June 2011 Study Group Forum

[soj]

PT60
LR1: -0
LG: -0
LRe (PT23 S2): -1
LR2: -1
RC: -5
Raw: -6
Scaled: 175

Ugh, RC. It wasn't even that hard, too. I took WAY too long doing the first two passages and ended up having to rush the last two, which explains why I got -2 in P3 and -2 in P4. Everything else was great.

LR pacing still needs work, but accuracy was excellent.

It does feel good to wipe off 173 as the score in the most recent PT taken so far.

[coldshoulder]

Damn I wish I had LR scores like you!
I'll bet your RC will get faster soon.

[mickeyD]

PT49:

LR1: -4
LG: 0
RC: 0
LR2: -3
Raw: -7
Scaled: 173

Fuck. LR was the death of me. I knew I screwed up LR1 but honestly I felt really good about LR2. That -4 was with me getting lucky on the two Parallel Reasoning questions by picking both answers in under 20 seconds by matching conclusions/first premises, could have easily been -6.

A few of the 7 LR mistakes were from not reading closely enough, It's really hard to remedy that. I think that I'm going to have to focus more than ever on getting that 15Qs in 15 mins, because nearly all of my mistakes were from Qs #20-26.

I made one mistake twice. For two difficult questions, the stimulus negated two sufficient conditions and concluded that their respective consequents wouldn't occur. TCR in both said that the consequents could occur for some other reason. I don't think I have seen that line of reasoning very often, and while it's obvious now, when they dressed it up in a stimulus and paired it with some ACs that are commonly right, I didn't stand a chance.

Games went really well, had 5 minutes and got to check all but the last question. Pretty pleased with RC, my third perfect section. I was getting a little cocky about how I had 12 minutes left after 3 passages, until I got hit with this beast of a passage on maize and C4-photosynthesis that took up the rest of my time.

Back to the drawing board, I know I can't count on perfect games and RC. My strategy has always been keep games to -0/1, RC to -1/2, and LR below -5, at a minimum. I had gone a combined -3 or better on LR for the past 5 tests, but clearly I'm not out of the woods.

[soj]

A good friend of mine who took this in June 2010 also got a 175. It feels good to have tied him.

Also, my median scaled score went up .5 today. I don't know why I make a big deal of these things.

Cold, you'll come back stronger than ever on Sunday.

Grats on 49, Mickey. I remember I had the same feeling about RC going into the maize passage. I ended up getting -2 (including -1 in maize), which is pretty good for me.

I agree it's hard to improve in LR, but at least in LR you're still learning something every time you get something wrong, you know? I just feel helpless every time I get an RC question wrong.

[soj]

Here's something I haven't considered.

My recent troubles with pacing in LR and RC seem to stem partly from a greater confidence in my own ability to identify TCR given enough time to think about and struggle with a difficult question. Before, if I couldn't quickly come up with the answer, I would just guess and move on, returning to it if I had time at the end. But now, I feel like I can get the answer if only I think a little more. I spend that extra time on questions that I would normally skip. And it's partly effective--my LR scores have been improving. However, my recent relapses in RC were definitely caused partly by having to rush through the last two passages.

Even in LR, I frequently have to rush through the last few questions, and I rarely have time to return to questions I marked as unsure. (The latter problem is mitigated by the fact that I now mark fewer questions as unsure thanks to the extra time I spend on tough questions.) I'm worried that on test day I will literally run out of time and be forced to guess on the last few questions. If I'm not able to give even cursory consideration to every question so that I'm at least able to eliminate a few ACs, then I'm not spending my time efficiently. Is the increased accuracy worth the risk of running out of time in a worst-case scenario? Is there a way to maintain my accuracy while minimizing the possibility of running out of time? Maybe monitor time more often? Stop doing that annoying blank-read that tells me nothing and forces me to read again? I wish.

Just some random observations on my recent performances. I'd love to hear what you all think.

[Ginj]

Is it true that the 60's are easier than the late 50's? Or have I been lied to?

[soj]

Is it true that the 60's are easier than the late 50's? Or have I been lied to?

63 will be easier but still have a -15 curve.

[Ginj]

Is it true that the 60's are easier than the late 50's? Or have I been lied to?

63 will be easier but still have a -15 curve.

...I believe you.

[mickeyD]

Congrats on that 175 soj! Sick score on a super-recent test. Even though your RC was lower than normal, you're in a great position because your proficiency in games and LR really gives you a cushion. You "bombed" RC but still got a -6 raw. I'm sure you have a feeling you'll do a little better than -5 on June 6.

I really wish I could shed some light on RC strategies, but I really don't have any. I just read the passage really fast and usually don't have much trouble remembering details or locating things when I need to find them, I guess it's because I read a lot as a kid. Those "author agree" ones are sometimes hard, so I treat them like the LRB tells you to treat method of reasoning questions- verify every part of the AC. I guess that kind of applies to every RC question though.

I wish I had you and cold's LR skills, hell even my LG skills are shaky. I know it's no competition, but I just can't help but feel like I'm Chris Bosh to your LeBron and cold's Wade in the June 2011 "Big Three."

