The Official June 2014 Study Group Forum

[MDJ2588]

If i have the POWERSCORE LGB/LRB, Plus the 10 Actual, Next 10, and Super Prep Tess, is it going to make a significant difference in my Prep purchasing the LSAT Trainer?

[gnomgnomuch]

Drilled Main point and Describe questions today (LR) and Tiered ordering games. Didn't have much time so I only studied a couple hours, but I had to let you guys know how I did (because you're basically family lmao... and also because I finally have something to humble brag about)

15/16 on Main point
7/7 on Describe

27/30 on tiered ordering games (this is HUGE for me, since LG have been up till now the WORST section, my first test I went -18)


SO, YAY! and I hope this motivates everyone who reads this!

[iiibbystar]

Drilled Main point and Describe questions today (LR) and Tiered ordering games. Didn't have much time so I only studied a couple hours, but I had to let you guys know how I did (because you're basically family lmao... and also because I finally have something to humble brag about)

15/16 on Main point
7/7 on Describe

27/30 on tiered ordering games (this is HUGE for me, since LG have been up till now the WORST section, my first test I went -18)


SO, YAY! and I hope this motivates everyone who reads this!

Great job! It's always inspiring to hear others make improvements--thanks Keep up the good work.

[alexrodriguez]

Drilled all 17 Point at Issue questions earlier. Felt really tired the whole time and decided to take the rest of Friday night off.

I got one wrong. I think number 5. Something about supercomputers or something. Really stupid of me.

I'm going to law school guys! I'm taking in June and I'm going to law school! I'm going to law school! I'm going to law school!

[Straw_Mandible]

Almost through my first week of the very regimented schedule I've resolved to keep for the next four months. Up at 6:30, run for 30-45 mins, work 9 - 5, LSAT 6 - 11. Saturdays: LSAT 9 - 6, Sundays: LSAT 12 - 6. I have the feeling that this will be challenging, but not unsustainable. Health and progress are mutually necessary and inextricably linked.

Gearing up to take PT 39 on Saturday morning. I don't know where I expect my score to fall, but I am making a public promise that I will not let my positivity waver. This is just a second diagnostic, to see how far I've come in the last 5 months of (comparatively light) studying. February through May is where I intend to break into my peak stride.

In strength and malleability,

-SM

Hey I've tried several times creating a schedule, even a detailed on Excel. I am in my Senior Year, and have class all day. My wife is working to support us, so I can be completely dedicated to school (GPA) and LSAT Prep, for some reason I am constantly busy still, and I am finding that at times I put LSAT Prep before school (ex: reading assignments). Let me know if your schedule is able to work for you, if you have any advice on sticking to a regimented schedule please let me know. It seems that I always have constant things that I must do, I have been working out but even last week I was only able to go one time!

Hey there. The kingpin is that it's not sufficient to just schedule one part of your life (LSAT prep). You have to make a strict schedule that encompasses all of your responsibilities. I know that a college schedule can sometimes be unpredictable. You never know exactly how long it will take you to finish your readings, write your papers, prepare for tests, etc. But you need to try your best to predict this with as much accuracy as possible, and then build your study time into a fixed schedule. Use your syllabi to predict when your coursework will be heavier and lighter, and schedule your LSAT time around that.

The most important thing is that you make a schedule that you know you can stick to, and you refuse to make any exceptions whatsoever (within reason). It's helpful not only to know what you have you do in any given time block, but also where you plan to do it. If you're scheduling a study block, knowing that you have to physically go somewhere in order to fulfill that responsibility makes you more likely to actually do it, and stay within your time constraints.
For example, I know that every week day I will go to the library at 6 and leave at 11. This forces me to stay on task and accomplish everything that I can during that time, and if I have time left over, I keep on going. If I stayed home, I might start at 6, get distracted at 7, finish my work at 10, and call it quits. Physical location makes all the difference.

Anyway, best of luck!
Your time is entirely your own. Choose how you use it.

[Lexi1721]

Hello, dropping in a little late here, but I wonder if anyone has some advice for me.

I'm retaking in June, last tests were a while ago in 2010, I got a 160/162 which was a lot lower than I wanted so I took some time off to reconsider. I realize now that I did not spend enough time studying and didn't study correctly, I think I can do a lot better this time around.

Part of my problem last time was not using good materials to study, I did some practice tests and the only section specific book I read was that terrible Mcgraw Hill logic games one. Just got the Manhattan guides and the LSAT Trainer in the mail and I'm debating whether I also need the bibles to review before I start an intensive practice testing schedule. Can anyone tell me if it's worth buying those in addition to the materials I already have?

[lawstudenthopeful727]

Drilled all 17 Point at Issue questions earlier. Felt really tired the whole time and decided to take the rest of Friday night off.

I got one wrong. I think number 5. Something about supercomputers or something. Really stupid of me.

I'm going to law school guys! I'm taking in June and I'm going to law school! I'm going to law school! I'm going to law school!

Great to see that you made up your mind about your future! I wish you the best in your studies! You are a true inspiration on this thread!

[Louis1127]

I just discovered that level 4 questions are really difficult. Have a good weekend everyone.

