The Official June 2014 Study Group Forum

[Straw_Mandible]

If I was clever/motivated enough to make a meme of this I would, but I am not. So you'll have to sue your imagination.

That's the spirit.

Meme's not great? Litigate!

[Twitch]

Hey guys, hope things have been going well for y'ins.

I've been drilling up a storm over here. Yesterday I tackled flaws, one of my big weaknesses, and did 100 problems. First 58 were level 1. Did them almost entirely in my head and missed 7. Reviewed those and realized that the biggest reason I was missing them was due to inadequately isolating the premise and conclusion, so I did the next 42 (level 2/a bit of 3) on paper and missed 2. Harder problems, far lower rate of error. Felt good.

Looks like (at least for now) flaws are going on the short list of problems I really have to diagram to get right. Good to know. I feel like I'm making some progress on this thing.

Question: What does it mean to do LR questions "on paper" vs. "in your head"? I rarely annotate or diagram anything when I do LR questions, so I'm curious about this.

+1

In my head just means to read the stimulus and identify the premise and conclusion of the argument mentally. On paper is actually diagramming the relationship between premise and conclusion. Writing it out. I imagine as I get further along in my prep, I will need this less.

[Twitch]

If I was clever/motivated enough to make a meme of this I would, but I am not. So you'll have to sue your imagination.

That's the spirit.

Meme's not great? Litigate!

nice to see you around again

[agalfano]

Started working on RC today.. Even though this is the worst section to work on by far, I was pleasantly surprised that it was not miserable!! So far, I think the Trainer and Manhattan do a great job and I'm looking forward to seeing my improvement so this is by far my worst section!!

[knowyourself]

Hey guys, hope things have been going well for y'ins.

I've been drilling up a storm over here. Yesterday I tackled flaws, one of my big weaknesses, and did 100 problems. First 58 were level 1. Did them almost entirely in my head and missed 7. Reviewed those and realized that the biggest reason I was missing them was due to inadequately isolating the premise and conclusion, so I did the next 42 (level 2/a bit of 3) on paper and missed 2. Harder problems, far lower rate of error. Felt good.

Looks like (at least for now) flaws are going on the short list of problems I really have to diagram to get right. Good to know. I feel like I'm making some progress on this thing.

Question: What does it mean to do LR questions "on paper" vs. "in your head"? I rarely annotate or diagram anything when I do LR questions, so I'm curious about this.

+1

In my head just means to read the stimulus and identify the premise and conclusion of the argument mentally. On paper is actually diagramming the relationship between premise and conclusion. Writing it out. I imagine as I get further along in my prep, I will need this less.

I have the same issue when I do the problems in my head vs writing it out. Nice progress.

Incase anyone cares, I'm also a huge college basketball fan and find the idea of studying LSAT during March Madness imperceptible.

[charlie92]

I wouldn't worry about a course, honestly, unless you really have trouble sticking to a schedule without someone making you do so.

You still have plenty of time to study for June, but be careful about trying to zoom through material just to get through it. You want to be able to absorb as much as possible.

I would do a lot of prepping between now and the may registration day. Do a PT and see how close you are to your ideal score. There is always september, december, february, and next year and the year after that.

Late response but thanks for the advice!

[DMW723]

Can anyone offer advice on what I should add in as an experimental section for my PTs? I have all of them, and I'm drilling Cambridge LR 1-20; 21-40 packets. I've had relative success in everything but RC seems to be my most inconsistent section.

When PTing the more recent tests, would adding an experimental RC section from tests 1-20 be a good idea? I just feel like reading comprehension is the only aspect of the test that I can only get better at through doing the actual sections, so the more exposure the better.

I would make the experimental on your PT whatever section you are the worst in. Gotta turn your weakness into your strength.

That's what Lebron did after he lost in the finals the first time. His post game was his weak point. Now it is one of his many strengths.

Yes, I just compared you to Lebron. Ball up!

Ahh, yes. And went and got the ring right after - thanks Louis you're the man, you just successfully hyped me up about studying on this beautiful Friday! Great advice guys and thanks rebexness as well, I love that I've been seeing the same names in here and some newer faces over the last 3-4 months.

Also, the preparation for this test has done wonders for my mindset in taking it. Every day we are getting better and the nervousness of taking the test has been replaced by a quiet, humble confidence and readiness to dominate on test day.

[bleakchimera2]

Checking in. Just took my first practice test this morning (strictly timed, noisy-ish conditions, etc): 166.

