OCTOBER 2011 RETAKERS THREAD Forum

[gavinstevens]

Thats awesome.How much time did you put down to finish MRC ?

It's about 170 pages, so you can get through it in two days if you're in a hurry. Five days would probably be the right amount of time to read through it and really absorb it all. I recommend it.

[crumpetsandtea]

Checking in. Retaking a 169 from this June. PT average from studying this year was a 173, and I BOMBED the first section (LR, -7, normally go -1 or -2), so I really think I can hit over a 170 this time if I deal with my test taking anxiety.

Using this time to improve on my other sections. LG I'm consistently -0 in so I'm not worried. LR is usually -1/-2 or -2/-2 and RC is -4. Hoping to get LR down to consistent -1/-1 and RC to -2...then I'm in 175+ range

[cgomez]

retaking June 163, trying to fix LR. RC has recently become a 0 but LR can go from -2 and -4 and LG is all over the place depending on the test which makes me fear that i will get a lower score in October. Hoping to get a 170 or higher

[cany]

Thats awesome.How much time did you put down to finish MRC ?

It's about 170 pages, so you can get through it in two days if you're in a hurry. Five days would probably be the right amount of time to read through it and really absorb it all. I recommend it.

Thanks!!!

[Pocahontas]

I'm there with ya. Trying to increase a 158 to a 163-165 range. Just started studying again. Probably shouldn't have put it off after I got my score from June, but woulda shoulda coulda. Time to buckle down again.

WOO PIG!

+1

[neeko]

Retaking a 161. Freaked out on test day.

[Pocahontas]

Didn't take prep nearly as serious as I should have for the February 2011 exam. It's amazing how much more you learn when you actually read the LG and LR bibles instead of just glancing at them two weeks before , lol. ... Eh, we live, we learn, and most importantly, we retake. Good luck to everyone!

[Hogwild]

I'm there with ya. Trying to increase a 158 to a 163-165 range. Just started studying again. Probably shouldn't have put it off after I got my score from June, but woulda shoulda coulda. Time to buckle down again.

WOO PIG!

+1

You know it! On the road to a BCS win this year

[Hogwild]

RC has been my weak section (sometimes missing more than 10 and its what absolutely kills my score). I picked up the manhattan RC guide and I feel like I have learned more in the first 80 pages than I did in the PS RC. Maybe its just been a while since I have read any theory about it. Gonna finish this up by the end of the week and then review the PS LR and PS LG and start doing PT's again hopefully by the end of the week next week.

Hogwild, could you give a review of the MLSAT RC once you're done? This week I'm trying out different methods while drilling RC but I'd be curious to know if the MLSAT (why the hell do I keep writing MSALT?) is unique or if its methods are more on the intuitive side.

Yea I'm not gonna do a full fledged review, but ill tell you what I think about. I'm about halfway through it.

[clouds101]

RC has been my weak section (sometimes missing more than 10 and its what absolutely kills my score). I picked up the manhattan RC guide and I feel like I have learned more in the first 80 pages than I did in the PS RC. Maybe its just been a while since I have read any theory about it. Gonna finish this up by the end of the week and then review the PS LR and PS LG and start doing PT's again hopefully by the end of the week next week.

Hogwild, could you give a review of the MLSAT RC once you're done? This week I'm trying out different methods while drilling RC but I'd be curious to know if the MLSAT (why the hell do I keep writing MSALT?) is unique or if its methods are more on the intuitive side.

Yea I'm not gonna do a full fledged review, but ill tell you what I think about. I'm about halfway through it.

Thank you!!

[Quan292]

Retaking a 159, by far my worst section was lr so I did the lr bible and now I have been drilling lr sections with good results. I'm aiming for a 170 but would be cool with a 165

[mickeyD]

Retaking 170 in June. Went -6 combined in LR, which was my average, but hoping to get closer to -3 and not drop the ball on RC this time around. Wouldn't mind another 10 points or so.

[richie222]

164 in June. Got around what I was hoping for, but feel I could make an improvement on LG, which was my weakest section. For June exam I think I spent way too much time taking practice tests and not nearly enough time reviewing. This time, I'm going to go through the Manhattan guides all over again, and then instead of taking 20-25 PT's in a one month period (which is what I did for last one), I'm going to take one or two a week at most and then spend a whole lot more time reviewing and working on areas and question types which I am weakest

[Ginj]

I'm there with ya. Trying to increase a 158 to a 163-165 range. Just started studying again. Probably shouldn't have put it off after I got my score from June, but woulda shoulda coulda. Time to buckle down again.

WOO PIG!

+1

You know it! On the road to a BCS win this year

That's all I want for Christmas.

[clouds101]

Retaking 170 in June. Went -6 combined in LR, which was my average, but hoping to get closer to -3 and not drop the ball on RC this time around. Wouldn't mind another 10 points or so.

Congrats on the 170 on the real thing!!!!! Haha wouldn't it be nice if they gave out 180s to nice people? sigh.

Would you mind sharing how you prepared for the June test?

[clouds101]

Checking in. Retaking a 169 from this June. PT average from studying this year was a 173, and I BOMBED the first section (LR, -7, normally go -1 or -2), so I really think I can hit over a 170 this time if I deal with my test taking anxiety.

Using this time to improve on my other sections. LG I'm consistently -0 in so I'm not worried. LR is usually -1/-2 or -2/-2 and RC is -4. Hoping to get LR down to consistent -1/-1 and RC to -2...then I'm in 175+ range

Crumpets, sorry to hear your June sitting didn't go as planned (a 169 is still a great score). I was a fan of your LSAT journal thread and it motivated me a lot.

