October 2011 Study Log: 180 or Bust! Forum

[crumpetsandtea]

Ready for something depressing, guys? Here it is...

42 -- 04/05/11 ----- LR: -6/3 ; RC: -4 ; LG: -3 ------------ 86/167 ----- 4 sections God damnit. VERY UPSET. Started @ 8pm



I honestly considered not posting this/telling anyone after I scored this. I'm sad that I'm in some sort of downward score spiral. DAMNIT. Following incompetentia's advice and I'm going to hold off on taking another PT until this weekend. I did look at my missed questions and the general feel I got was that I was misreading a lot of things/missing words, even in sections other than LR.

That -6 is driving me crazyyyyy. I guess the biggest issue for me really is concentration. :\ Going to try not to get discouraged/dwell on this score too much.

[99.9luft]

Ready for something depressing, guys? Here it is...

42 -- 04/05/11 ----- LR: -6/3 ; RC: -4 ; LG: -3 ------------ 86/167 ----- 4 sections God damnit. VERY UPSET. Started @ 8pm



I honestly considered not posting this/telling anyone after I scored this. I'm sad that I'm in some sort of downward score spiral. DAMNIT. Following incompetentia's advice and I'm going to hold off on taking another PT until this weekend. I did look at my missed questions and the general feel I got was that I was misreading a lot of things/missing words, even in sections other than LR.

That -6 is driving me crazyyyyy. I guess the biggest issue for me really is concentration. :\ Going to try not to get discouraged/dwell on this score too much.

hey, sorry to hear about this PT! Actually, yesterday, i had a similar mishap - on PT 43 i went -3 on the first LR, and -6 on the second! (others were -5 RC and -0LG). Raw 87, Scaled 168.

Don't get discouraged. Just make sure you are focused and energetic when taking the test.

[FloridaCoastalorbust]

167 God damnit. VERY UPSET. Started @ 8pm

Last month I hit a 172 and a few days later a 159. I win.

[Curry]

167 God damnit. VERY UPSET. Started @ 8pm

Last month I hit a 172 and a few days later a 159. I win.

I went 177 to 159. You're gonna be fine, crumps.

[d34d9823]

Crumps I had a 7 point swing in my practices. It was just fatigue for me. Don't worry about it.

[crumpetsandtea]

First off: Seriously thank you ALL for the support!! I did this PT really late, mainly because I was dreading getting back into the swing of things, and was scared of bombing another one. I did 30 minute sections as usual this time.

43 -- 04/10/11 ----- LR: -0/4 ; RC: -4 ; LG: -0 ------------ 93/174 ----- 4 sections Started @ 9 PM. YAY LG (: LR -4

It turned out pretty decently! Section split was 1) RC, 2) LR (-0), 3) LR (-4), 4) LG. Haven't looked at my mistakes yet cause I finished at almost midnight. I don't think it's an issue of how late at night I do the test (some of my best scores have been at night). I think it's more an issue of how much I've been doing.

I've noticed that when I stop PTing/studying hard for a while, when I come back I experience slight jumps in my PT scores. I guess I might just be the type of person whose brain isn't geared towards studying for something 24/7? Either way I will DEFINITELY be taking a 1 week break before the test day.

[darkatillam2]

First off: Seriously thank you ALL for the support!! I did this PT really late, mainly because I was dreading getting back into the swing of things, and was scared of bombing another one. I did 30 minute sections as usual this time.

43 -- 04/10/11 ----- LR: -0/4 ; RC: -4 ; LG: -0 ------------ 93/174 ----- 4 sections Started @ 9 PM. YAY LG (: LR -4

It turned out pretty decently! Section split was 1) RC, 2) LR (-0), 3) LR (-4), 4) LG. Haven't looked at my mistakes yet cause I finished at almost midnight. I don't think it's an issue of how late at night I do the test (some of my best scores have been at night). I think it's more an issue of how much I've been doing.

I've noticed that when I stop PTing/studying hard for a while, when I come back I experience slight jumps in my PT scores. I guess I might just be the type of person whose brain isn't geared towards studying for something 24/7? Either way I will DEFINITELY be taking a 1 week break before the test day.

You people make me hate my life. I've been studying like 20+ hours a week for 3-4 months while also working two jobs and I'm scoring low 160s with almost no time left.

I need a brain transplant. Any takers?

[d34d9823]

I've noticed that when I stop PTing/studying hard for a while, when I come back I experience slight jumps in my PT scores.

This is true for every high scorer I've talked to. I took 3 days off from PTs before the test because of this.

[incompetentia]

I've noticed that when I stop PTing/studying hard for a while, when I come back I experience slight jumps in my PT scores.

This is true for every high scorer I've talked to. I took 3 days off from PTs before the test because of this.

Indeed. Sorry, no special snowflake for joo.



