October 2010 Test Prep Forum

[ND'10]

Just had my first dream about test day. In my dream, the experimental section was "fill in the blank logic games" with questions like "What is the pattern to this game?" and "Where can H not go?"

[justadude55]

Just had my first dream about test day. In my dream, the experimental section was "fill in the blank logic games" with questions like "What is the pattern to this game?" and "Where can H not go?"

you might see the latter

[Top14dreams]

Hello all

By any chance does anyone have the conversion chart for preptest 44 ? Thanks in advance!

[jfb]

I woke up definitly feeling a little bit more anxiety than I have been. I've been really pleased with how prep has gone, but still know that there a lot of factors outside of my control on test day that are making me nervous. I need to stop considering all that could go wrong on test day and realize that I've done just about all that I can do to maximize the amount of things that should go right. Anyway, if anyone else is feeling anxiety this week, you're not alone.

[DukeCornell]

I woke up definitly feeling a little bit more anxiety than I have been. I've been really pleased with how prep has gone, but still know that there a lot of factors outside of my control on test day that are making me nervous. I need to stop considering all that could go wrong on test day and realize that I've done just about all that I can do to maximize the amount of things that should go right. Anyway, if anyone else is feeling anxiety this week, you're not alone.

Good Luck!

[lparker]

Full PTs=DONE! Finished this weekend with PTs 59 and 60.

It was nice to score PT60 since I cancelled in June. I would have been more than happy with the score too (which was a 168). I didn't miss any on the mulch game, either. I don't know why I found that game so hard?

[jfb]

Just had my first dream about test day. In my dream, the experimental section was "fill in the blank logic games" with questions like "What is the pattern to this game?" and "Where can H not go?"

My dream last night: I was doing a game about boats that could only travel in one direction. The interesting part was that I was actually on a boat and no matter what I did, the boat would travel in one of the directions that the boats in the game could not travel.

[northwood]

5 days left until freedom from LSAT prep ( at least for a month at minimum!!) I m looking forward to having free time, and not worrying about prep, LR and RC and games. I may continue with soduku, but it reminds me a lot of lsat... so that may be done until further review.....

as for all of you who are getting the jitters.... think of test day as giving a speech in front of your peers. You may be nervous walking into it, but youve all practiced ( learned your speech to continue the analogy), konw whats going on. once the game begins- youll just get into the flow and zone, and not hear anything thats going on. Before you know it, youll be finishing up section 5, and getting ready for trhe writing sample..

for me.. whenever i see a thread with the topic of panic! or sick... i dont click on it. We';ve all done a ton of prep and know how to tackle this beast. Reading other posts from people who havent taken the inititive to prep as effectively or efficiently as us will just make you more nervous and less confident ( 2 things that can hurt your score)

[Patriot1208]

Just noticed that if you take my last 10 tests only my PT average has actually shifted to above 170. Pretty happy about that.

[LSAT Blog]

Hello all

By any chance does anyone have the conversion chart for preptest 44 ? Thanks in advance!

Here are conversion charts for all PTs.

[incompetentia]

And the results from 59 are in for me.

(Possible minor PT59 spoilers?)

-9 overall, 174. This is progress considering that I carded a freaking 162 on one test late last week, but it's still below my average on PT25-38 by a couple points.

LG -0 (Beat It)
LR1 -2 (Scream)
LR2 -2 (I Want You Back)
RC -5 (Bad)

-2 on Noguchi, but that was equaled by a -2 on the dual one, which I just didn't quite get and ate up a lot of time on (12 minutes on 8 questions). Noguchi I thought was not exceptionally difficult, and I thought I comprehended the passage as well as any other in the section.

If confronted with any of these nine questions by themselves (except maybe that movie one), I'm pretty sure I would have answered them correctly, which leads me to a somewhat scary conclusion:
Both the fact that the bulk of my missed questions occur after the break (in this case, all S3 and later) and that I miss roughly the same number of questions on both easy and difficult question forms leads me to believe that I can probably prevent 80% of the errors I'm making by just concentrating individually on each problem a bit more.
When I first took the two tests I used for diagnostic purposes, I usually finished each section in 21-24 minutes and was spending lots of time just doing nothing. I've slowed that down quite a bit and can probably work my way through any question in a reasonable amount of time and expect to get it correct, but I've still got about 2-3 minutes at the end of each section during which I check on questions I had doubts about. However, upon checking, I very rarely anymore change my answers, and when I do, it's barely more than 50-50 that I made the right decision at this point. Still working on how I can add 15 seconds extra to maybe 7-10 of the more difficult questions in terms of my initial strategy to try to ensure that I don't eliminate correct answer choices...if anybody has any suggestions for slowing things down, I'd be happy to hear them.

I really feel like I could score 180 under the right circumstances, and I don't want to feel like there needs to be a ridiculously difficult LG and some weird art/science-related RC passages for that to happen. Or me singing Billie Jean for the LSAC people.

[jfb]

I'm thinking about doing a proctored test for either pt 59 or 60 at a Kaplan Center on Tuesday. Is there any value to doing so this late in the game, or is the possibility of a poorly executed proctored exam and the subsequesnt confidence blow not worth the risk??

[Blumpbeef]

I think it is a waste of time. You're there for 4 hours to do a 4 section test. I think you're better off doing a 5 section test in the library.

[jarofsoup]

Any one read to start the deep chill. I am just trying to relax sleep well and review previos tests. I may take 1 timed section per day until thursday.

[northwood]

i wouldnt do anything that will ruin your confidence. With a handful of days left keeping your condifence high is the main thing. Stay fresh and ready for the test.

[jfb]

I think it is a waste of time. You're there for 4 hours to do a 4 section test. I think you're better off doing a 5 section test in the library.

