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

[34iplaw]

Half way through the Testmasters homework on type one questions. I've been reading more deliberately and focusing on accuracy on these. On the most recent thirty, I went 29/30. The one I missed was completely idiotic though, and the second I saw that I was wrong I knew my error.

It was a question on a cargo ship. Basically, the facts proved it could not be a member of one line [so I picked the answer sort of saying that but too general] whereas the answer was just that it had some characteristic that every member of the other group had. Really silly mistake.

I think I'll get more confident to do these with speed over time, and I'm making sure to focus on the accuracy. I'll try to do another 10 before bed and leave the last 40 for tomorrow. I should still have time to do some games and other non-Testmasters work.

That said, SweetTort's recent post made me realize I should look more at other parts of the application - i.e. gather different prompts for schools I'm interested in and all of that stuff.

[LawTweet]

Is anyone else on here using the 7sage starter course? If so, I'd like thoughts on which PTs to supplement it with.

[34iplaw]

Is anyone else on here using the 7sage starter course? If so, I'd like thoughts on which PTs to supplement it with.

I'm not, but I'd just ask them. They're really helpful with my questions, and I'm not a paying customer.

[20170322]

My internship just ended, and (other than a 4 day trip to see family) I have nothing to do for one month. I'm going to pump up my LSAT prep to 6 hours a day, and increase my workouts to 2 a day.


Bring. It. On.

You've inspired me to put a little more time in. Lately, I've been putting in 3-4 hours a day depending on my commitments. 6 hours a day sounds like it could only help me at this point

SweetTort, I also have a question. When you were learning new games types, say, grouping for example. How long did it take you to get each game type down to -0?

Too damn long. I can't give you an exact amount of time, but I basically had to do every Cambridge packet LG 3 times to get it down, and even now I'll make stupid mistakes.

[34iplaw]

Morning party people. Forgot I had two days until course for 50 questions and checking them over.

Will definitely be doing games today and tomorrow. I think I'll do 30-40 of the 50 questions today and shift over to games and read a little from Manhattan LR.

[Alexandros]

Happy Monday, everyone!

This week:
- Wake up earlier and do - 1 LG, 1 RC passage, 5 LR questions (at least) + workout before work.
- Drill the ever-living heck out of Logic Games. Hold myself to extremely high standards for accuracy. Going to go to the library and photocopy a bunch more this afternoon. -7 is NOT going to happen again.
- Keep drilling RC timed. Try to increase speed. Shoot for 7 min/passage.
- At least 1 LR section per day.
Also:
- Use something resembling an analog watch.
- Diversify study locations.

[Mikey]

- Use something resembling an analog watch

You can use a normal watch and for each section just push it to 12:00. That's what I did except I never did it during PT, only on the real thing. This worked out for me but definitely try and get used to it for the real thing.

[20170322]

Just went -3 on a LG packet. Need to get this under control before I take another PT.

[20170322]

Just went -3 on a LG packet. Need to get this under control before I take another PT.

Just checked the questions. For literally every one, I misread the question. This is a problem.

[Barack O'Drama]

My internship just ended, and (other than a 4 day trip to see family) I have nothing to do for one month. I'm going to pump up my LSAT prep to 6 hours a day, and increase my workouts to 2 a day.


Bring. It. On.

You've inspired me to put a little more time in. Lately, I've been putting in 3-4 hours a day depending on my commitments. 6 hours a day sounds like it could only help me at this point

SweetTort, I also have a question. When you were learning new games types, say, grouping for example. How long did it take you to get each game type down to -0?

Too damn long. I can't give you an exact amount of time, but I basically had to do every Cambridge packet LG 3 times to get it down, and even now I'll make stupid mistakes.

Ugh I know! I printed out 3 copies and sometimes even after 3 I'm still making stupid mistakes after 3x. Well thank you, now I feel a bit better knowing I'm not completely hopeless haha

[34iplaw]

Just went -3 on a LG packet. Need to get this under control before I take another PT.

Just checked the questions. For literally every one, I misread the question. This is a problem.

That's pretty much the story of my LG life [for game types that I have done so far]. Your speed may be [probably is] getting the best of you. It's good to finish games as quickly as you can, but there isn't really much benefit to finishing a games section in 30 minutes versus 28 minutes as long as you have some time to get any you weren't sure about. Granted, I haven't really gotten to logic games questions that I would have to go back and check [unless I decide on testing/diagnostic days to skip rule substitutions and go back to them...but I really don't think it's a good idea to go back and forth between games].

Oh... This I've been meaning to ask. Do you or anyone else have tips for dealing with partial lists? For sequencing, do you just quickly jot it down next to each answer choice? Usually, the second I see them visually they get eliminated immediately and sometimes while I am writing them out. It's just the partial list format gives me pause for some reason.

[20170322]

Just went -3 on a LG packet. Need to get this under control before I take another PT.

Just checked the questions. For literally every one, I misread the question. This is a problem.

