The Official June 2016 Study Group Forum

[ayylmao]

172 on PT 62. Annoyed because it's below my average, I'm wildly inconsistent on games, and I got annihilated by RC, which is usually my strongest section. What a fucking bear this RC was!

Most worryingly though, there were several questions I didn't even flag for review. That's a yuge problem.

RC: -6
LG: -5
LR: -1

What is your general approach to RC, ayy?

Well you might want to take the following with a pinch of salt, because reading comp has always been in my wheelhouse ( I got an 800 on the Critical Reading portion of the SAT twice). That said, my strategy is to read at my normal (not particularly fast) pace, and make very minimal notations near points that—because I've read lots of RC passages—I suspect are important to the author's argument and/or ripe for questioning. I make a mental map of the passage's structure and argument as I move through it, quickly rereading anything I don't get. Then I move onto the questions and rely on my memory and general feel for the passage to guide me toward the right answer or where to reference the passage to find the right answer.

Obviously I'm not perfect, but I'm consistently in the -0 to -2 range. I'd like to think my -6 was an anomaly, but we'll see.

[YupSports]

This is also what I do (former English Teacher here) - I'm still struggling to hit that 0 to -2 land.

Did you start with this score or it take a lot of practice?

[ayylmao]

This is also what I do (former English Teacher here) - I'm still struggling to hit that 0 to -2 land.

Did you start with this score or it take a lot of practice?

I think I got a -6 or -8 on my diagnostic, but shot up to -2 to -0 land very quickly once I got a feel for the passages and the questions. I think my average across all PTs is -1.84. Interestingly, though, when I came back from a 6-week PT hiatus my first two RC scores were -6, while LR and LG improved from what they had been (LR with virtually no drilling). I think that means RC isn't completely intuitive for me, and I have to be very in tune with what the LSAT writers consider to be valid assumptions and inferences about the passages. Often the correct answer to an RC question isn't nearly as clear or logically solid as the correct answer to an LR question, and understanding those differences takes practice.

[beenoparte125]

Got my copy of Kaplan LSAT Endurance Practice... anyone else using this/any suggestions how to best utilize it? All I know is that it has a few PTs in the 40s that are otherwise hard to get ahold of.

[Mikey]

Parallel flaw questions will be the death of me.

[ayylmao]

Parallel flaw questions will be the death of me.

Simplify, simplify, simplify. And eliminate answer choices by comparing conclusions first. You can mentally boil down lots of parallel flaw stims to their essential elements. For example, "Most A's are B, if you want C you should B, thus the only way to C is A." Then you can look for certain indicator words in the answer choices (i.e. "most," "should," etc.) and try to match the things to which they refer with A, B, and C.

[Mikey]

Parallel flaw questions will be the death of me.

Simplify, simplify, simplify. And eliminate answer choices by comparing conclusions first. You can mentally boil down lots of parallel flaw stims to their essential elements. For example, "Most A's are B, if you want C you should B, thus the only way to C is A." Then you can look for certain indicator words in the answer choices (i.e. "most," "should," etc.) and try to match the things to which they refer with A, B, and C.

Thanks. I usually try my best to do a similar method like you just described but as always, I'm down to 2 last answer choices and always pick the wrong one (with having the other A/C be the right one). :/ But there are times that I will think the answer is 1 out of the 2, but really it will be none of the 2 that I thought were runner up choices lmfao.

[pleadthafif]

I'm prob gonna YOLO this retake with less than 50 hours of studying iwbh

[ayylmao]

btw did anyone else think PT 62's RC was extraordinarily hard? Many of the answers seemed vague and verrry lightly supported.

[chicharon]

I'm prob gonna YOLO this retake with less than 50 hours of studying iwbh

Tsk

[chicharon]

Going offline all weekend and locking myself in my room. Not letting up until I get some substantial improvement in LR.

[Kposh20]

Hi everyone!

I'm looking to attend law school for Fall 2017. Has anyone started preparing?

[Mikey]

Hi everyone!

I'm looking to attend law school for Fall 2017. Has anyone started preparing?

Yep, been prepping since January. There's some people here who have been studying even longer as well.

[longpig]

Got a high score today - 178 on PT66!

RC -0, LR -1 combined, LG -3 (2 wrong in the first 4 questions of a reeeally easy game lol)

Can't help but feel like it's a fluke/a birthday blessing (yep, PT-ing on my birthday weee)

Also I'm sure this has been asked a million times but is there any way to get PT's 72-77 as a bundle or do I have to buy them individually?

[Sean_33]

Got a high score today - 178 on PT66!

