The Official October 2015 Study Group Forum

Mint-Berry_Crunch · Post by **Mint-Berry_Crunch** » Wed Sep 09, 2015 8:15 pm

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appind · Post by **appind** » Wed Sep 09, 2015 10:43 pm

gamerish wrote:Well I guess stamina is a weakness of mine which I didn't think it was. But it's nice to know.

I pulled PT41 into separate sections and, throughout the day, took each section on its own under timed conditions to get a better handle on working on the clock. All together my results were

LR1: -3
LG: -4 (all on the circle game)
LR2: -2
RC: -1

171

I did switch my LR method up slightly, I forced myself to slow down, consider the logical gaps and anticipate answer choices where I could and it was my best LR take ever.

I didn't really do anything different with my RC besides making a mental mini-summary of each paragraph after I read and then again for the whole passage after I was finished. I was able to speed through the third passage very quickly for whatever reason and largely credit my performance on RC to that since I really took my time on the first two.

if this is a fresh test for you, then that's a strong improvement with lr.
nice rc score! any idea of the time you took for the slower first two passages and the faster third one if you timed them, and how much time you take to read the passage only without factoring in the questions?

appind · Post by **appind** » Wed Sep 09, 2015 10:50 pm

Mint-Berry_Crunch wrote:
So I'm in a similar position. I only have a superprep B and C, the newest one from superprep 2 and June (I took it for real but only kinda remember it).

I've found that repeating tests have been helpful in making me feel more confident, and way better at anticipating even on questions I haven't seen. But I agree that your scores are probably inflated and should try to have a good buffer zone. I would do what you're thinking (I probably will with PT75). Take it and use it to decide where you're at. I mean with all this extra studying your average probably has risen as well. Idk how much good waiting would do because then you just have more time to redo tests....

I do think that repeating things most dramatically affects RC, since you'll remember passages. But again, redoing passages had helped my realize what to look at on passages I haven't done.

Soooo long story IDK. I've found that I remember less than I thought I would. save the freshest for the end.

retaking helps develop consistency in approaching questions but not much in getting an accurate idea of whether i will be able to hit the target or not. so i thought i'd continue to improve by retaking PTs that i have done and save as much of the 2-3 remaining fresh PTs, until i can feel that i will hit the target should i take the real test. the only way to feel that way is by sacrificing a fresh PT.

i am not sure if this is a good plan but this is what i was planning. take the June'14 test (#72) this weekend (3 weeks before the oct test). if I score 4 points above my target, then i don't take any more PTs and go and take the Oct test. i feel this will help with the confidence going into the oct administration even though i wouldn't ever see PT 74/75.
if i don't score at the above mark for pt-72, then i practice more with PT retakes and wait for Dec.

Mint-Berry_Crunch · Post by **Mint-Berry_Crunch** » Wed Sep 09, 2015 11:14 pm

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gamerish · Post by **gamerish** » Wed Sep 09, 2015 11:48 pm

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appind · Post by **appind** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 1:05 am

gamerish wrote: It was a fresh take, yes.

I don't remember exact times but it was something like 9 or 10 minutes for the first, about 10 minutes for the second, the third about 6 or 7 and the last about 8 minutes. The last section had 6 questions iirc and I got the 5 minute warning on the second one.

I don't keep track of how long the actual reading takes.

I don't know if I'm weird or not, especially since the manhattan book says the passages are usually ordered by approximate level of difficulty (the first is the easiest, the last is the hardest) but I've always found the last passage to be the easiest.

i always time myself for both reading the passage and for doing questions for every passage and notice time distribution opposite of what manhattan suggests. First/second passage take about equal or little bit more time than the last one, which is almost always rushed.

manhattan suggests a time distribution of 6-7-9-9 mins for the passages for near perfect scorers in rc. no idea how someone could finish first two passages in 13 mins perfectly.

gamerish · Post by **gamerish** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 1:37 am

