October 2010 Test Prep Forum

[Chris_cpb]

why do a writing sample prep? its not graded. Just be able to put together a decent essay in 35 minutes, and make it coherent, and stick to the topic and you are all set.

Why do a writing sample prep? Because it was included in my prep materials. I understand it's not graded, but do you know for a fact that a coherent writing sample versus an excellent one won't really do much? If so, then you have a point.

[whymeohgodno]

I HATE READING COMP.

I just had to say it.

[Chris_cpb]

I HATE READING COMP.

I just had to say it.

You're not the only one ITT who would rather only take LR + LG. LR FTW.

[justadude55]

Kicking the booze I can understand, but you're going to have a lot of sexual tension by the morning of the 9th my friend.

sex comes with emotions, and all of these things that stop the brain from being as 100% sharp as it can be. if i get a 180, and go to a better law school which lands a better job, it'll be more than worth satisfying my animal urges for a month.

[Ari Goldsen]

just took preptest 52, and officially freaking out.
my last six prep tests went
167
164
164
163
and now 161

whaaaat is going on?'
I'm trying to decide if the cure is to take 3 preptests a week instead of 2, or stick to the powerscore book lessons for a week or so

any input?

[firemed]

Just finished PT 46. It was a bit of a more informal test - wasn't scheduled, just wanted to get all my PTs in before the big day, lol. Most notable was the time - I spent about 20 minutes per LR section, lol.

I scored 97 raw, 179 scaled. ELLE WOODS SCORE, boo yah. -1 RC (the very first question lol), -0LR, -1LR, -0LG.

The first two LG games were SO FREAKING EASY I blew through them in 10 minutes, then was so glad because the third was harder and the fourth was killer for me.

For some reason, the LR on this test was just clicking. Like, the answers just like HELLO I AM THE RIGHT ANSWER PICK ME.

Great Job! You are starting to get consistent up there in the 99th percentile. Excellent.

[firemed]

finally. my first 180. 9/13/10.

98/100 raw score. PT 56.

-1 on RC (my best ever... had been getting -2 wrong for a few weeks. i got a detail question wrong which is upsetting, especially because i spent 12 minutes on the particular passage and questions because i knew it'd be the most difficult)
-1 on LR (it was a question #8 style of arguing question----just thought the right answer choice meant something different than it did.)

i still think there's room for improvement with the 2 questions obviously, and i finished right on time for RC... i've been able to finish all the other sections 5 minutes early which i think is huge because you never know what's gonna happen at the test location, and i don't think as rationally when i know i only have 1 minute left.

right now, my biggest fear are factors partially outside of my control:

1.) sleep the night before 2.) noise distractions 3.) sitting next to someone annoying 4.) bed bugs (theyre prevalent all over, and i do get my high 170s at various libraries, but at a library that was later found to have bed bugs, i scored down in the high 160s which would make a retake a dumb move... i just couldn't concentrate on more convoluted questions.)

i have taken a strict no alcohol, no social night life outside of the gym and no sex vow until after the LSAT, and am glad to see it paying dividends. last time, i did not study too hard, was a male wh*re and still came this close to breaking a 170. i definitely think this will be a more rewarding route

Congrats!

[firemed]

just took preptest 52, and officially freaking out.
my last six prep tests went
167
164
164
163
and now 161

whaaaat is going on?'
I'm trying to decide if the cure is to take 3 preptests a week instead of 2, or stick to the powerscore book lessons for a week or so

any input?

I had the same problem last week... scores slowly going down. Scared the shit out of me.

So... I am taking a week off to finish LR bible and take a LG or two a day, no full tests. I think it might be a wearing yourself out thing. I'll let you know how it goes after my first PT in a week on Thursday. I am hoping the break will help. Can't really hurt at this point.

