October 2010 Test Prep Forum

[aesis]

Stanford was beauuutiful.
I took PT 47 while I was in the Bay. My sister interrupted me and someone was playing Jay-Z really loud, but I still managed a 90 raw -- 170 scaled.

Took 48 today -- I hate the curve too.
LR -4/-2
RC -0
LG -1
94 raw
171 scaled

I tried a new method with RC today. LESS LESS annotation, faster reading. Boom, finally, a -0 RC section on a PT again. Returning the passage is not a bad strategy at all.

[Lasers]

what is the last day everyone is going to take their last prep test before october 9th?

6th or 7th is probably ideal?

[BeachedBrit]

Spilt a cup of water on my computer yesterday which fried it along with my LR notes

I'm planning to take one the 8th, I'm used to taking one each day on the weekend (occasionally 2 in a day) so I figure I will just treat this like another PT. Maybe I'll change my mind once test day arrives.

[jwaters]

I tried a new method with RC today. LESS LESS annotation, faster reading. Boom, finally, a -0 RC section on a PT again. Returning the passage is not a bad strategy at all.

I started doing this a few weeks ago....hardly underlining anything and stopped taking notes. Since then I typically only get a couple wrong whereas before i was missing 5-7. The amount of time you save more than makes up the time it takes to look back at the passage, plus I think it gives you a better understanding of the overall flow of the passage because you aren't constantly stopping/slowing down to take notes and underline.

[Hedwig]

I think I'm taking my last PT on Wednesday, so October 6th. Thursday I might do some random questions, some new games or something. Friday I will take completely off (except for two classes) and watch a movie or something (Legally Blonde duh) and go to bed early. I should throw some exercise onto Friday too. Maybe just a really long dog walk (yeah, not so much exercise, but we do walk pretty damn fast) but I'm not really a regular work out kind of person, so I don't want to do something new before the exam. I'm also too crunched for time (house sitting this week for a dog, and have to take care of MY dog) to add workouts... sooo.

Anyways, that's the plan!

I have a question about the format of the real test. Is it in a booklet thing sort of like the individual released prep tests? And does it have that little table of contents thing (1. Logical Reasoning 2. Reading Comprehension etc) at the beginning of it? Somehow I suspect it might just be in Prep Tests and just wishful thinking that would put it on the real thing, haha.

[Eugenie Danglars]

I have a question about the format of the real test. Is it in a booklet thing sort of like the individual released prep tests? And does it have that little table of contents thing (1. Logical Reasoning 2. Reading Comprehension etc) at the beginning of it? Somehow I suspect it might just be in Prep Tests and just wishful thinking that would put it on the real thing, haha.

They clean it up big time for the PT publishing. On the real thing, you have no idea which sections come when. Also, not everyone in the room will be on the same section at the same time. So if you hear people scribbling frantically while you're on RC, don't panic; they're probably on LG.

[lparker]

Officially out of the 40s. I take PT50 tonight! My last 9 PTs... =) I wish I had more of an idea of what to expect score-wise. I've really been all over the place. I've had everything from a 162 to a 177 and in no specific order... I'm already dreading the wait!

I think I'm taking my last PT on the Tuesday before the test. Then I'll probably just do timed sections, Bible Recap, etc. until Friday, which I'm taking completely off.

[sgtgrumbles]

I'm taking my last test on Wednesday, October 6th. Thursday I'll do a few games, a few LR questions, a couple RC passages. Friday I'm taking off work and taking it very easy. Again, I'll do a few questions of each type, but mostly I'm going to lounge at home, maybe go on a nice long run or bike ride, catch up on The Wire and attend to the books I'm in the middle of that I set aside to study.

[Patriot1208]

So I ended up taking 5 days off because my mom got in a car accident. Not happy about it but I don't think it will be too detrimental. Got back too it and scored a 90/101 raw and 168 scaled on preptest 48. I'm annoyed by my lack of consistency. Last 4 tests have been 172, 170, 167, 168. Really want a 170+ on test day. Here's the breakdown.

LR - 4
LG - 0
RC - 5
LR - 2

[lparker]

So I ended up taking 5 days off because my mom got in a car accident.