RC -0, LR -1 combined, LG -3 (2 wrong in the first 4 questions of a reeeally easy game lol)

Can't help but feel like it's a fluke/a birthday blessing (yep, PT-ing on my birthday weee)

Also I'm sure this has been asked a million times but is there any way to get PT's 72-77 as a bundle or do I have to buy them individually?

Teach me your RC ways....

[Mikey]

Got a high score today - 178 on PT66!

RC -0, LR -1 combined, LG -3 (2 wrong in the first 4 questions of a reeeally easy game lol)

Can't help but feel like it's a fluke/a birthday blessing (yep, PT-ing on my birthday weee)

Also I'm sure this has been asked a million times but is there any way to get PT's 72-77 as a bundle or do I have to buy them individually?

Nice score! And Happy Birthday! You should go out tonight and celebrate your birthday AND that great PT score

[ayylmao]

Trying to figure out pattern games today. I have a hunch that one will appear on the test. I'm getting fucked, as always.

[ayylmao]

I want to write on a prominent billboard across from the LSAC's offices in Newtown "LOGIC GAMES DON'T PREDICT SUCCESS IN LAW SCHOOL."

Just a fantasy, though. Maybe someday someone will get a crowdfunding campaign going.

[Mikey]

I want to write on a prominent billboard across from the LSAC's offices in Newtown "LOGIC GAMES DON'T PREDICT SUCCESS IN LAW SCHOOL."

Just a fantasy, though. Maybe someday someone will get a crowdfunding campaign going.

Hahahaha

[YupSports]

Trying to figure out pattern games today. I have a hunch that one will appear on the test. I'm getting fucked, as always.

What is your struggle? Missing inferences? Time?

Selectively choosing which answer to try first (other than on the first question - just run down your rules) saved me a mountain of time. I always look for the answer choices that relate to the most restrictive rule and start there. This has allowed me finish several of the hardest games 1.5 to 2 minutes faster than the 7Sage time.

As far as seeing inferences I will always quickly attempt to chain a rule to another rule. For ordering games, I'll think of the first and last spaces in terms of what can't go there. For in/out games, I always think of the out space and what will fill it.

[YupSports]

Did 8 LG sections 7Sage style today; would not recommend.

Kind of what I get for letting myself fall behind schedule.

[ayylmao]

Trying to figure out pattern games today. I have a hunch that one will appear on the test. I'm getting fucked, as always.

What is your struggle? Missing inferences? Time?

Selectively choosing which answer to try first (other than on the first question - just run down your rules) saved me a mountain of time. I always look for the answer choices that relate to the most restrictive rule and start there. This has allowed me finish several of the hardest games 1.5 to 2 minutes faster than the 7Sage time.

As far as seeing inferences I will always quickly attempt to chain a rule to another rule. For ordering games, I'll think of the first and last spaces in terms of what can't go there. For in/out games, I always think of the out space and what will fill it.

I try to employ many of those strategies. The problem for me on pattern games is the setup and getting overwhelmed by the enormous amount of possibilities. Like if you don't sense where a restriction is, or you don't see the visual pattern, you're cooked. I can see why they're easy if you do, but I think games like Feb 1997 game 3 require outstanding instincts.

[ayylmao]

Did 8 LG sections 7Sage style today; would not recommend.

Kind of what I get for letting myself fall behind schedule.

I've also been pounding LG all day. I actually feel like I'm productive and in a super-focused rhythm (though I'm on TLS right now lol). So it's not a bad strategy.

[Mikey]

Did 8 LG sections 7Sage style today; would not recommend.

Kind of what I get for letting myself fall behind schedule.

I've also been pounding LG all day. I actually feel like I'm productive and in a super-focused rhythm (though I'm on TLS right now lol). So it's not a bad strategy.

There's always time for some TLS lovin'

[R. Jeeves]

177 on PT 75. But with some (potentially) major caveats.

-0 LG
-1 LR
-3 RC

I averaged 171 on PTs 72, 73, and 74, which I felt bad about since I scored a 172 on the real LSAT in 2014 and I'm like how did I get WORSE on the LSAT after 2 years of getting smarter and healthier plus some additional months of prep? Also I was PTing in the high 170s on older tests.

So I did some INTENSE review of those three PTs before doing PT 75. Now for the caveats: For PT 75 I did the sections one at a time, with long breaks, and I scored each section once I finished. I did this because I wanted to make sure that I at least had a good understanding of the questions, because I feel like these tests are subtly different from the older ones, and I think maybe I had just gotten too used to the older PT style. I feel like my review really helped me readjust.

Now I'll have to gauge to what extent stamina and confidence will be a factor by taking a full PT and following the rules. I'm wondering how much of a performance difference any of you see when you do the sections individually as I described vs. the full PT?