-5 LG
-2 LR1
-0 LR2
-5 RC

Not a cold diagnostic by any means, but I'm way less than halfway through where I hope to be prep-wise by June so I'm reasonably content with my score so far. I already knew I'd do terribly on LG (They're unquestionably my weakest point, and I haven't even started working with grouping games yet), so I'm not too disappointed in my performance there. RC was unexpectedly awful, though. I rushed wayyy too much and finished almost ten minutes before time, and then was not effective at all at going back through and checking my work. I think another problem was endurance; RC was the last section and by then my brain felt fried.

So basically, I'm going to focus heavy on LG (I'm using a combination of the Pithypike method and 7Sage videos) and work on timing and comfort with RC. I'm really struggling to find time and motivation to prep, unfortunately. I'm taking 19 hours and have an internship this semester, so by the time I get home I usually just want to collapse in bed haha. Hopefully taking this preptest will renew my motivation. Either way, after the semester ends (first week of May) I plan on throwing my everything into prep. Just hoping it'll be enough, with as much as I can do doing the semester. At the moment, I'm pretty much assuming I'm retaking in October.

Does anyone have an opinion on whether I should just put off altogether to October? At the moment, I'm kind of planning on doing at least one preptest per week until May, and then at least one every other day for the entire month of May itself. I wanted to try to take June so I can have all my apps in as soon as the windows open in September, but is it stupid to not just wait until October, period?

(Sorry for rambling post, kind of all over the place at the moment)

[alexrodriguez]

77 DAYS

I'm finally home ladies and gentleman. This LSAT thing is about to get real.

In good faith I'm guaranteeing to you all at least eight logic games by the end of the night.

[alexrodriguez]

My printer is also a copy machine! I am in love.

I have four copies each of eight different grouping games. Gonna be a great night!

[alexrodriguez]

Lots of new faces in the study group. Hello everyone! I've been really sidetracked lately.

The countdown is pretty apparent now though. I'm thinking 6 days a week of studying with casual studying on Sundays.

Get your minds right, people. The distractions around you need to be blocked out. Get focused. After June 9th we will all celebrate knowing we gave it our all.

This is the time. This is where you can really prove why you should be given admission to your school of choice. Fight for it.

[WaltGrace83]

My printer is also a copy machine! I am in love.

I have four copies each of eight different grouping games. Gonna be a great night!

I am lucky. I got an 8 year old clunky HP tablet PC with a stylus so I can do games over and over without wasting paper. It has been SUCH a lifesaver studying. I just bought PDF annotating software for 20 bucks and I can really easily annotate the Cambridge packets. Awesome.

[WaltGrace83]

Checking in. Just took my first practice test this morning (strictly timed, noisy-ish conditions, etc): 166.

-5 LG
-2 LR1
-0 LR2
-5 RC

Not a cold diagnostic by any means, but I'm way less than halfway through where I hope to be prep-wise by June so I'm reasonably content with my score so far. I already knew I'd do terribly on LG (They're unquestionably my weakest point, and I haven't even started working with grouping games yet), so I'm not too disappointed in my performance there. RC was unexpectedly awful, though. I rushed wayyy too much and finished almost ten minutes before time, and then was not effective at all at going back through and checking my work. I think another problem was endurance; RC was the last section and by then my brain felt fried.

So basically, I'm going to focus heavy on LG (I'm using a combination of the Pithypike method and 7Sage videos) and work on timing and comfort with RC. I'm really struggling to find time and motivation to prep, unfortunately. I'm taking 19 hours and have an internship this semester, so by the time I get home I usually just want to collapse in bed haha. Hopefully taking this preptest will renew my motivation. Either way, after the semester ends (first week of May) I plan on throwing my everything into prep. Just hoping it'll be enough, with as much as I can do doing the semester. At the moment, I'm pretty much assuming I'm retaking in October.

Does anyone have an opinion on whether I should just put off altogether to October? At the moment, I'm kind of planning on doing at least one preptest per week until May, and then at least one every other day for the entire month of May itself. I wanted to try to take June so I can have all my apps in as soon as the windows open in September, but is it stupid to not just wait until October, period?

(Sorry for rambling post, kind of all over the place at the moment)

wtf test was that! Brutal curve.

I would just keep on doing what you are doing and make your decision in early May. I have a feeling I won't be taking in June. I don't want to rush my learning process at all. September may be a better administration for me.

[bleakchimera2]

Checking in. Just took my first practice test this morning (strictly timed, noisy-ish conditions, etc): 166.

