The Official September 2014 Study Group Forum

sfoglia · Post by **sfoglia** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 5:13 pm

akechi wrote:How do you guys review your missed / flagged LR questions? I feel like I need to develop a more efficient method of getting the most out of my missed questions.

As it stands now my process is loosely structured as follows:
1) Take a PT
2) Rip out answer sheet and place elsewhere
3) Blind Review
4) Make note of any differences between real-time thought process and blind-review thought process
5) Verify that my reasoning is correct via MLSAT forums
6) Briefly re-visit missed LR questions from previous PT before taking new PT.

Do y'all swear by any method other than merely looking / glossing over the questions you missed? (e.g. cutting questions out, typing them up and printing them out flash card style, categorizing your misses via the type of error you are making, etc)

I write down explanations as to why answer choices are wrong or right, then comb through the stimulus to identify the word choice that should have tipped me off. When I'm sure I completely understand the where my reasoning failed, I identify the PT and question number, categorize the question type and difficulty rating per LSATQA.com, and add the date in a table in my notebook. Then I push up my nerd glasses and straighten out my suspenders like Urkel.

Colonel_funkadunk · Post by **Colonel_funkadunk** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 6:03 pm

HRomanus wrote:
BillPackets wrote:This is a one night stand hit it n quit it one n done this beezy I ain't lookin for my own sloppy second on this one

The LSAT of course
I've already taken days off in preparation for the December LSAT as a backup. It'll be my last opportunity, so I want to leave the door open.

I should probably do the same

BillPackets · Post by **BillPackets** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 6:09 pm

HRomanus wrote:
BillPackets wrote:This is a one night stand hit it n quit it one n done this beezy I ain't lookin for my own sloppy second on this one

The LSAT of course
I've already taken days off in preparation for the December LSAT as a backup. It'll be my last opportunity, so I want to leave the door open.

The LSAT is HURTIN 4 a squirtin and me and colonel fuckaduck are gonna doubleteam the bish in sept

GreenTee · Post by **GreenTee** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 6:41 pm

Hey guys -- Can anyone help with an RC question that I just can't explain? It's PT22, Passage 4, Q24. The question asks why mathematics can be considered a language, according to the passage. I'm convinced that I can find support for A, B, D, and E in the passage. I chose D, mostly on a hunch. B is tcr. Can someone help me eliminate A, D, and E?

I see that B is explicitly spelled out in the first paragraph, but all of those answers seem to have plausible support elsewhere in the text. What did I miss?

Edit - Here's what I'm really asking: When a question begins with "According to the passage," (as this one does) is it necessarily looking for the answer that is spelled out explicitly in the text? If so, then A, D, and E -- while they don't contradict the the text -- are wrong because they require a small inference. Is that right?

valen · Post by **valen** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 7:37 pm

HRomanus wrote:YOLO is my creed until September 27.

You Only LSAT Once.

I might actually put this on the wall in front of my desk

WaltGrace83 · Post by **WaltGrace83** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 7:38 pm

Hey guys! I'm back!

I went away for about 4 weeks to begin training for teaching. I am teaching four classes of English I to Freshman at my alma mater high school. Classes have been going on for a week and I am having a blast. The LSAT has been FAR from my mind. I'll probably postpone again and see where this teaching thing takes me. At this rate, I feel like I'll never get around to the LSAT. Then again, sometimes you just got to live a little.

Anyway....I'm not dead.

flash21 · Post by **flash21** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 8:05 pm

WaltGrace83 wrote:Hey guys! I'm back!

I went away for about 4 weeks to begin training for teaching. I am teaching four classes of English I to Freshman at my alma mater high school. Classes have been going on for a week and I am having a blast. The LSAT has been FAR from my mind. I'll probably postpone again and see where this teaching thing takes me. At this rate, I feel like I'll never get around to the LSAT. Then again, sometimes you just got to live a little.

Anyway....I'm not dead.

damn. Was having fun discussing LR with you on the boards.

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 8:36 pm

Post removed.

sashafierce · Post by **sashafierce** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 8:50 pm

Really considering postponing until December.

Took PT68 today followed by PT23

PT68
LR1 -5
LR2 -6
LG -9
RC -12

Scaled 158

Took a two hour break and decided to do PT23 ( I completed the RC section timed yesterday)
LR 1 -6
LR 2 -6
LG -9
RC -4
Scaled 163

Not even sure what to do at this point, Ive been putting in alot of work with very little improvement, my timing still sucks

Going to have to try and explain to my hubby and family why after quitting my job and studying full time for the last 4 months I still cant reach my target score

BRB going to drink some Hennessy

sfoglia · Post by **sfoglia** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:04 pm

GreenTee wrote:Hey guys -- Can anyone help with an RC question that I just can't explain? It's PT22, Passage 4, Q24. The question asks why mathematics can be considered a language, according to the passage. I'm convinced that I can find support for A, B, D, and E in the passage. I chose D, mostly on a hunch. B is tcr. Can someone help me eliminate A, D, and E?