[kalede]

I hope this isn't a fluke, but I got a 175 today on PT 32! My first two real LSATs were a 166 and 164 (June 09 and Sept 09), and I have been scoring in the high 160s on a lot of practice tests, but today almost everything seemed to click. I was kind of in disbelief when I started looking at the scoring sheet. I will be extremely happy if I can keep this up on the next few PTs. Fingers crossed!

Also, I've been doing these tests in noisy places with a lot of distractions. I think I'm going to try a quiet location the next time and see if makes a difference at all.

But seriously, I feel like doing cartwheels around the house right now.

[Eugenie Danglars]

finally. my first 180. 9/13/10.

98/100 raw score. PT 56.

Congrats! Now, you just have to do it again...and again...and again...

[2014]

just took preptest 52, and officially freaking out.
my last six prep tests went
167
164
164
163
and now 161

whaaaat is going on?'
I'm trying to decide if the cure is to take 3 preptests a week instead of 2, or stick to the powerscore book lessons for a week or so

any input?

You are missing enough that you should be able to review your wrong answers and see trends. Then go back to the LR or LG Bible and drill those sections into your head. Also if you have one section that is killing you, maybe try taking a couple of days off of full length tests and instead focus only on whatever is giving you trouble.

2010th post on this topic....gotta be good luck right?

[jfb]

I HATE READING COMP.

I just had to say it.

Agree. It seems that people are venting more recently about RC than earlier in prep. I think many people have seen vast improvements over the months in LR and LG and are starting to get frusterated because it is so much more difficult to see that sort of improvement in RC - people (I) are (am) starting to realize that they may just be stuck with their current level of RC performance

[Ari Goldsen]

just took preptest 52, and officially freaking out.
my last six prep tests went
167
164
164
163
and now 161

whaaaat is going on?'
I'm trying to decide if the cure is to take 3 preptests a week instead of 2, or stick to the powerscore book lessons for a week or so

any input?

You are missing enough that you should be able to review your wrong answers and see trends. Then go back to the LR or LG Bible and drill those sections into your head. Also if you have one section that is killing you, maybe try taking a couple of days off of full length tests and instead focus only on whatever is giving you trouble.

2010th post on this topic....gotta be good luck right?

haha i agree, IF you are the 2010th post on any topic THEN you will score a 180. So congrats!
Thanks to everyone's input...I'm about to take a practice test now, and depending on how it goes I may hit the books for the week.

[jwaters]

Took PT 52 today and got an 84 raw/ 166 scaled.

I'm consistently getting 165+ now but still want 168-169. Hopefully 3 more weeks and about 10 more tests will get me there. And I hate how I can get -1 or -2 on one LR section then miss like 7 on another.

[WonkyPanda]

Took PT 52 today and got an 84 raw/ 166 scaled.

I'm consistently getting 165+ now but still want 168-169. Hopefully 3 more weeks and about 10 more tests will get me there. And I hate how I can get -1 or -2 on one LR section then miss like 7 on another.

Dude, I am right there with you. I noticed this A LOT more when I have an LR as section 5. If I have 2 LRs within the first 3 sections, I usually eek away with a total of -3 - -6. If I get an LR at the end, one section will be anywhere from 0- -3 then the last one will be like -6. This is my biggest weakness at the moment and something I am trying to work on

[shifty_eyed]

Took preptest 35 today, and got 97 raw/ 178 scaled. HIGHEST SCORE YET! my goal is to get 175+, so things are looking up. My last test scores have been 173, 174, 174, 177, and now 178! I got a 170 last September, and am finally feeling confident that retaking is a good decision.

[brickman]

I've sort of petered out as well, scored about 166/7 on my past 5 tests. Took today and yesterday off (my first days off in about 120 days), so maybe a break will help? Who knows. I dunno, I think i've pretty much maxed out at this point.

[Sandro]

I've sort of petered out as well, scored about 166/7 on my past 5 tests. Took today and yesterday off (my first days off in about 120 days), so maybe a break will help? Who knows. I dunno, I think i've pretty much maxed out at this point.

my last 3 PTs have been 166 167 and 166. Definitely time to put in work.