[10052014]

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[SteelPenguin]

If i have the POWERSCORE LGB/LRB, Plus the 10 Actual, Next 10, and Super Prep Tess, is it going to make a significant difference in my Prep purchasing the LSAT Trainer?

You only have one source of learning material, which is Powerscore, right? I would definitely recommend the LSAT Trainer or another book of your choice. Reading different approaches to problems can help you gain a better understanding of the test and gives you more flexibility when you get stuck on a question or game. I used 3 sources plus drills, and I believe I found it worthwhile to go through each of those books.

[mist4bison]

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[10052014]

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[paglababa]

Checking in. Just took in my first LSAT tutoring client who has absolutely no experience with the LSAT. Will be using this forum as reference guides. Also, taking questions.

[Baby_Got_Feuerbach]

Wow, January is already over.

Tomorrow, February will begin.

As of now, we have 128 days left. ( or 3085 hours )


Its gettin real. - but really, january just slipped by...

February taker here.

Kindly stfu

[Labelle80]

If i have the POWERSCORE LGB/LRB, Plus the 10 Actual, Next 10, and Super Prep Tess, is it going to make a significant difference in my Prep purchasing the LSAT Trainer?

You only have one source of learning material, which is Powerscore, right? I would definitely recommend the LSAT Trainer or another book of your choice. Reading different approaches to problems can help you gain a better understanding of the test and gives you more flexibility when you get stuck on a question or game. I used 3 sources plus drills, and I believe I found it worthwhile to go through each of those books.

Can you please tell us the 3 sources that you used to study for the lsat? Did you use the cambridge package to do your drills?

[Straw_Mandible]

Hey friends!

I took my second fully timed PT today (PT 53), after about 4 months of studying (first diagnostic: 149). I felt like it went really terribly, but after a thorough blind review, I finally checked out my score!

Actual: 164
(Blind Review: 172)

Here's the breakdown:

LR: -2 (-1 BR)
LG: -3 (-0 BR)
LR: -3 (-3 BR)
RC: -10 (-5 BR)

I mis-diagrammed two rules on the second game, and I only realized halfway through the second question, so I had to go back and redo my setup and all of my deductions. It was a huge time suck. I only had 8:00 for the final (tough!) game, and I had to guess on two questions.

RC was a major issue. It was the last section, and I was really fatigued. I couldn't figure out what the hell was going on in the first two passages, and I skipped over the third (comparative) passage entirely, since my time was running out, and it only had 5 questions. Got lucky and guessed right on two out of five, and I got them all right in blind review. There were two questions on other passages that I changed during blind review but got correct initially, which is really troubling. I don't know what went wrong, but I will figure it out tomorrow.

But overall, today was a good day! I'm so glad that my work in LR has paid off. If anyone doubts that The Trainer is a Godsend, the proof is in the pudding. I've drilled LR only very lightly, but by using the strategies and principles that Mike advocates, my results have been outstanding.

Here's to a productive and successful 128 days!

- Jaw of Straw

[paglababa]

If i have the POWERSCORE LGB/LRB, Plus the 10 Actual, Next 10, and Super Prep Tess, is it going to make a significant difference in my Prep purchasing the LSAT Trainer?

You only have one source of learning material, which is Powerscore, right? I would definitely recommend the LSAT Trainer or another book of your choice. Reading different approaches to problems can help you gain a better understanding of the test and gives you more flexibility when you get stuck on a question or game. I used 3 sources plus drills, and I believe I found it worthwhile to go through each of those books.

Can you please tell us the 3 sources that you used to study for the lsat? Did you use the cambridge package to do your drills?

I used cambridge LR grouped by type. It was like 19 pdfs for $80 on their website. Money well spent. I drilled all of those packets for about 6-7 weeks, 40-50 questions per day. Was going -0 to -2 on LR by the time i took my first practice test.

Edit: For books I used powerscore and manhattan lsat. I thought mlsat was better than powerscore. I never tried LSAT trainer but some people swear by it and bunch of ppl who sat for the exam in Oct with me from TLS said good things about it.

[10052014]

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[Straw_Mandible]

Good Job.

How long did your BR take?
When doing BR, did you go over the circled questions only, or did you go over all of the questions, circled and uncircled.
Did you review immediately after?

Great score!

Thanks, JL! I took like a 30 min break for dinner after the test, and then I jumped right into blind review. I only needed a few minutes to finish up and review LG, but RC took FOREVER. I read all the passages over again (including the one that I skipped initially), and then I checked all of my answers against the text. I guess there's something really wrong with the way I'm approaching this section, since I still ended up with -5 after giving myself unlimited time. The fact of the matter is that I was really fatigued at that point, and I just couldn't hold all of the information in my head. By the time I went to review the LR sections, I had effectively checked out. I'm surprised I even caught that question in section one.

Anyway, at least I know what I need to work on. It's really mostly my stamina that's giving me problems. I'm sure if that RC section was first, I wouldn't have done so poorly on it. I just have to trust that this will improve over time.

