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

[thatlawlkid]

4th time is the charm, checking in. 3 month prep starts now.

[Doubting Law]

I took my diagnostic on June 9th and got a 147. Since then I've focused entirely on LR. I just finished PT 52 with a composite score of 151. Has anyone else realized similar gains within the same time span?

One thing to keep in mind is noise. On the minus side, your gain could actually be much smaller. On the plus side, your gain could actually be much greater... i.e. your 147 could have been a 144 or 150 and your 151 could be a 148 or a 154. The +/- 3 is something somewhat arbitrary that I picked. Basically, I wouldn't put much stock into *one* section.

Generally speaking, it is easiest to improve your score in LG, followed by LR, followed by RC. You should provide your section breakdown so others can help advise / relate - i.e. LG [-10]; LR1 [-6]; LR2 [-12]; RC [-7] or whatever the breakdown may be. Either way, I would think that +4 on your overall score from just LR is probably pretty good for less than two weeks if it is actually that and not noise. You should be able to see faster gains in LG, but slower gains in RC.

I went -8 on both LR sections, -7 on RC, and randomly guessed/bubbled-answers for LG (-17).

Yeah, IPLaw speaks the truth! I started my prep about a month ago, and my diagnostic was a 151. (Same problem had to guess on more than half of the LG section; my breakdown was something like: LR -9 LR -8 LG-16 RC-8) I quickly went through the LSAT Trainer and got my LR score down from -9 to -5 in about a month. Now I'm focusing on LG and I think my next PT should put me in the high 150s. I think you would do yourself some good just focusing on LGs until you have those down, then LR, and lastly RC.

Nice job on getting that LR down. I'm doing the 7sage online curriculum right now. Just got through the initial section on LR. I think I'll jump ahead to LG so I can at least start drilling them. I literally didn't even attempt one on my PT today, just bubbled randomly.

[Alexandros]

Gonna really try to make some progress this week.

Goals:
- 0 on RC at least once
- + -1 (or better) on RC at least once
- 0 on LR at least twice
- stop screwing up on logic games. -> keep doing set-up drills as well as full games & full sets, quit flipping out every-time I see a new games, prioritize pure sequencing.

Also, found sufficiently tiny desks attached to chairs in the library - a similar size to the ones in lecture halls, so I'll prioritize drilling on those (while I'm my Frozen desk to arrive, that is )

Alrighty, here we go.

[Doubting Law]

I took my diagnostic on June 9th and got a 147. Since then I've focused entirely on LR. I just finished PT 52 with a composite score of 151. Has anyone else realized similar gains within the same time span?

One thing to keep in mind is noise. On the minus side, your gain could actually be much smaller. On the plus side, your gain could actually be much greater... i.e. your 147 could have been a 144 or 150 and your 151 could be a 148 or a 154. The +/- 3 is something somewhat arbitrary that I picked. Basically, I wouldn't put much stock into *one* section.

Generally speaking, it is easiest to improve your score in LG, followed by LR, followed by RC. You should provide your section breakdown so others can help advise / relate - i.e. LG [-10]; LR1 [-6]; LR2 [-12]; RC [-7] or whatever the breakdown may be. Either way, I would think that +4 on your overall score from just LR is probably pretty good for less than two weeks if it is actually that and not noise. You should be able to see faster gains in LG, but slower gains in RC.

I went -8 on both LR sections, -7 on RC, and randomly guessed/bubbled-answers for LG (-17).

Oh, you have YUUUUUGEEE room for improvement. That's really not a bad place to be starting. You definitely have your work cut out for you, but you could easily see a 15-18+++ point improvement on your LSAT if you put in the work. You'll probably need a bit of a larger sample set for LR/RC to really know where you stand. Two tests is hard to know. I did 167 [untimed first time], 163 [timed diagnostic after a good amount of baseline prep and one sect of LG], but I need more samples. I did terrible on the experimental RC in my timed diagnostic, and, apparently, that section was used in a later test. I'm not sure if some passages/questions were swapped or not though.

Thanks haha. I know its an uphill battle but I'm devoting my life to the LSAT until the end of August, when I'll have to start balancing prep with my last semester of college. We'll see how it goes in September!

[20170322]

So, I had an RC breakthrough today, and I thought I would share.


Every single answer you will ever get in RC will be locatable in the text. That is to say, if you asked a test-maker where the information for the correct answer is, they would point you to a part of the passage and say "there".

This may seem simple, but it changed the way I answer questions. Now, when I'm unsure, I look for clues in the text rather than making baseless inferences. It has vastly improved my RC.

