The 160s Club! Join all ye 170 hopefuls! Forum

[forza]

I had a shitty study session tonight. I went over the LR section I did in my PT on Sat. and not only did I get only 1 of the 5 I missed correctly the second time but I actually missed 2 more that I got right during the test! Arrrrrgh!

I then did a one-start hybrid game in the Kaplan Mastery book and proceeded to take 11:23 to complete it! Granted, it was 7 questions and I got them all correct but still, 11:23! Arrrrrgh!

I also worked 11 hours and am getting nervous about getting my apps done by the end of Sept. I think I need a run or something!

EDIT: I just went for a 30 minute run and feel like I could get a 170 right now! I love exercise!

Keep it up. This is essential to being in the proper physical/mental mindset to take the LSAT.

[Tangerine Gleam]

I had a shitty study session tonight. I went over the LR section I did in my PT on Sat. and not only did I get only 1 of the 5 I missed correctly the second time but I actually missed 2 more that I got right during the test! Arrrrrgh!

I then did a one-start hybrid game in the Kaplan Mastery book and proceeded to take 11:23 to complete it! Granted, it was 7 questions and I got them all correct but still, 11:23! Arrrrrgh!

I also worked 11 hours and am getting nervous about getting my apps done by the end of Sept. I think I need a run or something!

EDIT: I just went for a 30 minute run and feel like I could get a 170 right now! I love exercise!

Keep it up. This is essential to being in the proper physical/mental mindset to take the LSAT.

What about excercise the morning of the test? Is that crazy? I wonder if it would work well for me...

Similarly, what about doing a PT section (just one section) the morning of the test? I find that with my first section, it's always a little hard to get my brain in that mode. Maybe doing a PT section in my car in the test center parking lot would lube up my brain...

[forza]

I had a shitty study session tonight. I went over the LR section I did in my PT on Sat. and not only did I get only 1 of the 5 I missed correctly the second time but I actually missed 2 more that I got right during the test! Arrrrrgh!

I then did a one-start hybrid game in the Kaplan Mastery book and proceeded to take 11:23 to complete it! Granted, it was 7 questions and I got them all correct but still, 11:23! Arrrrrgh!

I also worked 11 hours and am getting nervous about getting my apps done by the end of Sept. I think I need a run or something!

EDIT: I just went for a 30 minute run and feel like I could get a 170 right now! I love exercise!

Keep it up. This is essential to being in the proper physical/mental mindset to take the LSAT.

What about excercise the morning of the test? Is that crazy? I wonder if it would work well for me...

Similarly, what about doing a PT section (just one section) the morning of the test? I find that with my first section, it's always a little hard to get my brain in that mode. Maybe doing a PT section in my car in the test center parking lot would lube up my brain...

Wow, you and I think alike. I'm going to do both. During the school year I run every weekday morning, so I'm going to extend that to Saturday morning for the LSAT. I feel like 30 minutes of jogging will be the perfect thing to get my mind at equilibrium that morning. And I too will be bringing a logic games section to do in the car before I go into the test center. Or maybe a sudoku puzzle or newspaper or something. You've got to warm up your brain -- no way I'd ever go in there cold.

[Tangerine Gleam]

Awesome -- great advice -- I will definitely do the brain warm-up, whether with a LG or LR. I think that reading critically early in the morning is what's so tough for me...so probably LR, now that I think about it.

I've never been a morning exerciser -- I always go in the afternoon. I've never exercised before a PT (which I always take in the AM)...but maybe I should try!

[JJDancer]

Planned on taking all of PT 37 - June 2002 this morning but was only able to do 2 sections due to a doctor's appt.
Let's just say I don't have a good feeling about this one.. I already have -7 (ran out of time on 2 questions on games and counted those as missed). I have 1 LR section left which is my weakest (usually -3 to -5 per section) and RC left which I normally score -1 to -0 on...)
Hopefully I don't miss more than 3 on LR and none on RC and can at least keep my 170+ streak. Although, after my last score 173, I should have known I was more likely to drop than to end up with a 175! Ok.. I did know this but it is still slightly dissapointing.

Will continue to go through the LR bible and will take another PT on Friday.

Good luck everyone!

PS: Can anyone else post how they did on this exam? anything you found particularly difficult? I hate -10 curves..but not as much as I hate -9/-8/-7 curves (I'll try to remember that it implies the test is harder when the curve is -11 to -14 but still..)