That's pretty much the story of my LG life [for game types that I have done so far]. Your speed may be [probably is] getting the best of you. It's good to finish games as quickly as you can, but there isn't really much benefit to finishing a games section in 30 minutes versus 28 minutes as long as you have some time to get any you weren't sure about. Granted, I haven't really gotten to logic games questions that I would have to go back and check [unless I decide on testing/diagnostic days to skip rule substitutions and go back to them...but I really don't think it's a good idea to go back and forth between games].

Oh... This I've been meaning to ask. Do you or anyone else have tips for dealing with partial lists? For sequencing, do you just quickly jot it down next to each answer choice? Usually, the second I see them visually they get eliminated immediately and sometimes while I am writing them out. It's just the partial list format gives me pause for some reason.

This is dumb, but idk what a partial list question is.

[20170322]

I absolutely hate misc. games. So glad the current tests don't include them. I'm putting them into my practice, just to be safe, but I would be so pissed if I saw one on the test.

[proteinshake]

I absolutely hate misc. games. So glad the current tests don't include them. I'm putting them into my practice, just to be safe, but I would be so pissed if I saw one on the test.

the current tests do include them. I won't say which so I don't spoil it!

[20170322]

I absolutely hate misc. games. So glad the current tests don't include them. I'm putting them into my practice, just to be safe, but I would be so pissed if I saw one on the test.

the current tests do include them. I won't say which so I don't spoil it!

Or, at the very least, at not as absurdly misc. as the other tests. Like, the airplane game with circles from test 3? What even.

[34iplaw]

Just went -3 on a LG packet. Need to get this under control before I take another PT.

Just checked the questions. For literally every one, I misread the question. This is a problem.

That's pretty much the story of my LG life [for game types that I have done so far]. Your speed may be [probably is] getting the best of you. It's good to finish games as quickly as you can, but there isn't really much benefit to finishing a games section in 30 minutes versus 28 minutes as long as you have some time to get any you weren't sure about. Granted, I haven't really gotten to logic games questions that I would have to go back and check [unless I decide on testing/diagnostic days to skip rule substitutions and go back to them...but I really don't think it's a good idea to go back and forth between games].

Oh... This I've been meaning to ask. Do you or anyone else have tips for dealing with partial lists? For sequencing, do you just quickly jot it down next to each answer choice? Usually, the second I see them visually they get eliminated immediately and sometimes while I am writing them out. It's just the partial list format gives me pause for some reason.

This is dumb, but idk what a partial list question is.

I'll give you an example, but, basically, it's when you are given a question where the answer choices are partial lists. I know that's pretty circular. Instead of a question saying, "Which of the following orders is not possible?" [or introducing a local] and, instead of having A, B, C, D, E, F, it will have things like A] A1, C2, E5; B] A3, C4, E1, etc.

Example game: June 2004 Game 2; question 6 [acceptable situations] and question 12 [rule replacement acceptable situation]

[Barack O'Drama]

I absolutely hate misc. games. So glad the current tests don't include them. I'm putting them into my practice, just to be safe, but I would be so pissed if I saw one on the test.

the current tests do include them. I won't say which so I don't spoil it!

Or, at the very least, at not as absurdly misc. as the other tests. Like, the airplane game with circles from test 3? What even.

That was one of the first PTs I took and it literally destroyed my confidence. I am so glad something like that is very unlikely... Good idea to make sure you're not completely clueless should one appear. If I see one, I think I'm going to just cry..

[proteinshake]

I absolutely hate misc. games. So glad the current tests don't include them. I'm putting them into my practice, just to be safe, but I would be so pissed if I saw one on the test.

the current tests do include them. I won't say which so I don't spoil it!

Or, at the very least, at not as absurdly misc. as the other tests. Like, the airplane game with circles from test 3? What even.

That was one of the first PTs I took and it literally destroyed my confidence. I am so glad something like that is very unlikely... Good idea to make sure you're not completely clueless should one appear. If I see one, I think I'm going to just cry..

I thought Airplanes was really easy, but there are some other Misc games that I'm not too fond of (see PT 40)!

[34iplaw]

I absolutely hate misc. games. So glad the current tests don't include them. I'm putting them into my practice, just to be safe, but I would be so pissed if I saw one on the test.

the current tests do include them. I won't say which so I don't spoil it!

Or, at the very least, at not as absurdly misc. as the other tests. Like, the airplane game with circles from test 3? What even.

That was one of the first PTs I took and it literally destroyed my confidence. I am so glad something like that is very unlikely... Good idea to make sure you're not completely clueless should one appear. If I see one, I think I'm going to just cry..

Not at all. You want to be good at those games. In theory, you want a hard test if you are a strong test taker and/or know the LSAT in and out. If I get to be really strong at games where I can finish early with 100% accuracy, I much rather have a challenging section where being able to spend 2-3 extra minutes on that hard game is hugely beneficial.

[20170322]

Just went -3 on a LG packet. Need to get this under control before I take another PT.

Just checked the questions. For literally every one, I misread the question. This is a problem.