I see that B is explicitly spelled out in the first paragraph, but all of those answers seem to have plausible support elsewhere in the text. What did I miss?

Edit - Here's what I'm really asking: When a question begins with "According to the passage," (as this one does) is it necessarily looking for the answer that is spelled out explicitly in the text? If so, then A, D, and E -- while they don't contradict the the text -- are wrong because they require a small inference. Is that right?

Yes! "According to the passage" should be taken literally. Manhattan RC says that you should be able to find something exactly within the passage that justifies your choice, what they call "proof text."

sfoglia · Post by **sfoglia** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:05 pm

WaltGrace83 wrote:Hey guys! I'm back!

I went away for about 4 weeks to begin training for teaching. I am teaching four classes of English I to Freshman at my alma mater high school. Classes have been going on for a week and I am having a blast. The LSAT has been FAR from my mind. I'll probably postpone again and see where this teaching thing takes me. At this rate, I feel like I'll never get around to the LSAT. Then again, sometimes you just got to live a little.

Anyway....I'm not dead.

Teaching is fantastic! Enjoy it!! Wishing you the best of luck!

flash21 · Post by **flash21** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:13 pm

sashafierce wrote:Really considering postponing until December.

Took PT68 today followed by PT23

PT68
LR1 -5
LR2 -6
LG -9
RC -12
Scaled 158

Took a two hour break and decided to do PT23 ( I completed the RC section timed yesterday)
LR 1 -6
LR 2 -6
LG -9
RC -4
Scaled 163

Not even sure what to do at this point, Ive been putting in alot of work with very little improvement, my timing still sucks

Going to have to try and explain to my hubby and family why after quitting my job and studying full time for the last 4 months I still cant reach my target score BRB going to drink some Hennessy

Hey, why not drill RC some more? I understand wanting to take a bunch of PT's but what did me best was not PTing for months and just drilling and drilling. But I am going for December, I could see how going for September may be a different story. I still think going for LG points may be your best bet. For reading comp, just taking 4-4:30 on the passage to really understand it improved my score a whole ton.

flash21 · Post by **flash21** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:14 pm

mornincounselor wrote:If anyone wants another perspective on LR I see that Dave Hall's Velocity LSAT now offers free video explanations on his website for PT 30-37, 69 and 72 in addition to 51.5

He spend about 1 minute explaining the question and the next 90 seconds spamming his course but the videos still have some value, especially if you prefer to learn through videos.

Can you post the link? I'm not being lazy, I honestly couldnt find it. Found other free LR videos about conditional reasoning and stuff?

Appreciate it man! thanks for sharing.

sfoglia · Post by **sfoglia** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:19 pm

sashafierce wrote:Really considering postponing until December.

Took PT68 today followed by PT23

PT68
LR1 -5
LR2 -6
LG -9
RC -12
Scaled 158

Took a two hour break and decided to do PT23 ( I completed the RC section timed yesterday)
LR 1 -6
LR 2 -6
LG -9
RC -4
Scaled 163

Not even sure what to do at this point, Ive been putting in alot of work with very little improvement, my timing still sucks

Going to have to try and explain to my hubby and family why after quitting my job and studying full time for the last 4 months I still cant reach my target score BRB going to drink some Hennessy

Nooooooooo.

I'm so sorry. It's the worst feeling.

But, look, you have two -9s on the LG. If you can nail LG, you'll be scoring in the mid 160s at least, right? Why not make that your goal? Just drill LG all day, every day, until you feel you've mastered it. Sit with 7Sage and do each game at least three times in a row. If you can go -2 on that section, imagine what an impact it will have! And, on the test day, if you don't have to exert yourself so much trying to figure out the games, then you'll have more energy to devote to LR and RC. Win/win!

(This coming from someone who up until recently HATED LG and was routinely hitting -10 to -15.)

sashafierce · Post by **sashafierce** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:27 pm

flash21 wrote:
Hey, why not drill RC some more? I understand wanting to take a bunch of PT's but what did me best was not PTing for months and just drilling and drilling. But I am going for December, I could see how going for September may be a different story. I still think going for LG points may be your best bet. For reading comp, just taking 4-4:30 on the passage to really understand it improved my score a whole ton.

I have been drilling RC alot lately and have been averaging 5-7 but I totally lost track of time during PT68 and was only able to answer 2.5 passages. Same goes for LR and LG, 90% my misses are missed questions that I was not able to attempt.

BillPackets · Post by **BillPackets** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:28 pm

sashafierce wrote:
flash21 wrote:
Hey, why not drill RC some more? I understand wanting to take a bunch of PT's but what did me best was not PTing for months and just drilling and drilling. But I am going for December, I could see how going for September may be a different story. I still think going for LG points may be your best bet. For reading comp, just taking 4-4:30 on the passage to really understand it improved my score a whole ton.
I have been drilling RC alot lately and have been averaging 5-7 but I totally lost track of time during PT68 and was only able to answer 2.5 passages. Same goes for LR and LG, 90% my misses are missed questions that I was not able to attempt.