Still think you need to start gearing toward putting your tests in a routine, though, soon.

[crumpetsandtea]

This is true for every high scorer I've talked to. I took 3 days off from PTs before the test because of this.

Indeed. Sorry, no special snowflake for joo.
Still think you need to start gearing toward putting your tests in a routine, though, soon.

No pretenses of being a special snowflake, no worries about that. Just making observations about the way I study best given my recent score trends.

Luke, what study schedule did you put yourself on to maximize effectiveness? It's sort of spirit-crushing to see my scores continually go through drops, and I'd like to minimize it if possible, but at the same time every time I try to do PTs on the reg (ie, every 2-3 days), I experience these sorts of drops :\

[crumpetsandtea]

You people make me hate my life. I've been studying like 20+ hours a week for 3-4 months while also working two jobs and I'm scoring low 160s with almost no time left.

I need a brain transplant. Any takers?

I envy your diligence!! I don't have the willpower to do anything like that Have you improved a lot since starting?

[d34d9823]

This is true for every high scorer I've talked to. I took 3 days off from PTs before the test because of this.

Indeed. Sorry, no special snowflake for joo.
Still think you need to start gearing toward putting your tests in a routine, though, soon.

No pretenses of being a special snowflake, no worries about that. Just making observations about the way I study best given my recent score trends.

Luke, what study schedule did you put yourself on to maximize effectiveness? It's sort of spirit-crushing to see my scores continually go through drops, and I'd like to minimize it if possible, but at the same time every time I try to do PTs on the reg (ie, every 2-3 days), I experience these sorts of drops :\

I mean, I think these rigid schedules aren't really helpful unless you're that kind of person. I would just try to do 2-4 tests a week, redo your missed problems really thoroughly, take a few days break whenever you get burned out, and not take your PT scores that seriously. Way more important to use them to identify flaws in your thinking than to be worrying about how you are doing.

[crumpetsandtea]

No pretenses of being a special snowflake, no worries about that. Just making observations about the way I study best given my recent score trends.
Luke, what study schedule did you put yourself on to maximize effectiveness? It's sort of spirit-crushing to see my scores continually go through drops, and I'd like to minimize it if possible, but at the same time every time I try to do PTs on the reg (ie, every 2-3 days), I experience these sorts of drops :\

I mean, I think these rigid schedules aren't really helpful unless you're that kind of person. I would just try to do 2-4 tests a week, redo your missed problems really thoroughly, take a few days break whenever you get burned out, and not take your PT scores that seriously. Way more important to use them to identify flaws in your thinking than to be worrying about how you are doing.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I'm going to do another test tomorrow but this whole trip-to-alma-mater thingy is throwing a wrench in my schedule. Maybe I'll do a PT on the car ride back home on Sunday

In the meantime, I think I might pick up a book to work through for RC, and I might work through the LR Bible one more time, it helped SO MUCH the first time around. Thanks Luke <3 <3 <3

[darkatillam2]

You people make me hate my life. I've been studying like 20+ hours a week for 3-4 months while also working two jobs and I'm scoring low 160s with almost no time left.

I need a brain transplant. Any takers?

I envy your diligence!! I don't have the willpower to do anything like that Have you improved a lot since starting?

I think I've improved a lot. I never took a full on cold diagnostic. But if I had to estimate based on the first test I took without any of the bibles I'd say I've probably improved around 15-20 points. That might seem good, but honestly I need a 170+ score to get into any good school as I am a splitter and am facing a tough road ahead of me


On a side note: Anyone thing it is possible to improve 10 points in two months? My LR section's are really killing me. I typically miss 2-4 on my LG which I know for a fact I can get down to -0. With that in mind, can I still make a +10 point improvement?

[crumpetsandtea]

I envy your diligence!! I don't have the willpower to do anything like that Have you improved a lot since starting?

I think I've improved a lot. I never took a full on cold diagnostic. But if I had to estimate based on the first test I took without any of the bibles I'd say I've probably improved around 15-20 points. That might seem good, but honestly I need a 170+ score to get into any good school as I am a splitter and am facing a tough road ahead of me

Splitter love!!!! I'm a splitter too (: (or maybe that should be ):). Where are you hoping to go? I'm going the stereotypical TLS route and considering ED-ing to NU/UVa XD

[darkatillam2]

Well, if I actually did manage to pull off a 170+ LSAT score I'd be hoping for UCLA, USC, Cornell, Penn, or UVA.

But again, that's a huge reach considering I'm PTing low 160s right now. I wish I was testing like you!!!!!! Those school's wouldn't be such a huge reach if I was (except maybe UCLA, they seem to have a strict GPA floor).

[crumpetsandtea]

Well, if I actually did manage to pull off a 170+ LSAT score I'd be hoping for UCLA, USC, Cornell, Penn, or UVA.

