On Track for the June 2010 LSAT -- Refractory Period Forum

[honestabe84]

PS, does anyone have explanations for PT's 57-59? I have explanations for every other PT except these. Thanks a lot.

Where in the world have you been getting explanations? I could have really used that.

[Knock]

PS, does anyone have explanations for PT's 57-59? I have explanations for every other PT except these. Thanks a lot.

Where in the world have you been getting explanations? I could have really used that.

Still want them? someone donated them to me when I first started studying

[honestabe84]

PS, does anyone have explanations for PT's 57-59? I have explanations for every other PT except these. Thanks a lot.

Where in the world have you been getting explanations? I could have really used that.

Still want them? someone donated them to me when I first started studying

Thanks for the offer, but the only test I would need them for (the only one I have left is 59). What company are they from out of curiosity? Have they been a pretty big help to you?

[KingJames6]

That was an incredibly helpful post, I appreciate the time spent to help younger TLS-ers. The method you set out, gave 24 prep tests to be taken in testlike conditions. How did you take 50 this way? Which did you re-take? How did your plan work out differently than the one you set out in the above post?

Also, is this an open offer? lol Because, I'd be all over any help I can get for this test prep....

PS, does anyone have explanations for PT's 57-59? I have explanations for every other PT except these. Thanks a lot.

Where in the world have you been getting explanations? I could have really used that.

Still want them? someone donated them to me when I first started studying

[Knock]

That was an incredibly helpful post, I appreciate the time spent to help younger TLS-ers. The method you set out, gave 24 prep tests to be taken in testlike conditions. How did you take 50 this way? Which did you re-take? How did your plan work out differently than the one you set out in the above post?

Also, is this an open offer? lol Because, I'd be all over any help I can get for this test prep....

PS, does anyone have explanations for PT's 57-59? I have explanations for every other PT except these. Thanks a lot.

Where in the world have you been getting explanations? I could have really used that.

Still want them? someone donated them to me when I first started studying

Yup open offer. I'll do my best to help anyone and everyone, within reason. I'll probably just make my own write up when i'm done with the LSAT and finals and submit it to the TLS content competition.

For my count of 51 PT's, i'm counting in terms of actual PT's, that is the 4 sections that make up a PT. So I sit down for 4 study sessions, and end up completing 5 tests (the 4 PT's, and the 4 experimental sections).

I had to figure all that I posted out as I was doing it, so I was definitely more inefficient. I used 29-38 to learn LR, and 19-38 to learn LG. So I re-saw some material when I was taking those tests, but it was a couple of months later, and while it did definitely give me a bit of boost, I still got something of value out of the material, although not as much as if I hadn't seen any of the material previously.

[KingJames6]

Ohhh gotcha. does that mean some of them weren't timed? or you did the untimed earlier and then the ones recorded were retests months later and those were all timed?

also, how far in advance did you start studying? did you use only the bibles and PTs to learn the material?

Finally, whats the content competition?

You've seriously been a huge help thanks a lot

[Knock]

Ohhh gotcha. does that mean some of them weren't timed? or you did the untimed earlier and then the ones recorded were retests months later and those were all timed?

also, how far in advance did you start studying? did you use only the bibles and PTs to learn the material?

Finally, whats the content competition?

You've seriously been a huge help thanks a lot

When I did them originally I did them untimed, by question type. So I didn't sit down and do a LR section from test 19, but rather one day I would sit down and do all the assumption (or strengthen, weaken, etc.) questions from PT's 29-38.

Then I retested them months later timed and those are what is recorded.

I started studying 4 months and few days in advance, around January 29/30th, with at least a couple weeks where I didn't touch the LSAT for finals/beginning of spring break.

If I did it again, I would probably start a little bit earlier. I averaged probably 5 PT's a week once I started getting into it at the end of March/beginning of February. I would've preferred doing 3-4 a week instead over a longer period. It wasn't really possible for me though, due to school/extracurricular factors.

Yeah, I only used the Bibles + PT's. I tried reading some of the books recommended but didn't get far, didn't think it was useful. I also signed up for a Powerscore class, but stopped attending after the 2nd session (definitely a huge waste of money, at least for me, and I really regret blowing $1,000 on the online class; but it wasn't a good use of my time; I had to make the tough decision, and in the end I did what I thought would get me the best score). I also used test explanations from a particular company. Oh ya, I also used LSAC SuperPrep, which is 3 PT's with explanations and difficulty ratings for each question and answer choice.

The content competition is a TLS competition where people write guides, such as an LSAT study guide, or law school admissions guides, or anything really, and the winners receive cash prizes and probably will get features somewhere on the website. Look for the sticky somewhere; actually I think there's a forum dedicated to it at the bottom of the top group.

Edit: Also, on the study guide I posted earlier, I forgot about the June 2007 free PT available from LSAC, and the SuperPrep tests (3 of them, A, B, and C). So that's 4 more PT's available to take, which also helped me reach my current total of 51.

[Knock]

Took PT 38 today, with PT 11.2 as 1st experimental section, went -5 LR (WTF, felt so brain dead and burntout here) -1 LR -1 LG -1 RC -0 LR for 97 raw 179 scaled.