That's pretty much the story of my LG life [for game types that I have done so far]. Your speed may be [probably is] getting the best of you. It's good to finish games as quickly as you can, but there isn't really much benefit to finishing a games section in 30 minutes versus 28 minutes as long as you have some time to get any you weren't sure about. Granted, I haven't really gotten to logic games questions that I would have to go back and check [unless I decide on testing/diagnostic days to skip rule substitutions and go back to them...but I really don't think it's a good idea to go back and forth between games].

Oh... This I've been meaning to ask. Do you or anyone else have tips for dealing with partial lists? For sequencing, do you just quickly jot it down next to each answer choice? Usually, the second I see them visually they get eliminated immediately and sometimes while I am writing them out. It's just the partial list format gives me pause for some reason.

This is dumb, but idk what a partial list question is.

I'll give you an example, but, basically, it's when you are given a question where the answer choices are partial lists. I know that's pretty circular. Instead of a question saying, "Which of the following orders is not possible?" [or introducing a local] and, instead of having A, B, C, D, E, F, it will have things like A] A1, C2, E5; B] A3, C4, E1, etc.

Example game: June 2004 Game 2; question 6 [acceptable situations] and question 12 [rule replacement acceptable situation]

For stuff like that, I eyeball which variables have the most restrictive rules, then I try those out. Or, if it's for which IS possible, I test out the variables with the least restrictive rules. But overall, just a lot of plug and chug.

[20170322]

I'm trying to get to the point where a -0 on LG is a foregone conclusion. Unfortunately, it appears I'm a long way away from that at the moment.

[Barack O'Drama]

I absolutely hate misc. games. So glad the current tests don't include them. I'm putting them into my practice, just to be safe, but I would be so pissed if I saw one on the test.

the current tests do include them. I won't say which so I don't spoil it!

Or, at the very least, at not as absurdly misc. as the other tests. Like, the airplane game with circles from test 3? What even.

That was one of the first PTs I took and it literally destroyed my confidence. I am so glad something like that is very unlikely... Good idea to make sure you're not completely clueless should one appear. If I see one, I think I'm going to just cry..

Not at all. You want to be good at those games. In theory, you want a hard test if you are a strong test taker and/or know the LSAT in and out. If I get to be really strong at games where I can finish early with 100% accuracy, I much rather have a challenging section where being able to spend 2-3 extra minutes on that hard game is hugely beneficial.

Those are actually really good points! I think I just feel this way now because my confidence, though growing, is not where it needs to be. I want to be ready for anything the test throws me! I am going to make sure my LGs are air tight and that I have a little extra time to re-check ones I'm not 100% on.

Thanks IP

[Barack O'Drama]

I'm trying to get to the point where a -0 on LG is a foregone conclusion. Unfortunately, it appears I'm a long way away from that at the moment.

Stay positive, Tort! You're lightyears ahead of me and even I never thought I'd be able to get this far this soon. One thing I've learned about the LSAT is that the things you learn and consistency just seem to click one day. You'll get there soon, just keep plugging away

[20170322]

I'm trying to get to the point where a -0 on LG is a foregone conclusion. Unfortunately, it appears I'm a long way away from that at the moment.

Stay positive, Tort! You're lightyears ahead of me and even I never thought I'd be able to get this far this soon. One thing I've learned about the LSAT is that the things you learn and consistency just seem to click one day. You'll get there soon, just keep plugging away

Yeah, that's a good perspective. I think we'll all be more than fine if we use the next three months wisely.

Also, I just booked my hotel for the LSAT! Now nothing is in my way except for myself.

[34iplaw]

Doing much better in Testmaster's homework on Type 1 / MBT LR than I did in the earlier parts of the homework [with easier questions].

On 1-10, I missed 1/10. On the 11-20, I missed 1/10 [understood why quickly]. On 21-30, I missed 1/10, but I really dislike this question's answer [the teeth bands on boars]. On 31-70, I missed two. One of which was *really* stupid on my part. The other which was stupid for a different reason. I sort of panicked, so I picked another answer that I wasn't really confident about eliminating but wasn't confident in picking. The correct answer was based on two present sufficient conditions [and] with two options of a necessary [OR] and took away one necessary option with 'almost always impossible' to infer that the other necessary condition must always occur. This absolutism really bothered me and threw me off.

Overall, I was much more confident in why wrong choices were wrong as well as my right choices were right which I think is as important as [perhaps, more!] getting the question right in the world of test prep. I also fully understood why the two I got wrong in 31-70 were wrong the second I saw the key, and, in my gut on the second of those two, I kind of knew that I was probably wrong. A lot of my choices in 1-30 were X's through 3 choices and picking the right one whereas a lot of my choices [almost all] in 31-70 were four Xs with the circle. I was confidently eliminating wrong choices.

Lunch break & then more of these. I have to decide whether I want to do finish the remaining 30 tonight, leave 15 for tomorrow [I think I'll probably do this] and do some Manhattan LSAT / Games.