The Official December 2014 Study Group Forum

[msp8]

Thanks for the advice, nlee and Dirigo.

This week's schedule:

Tuesday - finishing Manhattan RC; 100 pgs Manhattan LR
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - back to PTs. Each day do a PT, and do a thorough blind review, then a thorough review.

Will also be getting the packets from Cambridge and commence drilling after this, after getting an update on where my weaknesses are.

Good luck!

While I'm responding....is the Manhattan RC a good read? I'll be starting a prep course soon with their own RC approach but I reckon giving Manhattan RC will give me a broadened approach to RC.

I like Manhattan more than PS for RC, certainly.

I don't think it's a must-read, however.

[splittingheadache]

Dirigo and nlee10, right now when I see like 5 slot games or even 4 slot games (usually are complex ordering) I don't even label 1-5 or 1-4 anymore, I really should be more meticulous but those 6, 7+ slot games are so annoying. I also get annoyed when my slots are not exactly the same width and distance apart, but that's just me being an idiot.

Do you remember some of the sequencing rules that are something like: M is played the day after the day on which R is played. EVERY TIME I'm just wondering WHY CANNOT YOU JUST SAY: M is played immediately after R?

Also stuff I'm doing now is I'm looking at those "which of the following can be a complete and accurate list" questions and I'm eliminating and then I realize why do four of them all work as a complete and accurate list? Why cannot I find violations of rules in the other 4. I redo it like 10 times. Spend 5 minutes trying them out only to reread the question stem and suddenly now it says, "which of the following CANNOT be a complete and accurate list," and then I realize the one I crossed out was the answer all along.



Drill on.

[peetesLA]

I'm new to this website. I went back to school to get my undergrad 5 years ago and now am finishing up at the age of 36. I want to apply to law school just to see how good of a school I can get into. I don't think I would go unless I can get into top 14.

I started studying for LSAT about 6 weeks ago - 10 hours/week at the most (working full time and going to school, etc.) I got a 157 on first test before studying at all, then studied for a week and got 170 on my second test. Since then I've taken 7-8 tests with all scores in the 170-174 range. The games are killing me. Last test I had -1 on all three sections except games but -5 on games.

I've been studying with LG Bible for games and logical reasoning - finished the games book and am halfway through reasoning.

I wish I had started studying sooner so I could have taken test in September and applied early. I feel like there's an outside chance I can get to the high 170s or even 180. Any advice?

[nlee10]

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[nlee10]

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[Rigo]

[splittingheadache]

I'm new to this website. I went back to school to get my undergrad 5 years ago and now am finishing up at the age of 36. I want to apply to law school just to see how good of a school I can get into. I don't think I would go unless I can get into top 14.

I started studying for LSAT about 6 weeks ago - 10 hours/week at the most (working full time and going to school, etc.) I got a 157 on first test before studying at all, then studied for a week and got 170 on my second test. Since then I've taken 7-8 tests with all scores in the 170-174 range. The games are killing me. Last test I had -1 on all three sections except games but -5 on games.

I've been studying with LG Bible for games and logical reasoning - finished the games book and am halfway through reasoning.

I wish I had started studying sooner so I could have taken test in September and applied early. I feel like there's an outside chance I can get to the high 170s or even 180. Any advice?

You are seriously amazing. Love the motivation.
How averse are you to waiting a cycle? I say this because you seriously have potential to get 175+ on the actual exam if you just put in some more time to it. Your score might not be !!! this cycle if you apply late, but it could mean !!! and a less stressful cycle for 2015-2016.

PS and MH for LG, you don't have to read both, for some games each book has different ways of approaching/diagramming certain situations but both are solid choices. Like Dirigo said, Cambridge for drilling. You have to drill. There is no way around it. After each game, 7sage. Drill the first time around for accuracy, don't care too much about the time. Then keep drilling to bring the time down. There are certain techniques in LG that you just have to do over and over again and are tested over and over again. Thus, you have to have done every single published LG available. Keep notes on which games cause you the most trouble, what type of questions are the hardest. Print MANY copies of these games and redo them. 2.5 months is doable.