[Alexandros]

So, I had an RC breakthrough today, and I thought I would share.


Every single answer you will ever get in RC will be locatable in the text. That is to say, if you asked a test-maker where the information for the correct answer is, they would point you to a part of the passage and say "there".

This may seem simple, but it changed the way I answer questions. Now, when I'm unsure, I look for clues in the text rather than making baseless inferences. It has vastly improved my RC.

AHA! Thank you!! And glad you're improving!

[proteinshake]

I'm finding that the 7Sage recommended times for a lot of these games are either too low or too high in my opinion. anyone else feel like this?

[34iplaw]

So, I had an RC breakthrough today, and I thought I would share.


Every single answer you will ever get in RC will be locatable in the text. That is to say, if you asked a test-maker where the information for the correct answer is, they would point you to a part of the passage and say "there".

This may seem simple, but it changed the way I answer questions. Now, when I'm unsure, I look for clues in the text rather than making baseless inferences. It has vastly improved my RC.

Yeah - definitely. LSAT RC, and this may upset some people, is almost the exact same thing as SAT RC/verbal. Yes, it's definitely harder, but it's the exact same thing in most regards. They punish people who can't read quickly, and they punish those that read too well, know too much, or think they are clever. I think it's why English/Philosophy majors don't always do amazing on RC just like AP English kids [myself included] struggled with SAT reading. I remember studying for the SAT [got a tutor for the second time I took it] and my verbal went from a 660 to a 770 with that simple knowledge. If I don't do -2,-1, or 0 on RC by LSAT day, I'm going to think that I really screwed the pooch. I need to make sure that I take the RC in the diagnostics seriously, use my time efficiently, and not finish it a few minutes early while missing anything.

The key is really to not overthink things but to read carefully and diligently.

[20170322]

So, I had an RC breakthrough today, and I thought I would share.


Every single answer you will ever get in RC will be locatable in the text. That is to say, if you asked a test-maker where the information for the correct answer is, they would point you to a part of the passage and say "there".

This may seem simple, but it changed the way I answer questions. Now, when I'm unsure, I look for clues in the text rather than making baseless inferences. It has vastly improved my RC.

Yeah - definitely. LSAT RC, and this may upset some people, is almost the exact same thing as SAT RC/verbal. Yes, it's definitely harder, but it's the exact same thing in most regards. They punish people who can't read quickly, and they punish those that read too well, know too much, or think they are clever. I think it's why English/Philosophy majors don't always do amazing on RC just like AP English kids [myself included] struggled with SAT reading. I remember studying for the SAT [got a tutor for the second time I took it] and my verbal went from a 660 to a 770 with that simple knowledge. If I don't do -2,-1, or 0 on RC by LSAT day, I'm going to think that I really screwed the pooch. I need to make sure that I take the RC in the diagnostics seriously, use my time efficiently, and not finish it a few minutes early while missing anything.

The key is really to not overthink things but to read carefully and diligently.

Yeah, my notation has devolved to something like "C thinks content>style". Then, I use the extra time referencing the text for identify questions. Think I may PT tomorrow to see if I'm higher than my last PT.

[YupSports]

Still here, everyone.

Been putting in about 40 hours a week studying (on top of my full-time job) drilling fundamentals.

After about 2 more weeks of this, it will be PTs (cant decide if I should do 2 or 3 a week) the rest of the way through.

[20170322]

Still here, everyone.

Been putting in about 40 hours studying (on top of my full-time job) drilling fundamentals.

After about 2 more weeks of this, it will be PTs (cant decide if I should do 2 or 3 a week) the rest of the way through.

2 sounds better. Drilling>>>>PTs in terms of score boosts.

[YupSports]

I'm finding that the 7Sage recommended times for a lot of these games are either too low or too high in my opinion. anyone else feel like this?

I think about 85% of the times were accurate for me.

As far as the ones that weren't I noticed that I was a full minute faster in game types I am stronger in.

I was right on the edge for those which I am weaker.

Maybe you're just too good at LG after all of this practice .

[YupSports]

Still here, everyone.

Been putting in about 40 hours studying (on top of my full-time job) drilling fundamentals.

After about 2 more weeks of this, it will be PTs (cant decide if I should do 2 or 3 a week) the rest of the way through.

2 sounds better. Drilling>>>>PTs in terms of score boosts.

I am leaning this way - I think 16 -20 PTs is plenty.

[YupSports]

So, I had an RC breakthrough today, and I thought I would share.


