The Official June 2017 Study Group Forum

[MediocreAtBest]

General question, how do you all time yourselves doing full PTs, especially when you're doing it in a public place like a library? Do you use an analog wristwatch and supplement that with the virtual proctor? Or do you use actual timers that you can reset for each section?

I'm trying to mimic testing conditions, by not making it too easy for me to check how much time I have left (via a timer), but I also don't want to botch the strict timing of each section...

I set my phone timer to 30 minutes and then 5 minutes after that. I figure a couple seconds of my alarm on a lower volume won't really bother anyone. I normally don't check the time while I'm doing it either. The only section I struggle finishing is LG, but even then it's just a question or two.

[Mint-Berry_Crunch]

TBH I would just practice with no warnings and just use a watch as I've had some very, inventive timekeeping habits from proctors.

[Mint-Berry_Crunch]

Making pretty good progress in the Bible and should be done soon.

Hey man, I get that you're a man of faith and everything but you need to be studying for the LSAT. Save the Scriptures for the summer before you matriculate at Stanford.

I'm gunnin for liberty university tho

[Platopus]

TBH I would just practice with no warnings and just use a watch as I've had some very, inventive timekeeping habits from proctors.

I agree, on test day there are no guarantees. I usually try to end at least a minute early on every section to account for such things. In general, if one is bubbling a question for the first time with less than a minute left, that person is already playing with fire. Aim to end every section with at least 2 minutes left to scan the answer sheet and ensure everything is bubbled correctly and to give a last look at that difficult question or two.

[Platopus]

My thoughts exactly. She's a great prof and a genuinely decent person - I just think she just suffers from the whole "well I made it, so can everyone!" mentality which afflicts many successful people and contributes to our country's collective delusion of meritocracy.

I feel like a lot of people who pursue a PHD in the humanities usually have a very poor reason to do so. They strike me as the sort of kids who were in the "gifted" program in elementary school, but weren't actually all that smart, and are nonetheless used to people telling them they are special. Granted, the people who usually graduate from these programs are in fact pretty smart, but the majority considering it, especially in English Lit, come off as a bit naive regarding the opportunity cost implications, and the reality of it all. They read Edward Said a couple times and get all worked up in their cloistered little post-colonial academic bubble, and end up as Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting.

[dm1683]

My thoughts exactly. She's a great prof and a genuinely decent person - I just think she just suffers from the whole "well I made it, so can everyone!" mentality which afflicts many successful people and contributes to our country's collective delusion of meritocracy.

I feel like a lot of people who pursue a PHD in the humanities usually have a very poor reason to do so. They strike me as the sort of kids who were in the "gifted" program in elementary school, but weren't actually all that smart, and are nonetheless used to people telling them they are special. Granted, the people who usually graduate from these programs are in fact pretty smart, but the majority considering it, especially in English Lit, come off as a bit naive regarding the opportunity cost implications, and the reality of it all. They read Edward Said a couple times and get all worked up in their cloistered little post-colonial academic bubble, and end up as Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting.

This is both pretty harsh and unbelievably on-point.

[MediocreAtBest]

My thoughts exactly. She's a great prof and a genuinely decent person - I just think she just suffers from the whole "well I made it, so can everyone!" mentality which afflicts many successful people and contributes to our country's collective delusion of meritocracy.

I feel like a lot of people who pursue a PHD in the humanities usually have a very poor reason to do so. They strike me as the sort of kids who were in the "gifted" program in elementary school, but weren't actually all that smart, and are nonetheless used to people telling them they are special. Granted, the people who usually graduate from these programs are in fact pretty smart, but the majority considering it, especially in English Lit, come off as a bit naive regarding the opportunity cost implications, and the reality of it all. They read Edward Said a couple times and get all worked up in their cloistered little post-colonial academic bubble, and end up as Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting.

My English teacher in high school had a phd and I remember when he told us, all of us asked him why he's a high school teacher. I'm sure he died a little bit inside at that moment. He was super smart though.

[Mint-Berry_Crunch]

I made dank ribs

[Mikey]

I made dank ribs

pw

[MediocreAtBest]

Completely bombed a PT today so I'm feeling reallyyy good about myself . It just wasn't clicking today. I don't know.

[Mint-Berry_Crunch]

I made dank ribs

pw

Okok so it turns out ribs don't look dank after a night in the fridge

[Mint-Berry_Crunch]

Completely bombed a PT today so I'm feeling reallyyy good about myself . It just wasn't clicking today. I don't know.

It happens. I've found it's best after a bomb to relax and give self a break. Review the qs fresh

[Platopus]

Completely bombed a PT today so I'm feeling reallyyy good about myself . It just wasn't clicking today. I don't know.

