The NoodleyOne's Foolproof Guide to a 179 for Retakers Forum

[ApokalypseX]

Stupid question: Should I be timing myself when I drill these books? (if not specified in the book)

[steel_shot]

Stupid question: Should I be timing myself when I drill these books? (if not specified in the book)

I can't speak for Noodley, but what I plan on doing is after I read the chapter doing one or two sections untimed so I can work on strategy, then doing the rest of the drills timed.

[applemaroon]

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[NoodleyOne]

Hey Noodley, for the Cambridge LR by type, do you recommend drilling all the questions for each type before moving onto the next type, or should I do like 20 questions from each type everytime I drill? Thanks!

Do it until mastery. Basically, if you're crushing NA and don't feel that doing more will help, move on.

[applemaroon]

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[Zeta]

bumpy knuckles.

[ranga93]

Hey noodley,
So with about a week and a half left till December, I was wondering if you had any last minute advice about what to do the week before the test. I'm taking a couple tests this week, but then I think I want to just heavily review and take one test next wednesday, and then look to take it. Any last minute tips?

[mindarmed]

Hey Noodley, for the Cambridge LR by type, do you recommend drilling all the questions for each type before moving onto the next type, or should I do like 20 questions from each type everytime I drill? Thanks!

Do it until mastery. Basically, if you're crushing NA and don't feel that doing more will help, move on.

So I guess what I'm trying to decide is, do I drill purely NA until mastery, or do I mix it up and drill five different types at once (until I master all of them)? Sorry if this makes no sense....Thanks!

IME, it was helpful to drill each LR question type then move on to drilling sections once you've completed MLR.

[BlaqBella]

Hey Noodley, for the Cambridge LR by type, do you recommend drilling all the questions for each type before moving onto the next type, or should I do like 20 questions from each type everytime I drill? Thanks!

Do it until mastery. Basically, if you're crushing NA and don't feel that doing more will help, move on.

So I guess what I'm trying to decide is, do I drill purely NA until mastery, or do I mix it up and drill five different types at once (until I master all of them)? Sorry if this makes no sense....Thanks!

IME, it was helpful to drill each LR question type then move on to drilling sections once you've completed MLR.

Where should the sections for drilling come from, which PTs?

As advised by Noodley, I was hoping to save the PTs from the 40s-60s for full-timed exams and use PTs 1-39 or so for drilling just by type.

I prefer not to use the same questions I'm drilling by type for section drilling. How do you prevent overlap? I fear it can be counterintuitive where I remember an answer to a question.

[Zeta]

bumpy knuckles

[Yaaaas2013]

Hey Noodley, for the Cambridge LR by type, do you recommend drilling all the questions for each type before moving onto the next type, or should I do like 20 questions from each type everytime I drill? Thanks!

Do it until mastery. Basically, if you're crushing NA and don't feel that doing more will help, move on.

When drilling, what do you look for? For instance, Ive been drilling NA questions. Ive figured out the question wording associated with the question type, and have been doing okay, but how do you know youve mastered a q-type?

[gobosox]

Noodley-- my biggest problem is pacing. I'm not able to finish things on time. (Just a couple questions) and it's really making me rush at the end. Thoughts on pacing? Does it just come over time?

[Zeta]

While going through the Bible focus more on diagramming and less on their definitions of games categories. I’m of the opinion that their focus on sub-categories is more distracting than helpful, but other than that I like a lot of their diagramming strategies.

about this, why do you feel that the focus on sub-categorization is distracting? isn't it important to be able to identify the game type in order to know how to approach it?
should i not be incorporating the categorization into my note taking?

[Funkycrime]

This thread has new relevance after I bombed LG today (a section that I thought had mastered). Time to get back on it!

