The Official December 2015 Study Group Forum

PatriotP74 · Post by **PatriotP74** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 11:55 pm

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Mint-Berry_Crunch · Post by **Mint-Berry_Crunch** » Mon Nov 23, 2015 11:58 pm

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Mint-Berry_Crunch · Post by **Mint-Berry_Crunch** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 12:02 am

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appind · Post by **appind** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 12:06 am

Thelaw23 wrote:
I left 70+ tests for these final two weeks before the real thing. Are the most recent tests really out of the ballpark in their LR difficulty that it could ruin my confidence before the test, you think? LR is sort of my forte.

If yeah I think I should take 76/75 now and build up my confidence before the test...

i think the lr has changed a bit and become more subtle so it can help to take recent tests earlier. i haven't done all 70s lr, but 76 has a few different questions and can be worthwhile to take.

gamerish · Post by **gamerish** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 12:10 am

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roshan07 · Post by **roshan07** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 12:24 am

so is the poll asking us for our realistic target schools?

PatriotP74 · Post by **PatriotP74** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 12:33 am

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letsplayball · Post by **letsplayball** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 12:36 am

why are pt 70+ so hard???? this is kinda killin my confidence i was scoring 173+ but been scorindg167/168/169 on the most recent tests.

slizerd · Post by **slizerd** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 12:46 am

I got a huge package in the mail from Yale today. Not applying, but keeping the info packet forever. They thought of me/wanted my application money <3

roshan07 · Post by **roshan07** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 12:58 am

slizerd wrote:I got a huge package in the mail from Yale today. Not applying, but keeping the info packet forever. They thought of me/wanted my application money <3

that's awesome. what was in it?!

Mint-Berry_Crunch · Post by **Mint-Berry_Crunch** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 1:04 am

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gamerish · Post by **gamerish** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 1:07 am

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khe · Post by **khe** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 4:07 am

kylemolodets wrote:
khe wrote:Newcomer.

What exactly is a blind review?
After taking your test, you review and answer questions that you were iffy about but this time with no time constraint. It lets you know if timing is an issue or understanding is an issue.

dellara wrote:the guilt that is felt after doing nothing lsat related in a given amount of time is SO REAL
Didn't do ANYTHING for the last two days, I feel ya

Thank you!

khe · Post by **khe** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 4:13 am

I've been a lurker for some time now

. For those of you who've seen jumps in your scores since your first PT, aside from drilling problems, what other study methods have you seen succes with? What materials do you use to study (Powerscore, Manhattan, Cambridge etc)? I completed the TestMasters course and jumped 11 points but I'm looking to do even better. Drilling hasn't been beneficial to me lately, and I feel as if I need a better understanding of the concepts before I can be successful at drilling, so I want to get a fresh take by studying some new material. Any helpful tips are welcome!

WorthlessDegree · Post by **WorthlessDegree** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 7:33 am

khe wrote:I've been a lurker for some time now . For those of you who've seen jumps in your scores since your first PT, aside from drilling problems, what other study methods have you seen succes with? What materials do you use to study (Powerscore, Manhattan, Cambridge etc)? I completed the TestMasters course and jumped 11 points but I'm looking to do even better. Drilling hasn't been beneficial to me lately, and I feel as if I need a better understanding of the concepts before I can be successful at drilling, so I want to get a fresh take by studying some new material. Any helpful tips are welcome!

What helped me was using the Cambridge bundles and drilling by type. So, I'd do 1 or 2 logic games, then see the correct answers, and then figure out WHY I got them wrong. Like, you should be able to explain to someone else why you were wrong and how to get it right.

slizerd · Post by **slizerd** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 8:52 am

gamerish wrote:
roshan07 wrote:
slizerd wrote:I got a huge package in the mail from Yale today. Not applying, but keeping the info packet forever. They thought of me/wanted my application money <3
that's awesome. what was in it?!
A letter saying how they're not out to get your application money (I'm not kidding), a viewbook, and some financial information.

I don't know if slizerd is URM or LGBTQ but there's info about those as well (in mine at least).

Yep, gamerish summed it up pretty well! Lots of talk about how I have a stronger chance than I think because of their holistic application process and how there's space for me in their positive community!

Also - not a URM or lgbtq but also received that info

khe · Post by **khe** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 11:19 am

WorthlessDegree wrote:
khe wrote:I've been a lurker for some time now . For those of you who've seen jumps in your scores since your first PT, aside from drilling problems, what other study methods have you seen succes with? What materials do you use to study (Powerscore, Manhattan, Cambridge etc)? I completed the TestMasters course and jumped 11 points but I'm looking to do even better. Drilling hasn't been beneficial to me lately, and I feel as if I need a better understanding of the concepts before I can be successful at drilling, so I want to get a fresh take by studying some new material. Any helpful tips are welcome!

What helped me was using the Cambridge bundles and drilling by type. So, I'd do 1 or 2 logic games, then see the correct answers, and then figure out WHY I got them wrong. Like, you should be able to explain to someone else why you were wrong and how to get it right.