It happens, don't beat yourself up. Take note of all the circumstances including sleep and diet to see if anything maybe contributed. The other day I tried a section of LR about 45 minutes after eating a shit load of Easter candy and I couldn't concentrate to save my life. It was definitely a sugar crash.

Salvage the test by doing very intensive BR and shake it off. Better to get it out now than test day.

[Mint-Berry_Crunch]

Relevant

[Mint-Berry_Crunch]

I'd figure since they're beta-ing it that it wouldn't affect us for June at the least. They'd probably do this a bunch before they approve it

[dj9i27]

Relevant

nonononononono..no...NO.NO.NO.

[Mint-Berry_Crunch]

I really actually want to go to the test but the nearest centers are all 3h away

[Mint-Berry_Crunch]

Relevant

nonononononono..no...NO.NO.NO.

Like I can see doing games on scratch paper like you do for gmat/GRE but lr/RC? Na dude, na

[MediocreAtBest]

Relevant

nonononononono..no...NO.NO.NO.

Like I can see doing games on scratch paper like you do for gmat/GRE but lr/RC? Na dude, na

And it's on a tablet too, I don't know if I could do a whole RC section like that. One plus though is that you get a keyboard for the writing section, I hate writing stuff out by hand.

[Saylor1720]

Digital eh? At least it won't be ready for the June test. Which gives me even more motivation to get the score I want now.

Back to the drawing board for me. I think I jinxed myself humble bragging about my RC last week. My last PT

PT 35
LR1: -4
RC: -10
LG: -5
LR2: -3
Score: 163

Took an experimental LR and got -3.

With my goal being a 170+, I feel pretty comfortable with LR right now. As far as LG and RC go, this needs a ton of work.

Do you think it would be smart to hold off on any more PTs and just drill LG/RC until it is where I want it? I understand that that is probably the way to go, but I'm also nervous that I won't get enough PTs in before June. Currently I've taken 4, and with 2 a week here on in I can get to 25. Do you think if I sured up LG/RC and still got ~20 in that would be enough PTs?

I know there is no right or wrong answer, but I'm feeling a bit discouraged after that horrendous score. My other option is hop back in the saddle Thursday or Friday and hope that it's a one off.

[Mint-Berry_Crunch]

Do you think it would be smart to hold off on any more PTs and just drill LG/RC until it is where I want it? I understand that that is probably the way to go, but I'm also nervous that I won't get enough PTs in before June. Currently I've taken 4, and with 2 a week here on in I can get to 25. Do you think if I sured up LG/RC and still got ~20 in that would be enough PTs?

I know there is no right or wrong answer, but I'm feeling a bit discouraged after that horrendous score. My other option is hop back in the saddle Thursday or Friday and hope that it's a one off.

TBH I would focus more on drilling lg/RC right now. Make sure you're making good use of your RC review because if you're still fluctuating, it means you're not quite fundamentally sound.


i dont think its as importants to get 20 pts in, thats not sufficient to getting a high score, and might just take up more time when you could be drilling and shoring up some conceptual/fundamental issues.


another thing to note is, the sections aren't directly comparable. each RC section will vary slightly in difficulty, so you might crush one section and get rocked in another. well, the section you crushed might be part of a test with super hard games/LR. its much more important to have all the tools and be able to put them together and drilling helps build that.

[blackmamba8]

Shit an online LSAT would be hell. I was thinking about switching to September for my third take but now I'm going to gun to be ready by June. I don't want to risk waiting and have them switch to online for September. I mark the shit out of my tests and I think my score would drop big time on a tablet.

[Mint-Berry_Crunch]

well, finished the LR bible today. idk if i should take a PT to see how im feeling or drill.

[180pedia]

Damn, someone beat me to the tablet thing.

Eh - seems like a good option to practice for June and/or September (or if they implement the change sooner rather than later)

I just signed up even though I am, for the time being, out of the game.

http://digitallsat.lsac.org/pages/Default.aspx

(You can also use 180pedia.com for explanations and quick access to explanations from 7Sage, LSAT Hacks, Manhattan Prep, PowerScore, and Velocity LSAT...you can contribute too!)

Also, you can embed tweets here? MIND BLOWN.

[180pedia]

Shit an online LSAT would be hell. I was thinking about switching to September for my third take but now I'm going to gun to be ready by June. I don't want to risk waiting and have them switch to online for September. I mark the shit out of my tests and I think my score would drop big time on a tablet.

LSAC is currently not planning to discontinue the paper-and-pencil LSAT. The Digital LSAT Pilot Test is being conducted as part of research on a possible future format of the LSAT.

http://digitallsat.lsac.org/pages/faq.aspx

I wouldn't worry about it. I imagine it will be at least a year from the initial test.