Sup w that timing? Getting tripped up on the passages/stimulus, answer choices...?

sashafierce · Post by **sashafierce** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:31 pm

sfoglia wrote:
Nooooooooo. I'm so sorry. It's the worst feeling.

But, look, you have two -9s on the LG. If you can nail LG, you'll be scoring in the mid 160s at least, right? Why not make that your goal? Just drill LG all day, every day, until you feel you've mastered it. Sit with 7Sage and do each game at least three times in a row. If you can go -2 on that section, imagine what an impact it will have! And, on the test day, if you don't have to exert yourself so much trying to figure out the games, then you'll have more energy to devote to LR and RC. Win/win!

(This coming from someone who up until recently HATED LG and was routinely hitting -10 to -15.)

Thanks, I been dreading having to go back to drilling LG, I was hoping that I would improve just by doing PTs but I was wrong, going to focus heavily on that from tomorrow.

dasani13 · Post by **dasani13** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:40 pm

sashafierce wrote:Really considering postponing until December.

Took PT68 today followed by PT23

PT68
LR1 -5
LR2 -6
LG -9
RC -12
Scaled 158

Took a two hour break and decided to do PT23 ( I completed the RC section timed yesterday)
LR 1 -6
LR 2 -6
LG -9
RC -4
Scaled 163

Not even sure what to do at this point, Ive been putting in alot of work with very little improvement, my timing still sucks

Going to have to try and explain to my hubby and family why after quitting my job and studying full time for the last 4 months I still cant reach my target score BRB going to drink some Hennessy

Hey sashafierce! Don't get discouraged about a low score. I scored 3 really high 160s in a row then I got a 160 right after. I BRed the 160 and realized I missed some reaaally easy level-1 questions. We all have off days-- it's part of prep!

ilikebaseball · Post by **ilikebaseball** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:45 pm

In the middle of another long study session (had a 9 hour one yesterday). Should be working til midnight central time tonight. Just taking a little break....

Games didn't go so well, but then I moved on to LR and that's going great. Can't ever have a perfect day where everything falls in place haha

sashafierce · Post by **sashafierce** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:46 pm

BillPackets wrote:
Sup w that timing? Getting tripped up on the passages/stimulus, answer choices...?

Honestly I have no idea.

For RC: I just got lost during the PT and when I looked up I had 10 mins left and I was only now finishing up passage 2. I dont even know what happened (which is weird)

For LR: I suck at timing, I am usually at Question 15 in 25 mins and have 10 mins to answer 10-11 very difficult questions, so I skip around and try to work on my strong questions types first and usually end up guessing on 5-6 questions in the end.

LG: Honestly, I just need to drill some more and work on my technique.

Going to take a hot shower and relax and start all over tomorrow, thanks for the words of encouragement everyone

Lacoste · Post by **Lacoste** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:47 pm

ilikebaseball wrote:In the middle of another long study session (had a 9 hour one yesterday). Should be working til midnight central time tonight. Just taking a little break....

Games didn't go so well, but then I moved on to LR and that's going great. Can't ever have a perfect day where everything falls in place haha

How do you maintain concentration? (amphetamines?)

sfoglia · Post by **sfoglia** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:48 pm

sashafierce wrote:
sfoglia wrote:
Nooooooooo. I'm so sorry. It's the worst feeling.

But, look, you have two -9s on the LG. If you can nail LG, you'll be scoring in the mid 160s at least, right? Why not make that your goal? Just drill LG all day, every day, until you feel you've mastered it. Sit with 7Sage and do each game at least three times in a row. If you can go -2 on that section, imagine what an impact it will have! And, on the test day, if you don't have to exert yourself so much trying to figure out the games, then you'll have more energy to devote to LR and RC. Win/win!

(This coming from someone who up until recently HATED LG and was routinely hitting -10 to -15.)

Thanks, I been dreading having to go back to drilling LG, I was hoping that I would improve just by doing PTs but I was wrong, going to focus heavily on that from tomorrow.

I think there's a rhythm to it. I noticed when I set LG aside for four or five days that my scores were dropping, so now I make it a habit to do at least one section a night. Maintenance.

ilikebaseball · Post by **ilikebaseball** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:48 pm

Lacoste wrote:
ilikebaseball wrote:In the middle of another long study session (had a 9 hour one yesterday). Should be working til midnight central time tonight. Just taking a little break....

Games didn't go so well, but then I moved on to LR and that's going great. Can't ever have a perfect day where everything falls in place haha
How do you maintain concentration? (amphetamines?)

haha.... (dont judge)

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Wed Aug 20, 2014 9:58 pm

Post removed.