Felt really burnout today, and thought this would end up being one of my worst ever PT's. I was about ready to just be done studying until Monday.

Have to get to class now though, i'll post more later.

[thestalkmore]

Knock, I'd really like those explanations if you still have them!

[wjun15]

i need explanations for 58 to 59 ... i dont think kaplan has released them though.

[spark1330]

Knock, I'd really like those explanations if you still have them!

+1 please.........Thanks in advance!

[Knock]

Knock, I'd really like those explanations if you still have them!

+1 please.........Thanks in advance!

Responded to your pm. Sorry if it sometimes takes me a day or two to respond to PM's. I'm pretty busy with studying, school, and GF, so I hope you guys understand .

[spark1330]

Knock, I'd really like those explanations if you still have them!

+1 please.........Thanks in advance!

Responded to your pm. Sorry if it sometimes takes me a day or two to respond to PM's. I'm pretty busy with studying, school, and GF, so I hope you guys understand .

Don't be sorry... I'm the one that's bothering you . Thank you so much for all your help!!!

[luxxe]

Knock, I'd really like those explanations if you still have them!

+1 please.........Thanks in advance!

i would also really appreciate them - no rush, of course! thank you so much!!

[Knock]

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Alright guys, just for fun, here is a pencil review. If you're like me, you aren't a huge fan of regular pencils. Surprisingly enough, i've actually been having a lot of trouble with pencils. I usually have to sharpen at least a couple of pencils completely down in order to finish a PT, because a lot of times the lead breaks (while i'm sharpening it). So I bought 4 different kinds of pencils to test out.

I'll evaluable them on:
Feel- how they feel in the hand
Writing- how they write
Durability/Finickiness- lasts a while or do you need to sharpen it a lot
Sharpening- can you actually sharpen them or does the lead always break, etc.

Here is how i'll refer to the pencils: from top to bottom Staples, Renew, Tri-Conderoga, and Tri-Write; I'll rate them from 1-5, with 3 being average, 1 being horrible, and 5 being great.

Tri-Write:
Feel- 2; feels kind of plasticky and weird; triangular shape is okay; not super slick or slippery
Writing- 3; pretty average
Durability/Finickiness- 4; once I got it sharpened, the point stayed for a long time
Sharpening- 1; absolutely horrible to sharpen; squeeks like MAD! kind of awkward and annoying when i'm squeakily sharpening my pencil on quiet study floor of the library the week before finals; this one was the hardest to sharpen, I can't emphasize what a pain in the ass this was to sharpen; it was hard to turn and hard to get it to a point

Tri-Conderoga:
Feel- 5; best feeling pencil out of the bunch; nice and big so it was easy to grasp, triangular was a little funky and weird to get used to but overall felt good, and the material on the outside of the pencil is great, felt much much slippery than any other pencil
Writing- 4; good at what it does, definitely boosted here too by its feel
D/F- 3; lasted an okay amount of time; it was hard to get this pencil into a worthwihle point, so I had to sharpen it more than should be necessary, hurting it a bit here
Sharpening- 1.5; could not for the life of me get this into a good point; it's so fat and triangular shaped so it sharpens weird, and the lead breaks a ton so you just have to keep sharpening

Renew:
Feel- 2; felt okay in the hand, a bit slippery
Writing- 1; had to drop this pencil after a minute or two into my LG section; it just does not write well at all, and only makes pretty light and "dull" marks
D/F- N/A; didn't make it long enough to evaluate it on this category
Sharpening- 2; a bit difficult to sharpen, especially since it was pretty slippery; it would be a 1, but what saved it was the lead didn't break a million times, and I could actually sharpen it to a decent point without taking a million ties/broken leads

Staples #2:
Feel- 3; feels pretty solid, that classic feel; kind of small and when my hand got sweaty it was a little slippery
Writing- 4; wrote pretty well, above average
D/F- 4; lasted a while once I got it sharpened
Sharpening- 3; I had trouble sharpening all the pencils, but this pencil gave me the least trouble, and I was actually able to sharpen it, although I ended up having to sharpen it a lot because the lead kept breaking while I was sharpening

Overall this was my favorite pencil. It is just that classic simple pencil. I'm going to try and get at least a couple more to try before test day, because I haven't found the one that felt just right yet. What i'm probably going to do though, due to my sharpening troubles, is just get a box of 24 pencils or one of those fairly big ones and just sharpen them all on an electric sharpener, and then just bring them all pre-sharpened with me (along with a sharpener for back up), so I won't have to deal with that.

Hope this helped.
and yes, I am aware that it is very sad, lame, and pathetic that I just did a pencil review

[zworykin]

I bought a box of 24 basic #2 pencils at Target for like $1.50 or something. $2 maybe? I go through a whole PT (minus the writing sample, anyway)--diagrams, bubbling, everything--without having to resharpen my pencil more than two or three times. Maybe these are just great pencils, maybe I'm just more gentle with them, I don't know. But I'd whole-heartedly recommend them, if someone doesn't have their pencil situation nailed down yet.