But again, that's a huge reach considering I'm PTing low 160s right now. I wish I was testing like you!!!!!! Those school's wouldn't be such a huge reach if I was (except maybe UCLA, they seem to have a strict GPA floor).

Oooh are you a Cali kid? I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to go to UCLA/USC, but CA schools are so notorious for preferring GPA over LSAT that I've kind of given up on going to LS in CA So what I'm shooting for is the school that will offer me the best portability so I can maybe come back to practice in CA in the future.

[crumpetsantea]

June 2011 here we come!

[Curry]

June 2011 here we come!

Oh you and your multiple personality disorder

[incompetentia]

I think the real life meetup would result in the formation of a singularity

[westinghouse60]

Guess I'm in on this thread as an occasional lurker/poster.

Broke 170 for the first time today with a 174 on PT #20. Pretty much made my day.

[crumpetsandtea]

44 -- 04/13/11 ----- LR: -2/3 ; RC: -6 ; LG: -2 ------------ 87/167 ----- 4 sections Started @ 9 PM. UGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Goddamn I'm fucking pissed about this score. The thing is I didn't 'bomb' any particular section by my standards, I just missed an extra one or two in each one. Going to go through and explain my mistakes here starting from this PT to try to look for patterns (w/o revealing any LSAT material or whatever, of course). Font made small so this post isn't HUGE, and so those who aren't interested can just skip over it. In red = I don't understand these Qs, so if anyone wants to help I'd love you forever

RC: Missed #1, #6, #7, #11, #14, #20 .
1 was an issue of not reading TCR thoroughly enough and settling for an answer that seemed to jump out right away (MP question). 6 I don't really understand, if anyone wants to help me out that'd be nice. I put B, TCR was A. 7 was a 'purpose of this word in the passage' question, I got it wrong because I misunderstood the context/sentence the phrase was place in within the passage. Those were all from passage #1.

11 was an 'author likely to disagree with___' question. I missed it because TCR didn't seem topical to me at the time of reading, but the answer I chose wasn't something the author would explicitly disagree with. 14 was a strengthen question: I chose an answer that was too narrow in scope and didn't quite fit properly with the MP. 20 was '__ is more strongly supported': not sure where TCR is supported in the passage, so again if anyone wants to help that'd be cool (TCR was D, I put B).

LR 1: Missed #9, #24.
9--Assumption Q. Missed it because I misread the question and flipped a sentence around (from X plays a part in the price to X does not play a part in the price). 24--'role of the sentence int he argument' Q (lol I don't remember its official name, whatevs). My answer was way too broad, for some reason I crossed out TCR. It seems really obvious to me now but not then...

LG: Missed #13, #20.
13--List Q Soooo easy!!! I accidentally forgot to check for a rule when I narrowed it down to the last 2 so I picked the wrong one in my rushing to answer the Q. 20--hypo Q (if ___, then which days must ___ happen?). This question sort of confused me, and I was running out of time so I did some half-assed hypo and sort of just guessed. Going back and thinking it through, it was obvious--again, I didn't apply a rule to the hypo that I drew up and as a result, I placed the variables in incorrect spots.

LR 2: Missed #18, #21, #26.
18--Could be True EXCEPT Q. This one actually really confused me. It came down to me missing an "AT LEAST" in the stimulus and guessing the wrong answer. 21--Parallel Reasoning. I was sooo sure I had this one right. I suck at these questions. RE-reading now, I can see why TCR's structure is much more similar to the stimulus, but it just didn't click when I was taking the test :\!! 26--Assumption Q. Again, this was one that I was legit confused about during the test. I actually almost chose TCR, but instead switched over to the wrong answer. If anyone can clearly explain the right answer to me, that would be excellent. TCR was C, I put E.

Annnnyway, that's that. I'll be away for the next 4 days so I won't be able to PT again 'till next Monday. Hopefully I'll get a little more consistent by then. I'm going to try to bring my LRB with me to practice, or maybe some RC drills.

*sigh*

[crumpetsandtea]

Guess I'm in on this thread as an occasional lurker/poster.

Broke 170 for the first time today with a 174 on PT #20. Pretty much made my day.

Grats, Westing!!! (: It feels amazing breaking an LSAT barrier. Welcome to the thread, good luck in June...I hope we both kick ass!!

[incompetentia]

stop PTing so late

[crumpetsandtea]

stop PTing so late

Today was dumb. I totally should have PTed at 7:30 instead of mafia-ing and just eaten dinner at 9:30 or 10. I even woke up 40 minutes early today to work out so I could PT earlier!!! FUUU SELF!!! Y U SO DUM.

Do you think it's more worth it to do earlier PTs on Sat/Sun and only one on the weekday at night? or is that just gonna be equally lame?