[whymeohgodno]

Been slacking, in the middle of PT49 I just decided to stop.

I'll finish the last 2 sections tomorrow.

[ND'10]

Mental wall = Hit

I graduated this May and just started working a couple weeks ago. Hours have been really long already, and I was coming home tonight after a 12 hour work day to do a PT and in the second section I just couldn't focus. I hit the wall just like that. I really don't think I can do PTs after work anymore, I'm just too tired at the end of each day from waking up at 6 AM and getting home at 8 PM.

I think I'm just going to save the 6 PTs I have left in the 50s and take one on each weekend day we have remaining until the test (only 25 total days, 6 weekend, 19 weekday... wow). I have 6 more PTs other than those and I think instead of taking the 12 PTs total every other day for the next 25 days like I planned, I think I'm going to break those 6 pre-50s PTs up and do 1-2 sections a night on the weekdays to complete the 24 total sections.

Its one thing to build endurance and try to do PTs after a long work day, and its another to mentally wear yourself into the ground. I should be fine taking the 6 PTs on weekends, and then doing 1 section on weekdays and then just reviewing old tests for another hour or so.

This makes me really glad I started studying really early... And I at least took comfort in the fact that the one section I did complete tonight was reading comp, usually my weakest section, and I got a 25/26 on it before my brain fizzed out six questions into LR section 2 hah

[brickman]

I've sort of petered out as well, scored about 166/7 on my past 5 tests. Took today and yesterday off (my first days off in about 120 days), so maybe a break will help? Who knows. I dunno, I think i've pretty much maxed out at this point.

my last 3 PTs have been 166 167 and 166. Definitely time to put in work.

It's not that I haven't put in the hours, I've put in about 350 so far, which includes taking about 25 tests thus far. I think it may be fatigue, but it just seems like there is some degree to of "not getting it" when I'm actually in the moment of the test.

[Sandro]

I've sort of petered out as well, scored about 166/7 on my past 5 tests. Took today and yesterday off (my first days off in about 120 days), so maybe a break will help? Who knows. I dunno, I think i've pretty much maxed out at this point.

my last 3 PTs have been 166 167 and 166. Definitely time to put in work.

It's not that I haven't put in the hours, I've put in about 350 so far, which includes taking about 25 tests thus far. I think it may be fatigue, but it just seems like there is some degree to of "not getting it" when I'm actually in the moment of the test.

I've been studying for this test since last july, off and on and in chunks of time. Right now, while still drilling weaknesses and reviewing PTs thoroughly, i'm trying to figure out what EXACTLY i am doing wrong to miss some of these questions. For each LR/RC mistake I roughly categorize it and find that a majority of the time I am missing identifying the premise/conclusion. Other mistakes include scope and not reading critically enough. Im thinking in a few days I can start trying to apply this actively to my PT's somehow - a concrete method to help me narrow down 2 answer choices or a method to help with assumption questions im missing.

I used to lament about how if I could stop missing -8+ on LG I would be in the 170s. Well last two PTs i've gone -3 -2 on LG and managed not to hit 170 because of LR/RC mistakes....

[Hedwig]

PT 53 tomorrow.

I'm kind of tired of doing PTs to be honest. Not exactly tired, just... ready to be taking the real thing!

Edit: Just looked over my PT list - my raw score on the past three tests I've taken has been 97 each time - 178, 180, 179 respectively. Lol.

[Hannibal]

PT 52: 178
Pt 38 Experimental: 172

After like 5 straight PTs of -0 LGs, these both had LGs as my worst sections. -4 on the exp, -2 on 52. I hope that those were the exceptions because I feel like having an easy -0 limits how low I can go pretty heavily.

[Hannibal]

PT 53 tomorrow.

I'm kind of tired of doing PTs to be honest. Not exactly tired, just... ready to be taking the real thing!

So much this.