(hahaha)

[Confused&Pissed]

Someone has [strike]cabin[/strike] LSAT fever I use the black one, but the lead is always like lopsided. You might be lame for making the post, but I'm even more lame seems how I'm gonna go buy the Staples pencils and try them out.


please tell me why I sound like a valley girl in this post, ugg gag me with a spoon

[Knock]

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Updated my google calendar. What do you guys think about this schedule?

[bk1]

I think one of your Mondays is missing a "Drink Heavily."

[maxm2764]

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Alright guys, just for fun, here is a pencil review. If you're like me, you aren't a huge fan of regular pencils. Surprisingly enough, i've actually been having a lot of trouble with pencils. I usually have to sharpen at least a couple of pencils completely down in order to finish a PT, because a lot of times the lead breaks (while i'm sharpening it). So I bought 4 different kinds of pencils to test out.

I'll evaluable them on:
Feel- how they feel in the hand
Writing- how they write
Durability/Finickiness- lasts a while or do you need to sharpen it a lot
Sharpening- can you actually sharpen them or does the lead always break, etc.

Here is how i'll refer to the pencils: from top to bottom Staples, Renew, Tri-Conderoga, and Tri-Write; I'll rate them from 1-5, with 3 being average, 1 being horrible, and 5 being great.

Tri-Write:
Feel- 2; feels kind of plasticky and weird; triangular shape is okay; not super slick or slippery
Writing- 3; pretty average
Durability/Finickiness- 4; once I got it sharpened, the point stayed for a long time
Sharpening- 1; absolutely horrible to sharpen; squeeks like MAD! kind of awkward and annoying when i'm squeakily sharpening my pencil on quiet study floor of the library the week before finals; this one was the hardest to sharpen, I can't emphasize what a pain in the ass this was to sharpen; it was hard to turn and hard to get it to a point

Tri-Conderoga:
Feel- 5; best feeling pencil out of the bunch; nice and big so it was easy to grasp, triangular was a little funky and weird to get used to but overall felt good, and the material on the outside of the pencil is great, felt much much slippery than any other pencil
Writing- 4; good at what it does, definitely boosted here too by its feel
D/F- 3; lasted an okay amount of time; it was hard to get this pencil into a worthwihle point, so I had to sharpen it more than should be necessary, hurting it a bit here
Sharpening- 1.5; could not for the life of me get this into a good point; it's so fat and triangular shaped so it sharpens weird, and the lead breaks a ton so you just have to keep sharpening

Renew:
Feel- 2; felt okay in the hand, a bit slippery
Writing- 1; had to drop this pencil after a minute or two into my LG section; it just does not write well at all, and only makes pretty light and "dull" marks
D/F- N/A; didn't make it long enough to evaluate it on this category
Sharpening- 2; a bit difficult to sharpen, especially since it was pretty slippery; it would be a 1, but what saved it was the lead didn't break a million times, and I could actually sharpen it to a decent point without taking a million ties/broken leads

Staples #2:
Feel- 3; feels pretty solid, that classic feel; kind of small and when my hand got sweaty it was a little slippery
Writing- 4; wrote pretty well, above average
D/F- 4; lasted a while once I got it sharpened
Sharpening- 3; I had trouble sharpening all the pencils, but this pencil gave me the least trouble, and I was actually able to sharpen it, although I ended up having to sharpen it a lot because the lead kept breaking while I was sharpening

Overall this was my favorite pencil. It is just that classic simple pencil. I'm going to try and get at least a couple more to try before test day, because I haven't found the one that felt just right yet. What i'm probably going to do though, due to my sharpening troubles, is just get a box of 24 pencils or one of those fairly big ones and just sharpen them all on an electric sharpener, and then just bring them all pre-sharpened with me (along with a sharpener for back up), so I won't have to deal with that.

Hope this helped.
and yes, I am aware that it is very sad, lame, and pathetic that I just did a pencil review

Haha, I think that it's time we all get this test over with. It's sad that I found a study on pencils mildly informative and relevant.

[jpSartre]

You should just bring 15 pencils so you don't have to sharpen at all. That's what I'm doin.

[Knock]

You should just bring 15 pencils so you don't have to sharpen at all. That's what I'm doin.

Yeah good plan. That's probably what i'm going to end up doing.

[honestabe84]

You should just bring 15 pencils so you don't have to sharpen at all. That's what I'm doin.

15 pencils?! You must really press down hard when you bubble.

I'm bring five, and I think I'll only need two - One new pencil for after LG (or before LG if it's toward the end of the section).

[NonTradHealthLaw]

Not to open a can of worms (okay, maybe that's a bit of my macabre point). Have you also evaluated the erasability of said pencils - whether the nub on the end is suitably sufficient to eliminate 95% of the marks its nib makes?

No matter how avaialble I my huge pink eraser (not a euphemism), I tend to always return the the pencil's end.

....just food for thought and one more thing upon which to obsess.

[KingJames6]

Knock, I'd really like those explanations if you still have them!

+1 please.........Thanks in advance!

i would also really appreciate them - no rush, of course! thank you so much!!

+2 thanks dude!