-5 LG
-2 LR1
-0 LR2
-5 RC

Not a cold diagnostic by any means, but I'm way less than halfway through where I hope to be prep-wise by June so I'm reasonably content with my score so far. I already knew I'd do terribly on LG (They're unquestionably my weakest point, and I haven't even started working with grouping games yet), so I'm not too disappointed in my performance there. RC was unexpectedly awful, though. I rushed wayyy too much and finished almost ten minutes before time, and then was not effective at all at going back through and checking my work. I think another problem was endurance; RC was the last section and by then my brain felt fried.

So basically, I'm going to focus heavy on LG (I'm using a combination of the Pithypike method and 7Sage videos) and work on timing and comfort with RC. I'm really struggling to find time and motivation to prep, unfortunately. I'm taking 19 hours and have an internship this semester, so by the time I get home I usually just want to collapse in bed haha. Hopefully taking this preptest will renew my motivation. Either way, after the semester ends (first week of May) I plan on throwing my everything into prep. Just hoping it'll be enough, with as much as I can do doing the semester. At the moment, I'm pretty much assuming I'm retaking in October.

Does anyone have an opinion on whether I should just put off altogether to October? At the moment, I'm kind of planning on doing at least one preptest per week until May, and then at least one every other day for the entire month of May itself. I wanted to try to take June so I can have all my apps in as soon as the windows open in September, but is it stupid to not just wait until October, period?

(Sorry for rambling post, kind of all over the place at the moment)

wtf test was that! Brutal curve.

I would just keep on doing what you are doing and make your decision in early May. I have a feeling I won't be taking in June. I don't want to rush my learning process at all. September may be a better administration for me.

Thanks for the reply! It was June 2007 haha! Is that "brutal" as in, larger than usual? Or less than usual? And yeah, I'm just really not sure yet either. This semester is murdering me as far as time commitment goes, and I barely have time for any prep besides a few hours on the weekends and the odd logic game crammed in while I'm sitting in the hallways between classes. I honestly don't know wtf I was thinking. But, do what ya gotta do I suppose. I keep going to register for June and then backing off at the last second. My only consolation is at least I have basically the whole of May to do nothing but study... But we all know cramming is terrible strategy so.

[WaltGrace83]

Thanks for the reply! It was June 2007 haha! Is that "brutal" as in, larger than usual? Or less than usual? And yeah, I'm just really not sure yet either. This semester is murdering me as far as time commitment goes, and I barely have time for any prep besides a few hours on the weekends and the odd logic game crammed in while I'm sitting in the hallways between classes. I honestly don't know wtf I was thinking. But, do what ya gotta do I suppose. I keep going to register for June and then backing off at the last second. My only consolation is at least I have basically the whole of May to do nothing but study... But we all know cramming is terrible strategy so.

Brutal as in that raw score of yours would have got you much closer to (perhaps even higher than) a 170 on recent PT's and most older PT's. Usually the curve is about a -10. Either way, that could also tell you that the test was a little easier so it may even out. Either way, get that LG up, man! -5 is unacceptable.

[alexrodriguez]

grouping games got me scratching my head

[rebexness]

grouping games got me scratching my head

Any particular one?

[alexrodriguez]

just the overall concept of them.

It's been a while since I've drilled games.

I'll be good though

what are you currently working on rebex?

[rebexness]

what are you currently working on rebex?

Everything really. Finished the Trainer and have done 10ish PTs. Currently working through the LGB and MLR and MRC and drilling.

I find that 7sage and their grouping methods (videos) work really well for me. Birds in the forest, new/used cds, etc.

[alexrodriguez]

you have done ten pts?

Were they all timed?

Where is you score range from?

[rebexness]

you have done ten pts?

Were they all timed?

Where is you score range from?

All timed in test conditions. Scores from 164 (earlier) to 172.

[alexrodriguez]

thats awesome man. how long have you been studying for now?

what have you drilled? I'm guessing everything?

[rebexness]

thats awesome man. how long have you been studying for now?

what have you drilled? I'm guessing everything?

Uh, forever, really. I started the Trainer in January and definitely did not move as quickly as I had wanted. I haven't drilled anything (this time) except what is physically in the Trainer. Last spring/summer I did about 1/3 of the Cambridge LR and all of the games. And many of the PTs from 39-71, but not all of them (minimal 40s, most 50s, all 60s)

[alexrodriguez]

thats great dude

[Twitch]

Did another PT (41) and went -1 on RC again. But LR is pretty tacky for me. Sometimes I do great, sometimes I don't do so great, and that performance is primarily due to timing issues. I think I'm going to do daily section drills on LR, since I need to really get a handle on the rhythm of the timing.