Is she okay?

[gdane]

I think I'm taking my last PT on Wednesday, so October 6th. Thursday I might do some random questions, some new games or something. Friday I will take completely off (except for two classes) and watch a movie or something (Legally Blonde duh) and go to bed early. I should throw some exercise onto Friday too. Maybe just a really long dog walk (yeah, not so much exercise, but we do walk pretty damn fast) but I'm not really a regular work out kind of person, so I don't want to do something new before the exam. I'm also too crunched for time (house sitting this week for a dog, and have to take care of MY dog) to add workouts... sooo.

Anyways, that's the plan!

I have a question about the format of the real test. Is it in a booklet thing sort of like the individual released prep tests? And does it have that little table of contents thing (1. Logical Reasoning 2. Reading Comprehension etc) at the beginning of it? Somehow I suspect it might just be in Prep Tests and just wishful thinking that would put it on the real thing, haha.

Relax and take it easy. As Ive said before, youre doing very well on this test and youll be able to handle it with no problem. If youre not a workout person, dont incorporate that into your schedule the day or week before the test. Although, you might want to incorporate that afterwards since working out is good for you.

Also, the real test is printed on that really cheap looking rough feeling gray paper. It has a seal that youre not supposed to break until the proctors tell you to. The sections are scattered. So while youre working on LR, someone else might be working on LG or RC. Its really nothing to be scared of. Its nice!

[jfb]

I'll watch A Beautiful Mind or Good Will Hunting on Friday the 8th. Something that makes me want to go out and be smart as hell

EDIT: not that Legally Blonde wouldn't make me want to go out and be smart as hell

[Patriot1208]

So I ended up taking 5 days off because my mom got in a car accident.

Is she okay?

Ya, pretty bad concussion and a broken arm. Had to stay in a hospital for a couple days to make sure no extra problems from the head trauma.

[Hannibal]

So I ended up taking 5 days off because my mom got in a car accident. Not happy about it but I don't think it will be too detrimental. Got back too it and scored a 90/101 raw and 168 scaled on preptest 48. I'm annoyed by my lack of consistency. Last 4 tests have been 172, 170, 167, 168. Really want a 170+ on test day. Here's the breakdown.

LR - 4
LG - 0
RC - 5
LR - 2

FWIW, 48's curve is dumb.

Hope your mom heals up ok.

[Cromartie]

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.

I'm taking PT 53 tonight after work as well... also, I've been wanting to take the real thing for the past 2 weeks or so. I feel like I've pretty much peaked already and my primary concern is that I might start declining in the 3 weeks or so leading up to the actual test date. I've already noticed that I have become a bit slower with LG and I'm starting to make careless mistakes with LR.

Seeing other applicants getting fee waivers or getting accepted at some of the schools already is a bit distracting, too. Just let me take the test already so I can move on! Hehe.

[kineticx]

I dropped 10 points from a 169 average to two 159s in a row. Frustrated as hell, and now in panic mode. I'm going to skip my Thursday test, and review/study and take it on Saturday. Does this sound reasonable for anyone who's experienced a big drop?

I'm just really hoping that it wasn't because I went from old tests to new tests... I'm also going to try the less annotation approach for RC. I started underlining like crazy thanks to the RC bible, but haven't noticed much improvement. It may have made things worse on average.

[Nulli Secundus]

Since I got that 180 from the dreaded PT 48, I am more hopeful, since I was genuinely worried about that PT cos of the curve and the result kind of proves that when I am worried, my focus (I MUST NOT MAKE A MISTAKE) increases and I do better, this is a good sign for actual test I think [I got 100 raw on PT 48 and my only wrong answer was something I changed at last second from right to wrong )

[Cromartie]

Since yesterday, I've been trolling the GMATclub forum for LR reasoning for extra LR practice. They actually have these threads where people post LR questions and you can click on the answer choices online and it tells you what the credited response is and whether you got the right or wrong answer. Some of the questions there are from LSAT preptests.

I figure extra practice can only be good, especially since I've done every LR questions from all LSAT PT's except for the ones in Superprep B and C (which I will be going over as individual sections in the coming weeks).

