OCTOBER 2012: Daily Study Report! Forum

[karinasmy]

Ah, I'll definitely join this, didn't do anything today, and yesterday, and...

[ilovelawtays]

6/29/12: Off today.

[hereyago]

6/29/12: Off today.

You're off everyday

[powder]

.

[josemnz83]

I'm also taking the October exam. I am working on flaw questions today. I have completed main conclusions and inference questions so far. I hope to take a full LSAT next weekend. Did any of you take a diagnostic?

[powder]

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[wisco88]

I figured I should join this thread to help keep me motivated, since I want a 170+ score to make up for my 3.4 GPA.
Anyways, yesterday (6/29) I started my LSAT prep. Right now I'm concentrating on LR and LG, using the Manhattan LG guide and the Powerscore LR Bible. I also bought the Manhattan RC guide but I don't think I will start using it until the beginning of August. For LR I bought the Powerscore LR question type training book for PTs 1-20, and I'm going through the Bible and working on the corresponding questions. Each day I do 30 LR questions, untimed, just to get my accuracy down. So far I've done 60 must be true questions, and gotten them all right! Feels like a good sign, although this may be the easiest type of question? Not sure.
For LG, I am going through the Manhattan guide and then using PTs 1-40 to drill certain types of games. My plan is to go through PTs 1-20 by game type, and then repeat this for PTs 21-40. I'm doing 10 games a day, plus completing the corresponding sections as needed in the LG guide, and so far I have done pretty well. I time myself, but don't try to rush as right now I'm just trying to get 100% accuracy on all the games. Relative ordering games have been super easy using the tree diagram (able to do most in ~4 minutes), and simple ordering and complex ordering aren't too bad either (most done in 7-8 minutes). I have heard that the grouping games are the hardest though, and I will be starting those tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.
Basically the plan is to keep up this schedule throughout July, so by the end of July I will have completed every LR question from PTs 1-20 and will have done every LG from PTs 1-40 twice. I haven't really thought of my study plan after that, but I will probably take a full, timed PT at the beginning of August to check my strengths/weaknesses. I'm hoping I check in here every day as a sort of personal journal, and maybe get some tips from you guys as well. Good luck studying everyone!

[wisco88]

I figure I should also say that I'm tracking my LG progress with a spreadsheet from Cambridge LSAT: --LinkRemoved-- You just have to email them and they will send you a copy. It's pretty nice to see exactly what types of games you struggle on, although I still haven't done many games yet... Thought this would help though!

[nosleeptillsuccess]

Is anyone in South Florida that wants to maybe form a study group for the LSAT?

[Ksoria]

Checking in.

I have already finished LG Bible and I am halfway through the LRB.

6/30: Read pgs 258-300 in the LRB, working on the LR questions provided, reviewing the ones i got wrong: writing notes...

I have both the 5-month and 3-month study plan. I need to order more PT books because it seems like im missing some

[Oscar85]

Hey, this is pretty neat! I'd like to join, as this will help to keep me motivated.

6/30/12 - Worked my way through about 50 pages of the Powerscore Logic Games workbook... Found that it really helped to solidify the knowledge I gained from the book. Taking a break now, but I am looking to complete the drilling section and work myself to the complete games section by the end of the night.

[North]

6/29/2012
Wasn't feeling the diligence yesterday. Only did two timed LG sections, got a horrifying and uncharacteristic -7 on the first (PT 12), and a -1 on the second (PT 13). Didn't like that either.

6/30/2012
So, to reward my self for such stellar performance, I spent today floating down the Chipola River in a raft with some Blue Moon. Back to it tomorrow.

[josemnz83]

6/27/12
Worked on 25 conclusions questions. Missed 1 out of 25.
6/28/12
Worked on must be true questions (inferences). Read material.
6/29/12
Worked on 30 must be true questions (inferences). Missed 6 out of 30. After I got done, I went out with my girlfriend and watched Crazy Mike. Partied late until 2 so I only did minimal work today.
6/30/12
Began working on flaw questions. I can tell that I need to spend time on vocabulary in answer choices.


My overall diagnostic score was a 153. It would be great for me to improve to 158+. what do you guys want to improve to?

[ilovelawtays]

6/30/12

Today I got up at 6:15 A.M. (after a 40+ hour week) to help two friends move (in 90+ degree temps). Then I had some socializing to do (people in from out of town, etc.), and then I took a nap. Not a super great use of time today. I didn't hit the books until this evening.

Oof.

Week 2, Day 7. Yowza. Grouping games.

-1; -0; -1; -3; -1; -3.

Most of my times are now under 10:00, but there was a 12:xx and a 16:xx. I also just realized I skipped a question, went back to do it, and just stared at it while my eyes glazed over. It's been a long day. New rule: Start studying in the morning, not at 6:00 P.M.

My plan for tomorrow is to up by 7:00 A.M. and studying by 9:00 A.M. Once I complete Week 3, Day 1 tasks, I'm going to take everything to Kinko's and make some copies, then I'm going to review all day. I have 7/4 - 7/8 off work, so I'll be doing a practice test one of those days (maybe more than once, just to see how it goes). After week three is done, I start logical reasoning (which I am terrified about). Time to start increasing accuracy on these LGs and really decreasing time per game. I can tell this is where I'll be getting most of my points.

Nice work, everyone!

[Clarity]

I took PrepTest 57 LR2 and got -6. Not my best performance. So a total of -10 out of both LRs in PrepTest 57. I just started studying so I am not too worried. If I keep studying I hope I can improve that.