Thank you, didn't even think about how long the whole process would take.

[Hedwig]

I think it is a waste of time. You're there for 4 hours to do a 4 section test. I think you're better off doing a 5 section test in the library.

Thank you, didn't even think about how long the whole process would take.

Personally, I really liked getting an experience of not controlling the time under my belt. Obviously I don't ever let myself take longer than 35 minutes per section, but there is a big difference between timing yourself and having someone else call out five minutes and pencils down. If you don't think you're going to have a bit of a panic about timing on the real thing, don't bother. If you're really concerned about that aspect, it might be worth proctoring.

[Sandro]

PT 59

LG -7 ouch
LR -4 ouch
LR -1
RC -10 ouch

-22/164

I give up. I missed 1 question on the first two passages combined. I missed 4 on Noguchi. I had no time for the last passage and missed all on guesses. Its as if I read the passages, and each passage will have 2 questions that I have to basically search for the answer in the passage taking me 2-3 mins+, killing time.

[Hedwig]

PT 59

LG -7 ouch
LR -4 ouch
LR -1
RC -10 ouch

-22/164

I give up. I missed 1 question on the first two passages combined. I missed 2 on Noguchi. I had no time for the last passage and missed all on guesses. Its as if I read the passages, and each passage will have 2 questions that I have to basically search for the answer in the passage taking me 2-3 mins+, killing time.

Can you try circling those questions, putting down a guess, and moving on? If you end up with time left at the end, you can go back and search for each individually, and if not, maybe you'll have a better chance of getting the rest of them right, meaning you'd only end up with like a -6 if all your guesses were wrong. But if it takes 2-3 minutes for each of those questions, there's 2 per passage, that's 12 minutes total you would be left with at the end to try to do them, right? So maybe it would work better if you get the other questions done first, then go back and work on the hard to find ones.

But then again, it might not be easy to identify which question is going to test you like that. So I don't know.

I agree, though, there's always some freaking questions that take so long. I realize I deliberate about the answer choices way too long and I cut myself off, circle the question, and move on now.

[TUP]

It seems like everyone is taking the end of this week off. Am I the only one doing 59 on Thursday and 60 on Friday? After 3+ months of regular prep, doing nothing all of a sudden wouldn't feel right.

[jfb]

I think it is a waste of time. You're there for 4 hours to do a 4 section test. I think you're better off doing a 5 section test in the library.

Thank you, didn't even think about how long the whole process would take.

Personally, I really liked getting an experience of not controlling the time under my belt. Obviously I don't ever let myself take longer than 35 minutes per section, but there is a big difference between timing yourself and having someone else call out five minutes and pencils down. If you don't think you're going to have a bit of a panic about timing on the real thing, don't bother. If you're really concerned about that aspect, it might be worth proctoring.

I'm a retaker from Feb. 09, so I've been through the proctoring experience, I guess I'm thinking at the point I wouldn't gain too much from it and the potential for blown confidence doesnt sit well with me.

[lennonist]

PT 56 done. Breakdown:

-1 LG
-2 LR
-4 LR
-3 RC

-10 = 171

Back in May, got -16 (166).

Pumped up to take another PT later today (PT 57 or 58)

[Sandro]

PT 59

LG -7 ouch
LR -4 ouch
LR -1
RC -10 ouch

-22/164

I give up. I missed 1 question on the first two passages combined. I missed 2 on Noguchi. I had no time for the last passage and missed all on guesses. Its as if I read the passages, and each passage will have 2 questions that I have to basically search for the answer in the passage taking me 2-3 mins+, killing time.

Can you try circling those questions, putting down a guess, and moving on? If you end up with time left at the end, you can go back and search for each individually, and if not, maybe you'll have a better chance of getting the rest of them right, meaning you'd only end up with like a -6 if all your guesses were wrong. But if it takes 2-3 minutes for each of those questions, there's 2 per passage, that's 12 minutes total you would be left with at the end to try to do them, right? So maybe it would work better if you get the other questions done first, then go back and work on the hard to find ones.

But then again, it might not be easy to identify which question is going to test you like that. So I don't know.

I agree, though, there's always some freaking questions that take so long. I realize I deliberate about the answer choices way too long and I cut myself off, circle the question, and move on now.

Yea, I was thinking of trying a strategy like that, allowing myself 4 skips. But RC was last passage and I guess I just threw that out the window and got fixated on some of the questions. I also feel like sometimes i will just ponder the question in my head instead of going back to the passage - hell I think maybe even re reading the passage could help me out. I need to really drill my RC section management because I also forgot to scribble 2-3 words next to each passage to sum up/identify structure. when RC is last it usually is bad for me.

[r2b2ct]

Has anyone taken 2 PTs in one day? I'm bored and am considering doing another one.

I've done this several times. I've noticed that some of my highest scores have occurred the day after I've done 2 tests in a day. I'm actually considering saving 59 and 60 for Friday because of this. I am wary of burnout though.

[Sinra]

Has anyone taken 2 PTs in one day? I'm bored and am considering doing another one.

I've done this several times. I've noticed that some of my highest scores have occurred the day after I've done 2 tests in a day. I'm actually considering saving 59 and 60 for Friday because of this. I am wary of burnout though.

I tend to think burnout is overrated. I do believe that lots of people experience it, but I don't think it's the answer to everything. I'm made the most improvements from just doing LSAT-study every single day. If I skip a day of LR, I invariably miss a question or two more per section from not having been in the mindset and missing a single word/qualifier. I score better consistently when I study every single day with no (day-long) break.

I'm taking a test on Wednesday and doing my last one Friday. No way in hell I'll be relaxing the day before. I think we underestimate that some people learn differently--and for me doing great is a matter of being in the mindset constantly and consistently. Plus, I don't really get exhausted from studying or anything like that.