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ltowns1 · Post by **ltowns1** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 8:11 am

Hey can you guys answer a question regarding RC. So when we're asked to find something that is most strongly supported, it usually tends to breakdown one of two ways. It will ask you generally to infer something about the main idea of the passage, or it will ask you to infer something about a specific statement which seems detached from the main idea. How do you differentiate between those times?

pittsburghpirates · Post by **pittsburghpirates** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 9:32 am

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redfred22 · Post by **redfred22** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 9:52 am

ltowns1 wrote:Hey can you guys answer a question regarding RC. So when we're asked to find something that is most strongly supported, it usually tends to breakdown one of two ways. It will ask you generally to infer something about the main idea of the passage, or it will ask you to infer something about a specific statement which seems detached from the main idea. How do you differentiate between those times?

I don't know that this will answer your question directly, but here goes. For me at least, on most strongly supported questions, I've found that working from wrong to right is the best way to go about answering them. Before going into the answers, I try to quickly just think about the passage as a whole and how it's broken down, the main idea, viewpoints, etc, just to refresh my understanding before hitting the answers. Frequently, the wrong answers are so completely wrong that you can eliminate 3, and sometimes 4, just off of your understanding and picking out how the answers are clearly wrong. For example, many of the wrong answers will go WAY beyond the scope of the passage and/or will talk about something related but ultimately irrelevant. You just have to be extremely nitpicky in the answer choices and find those exact word/words that tip you off that the answer is clearly wrong.

RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 10:02 am

I'm still forcing myself to work through the material, but I've lost all interest in the LSAT.

acidwash · Post by **acidwash** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 10:41 am

PT 71

LR1: -3
LG: -2
LR2: -2
RC: -2

173

Even though I did a little better on LR2, that section felt incredibly difficult. Like just tons of tough necessary assumption and complex parallel reasoning.

I'm finally consistently hitting 170+ now, and I sort of wish the test was this weekend. Afraid that I'm going to lose this momentum somehow, which took me a really long time to finally get.

nlee10 · Post by **nlee10** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 11:31 am

Taking PT 67 today! It'll be a retake (7+ months ago) but what can you do with no fresh tests.

Little under 3.5 weeks left. Hows everyone feeling?

Mint-Berry_Crunch · Post by **Mint-Berry_Crunch** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 12:05 pm

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alpha kenny body · Post by **alpha kenny body** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 12:29 pm

Mint-Berry_Crunch wrote:This is the most nonchalant I've ever felt about the LSAT. Usually at this point for my prior takes I'm having a meltdown.

HAHAHA, I am the same way. Maybe that means we feel more confident and ready, or more indifferent to the outcome? I definitely feel readier than before.

somethingElse · Post by **somethingElse** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 12:32 pm

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mist4bison · Post by **mist4bison** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 12:34 pm

Mint-Berry_Crunch wrote:~~This is the most nonchalant I've ever felt about the LSAT. Usually at this point for my prior takes~~ I'm having a meltdown.

This is where I'm at. Every other time I've studied I've postponed.

Super lame of me, but I got a fortune cookie last night that kind of made me realize it's crunch time. I'm going to start getting up earlier (got an hour in this morning!), stop giving in to my friends' pleas to be social, and basically only seeing the SO once a week. Only three weeks left.

Fortune Cookie wrote:Keep in mind your most cherished dreams of the future.

ETA: Taking advice from a fortune cookie is weird, but as the SO said, "Sometimes the world speaks to you when you need it to."

Mint-Berry_Crunch · Post by **Mint-Berry_Crunch** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 1:11 pm

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ltowns1 · Post by **ltowns1** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 1:25 pm

Mint-Berry_Crunch wrote:This is also my 4th take. Basically I'm so out of options that I have to just relax and do it. Having a not terrible score on file helps a bit.
It's funny each time prior, I would stress about what I'm going to eat the day of, which center I have, am I taking PTs at the right time of day?
All that attention to detail is great but at the end of the day if you're a ball of anxiety on test day it won't help.