What are everyone's goals? Either in terms of score, -X per section or dream schools?

[BrianGriffintheDog]

6/29/2012

1) 3 advanced linear games untimed-0
2) Three basic linear games timed (all under 8 min 45 sec)-0, -1, -0

6/30/2012

I really tried to study, but I simply couldn't...Anyways, I did very little today.

1) 1 advanced linear game untimed-1
2) 2 basic linear games-0, -1

I would really like to finish advanced linear and grouping games along with logical reasoning sections prep/drills this month. I'm pretty set with RC for now, as I went through both RC bible and Manhattan's RC guide. I just gotta read chapters on comparative passages sometime.

Good luck everyone! Stay motivated!

[wisco88]

6/29/2012

I'm pretty set with RC for now, as I went through both RC bible and Manhattan's RC guide. I just gotta read chapters on comparative passages sometime.

Which guide would you recommend? Or do you think that using both has been beneficial?

[BrianGriffintheDog]

6/29/2012

I'm pretty set with RC for now, as I went through both RC bible and Manhattan's RC guide. I just gotta read chapters on comparative passages sometime.

Which guide would you recommend? Or do you think that using both has been beneficial?

I prefer both. RC bible is too specific, and Manhattan guide is too broad. Reading both of em seem to balance each other out pretty nice.

[BrianGriffintheDog]

Any thoughts on getting yourself back on the feet after not doing as well as you want? I've been studying for a month now. Am I expecting too much to be scoring -0s on every drill/questions?

[esther0123]

Joining the thread.
Been studying for roughly a little over a month

Finished LGB this Friday, have been doing drills.

June 29th
Basic linear games (balanced) - ~24 games done, averaging ~9min and -0.55 on each game.
June 30th
Basic linear games (unbalanced) - ~14 games done, averaging ~11min and -0.55 on each game.

Plans for July 1st - Advanced linear games (balanced)
Plans for July 2nd - Advanced linear games (unbalanced) and starting on grouping games

-------

Hopefully I can squeeze in at least one RC section each day, but right now my focus is on LG since it is (for me) the most interesting and said to be the easiest part to improve on... but the progress is frustratingly slow. For now, I'm laying off on taking full length PTs because they are depressing and not really improving, given that I haven't really nailed on all the drilling yet.

How's everyone else doing!?

[sleepyZzz]

Been perusing the forum for about a week now and joined immediately when I saw this thread For now, I'm enjoying 1 more week off before my lsat class starts and then I begin a serious study regimen. Definitely plan to add some forum time into my game plan to keep up my motivation!

About the LSAT grouping prep books: I don't know whether to get the Cambridge bundle (LR LG RC all grouped by type and difficulty PT 1-40) or the 'Grouping' and 'More Grouping' books by Traciela (also PTs 1-40)? Cost isn't so much an issue if one is better. I've looked at the breakdown by sections and there's quite a discrepancy, especially among the logic games...
Cambridge breakdown:
o Relative Ordering
o Simple Ordering
o Complex Ordering
o In/Out Grouping
o Grouping (Distribution)
o Determined Assignment
o Undetermined Assignment
o Miscellaneous
o Index

Grouping by Traciela
Linear Games (Ordering, Circle, Assignment, Stacked)
Grouping Games (Selection, Division, Matching)
Linear/Grouping Hybrid Games
Diagram Games (Given, Spatial)
Pattern Games

And I'll be using these alongside the PS Bibles.

I just want to be thorough before dropping $300+ so any advice on which one is best??

[ilovelawtays]

7/1/12:

Hybrid games may be the death of me. My brains hurt.

Week 3, Day 1 for today. I need to get more confident with logic chains and templates. When I look up answers in the LGB or online, I'm really missing the boat on templates, and only getting about half the chains. There were a couple games I couldn't even get started on, but once I looked up diagramming suggestions, I was able to finish ~10:00.

Time to hit the grocery store and then go make copies of PTs. I think I'll do some review later this afternoon.

Goal: 167+

[josemnz83]

I just finished the Flaw Questions Section I of my course. I missed 3 out of 20. The one that gave me the most trouble was PT 40, section 3, Q#14. (the practical joker problem). Has anyone else struggled with that problem?

I'm about to watch the Euro championship with my gf! Life goes on!

[ilovelawtays]

7/1/12:

Hybrid games may be the death of me. My brains hurt.

Week 3, Day 1 for today. I need to get more confident with logic chains and templates. When I look up answers in the LGB or online, I'm really missing the boat on templates, and only getting about half the chains. There were a couple games I couldn't even get started on, but once I looked up diagramming suggestions, I was able to finish ~10:00.

Time to hit the grocery store and then go make copies of PTs. I think I'll do some review later this afternoon.

Goal: 167+

Grocery shopping happened, copying PTs did not.

What also happened: I took PT 34, and my score increased 5 points from my first PT 3 weeks ago. I'm happy to see that (and I went -3 in RC), but my LGs were TERRIBLE! -12!!! Pretty disheartening to see that after three weeks of studying LGs exclusively, but maybe the shoddy score had more to do with working with time constraints than me just being a total idiot? Ugh ugh ugh.

[Ksoria]

7/1: 10:00 am: Re-read chapter "Resolving The Paradox." Completed the drills. Finished at 11:15am.

Wrote why each answer i picked was right and those which i missed, explained why they were wrong. (Definitely helps)

Not very much done today. Im going to bed early, a 5:00am study session awaits tomorrow.