You owe it to yourself and your progress in LR and RC (-1 in LR and RC is something many of us dreaming of right now) to make sure LG is -0.

[Rigo]

[zxbn579]

Do you feel that it could possibly be quite frustrating to work with their diagramming after being so familiar with your own diagramming style or with the diagramming techniques of PS and MH or even 7sage? Perhaps the first big portion of the book that is instructional could be just skipped and one could just work on the last 14 games?

Anyway, so what I'm trying to say is that I know that when I focus on RC and LR, my LG will not be as sharp as before but the fundamentals should be there and I wanted to use Ace It near the exam to just tie things together. It also has that 14 LG section at the end of the book that are some of the hardest LG apparently so, I wanted to save that until near exam-time. PS and MH and Cambridge really helped me get down to -0, I hope Ace It keeps me at -0 for the test day.

Did you read through powerscore or manhattan or just use 7sage for each question? You know the thing I feel like I really do need to brush up on is the rule equivalent/substitution question. They take me forever and I never have perfect accuracy.

I think that's a great idea: to use Ace It towards the end of our prep. I'll make sure to browse through it in the next few weeks. Just like you, I am very sensitive to the aesthetics of a book, and it did seem that this one is incredibly dense and stupidly mechanical, but can definitely be helpful in its own way. LG is my worst section by far though, so I was anxious to make sure I have enough materials to prepare so I just got it on Amazon's recommendation. I do have the PS Bible and the Trainer, and found the Trainer more accessible. That's amazing that you have LG down to -0. Can't wait to get there (if at all). I also use 7sage and love it. Do you think Manhattan and the Cambridge packets will help?

[Rigo]

[Rigo]

[zxbn579]

PT 36. Just got -0 on the LG section in 28 minutes without doing these games before.
It's successes like this that make up for the trials and tribulations.
Note to newcomers:
DRILLING DOES WORK!!!

Wow that's amazing Dirigo, you'll be my inspiration!

[ilikebaseball]

PT 36. Just got -0 on the LG section in 28 minutes without doing these games before.
It's successes like this that make up for the trials and tribulations.
Note to newcomers:
DRILLING DOES WORK!!!

Hey guys. I'm takin it in 10 days, but I'm gonna tell you what helped me EXPONENTIALLY, and I didn't really figure it out til late in the process. So, maybe itll help some of you guys too

Dril, drill drill, at this point. Then, in the middle of October, you should order the "Most Difficult" packets from Cambridge. For all 3 sections. Time yourself with these difficult questions as if they were normal. It trains your mind to read every word and comprehend everything the first time. Do 2 passages at a time, 2 games, and 15 LR questions. Every LR and RC you miss, check the manhattan forums (free) and every LG game you have trouble with, watch 7sage (also free). Its simply the most economic way to get better.

You'll begin to realize that there is a pattern. Especially with LR. You'll read the stimulus, and read an answer choice that seems SO out of this world that it cant be right. So the first several times, you'll miss these. But then, as you get better, you'll realize that these AC's are so crazy in these tough questions that the out of the world choice is usually the right one. Trust me. Do these packets, and then take a PT. Makes it feel like cake. These hard questions are meant to separate people in the 170's from the 160's. But, if you recognize the patterns, then you dont get bewildered when they come up. Its the cheapest way to prep, and it helped me gain so many points.

Anyway, take that advice for what its worth. I just wish I had done it earlier in the process, cuz now I'm sorta in scramble mode.
Good luck

Edit: FWIW, before I bought these packets, I was averaging 164 and thought I had peaked. Hadn't gained in about 6 weeks. About 15 days later, after I finished all of those packets, I'm at 169 right now (need one more for my goal, which I've gotten several times, but not enough to where I'm comfortable yet.) Not trying to advertise for any company or anything. Truly am just trying to help. Haven't heard one person that it hasn't benefited yet. Do it as early as you can

[splittingheadache]

PT 36. Just got -0 on the LG section in 28 minutes without doing these games before.
It's successes like this that make up for the trials and tribulations.
Note to newcomers:
DRILLING DOES WORK!!!