Thanks for the tip! I'm not familiar with Cambridge study materials. Can you tell me a little more about them? Do the Cambridge bundles separate them by type?

forum_user · Post by **forum_user** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 11:27 am

Took PT 70 last night

LR1: -3
RC: -3
LG: -1
LR2: -5
170

I've come to the conclusion that this is what I can realistically hope for on test day--LR on the newer tests just eludes me, especially when it comes as the final section. Tried the working backwards method once again and it didn't seem to offer much improvement--perhaps I was just seeing a slight bump from doing something new.
I'm trying to put this in perspective (still above the 90th percentile overall, and above/at 75th percentile for several T14), but I can't help being a little disappointed when I was hitting 174+ on some old PTs a couple weeks ago.
Here's hoping for a generous curve?

WorthlessDegree · Post by **WorthlessDegree** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 11:51 am

khe wrote:
WorthlessDegree wrote:
khe wrote:I've been a lurker for some time now . For those of you who've seen jumps in your scores since your first PT, aside from drilling problems, what other study methods have you seen succes with? What materials do you use to study (Powerscore, Manhattan, Cambridge etc)? I completed the TestMasters course and jumped 11 points but I'm looking to do even better. Drilling hasn't been beneficial to me lately, and I feel as if I need a better understanding of the concepts before I can be successful at drilling, so I want to get a fresh take by studying some new material. Any helpful tips are welcome!

What helped me was using the Cambridge bundles and drilling by type. So, I'd do 1 or 2 logic games, then see the correct answers, and then figure out WHY I got them wrong. Like, you should be able to explain to someone else why you were wrong and how to get it right.
Thanks for the tip! I'm not familiar with Cambridge study materials. Can you tell me a little more about them? Do the Cambridge bundles separate them by type?

Yup! The first half of all PT's are divided into question types, and the later ones are sold in their entirety. For me, it's the best investment for the LSAT I could have made.

gamerish · Post by **gamerish** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 1:13 pm

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Mint-Berry_Crunch · Post by **Mint-Berry_Crunch** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 2:18 pm

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flash21 · Post by **flash21** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 2:31 pm

Mint-Berry_Crunch wrote:
forum_user wrote:Took PT 70 last night

LR1: -3
RC: -3
LG: -1
LR2: -5
170

I've come to the conclusion that this is what I can realistically hope for on test day--LR on the newer tests just eludes me, especially when it comes as the final section. Tried the working backwards method once again and it didn't seem to offer much improvement--perhaps I was just seeing a slight bump from doing something new.
I'm trying to put this in perspective (still above the 90th percentile overall, and above/at 75th percentile for several T14), but I can't help being a little disappointed when I was hitting 174+ on some old PTs a couple weeks ago.
Here's hoping for a generous curve?
For the newer LR, ive found that its really important to make sure you really get whats going on in the argument before hitting the questions. Not so much a straight anticipation, but a good overall grasp of the question. for the older LR, i''ve notices that ill scan for keywords in the AC and pick based off that and itll work out fine, for the newer LR this doesn't work as well. I also think theres a little more nuance and subtly, so its a little more important to realize why things are wrong and to make sure that you scan the remaining answer choices. just a couple things ive noticed with the newer questions. its not necessarily that theyre harder, theyre just a little different.

I agree. I am blind reviewing 73 right now and am realizing a lot of stimulus for various types of questions are either convoluted or do not have obvious flaws so you need to cut through all of the bullshit language and get yourself a solid idea of the core of the argument. If you go straight from the stim to the answers you'll likely find yourself picking between two seemingly indistinguishable AC's.

amta · Post by **amta** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 2:53 pm

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forum_user · Post by **forum_user** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 3:02 pm

Mint-Berry_Crunch wrote:
forum_user wrote:Took PT 70 last night

LR1: -3
RC: -3
LG: -1
LR2: -5
170

I've come to the conclusion that this is what I can realistically hope for on test day--LR on the newer tests just eludes me, especially when it comes as the final section. Tried the working backwards method once again and it didn't seem to offer much improvement--perhaps I was just seeing a slight bump from doing something new.
I'm trying to put this in perspective (still above the 90th percentile overall, and above/at 75th percentile for several T14), but I can't help being a little disappointed when I was hitting 174+ on some old PTs a couple weeks ago.
Here's hoping for a generous curve?
For the newer LR, ive found that its really important to make sure you really get whats going on in the argument before hitting the questions. Not so much a straight anticipation, but a good overall grasp of the question. for the older LR, i''ve notices that ill scan for keywords in the AC and pick based off that and itll work out fine, for the newer LR this doesn't work as well. I also think theres a little more nuance and subtly, so its a little more important to realize why things are wrong and to make sure that you scan the remaining answer choices. just a couple things ive noticed with the newer questions. its not necessarily that theyre harder, theyre just a little different.

This does seem to be my problem--whereas in the past my prediction was usually neatly represented in one of the ACs, for more recent questions I'll find two ACs that look like my prediction, so I'll essentially have to do the question all over again. Ultimately I think it does come down to more nuance, which forces you to work even more efficiently under the time constraints. I guess sometimes I'll narrow it down to two and then fall into a trap, or not think carefully enough, pick something and move on. Vigilance. Constant vigilance.

davey jones · Post by **davey jones** » Tue Nov 24, 2015 3:06 pm

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