[crumpetsandtea]

Crumpets, sorry to hear your June sitting didn't go as planned (a 169 is still a great score). I was a fan of your LSAT journal thread and it motivated me a lot.

Awww, thanks clouds. <3 I'm glad I could help motivate you! Hopefully we (and everyone else ITT) kill it this October and get what we're shooting for.

[clouds101]

Crumpets, sorry to hear your June sitting didn't go as planned (a 169 is still a great score). I was a fan of your LSAT journal thread and it motivated me a lot.

Awww, thanks clouds. <3 I'm glad I could help motivate you! Hopefully we (and everyone else ITT) kill it this October and get what we're shooting for.

+100000000

After doing 20 RC passages in a row, I think my head is going to explode.

I start PTing tomorrow!

[iowalum]

Retaking 164 from Feb. 2009 (it's been a while...). Going for 172+!!

Have been doing LG Bible, both LG and LR workbooks, PT's, drilling, etc. Have yet to score as low on my PT's as my actual score. So, there's hope!

Biggest problem is getting my strategy down - originally I went with my gut and did pretty well, when I started second guessing myself to 'conform' to certain theories I started to bomb. I can't seem to get above 169 or so and need to break the plateau!!!

Any tips for breaking through the ceiling?

[Tiago Splitter]

Retaking 164 from Feb. 2009 (it's been a while...). Going for 172+!!

Have been doing LG Bible, both LG and LR workbooks, PT's, drilling, etc. Have yet to score as low on my PT's as my actual score. So, there's hope!

Biggest problem is getting my strategy down - originally I went with my gut and did pretty well, when I started second guessing myself to 'conform' to certain theories I started to bomb. I can't seem to get above 169 or so and need to break the plateau!!!

Any tips for breaking through the ceiling?

My first diag in my Testmasters class was 164. One month later, I scored a...164. Frustrating as hell. For me part of the problem was not yet having mastered the concepts to the point that they were second nature, similar to what you said. But what really killed me was melting down after I knew I bombed the first section. It caused me to miss a bunch of questions in sections 2 and 3 that I wouldn't have otherwise missed. Worst part is that the first section turned out to be experimental.

Keep drilling so the process becomes easier and faster, and do not let one bad question or section throw you off.

[mickeyD]

Retaking 170 in June. Went -6 combined in LR, which was my average, but hoping to get closer to -3 and not drop the ball on RC this time around. Wouldn't mind another 10 points or so.

Congrats on the 170 on the real thing!!!!! Haha wouldn't it be nice if they gave out 180s to nice people? sigh.

Would you mind sharing how you prepared for the June test?

I used the resources on TLS to come up with the common study plan of:

1) Read Bibles
2) Drill Question Types
3) PT and Review
4) Drill in between PTs

Most people on TLS use some sort of similar study plan, but I think that many people do not get enough out of the material, especially PTs. For PT review, I would use the SOS method (retaking the test untimed) and REALLY give myself enough time to do the whole test again. After that I would check the answers and write out explanations for every single LR and RC question. So for ~3 hours of PT time, I would have at least another 3-4 hours of review. Also I never stopped drilling, even when I got to the "PT phase" in May I would drill a lot between PTs.

Also I think that before anyone enters a regular PT schedule they should make an effort to master games. I think any above average test taker shouldn't allow them to miss more than a point on the section. Games were my worst enemy, (-16 diag) and it took me much longer to become good at them than most TLSers. After the Bible and an intital drilling phase where I did all the Linear/Grouping games from 1-40, I recommitted mid-prep to do another 3 weeks of drilling ONLY games, for several hours a day). I ended up acing the June LG section. The curve was -11 and my raw was -10, so a couple misses on games would have dropped me below 170.

My mistake for June prep was not solidifying my LR fundamentals, something that kept me in the -4/-7 range in LR (-6 on June). The first and only time I read the LR Bible was in early February, when I was first beginning my prep. I was naive enough to think that I fully absorbed all 400+ pages of material that time, and continued prep all the way to the test with some holes in my reasoning skills. Since I was only missing 2-4 per section, I figured I knew everything and just needed more practice via PTs- wrong. To begin October prep, I reread half of the LR Bible and the results have been incredible- there were so many things that I missed on the first read that are helping tremendously this time.

Good luck to all my fellow retakers!

[crumpetsandtea]

After doing 20 RC passages in a row, I think my head is going to explode.

I start PTing tomorrow!

Dude I feel you. Did 11 yesterday all in a row, blahh. Going to do about that much today after work too.

And Mickey, that inspires me to revisit the LR bible. I sorta just read it once the first time too...maybe it can bring me down to -1/-0 or -1/-1 consistently

[iowalum]

LG Breakthrough!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just did my first -0, very excited. I know some of you do this all the time, but for me it's great. It's like the last couple days the skies just opened up and suddenly everything makes sense. It's about time...

[cany]

Went 8 points up ( raw score) from PT-A to PT-B superprep.Thanks TLS for not letting me give up for settle down for a crapy score.Still a long way to go though!!!!

[thegoodpart]

Retaking for my 3rd try! Dec. 155 (10 points lower than my PTing of 165 on recent 10 tests) sooo i retook in Feb. crammed and was way too burned out and got an embarrassing 152. Those of you who worry about doing worse than your previous score, it happens and it feels even worse than your original score, much much worse.

I'm now using all the bibles and aiming for 165. Current PT average is 164 and I got a 167 today! So hopefully I am now on the right track. Hoping by end of Sept. I can PT around 170.

Good luck everyone!