You guys might want to check it out, it's pretty neat.

[gdane]

PT 47 today. Started strong, combined -8 on first 2 sections (LR and RC), but ended very weak. On a few tests last week I started weak, but ended strong. So theres no pattern.

Another poster brought up the point that different tests have different difficult LR sections. Whereas the toughest questions on one PT might be assumption and strengthen questions, on another test they might be weaken and paradox questions. Its very clear to me that Im struggling with questions 16-24, regardless of what they are.

Ive also been tinkering around with RC lately and it seems to be working. Ive been quickly scanning the passages at the beginning of the test and doing those with the most questions first. I figure that if Im going to spend 3 or 4 minutes reading and absorbing a passage, I should do so for the passages that have the most questions first. Again, it seems to be working since I havent gotten anything less than 20 correct on the last 3 PT's. We'll see if this continues to provide positive results.

I did well on the games except for one of them. Some light switch game killed me and totally dragged down my LG score. I got all, but 1, incorrect on that game!

In any case Ill go over this test in full detail and see what the hell happened. PT 48 tomorrow.

Good luck to everyone else!

[lawyeah]

Wow. Everyone's posts are so motivating. So how long have all of you been studying for the october lsat? Have you just been studying non stop? Had to juggle a part-time job?

[jfb]

Wow. Everyone's posts are so motivating. So how long have all of you been studying for the october lsat? Have you just been studying non stop? Had to juggle a part-time job?

Been studying pretty consistently since mid June, Juggling a full time job. Before that, studied for about 1.5 months for Feb. 09 test.

[Cromartie]

Wow. Everyone's posts are so motivating. So how long have all of you been studying for the october lsat? Have you just been studying non stop? Had to juggle a part-time job?

Full-time corporate management job for me. I've been studying since June, started out by taking 1 PT every Sunday, starting with PT 39, and 1-3 PT sections (from the 3 10 LSAT books) every night after work, depending on available time and fatigue levels. I've been doing 2 PT's a week (Sunday morning and Wednesday night) for the past 2 weeks or so.

[Hedwig]

PT 46 was today. Somewhat disappointed with the result - just because I feel like I really dropped the ball on the last section and could have done better. 95 raw (down 2 from my last 3 raw scores), 176 scaled. -1LR, -0LG, -1LR, -3RC(!).

LR - I got the second question wrong! Lol. And I debated about picking the right answer, haha. But overall, I was just feeling really slow at the beginning of this, so I'm pleased with a -1 (should have been a -0 though!).

LG - I'm loving these 40's and 50's games, but I'm scared they're going to get harder. I found the first two REALLY easy again, so I had lots of time for the second two.

LR - Again, missed an easy one, number 6. Will have to analyze this later, but weird that both of my LR misses came on "easier" questions.

RC - I was tired. Plain and simple. Two of the mistakes came on the last passage. The other one, I don't think I read all the answers properly. Then I read an answer choice improperly (thought it said ONLY when it didn't), and the other just confused me.

On the plus side, I only got about 6 1/2 hours or so of sleep last night, so at least I didn't dip down horribly, and I was able to finish the test even when during that first LR I was like... whhhat.

[northwood]

G dane and everyone else Keep up the great work. We're on the way to october domination and entrance plus benefits to the schools of our dreams!!!

Dane: that light switch game is confusing. WHen i went back over it the second time, one key refernece that was in the stimulus was that the number of switches on = the number on.

ex, if 2 switches are on, 2 has to be on
if 4 switches are on, 4 has to be on, and three others can be on

It took me a good 5 passes back through the test to figure that out. once you do, it makes the game go very easy



lawyeah: most of us had to juggle work and school around studying. its not that bad, i work 8-6 mon- sat, and plug in from 8-11 mon- sat for study. I take a prepper every sunday at 8, plus thursday after work

[silly101]

seeing my LR score go down over the past few PTs
ive heard that LR tends to change over the years

ive been mixing old and new LR- old for practice on off days, and new obviously during PTs
should i stop mixing

so frustrating!