[Power Clean]

New member here, as of monday this week when I decided to withdraw from Dec test date and discovered this forum (PTing in the high 160s/low 170s after a summer TestMasters course, but wanting higher). Is drilling out of the recommended Cambridge books the equivalent of simply buying all available PTs and drilling LG/LR questions by type (like the breakdowns found in Pithypike's thread)? I'm thinking of purchasing all available PTs and using them over the 6-10 months I have until I test, first by breaking down older tests by type and using them as I go through my new powerscore books, and then moving on to using more modern tests as full length PTs. I was wondering what your thoughts were on this.

I also just purchased all 3 power score books. From what I've gleamed from reading so far, it seems the Manhattan comes widely recommended as of late - especially insofar as their LR book. I'm considering getting this and using it conjunction with the Powerscore book. As for RC, everyone seems to say something different, so I figure at the end of the day the Powerscore will get me on the right track, as there are no universal methods to teaching or approaching in this section. Thoughts?

Thanks Noodley, all your posts I've seen thus far have been very helpful and informative.

[NoodleyOne]

While going through the Bible focus more on diagramming and less on their definitions of games categories. I’m of the opinion that their focus on sub-categories is more distracting than helpful, but other than that I like a lot of their diagramming strategies.

about this, why do you feel that the focus on sub-categorization is distracting? isn't it important to be able to identify the game type in order to know how to approach it?
should i not be incorporating the categorization into my note taking?

I feel that categorization makes sense, in as such recognizing that such-and-such is a grouping game, etc. I think realizing that a game is unbalanced, defined, etc... at that point it becomes a distraction and could be time-consuming.

There is a caveat with my LG advice. That was a very easy section for me to learn. I was able to consistently get to -0 without any bookwork, and only did some after my first test to reinforce diagramming. So keep that in mind.

[eav1277]

Noodley, why the change in pictures?

[eav1277]

Nm...I found thread. I would have gone with the george clinton mug shot personally but nice choice.



Just wanted to say thanks for posting the guide, Feb retake!

[TomThompson]

Noodley, why the change in pictures?

The change really confused me. I had this picture of noodley1 being some old jamaican dude with dreads, lighting up while destroying pt's.

[jetsfan1]

Checking in...

[Zeta]

i believe that was a picture of the godfather of soul after an especially hard working nite in show business.

[NoodleyOne]

i believe that was a picture of the godfather of soul after an especially hard working nite in show business.

I find this explanation quite eloquent.

[klaudiaxo]

How long did you personally take to get from the mid 160s to the 180?

How can we gauge our progress the week before the test? For example some of us were testing in the mid-170s but then got a score in the 160s.

The plateau from the high 160s to the high 170s is probably the steepest, at least to be testing there consistently. I think one of the things that helped me was the review sessions we had, where we would discuss questions in depth. At the high 160s you know the test pretty well, but to get to the high 170s I think you need to know the test at a different level. Basically, you need to know it well enough to teach it. I would recommend encouraging people with a wide score range to come to your review sessions. Explaining even more basic problems to them will be a big help to you. I'm not entirely altruistic .

One last thing, for games you find tricky. Remember 7sage has all of his videos on youtube, and I think the lsatblog site has all the videos for games on their site as well. Seeing the thought process on both simple and hard games from high test takers is a huge advantage, and a resource that shouldn't be ignored. Also, talk to the geeks that post on here or Manhattan's forums and Shinners who gives explanations to individual questions. You may ultimately have a different path to the right answer, but understanding the thought process of these guys will let you see the level that they are thinking on.

Edit: As far as gauging performance, I think a lot of what trips people who score below their PT is mental. You go in full of nerves and butterflies, and you forget that this is just another PT. Going in with that mindset helped me a lot on my retake. Also, I would suggest retaking PT 67 to reinforce that just before the test. Know deep down that there is nothing different between this and the 40 other PTs you've probably taken.

Hi Noodley,

I was also wondering baout a study schedule and exactly how you spaced out the material. I will be taking the June 2013 LSAT for the first time and I have about 5 months until then. Thanks

[snova]

Very helpful.Thx

[Daily_Double]

Just wanted to say, thanks for the help, it's still not June, but your advice has really helped me advance to the more subtle notes in the LSAT.