OMG, that's amazinggggggggggg. Major congrats!

[Rigo]

[Rigo]

[Rigo]

[JDman]

So I thought I would post my tentative PT schedule.
I may shift the dates a bit, but I definitely want to do all of these before December 6th.

PT 41 - September 20
PT 42 - September 24
PT 43 - September 27
PT 44 - October 1
PT 45 - October 4
PT 46 - October 8
PT 47 - October 11
PT 48 - October 15
PT 49 - October 18
PT 50 - October 22
PT 51.5 - October 25
PT 55 - October 28
PT 56 - October 30
PT 57 - November 1
PT 58 - November 4
PT 61 - November 6
PT 62 - November 8
PT 63 - November 11
PT 64 - November 13
PT 65 - November 15
PT 66 - November 18
PT 67 - November 20
PT 68 - November 22
PT 69 - November 25
PT 70 - November 27
PT 71 - November 29
PT 72 - December 2
PT 73 - December 4
TEST DAY!!! - December 6th

Where do I find these PT's? What material and drills are you referring to? All this PT talk is confusing.

[ilikebaseball]

So I thought I would post my tentative PT schedule.
I may shift the dates a bit, but I definitely want to do all of these before December 6th.

PT 41 - September 20
PT 42 - September 24
PT 43 - September 27
PT 44 - October 1
PT 45 - October 4
PT 46 - October 8
PT 47 - October 11
PT 48 - October 15
PT 49 - October 18
PT 50 - October 22
PT 51.5 - October 25
PT 55 - October 28
PT 56 - October 30
PT 57 - November 1
PT 58 - November 4
PT 61 - November 6
PT 62 - November 8
PT 63 - November 11
PT 64 - November 13
PT 65 - November 15
PT 66 - November 18
PT 67 - November 20
PT 68 - November 22
PT 69 - November 25
PT 70 - November 27
PT 71 - November 29
PT 72 - December 2
PT 73 - December 4
TEST DAY!!! - December 6th

Where do I find these PT's? What material and drills are you referring to? All this PT talk is confusing.

LSAT practice (prep) tests. Buy them off amazon, cambridge or really anywhere. The numbers refer to what number the PT is. The first LSAT ever is PT 1, and the one last June was PT 72. The one in 10 days will be PT 73

[Rigo]

[splittingheadache]

PT 36. Just got -0 on the LG section in 28 minutes without doing these games before.
It's successes like this that make up for the trials and tribulations.
Note to newcomers:
DRILLING DOES WORK!!!

OMG, that's amazinggggggggggg. Major congrats!

Thank you! I've liked the thoughtful advice you've given others so far on TLS. You're a great addition to this group! When this thread explodes in after the 27th, we'll have to remind everyone who the real OG's are haha

As a recovering narcissist, this is setting back my progress.




Seriously, thank you! I really appreciate all the help you are giving others as well, there is still a long way for me to go before I reach my target score. I thought I'd just get ignored at best by TLS, or get totally yelled at for being incompetent, this is surprisingly a really helpful and supportive study group.

[splittingheadache]

BTW, Dirigo can you please explain something about the lower amount of students taking the recent LSAT administrations that you mentioned earlier?

Does it mean relatively lower numbers of really high (175+) scores, meaning that law schools will really want to take high scorers more, and gives a better shot for us splitters? Would it also mean potentially higher scholarship values more solely based on high LSAT scores, like splitter v. same lsat but at median GPA?

I've heard this has been going on for a cycle or two now, since I'm planning to apply next cycle, do you think this will continue?

[MEAhrnsbrak]

PT 36. Just got -0 on the LG section in 28 minutes without doing these games before.
It's successes like this that make up for the trials and tribulations.
Note to newcomers:
DRILLING DOES WORK!!!

Congrats! That's awesome!!!

[Rigo]

[Lacoste]

For LG, I've been watching Odyessy's video explanations. I really like the way he explains the games. Check it out and register so you can have free access until February 2015. Check out the thread:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=233429