Every single answer you will ever get in RC will be locatable in the text. That is to say, if you asked a test-maker where the information for the correct answer is, they would point you to a part of the passage and say "there".

This may seem simple, but it changed the way I answer questions. Now, when I'm unsure, I look for clues in the text rather than making baseless inferences. It has vastly improved my RC.

Yeah - definitely. LSAT RC, and this may upset some people, is almost the exact same thing as SAT RC/verbal. Yes, it's definitely harder, but it's the exact same thing in most regards. They punish people who can't read quickly, and they punish those that read too well, know too much, or think they are clever. I think it's why English/Philosophy majors don't always do amazing on RC just like AP English kids [myself included] struggled with SAT reading. I remember studying for the SAT [got a tutor for the second time I took it] and my verbal went from a 660 to a 770 with that simple knowledge. If I don't do -2,-1, or 0 on RC by LSAT day, I'm going to think that I really screwed the pooch. I need to make sure that I take the RC in the diagnostics seriously, use my time efficiently, and not finish it a few minutes early while missing anything.

The key is really to not overthink things but to read carefully and diligently.

Yeah, my notation has devolved to something like "C thinks content>style". Then, I use the extra time referencing the text for identify questions. Think I may PT tomorrow to see if I'm higher than my last PT.

I'm going to try to implement something similar to this while drilling.

[Barack O'Drama]

4th time is the charm, checking in. 3 month prep starts now.

Howdy friend! Always best to retake until you are confident you reached your highest potential

[thatlawlkid]

4th time is the charm, checking in. 3 month prep starts now.

Howdy friend! Always best to retake until you are confident you reached your highest potential

dropped the ball on game 3 last December took away my goal, so hopefully this'll be enough. I was pretty active posting last year but its been awhile, so many new faces.

[lawperson17]

Still here, everyone.

Been putting in about 40 hours a week studying (on top of my full-time job) drilling fundamentals.

After about 2 more weeks of this, it will be PTs (cant decide if I should do 2 or 3 a week) the rest of the way through.

Oh my goodness! How do you manage? Do you mind sharing your study schedule?

[Barack O'Drama]

4th time is the charm, checking in. 3 month prep starts now.

Howdy friend! Always best to retake until you are confident you reached your highest potential

dropped the ball on game 3 last December took away my goal, so hopefully this'll be enough. I was pretty active posting last year but its been awhile, so many new faces.

Well I think you are doing the right thing. I promised myself I will retake until I get the score I need to get into my top choices.

[20170322]

Taking a PT this afternoon. Really wish I could just do a 4-section PT, but I've committed to mimicking test conditions as closely as I can.

[34iplaw]

Taking a PT this afternoon. Really wish I could just do a 4-section PT, but I've committed to mimicking test conditions as closely as I can.

Download that app that randomly sneezes, coughs, and inserts other generic ambient noise as well as reads the prompts. I remember when I was sort of procrastinating that I was like - crap - this is a great idea. I should write code for it! It already exists in many forms. C'est la vie.

Kick it up a notch. Maybe it's really warm and humid outside while you are stuck beneath an A/C unit. As you bubble in your answer sheet, that first drop of cold condensate hits your tests and smudges your game board.

Teasing, but, yeah, definitely do the five. Until I did my diagnostic, I would have said it doesn't matter, but it definitely does. That 35 minutes [extra section that you have to take seriously] is rather taxing, and it is particularly damaging, IMO, if it is a repeat of a section that you found easy... i.e. the 1st RC [actual] you found easy...bam section 3 is RC [experimental] but is really hard. It's surprisingly disheartening.

[20170322]

Taking a PT this afternoon. Really wish I could just do a 4-section PT, but I've committed to mimicking test conditions as closely as I can.

Download that app that randomly sneezes, coughs, and inserts other generic ambient noise as well as reads the prompts. I remember when I was sort of procrastinating that I was like - crap - this is a great idea. I should write code for it! It already exists in many forms. C'est la vie.

Yeah, I use that sometimes, but mainly I'll just use the regular proctor and take the test in an area with some background noise. Going to do louder and louder areas as I move further into my prep.

[34iplaw]

Going to do some games while eating lunch. Going to take it a bit easy today, as I have a four hour class later anyways.

[YupSports]

Still here, everyone.

Been putting in about 40 hours a week studying (on top of my full-time job) drilling fundamentals.

After about 2 more weeks of this, it will be PTs (cant decide if I should do 2 or 3 a week) the rest of the way through.

Oh my goodness! How do you manage? Do you mind sharing your study schedule?

Sure!

I should mention that unless I am doing a PT I always study with music (or the TV) on in the background, and I follow a promodoro timing schedule.