You seem like you're testing where you need to be, you'll be fine. This is my first time, but your determination is awesome. It gives me the mindset that I don't have to nail it the first time, and as long as I work hard I'll eventually get there

PoopNpants · Post by **PoopNpants** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 2:47 pm

What is a good number of PTs to do from tomorrow til game-day? I'm thinking around 10ish at the minimum maybe 15.

mist4bison · Post by **mist4bison** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 3:23 pm

PoopNpants wrote:What is a good number of PTs to do from tomorrow til game-day? I'm thinking around 10ish at the minimum maybe 15.

I'm probably only doing 8, unfortunately. We'll see if I can take more days off of work to do them.

As of now, I feel that all I'm doing is taking PTs and reviewing them. I feel like maybe I should not BR a couple of upcoming PTs so I can actually drill weaknesses. Or maybe I'll cut one PT out and spend that time drilling. Screw having a job that takes up all of your time and studying for this thing.

calmike · Post by **calmike** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 3:37 pm

PT 60 June 2010

Score: 167

RC:-5
LR1: -6
LR2: -4
LG:0

I didnt really try in this practice test. Currently I am searching for housing for new job so that is in my mind. I took longer than usual break and did one section yesterday. My timing for RC was also off since my watch resetted. I honestly think this 167 might be my floor for what I might score in the actual LSAT. Hopefully, when I am well rested this Saturday I will be able to score 170+.

I am glad that this is the second test in a row that I score 0 in LG. Lets keep this up!

My scores over past 4 PT's: 169, 171, 171, 167

I am a Mexican male. Will scoring a 167 with a 2.86 GPA shut me out from T14? Especially with all these declining LSATs in the top schools? I will be at median at Berkeley, Cornell and Georgetown. What about UCLA and USC?

mist4bison · Post by **mist4bison** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 3:51 pm

calmike wrote:PT 60 June 2010

Score: 167

RC:-5
LR1: -6
LR2: -4
LG:0

I didnt really try in this practice test. Currently I am searching for housing for new job so that is in my mind. I took longer than usual break and did one section yesterday. My timing for RC was also off since my watch resetted. I honestly think this 167 might be my floor for what I might score in the actual LSAT. Hopefully, when I am well rested this Saturday I will be able to score 170+.

I am glad that this is the second test in a row that I score 0 in LG. Lets keep this up!

My scores over past 4 PT's: 169, 171, 171, 167

I am a Mexican male. Will scoring a 167 with a 2.86 GPA shut me out from T14? Especially with all these declining LSATs in the top schools? I will be at median at Berkeley, Cornell and Georgetown. What about UCLA and USC?

I think the only issue you'll encounter is that CA schools don't look at race due to Prop 209. They do have a socioeconomic survey that they use in place of URM status. However, from what I've read, this isn't as much of a boost as URM. Other than that, I'd check LSN and lawschoolpredictor to see where you stand.

ETA; Unless you write a DS, obviously. Then they'll know you're URM and you'll probably get a boost.

PoopNpants · Post by **PoopNpants** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 3:56 pm

mist4bison wrote:
PoopNpants wrote:What is a good number of PTs to do from tomorrow til game-day? I'm thinking around 10ish at the minimum maybe 15.
I'm probably only doing 8, unfortunately. We'll see if I can take more days off of work to do them.

As of now, I feel that all I'm doing is taking PTs and reviewing them. I feel like maybe I should not BR a couple of upcoming PTs so I can actually drill weaknesses. Or maybe I'll cut one PT out and spend that time drilling. Screw having a job that takes up all of your time and studying for this thing.

Yeah I feel your pain, this is 2nd go-around and I'm lucky not to have to worry about school or work commitments currently. I got the next 23 1/2 days to devote to this fucking test.

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Thu Sep 10, 2015 4:23 pm

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