[buddyblack]

Well I did Prep Test 34 today for my first practice test since June 09. I scored a 164 after a MISERABLE, I mean fucking MISERABLE game section. Minus 10, are you serious? Ugh. I'm not sure why I did so poorly (i'm going to go re-work them later today) but they felt rather difficult to me. It took me 15 minutes to do the first game


BUstang will triumphantly dominate his next preptest on Wed.

Uh oh I'm taking PT34 tonight .. I'll let you know how it goes! A 164 even with that rough of a games section is pretty good! Don't be too upset at least your LR and RC must have been stellar!

Alright, PT #34 done .. and everyone was right those games were brutal, I didn't finish which is why my games section was probably one of my worst ever. BUT I still managed to get my highest score to date which made me feel decent about the whole thing (I had been hovering in the 165-167 range).

RC: -2
LR: -4
LR: -3
LG: -7

Raw: +85
Scaled: 168

Edited to add: Are the curves getting harder?! For most of the tests in The Next 10 Actual ... (tests 29-38) +90 will give you about a 172, on the newer tests +90 seems to be the min for breaking 170.

The games for PrepTest 34 ate me up too (-5)

Because of time I completely guessed on questions 2-7 for the first game. I also had huge time issues on the second LR. Did anyone else find that one significantly more difficult, or just me?

Overall I went:

RC: -2
LR: -1
LR: -6
LG: -5
Raw: 87

And yes missvik, I do believe the curves for earlier tests are easier. Which is why a raw score of 90 should be everyone's magic number.

[brose002]

Count me in this group. I have been scoring consistently in the 164-166 range, and taking Testmasters. I really want to hit 170 on the test.

[servinDizzert]

Took my first PT since the real thing in June today. I don't really know how to take the score....maybe you can shed some light

PT 43 (June 04)

163
RC: -14
LR: -8
LR: 0
LG: 0

What the hell?

[lsb]

Took my first PT since the real thing in June today. I don't really know how to take the score....maybe you can shed some light

PT 43 (June 04)

163
RC: -14
LR: -8
LR: 0
LG: 0

What the hell?

Is that low for you? I had quite a bit of trouble myself.

[servinDizzert]

I got a 165 in June. Like everyone else, my PT avg was higher going into it. (Around 170)

I dont think Ive ever gotten -14 on RC. And -8 then 0 on LR????

Was this a harder RC?


Edit: The only thing I can think of is that there was a little rust I had to shake off

[lawduder]

I got a 165 in June. Like everyone else, my PT avg was higher going into it. (Around 170)

I dont think Ive ever gotten -14 on RC. And -8 then 0 on LR????

Was this a harder RC?


Edit: The only thing I can think of is that there was a little rust I had to shake off

Willa Cather gave me nightmares if that makes you feel any better...
--ImageRemoved--

[missvik218]

Took my first PT since the real thing in June today. I don't really know how to take the score....maybe you can shed some light

PT 43 (June 04)

163
RC: -14
LR: -8
LR: 0
LG: 0

What the hell?

What the hell?! Take another one and report back .. That doesn't make any sense!

Welcome brose! =)

[brose002]

Hey guys after I posted earlier I worked on some reading comprehension sections, and found a method that I think helped me considerably. What I did was right after reading the section instead of going straight to the questions, I wrote down what I thought the Main Idea was, the author's attitude, the structure, and the primary purpose. I think this helped a lot because I did this while the passage was fresh in my mind instead of waiting until they appear in a question. I ended up getting a -2 on the section which is my best score yet. Even though I did the section as a solo section, I feel that employing this method will not only allow me to do better on these questions, but also help me speed up the passages so I can hopefully avoid rushing the last passage. Im sure to some people this might seem like a given, but it was something I had not done until today, so hopefully there is someone else out there who will benefit from it.

[Tangerine Gleam]

Bummin' myself out here. Decent scaled score, but very disappointing raw score (I want a 95+ on test day, and have done so many times on PT's). Essentially, in modern years, this would definitely have been in the 160's. Anyone else feel like you're not making any progress? It fucking sucks!

PT 24 (+1 extra section for experimental)
Raw: 89 Scaled: 171
RC: -5
LR: -6
LG: -1

[Slimpee]

Essentially, in modern years, this would definitely have been in the 160's. Anyone else feel like you're not making any progress? It fucking sucks!

Umm, it would've been a 170 in June '09...

[lawduder]

Anyone else feel like you're not making any progress? It fucking sucks!

feels like regress over here

[brose002]

Just took another practice test. I feel like I made some progress in LR. I started reading the actual question first, instead of starting with the stimulus. I felt that I typically only had to read the question once, and it allowed for more time to work on the hard problems.