Weekdays:

5a : Gym
7:30a : Start work (squeeze in some flash cards of LR stems and Conditionals when I get some time)
4p : Done with work
4:30p : Begin Studying
6:15p : Dinner
7p : Continue studying until I get my scheduled work done for the day. Usually in front of the TV, using my Promodoro breaks to catch snippets of whatever is on.
10p: Sleep (unless it is a Friday then I will go until 11 or midnight).

Weekends:
Wake up whenever, go to gym first thing.
Accomplish whatever errands I have.
1p: Begin studying
11p: Sleep

I should note that on weekends I will sometimes study as I watch sports or work along a friend who is also working during the weekend. They aren't as focused as the weekday sessions. If I'm feeling frisky I may even have a drink or two as I study.

[Archer@Law]

So I did my first timed "lukewarm" diagnostic on Saturday. It certainly was a real kick in the pants to do a full-timed test. The bad part is, I am pretty confident that I would have scored 140ish if I actually took it cold. Felt really shitty about my score afterwards. However, upon doing some actual analysis of it, I can see where I left 5-10 possible points on the table. All in all, the test provided me with a lot of needed perspective and a reality check. It also made me realize it is very humbling to be in this thread with guys like Tort and Protein banging 170+ scores.

Anyway I'll do some recap of this turd of a test below.

Score - 149 June 07' 7sage app proctored
Did not finish any of the sections on time. Purposely did not guess when I knew I was almost out.

Section 1 - LG
-12
5 total left unanswered
Games 1 and 3 I went -1 total. These flowed and went well.
Games 2 and 4 I went -11 total. Failing. I completely misunderstood the rules on both and realized this about half way through each. I knew I was screwed. Scrambled to try and go back and fix them, but just ran out of time. Left Game 2 completely unanswered. Just need more LG experience under my belt.

Section 2 - LR
-9
2 total left unanswered
Struggled to pull out the argument and flaw in a lot of these. Spent way too long trying to figure out some of the questions.

Section 3 - LR
-6
2 left unanswered.
Same issue as before. However, I settled down somewhat and was actually surprised at how well I did.

Section 4 - RC
-16. WTF.
5 left unanswered
Honestly, this surprised the hell out of me. Certainly did not feel like I was sucking when I did it. Though I have done next to nothing on RC prep so far. Did not miss any on the first passage. It rapidly deteriorated after that and I did not even get to the last passage's questions. I am really going to have bring this up. Especially the speed of my reading.

In summation, I have a shit ton of work to do...

[34iplaw]

So I did my first timed "lukewarm" diagnostic on Saturday. It certainly was a real kick in the pants to do a full-timed test. The bad part is, I am pretty confident that I would have scored 140ish if I actually took it cold. Felt really shitty about my score afterwards. However, upon doing some actual analysis of it, I can see where I left 5-10 possible points on the table. All in all, the test provided me with a lot of needed perspective and a reality check. It also made me realize it is very humbling to be in this thread with guys like Tort and Protein banging 170+ scores.

Anyway I'll do some recap of this turd of a test below.

Score - 149 June 07' 7sage app proctored
Did not finish any of the sections on time. Purposely did not guess when I knew I was almost out.

Section 1 - LG
-12
5 total left unanswered
Games 1 and 3 I went -1 total. These flowed and went well.
Games 2 and 4 I went -11 total. Failing. I completely misunderstood the rules on both and realized this about half way through each. I knew I was screwed. Scrambled to try and go back and fix them, but just ran out of time. Left Game 2 completely unanswered. Just need more LG experience under my belt.

Section 2 - LR
-9
2 total left unanswered
Struggled to pull out the argument and flaw in a lot of these. Spent way too long trying to figure out some of the questions.

Section 3 - LR
-6
2 left unanswered.
Same issue as before. However, I settled down somewhat and was actually surprised at how well I did.

Section 4 - RC
-16. WTF.
5 left unanswered
Honestly, this surprised the hell out of me. Certainly did not feel like I was sucking when I did it. Though I have done next to nothing on RC prep so far. Did not miss any on the first passage. It rapidly deteriorated after that and I did not even get to the last passage's questions. I am really going to have bring this up. Especially the speed of my reading.

In summation, I have a shit ton of work to do...

It may be daunting, and you have your work cut out, but you at least know where you are beginning now and the work to be done! I am not where I would like to be at either. Here's to catching up to Protein & Tort . I was really unhappy with my games during my first real diagnostic. The clock got the better of me, and I felt compelled to rush.