How have you been studying for RC? Did you just drill all the Cambridge passages, or did you use a guide as well? I still haven't done the final drills in MLSAT RC, so maybe once I get through those, I'll have a better sense of what I'm doing wrong. It might be helpful to reread the Trainer lessons as well.

Edit: To answer your question, I did go over all of the questions during blind review, but I think confirmation bias got the better of me, especially in that second LR section.

[10052014]

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[Tinker]

Hi all, I'm going to be studying for June as well--already have started but I now need to get different books since Kaplan apparently is a joke... /sigh. I do have several older books that I can use until my better ones arrive. This is me retaking because my lsat score 4 years ago is terrible. I'm going to do a free consult with a law school admissions counselor this week. I want to see what they have to say about my severe splitting action I got going on over here LOL! She might want me to go ahead and apply regardless--who knows...either way I'm going to be prepared to retake regardless.

[alexrodriguez]

Hey friends!

I took my second fully timed PT today (PT 53), after about 4 months of studying (first diagnostic: 149). I felt like it went really terribly, but after a thorough blind review, I finally checked out my score!

Actual: 164
(Blind Review: 172)

Here's the breakdown:

LR: -2 (-1 BR)
LG: -3 (-0 BR)
LR: -3 (-3 BR)
RC: -10 (-5 BR)

I mis-diagrammed two rules on the second game, and I only realized halfway through the second question, so I had to go back and redo my setup and all of my deductions. It was a huge time suck. I only had 8:00 for the final (tough!) game, and I had to guess on two questions.

RC was a major issue. It was the last section, and I was really fatigued. I couldn't figure out what the hell was going on in the first two passages, and I skipped over the third (comparative) passage entirely, since my time was running out, and it only had 5 questions. Got lucky and guessed right on two out of five, and I got them all right in blind review. There were two questions on other passages that I changed during blind review but got correct initially, which is really troubling. I don't know what went wrong, but I will figure it out tomorrow.

But overall, today was a good day! I'm so glad that my work in LR has paid off. If anyone doubts that The Trainer is a Godsend, the proof is in the pudding. I've drilled LR only very lightly, but by using the strategies and principles that Mike advocates, my results have been outstanding.

Here's to a productive and successful 128 days!

- Jaw of Straw

Happy for you dude!

[WaltGrace83]

Hey friends!

I took my second fully timed PT today (PT 53), after about 4 months of studying (first diagnostic: 149). I felt like it went really terribly, but after a thorough blind review, I finally checked out my score!

Actual: 164
(Blind Review: 172)

Here's the breakdown:

LR: -2 (-1 BR)
LG: -3 (-0 BR)
LR: -3 (-3 BR)
RC: -10 (-5 BR)

I mis-diagrammed two rules on the second game, and I only realized halfway through the second question, so I had to go back and redo my setup and all of my deductions. It was a huge time suck. I only had 8:00 for the final (tough!) game, and I had to guess on two questions.

RC was a major issue. It was the last section, and I was really fatigued. I couldn't figure out what the hell was going on in the first two passages, and I skipped over the third (comparative) passage entirely, since my time was running out, and it only had 5 questions. Got lucky and guessed right on two out of five, and I got them all right in blind review. There were two questions on other passages that I changed during blind review but got correct initially, which is really troubling. I don't know what went wrong, but I will figure it out tomorrow.

But overall, today was a good day! I'm so glad that my work in LR has paid off. If anyone doubts that The Trainer is a Godsend, the proof is in the pudding. I've drilled LR only very lightly, but by using the strategies and principles that Mike advocates, my results have been outstanding.

Here's to a productive and successful 128 days!

- Jaw of Straw

Man thats great! Looks like if you firm up your RC and get a little more efficient at LG you are at 170+!

Awesome.

[mist4bison]

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[SteelPenguin]

If i have the POWERSCORE LGB/LRB, Plus the 10 Actual, Next 10, and Super Prep Tess, is it going to make a significant difference in my Prep purchasing the LSAT Trainer?

You only have one source of learning material, which is Powerscore, right? I would definitely recommend the LSAT Trainer or another book of your choice. Reading different approaches to problems can help you gain a better understanding of the test and gives you more flexibility when you get stuck on a question or game. I used 3 sources plus drills, and I believe I found it worthwhile to go through each of those books.

Can you please tell us the 3 sources that you used to study for the lsat? Did you use the cambridge package to do your drills?

Sure. For my first test, I took a Powerscore class mixed with drills provided by the class and around 20 or so PTs. I found the class to be very helpful, especially as someone that hadn't spent time self-studying before hand. However, I let the pressure get to me on test day and didn't even get to the last 5 questions in LG, and I ended up with a 165.

For retakes, I read Manhattan's LG and RC and used Cambridge packets for my second (169), and LSAT Trainer and Cambridge for my third (170).

I would recommend Powerscore (the books seem similar enough to the class) and LSAT Trainer to everyone, and although I liked Manhattan, I feel like LSAT Trainer made Manhattan somewhat obsolete (covered the Manhattan strategies that worked, improved ones that didn't). I don't think it ever hurts to read other approaches or ways of thinking about the test. I've heard good things about Blueprint, but I haven't tried it myself.