittsburghpirates · Post by **pittsburghpirates** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 11:16 pm

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ugg · Post by **ugg** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 11:23 pm

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PatriotP74 · Post by **PatriotP74** » Tue Jul 21, 2015 11:42 pm

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DoYouEvenTLS · Post by **DoYouEvenTLS** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 12:18 am

question for you all......

My PT scores are embarrassingly low, my LR sections are very bad and there's not really a pattern in question types that I miss (except for maybe Flaw, NA, and SA), my RC needs a lot of work, however my LG is in pretty great shape (usually -4 to -0 per timed section), my question is: should I hold off on taking more PTs until I have a better grasp on LR and RC? I don't want to burn "fresh" test material..

fwiw, I started out my prep by going over the trainer and the bibles and doing drilling via the cambridge packets

TheProdigal · Post by **TheProdigal** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 12:23 am

DoYouEvenTLS wrote:should I hold off on taking more PTs until I have a better grasp on LR and RC? I don't want to burn "fresh" test material..

There's really little reason to use PTs when you don't have fundamentals nailed down. You're best served for now focusing on drilling and other practice. Timing and stamina can come later, you just need to focus on basics for now.

1sataker · Post by **1sataker** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 12:27 am

Cochran · Post by **Cochran** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 12:57 am

MrBalloons · Post by **MrBalloons** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 12:59 am

Sera Numquam wrote:
MrBalloons wrote:It's pretty frustrating. LG is supposed to be the "learnable" section and whatnot but it's still my weakest point. I'm approaching -0 in the other two sections, but still routinely run out of time on LG/hit a roadblock with a game setup.
I thought that I had "learned" it, but apparently not. Going near -0 in the other 2 sections is a good buffer though! What's your target score?

172+ would probably get me what I want ($$ at Duke), but if I can perform at my peak on non-LG stuff and at least get LG to a reasonable level, my options open way wider, obviously.

So I'm hoping that learnableness kicks in soon.

SirArthurDayne · Post by **SirArthurDayne** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 1:16 am

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RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 1:34 am

Cochran wrote:Finally finished blind reviewing my PTs from last week. As embarrassing as they are, especially with the scores I regularly see here, I'm going to start posting my scores as well. Maybe I can get a little insight into what I'm doing wrong.

PT 64: Score 156 (BR 166) - [07/18/15]
LR1: -11
- Only got to 21 of 25 problems; guessed D for the rest
- This is the worst I've gone in an LR section in a while, I usually get ~18 correct
LG: -6
- Missed more than usual on this section too. Cruised through the 2 games (finished in under 15 min), then just hit a wall on the 3rd. Ran out of time on the 4th
LR 2: -6
- Got the 1st 17 questions right
- Was much better than the first, I felt my speed was better until I got to the end.
- Only got to 22 of 26 problems though; guessed D for the rest
RC: -11
- Only got to 3 of the 4 passages; guessed D for the rest
- RCs been my weakest area consistently, need to start drilling RC.

PT 53: Score 159 (BR 169) - [Broken into timed sections at lunch during week of 7/13]
LR1: - 5
- Only got to 22 of 25 problems; guessed D for the rest
LG: -1
- One of my best LG sections thus far
- The one I missed was a stupid error
LR2: - 7
- Only got to 21 of 25 problems; guessed D for the rest
RC: - 14
- By far, this is one of the hardest RC sections I've faced (Passage 2 was the worst I've seen)
- After reading both the 1st and second passage, I literally thought to myself "what the hell did I just read."
- I thought the 4th and 3rd (after BRing) passages were much simpler.
- Only got to 3 of 4 passages; guessed D for the rest

This is the first test I have taken since May (PT 52 - 160), so I'm pretty disappointed in the drop. I do see what my weaknesses are though, thanks to 7sage analytics, and I've still have tons of untouched material. I can also say, I'm officially all-in on this test, and have never been as engaged with it as I have in the last couple of weeks. I strangely look forward to doing stuff now, although blind reviewing is already wearing thin. I'm going to take PT 55 tomorrow and PT 65 on Saturday, all while continuing my daily sections at lunch. I've gotten the LR and LG 1-38 drilling packets, and am in obvious need of the the RC packets which I'll get this week. After this Saturday, my next PT won't be until the following Saturday 8/1, so I'm going to focus on getting in some ample drilling time until then. Any advice is appreciated!

How much time are you spending on BR? I feel like your BR scores should be higher. Try to really figure out how each hard question works. If it's RC, where is the textual evidence? Figure out what line proves TCR correct and/or disproves the other choices. For LR, why is that tricky wrong answer wrong and what makes it so attractive? Etc.

Monkey D Luffy · Post by **Monkey D Luffy** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 2:42 am

Hey guys. I'm sort of getting nervous as test day is creeping closer.... I didn't touch on the RC section yet... Any suggestions from now until then to maximize my RC potential? Thanks.

ltowns1 · Post by **ltowns1** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 10:44 am

Monkey D Luffy wrote:Hey guys. I'm sort of getting nervous as test day is creeping closer.... I didn't touch on the RC section yet... Any suggestions from now until then to maximize my RC potential? Thanks.

Make sure you know the structure of the passage,the different viewpoints, what each viewpoint holds as their position and make sure whenever you're answering a question that you're understanding which perspective the question is asking for.

For example, if the passage is talking about Republican and Democrats, (assuming that general ideas stand) and the passage is talking about economic principles. If a questions asks you about what Dems. think about tax policy,you know that you're prob. going to be looking for something that says taxes from the wealthy are important to maintain or expand governement programs. I know I'm not going to be looking for something that say taxes should be reduced on the wealthy.

Generally when you have a good ideal of the positions that are taken in a passage, you can narrow down an answer choice to one or two answers

npt2901 · Post by **npt2901** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 10:53 am

UGH so timed LR sections are anywhere from -10 to -6. I have been drilling by type and I write down an explanation for each one that I get wrong in a notebook and I still am at a plateau with these. People who struggle with LR, how did you break the plateau and when/how did you really see yourself improving? This is my 3rd and final take.

ltowns1 · Post by **ltowns1** » Wed Jul 22, 2015 11:00 am

npt2901 wrote:UGH so timed LR sections are anywhere from -10 to -6. I have been drilling by type and I write down an explanation for each one that I get wrong in a notebook and I still am at a plateau with these. People who struggle with LR, how did you break the plateau and when/how did you really see yourself improving? This is my 3rd and final take.

I'm certainly in the struggle with LR, so I won't confess to have any great ideas. However, are you actively working on eliminating wrong answers? I'm starting to do that more than I ever have, and it's help me to recognize wrong answers.