I ended up with a 166 which was an 87

LR1:-3
LG:-4(This is the worst that I have ever done on LG so if I can get this back to my normal -0 then I probably would have been in the 170s)
RC:-4(I missed three of these from the last passage. I feel too rushed with that last passage)
LR2:-3

Any advice to speeding up RC?

[solotee]

Bummin' myself out here. Decent scaled score, but very disappointing raw score (I want a 95+ on test day, and have done so many times on PT's). Essentially, in modern years, this would definitely have been in the 160's. Anyone else feel like you're not making any progress? It fucking sucks!

PT 24 (+1 extra section for experimental)
Raw: 89 Scaled: 171
RC: -5
LR: -6
LG: -1

I was in this mindset for the longest time, it only proved to stress me out even more. Now instead of aiming to hit a certain raw score, I disregard it and focus more on completing each section successfully. This new mindset took a lot of pressure off of me, in turn, enabling me achieve a higher raw score.

[Tangerine Gleam]

Essentially, in modern years, this would definitely have been in the 160's. Anyone else feel like you're not making any progress? It fucking sucks!

Umm, it would've been a 170 in June '09...

Really? That's encouraging...I didn't know there were forgiving curves like that recently. Shows how much I know. Thanks for the info.

Either way, I still want a 95+ raw! If I can do that then I know I'll be happy with my score, no matter how they curve it.

[forza]

FML. Another 166.

PT 37

RC: -3 23/26
LR1: -5 21/26
LG: -6 18/24 (ugh)
LR2: -1 24/25

Raw: 86
Scaled: 166

So many stupid mistakes I don't even know where to begin.

[JJDancer]

Essentially, in modern years, this would definitely have been in the 160's. Anyone else feel like you're not making any progress? It fucking sucks!

Umm, it would've been a 170 in June '09...

Really? That's encouraging...I didn't know there were forgiving curves like that recently. Shows how much I know. Thanks for the info.

Either way, I still want a 95+ raw! If I can do that then I know I'll be happy with my score, no matter how they curve it.

With you on aiming for the 95+ but so far the highest I've hit is 93...once.
Got 90/101 today Scaled 169. OUCH.

PT 37 - June 2002

LR 1 -3
LG - -2, ran out of time on another -2 (-4 total)
LR 2 - -4
RC -0

Glad I improved on LG...still going through the LR bible so hopefully I can bring it to -1 to -3 per LR section and just aim for -0 on everything else.
LR holds the key to my score! :/

[missvik218]

Any advice to speeding up RC?

This was what I got when I asked a similar question ... see if it helps!

Try some of the things I mentioned here:
a) read the passage in under 4 minutes
b) mark the main pt
c) write "1" and "2" and "3" next to anything that lists reasons, explanations etc (usually these are listed as "first"..."second".. but not always)
d) make sure you get the main pt question correct (if theres one its usually the first)
e) write a note on the authors tone in the blank space near the passage.. mark a word if it clearly reveals the tone.. remember the PCness of LSAC
f) underline anytime another author/scientist etc is mentioned or when a person is mentioned as an example..
ex: Mary Bary was a woman in the 19th century who wrote memoirs about bla bla..
g) If you are running out of time..read the first and last paragraph and the first and last sentence of all other paragraphs and try to do the quesitons (not sure how well this works since I don't have much experience with running out of time on this.)

Also, you may be able to read faster but still comprehend as much. Just pick an RC section and try some speed reading. Read the passage in one minute, then 2 then 3. The first time when you try to "Read" it in one minute.. just look at every word but don't read it like "Also..you..may.. be" don't try to comprehend just look at all the words.. your brain will pick up more than you think.
(After you have read it the 3rd time -- which would be in 3 mins..do the questions)

Then read the next passage at the 3 minute speed but make sure you read "actively" (make sure you catch the main pt/take the time to underline)

Let me know if this helps!!

[Bustang]

Do a large majority of ya'll read the question stimulus before the actual stimulus when you do LR's? The LRB says not to do this, but I've been doing it for quite sometime now. Tomorrow I'll do one section the way I've been doing it and then I'll try their method.

[missvik218]

Do a large majority of ya'll read the question stimulus before the actual stimulus when you do LR's? The LRB says not to do this, but I've been doing it for quite sometime now. Tomorrow I'll do one section the way I've been doing it and then I'll try their method.

I read the actual stimulus first, then quesion.

[EmVan]

I also read the stimulus before the question stem.