[soj]

Congrats on that 175 soj! Sick score on a super-recent test. Even though your RC was lower than normal, you're in a great position because your proficiency in games and LR really gives you a cushion. You "bombed" RC but still got a -6 raw. I'm sure you have a feeling you'll do a little better than -5 on June 6.

I really wish I could shed some light on RC strategies, but I really don't have any. I just read the passage really fast and usually don't have much trouble remembering details or locating things when I need to find them, I guess it's because I read a lot as a kid. Those "author agree" ones are sometimes hard, so I treat them like the LRB tells you to treat method of reasoning questions- verify every part of the AC. I guess that kind of applies to every RC question though.

I wish I had you and cold's LR skills, hell even my LG skills are shaky. I know it's no competition, but I just can't help but feel like I'm Chris Bosh to your LeBron and cold's Wade in the June 2011 "Big Three."

The Big Three comparison will be more appropriate when we take our test-taking talons to New Haven in 2012 and ... get straight Hs or something.

As for doing better than -6, my mean, median, and mode raw scores are all worse than -6, so I'd be ecstatic with a -6. The best way to do that would be to stop getting -5 or worse on RC.

[Eichörnchen]

Congrats on that 175 soj! Sick score on a super-recent test. Even though your RC was lower than normal, you're in a great position because your proficiency in games and LR really gives you a cushion. You "bombed" RC but still got a -6 raw. I'm sure you have a feeling you'll do a little better than -5 on June 6.

I really wish I could shed some light on RC strategies, but I really don't have any. I just read the passage really fast and usually don't have much trouble remembering details or locating things when I need to find them, I guess it's because I read a lot as a kid. Those "author agree" ones are sometimes hard, so I treat them like the LRB tells you to treat method of reasoning questions- verify every part of the AC. I guess that kind of applies to every RC question though.

I wish I had you and cold's LR skills, hell even my LG skills are shaky. I know it's no competition, but I just can't help but feel like I'm Chris Bosh to your LeBron and cold's Wade in the June 2011 "Big Three."

Mickey, this is exactly how I feel about RC I feel like I have no super "strategy' - although i should probably tweak my approach because my last few PTs have been -3 RCs - but I think reading all. the. time. as a kid has helped me a lot haha. Oh, and is it weird that I've thought of you as Arnold for so long, the new tar is a little jarring?

[jim-green]

PT60
RC: -5
Scaled: 175
Ugh, RC. It wasn't even that hard, too. I took WAY too long doing the first two passages and ended up having to rush the last two, which explains why I got -2 in P3 and -2 in P4. Everything else was great.

Soj, don't feel too bad about RC. When I was prepping for Feb 2011, I worked on PTs leading up to test day as you are doing. PT60 was a week before test day. Until then, my PT avg was 168. RC avg was -5 or so. Suddenly on PT60, I got a -12 RC and my score was worthless. I do believe this PT's RC is hard for some reason - maybe just timing. I'd like to know how others did. Anyway, suffice it to say, that 1 week before test day, my confidence was totally shaken and I scored way below my PT avg on test day. So don't get rattled by PT60's RC. It is an outlier. And oh, you just won back the TLS Badass title today! Congrats.

[mickeyD]

Mickey, this is exactly how I feel about RC I feel like I have no super "strategy' - although i should probably tweak my approach because my last few PTs have been -3 RCs - but I think reading all. the. time. as a kid has helped me a lot haha. Oh, and is it weird that I've thought of you as Arnold for so long, the new tar is a little jarring?

Gotta show Gerald some love too. <3 Diversity!

[Eichörnchen]

Mickey, this is exactly how I feel about RC I feel like I have no super "strategy' - although i should probably tweak my approach because my last few PTs have been -3 RCs - but I think reading all. the. time. as a kid has helped me a lot haha. Oh, and is it weird that I've thought of you as Arnold for so long, the new tar is a little jarring?

Gotta show Gerald some love too. <3 Diversity!

Bahahaha. Gerald is sweet (although Arnold has a really cool bedroom).

[jim-green]

What is an XOR condition? I havent heard of this

Exclusive OR. For e.g., either G before J or G after K but not both. Creates 2 diagrams.

[UnamSanctam]

Taking PT60 today. Let you all know how it goes.

[MarineLaw]

I just finished PT 60. Soj, I'm with you on the RC, I had to fly through the last two passages and ended up missing three in the section, all of which were between 18-25. Unfortunately LG as always pummelled my score down into the high 160s. 60 definitely seemed to have a pre-constructed time trap in the RC though...

[boosk]

Just finished Sep 2007 LSAT, I dont have the conventional "PT's" so idk what # that is. Got 164 today, Im hoping to get above 165 on game day, lets see if I can squeeze four more points out of my brain in 17 days...

-8 on games is what did it... I havent seen too many games like the one about seminars. It has a grouping element (long/short), and a linear element in that there are 2 consecutive seminars on 3 straight days, couldn't wrap my brain around it.

[99.9luft]

1. Good job you guys above who got 173/175 today.
2. Guess what I did today instead of PTing? Fixing a leaking toilet (ended up replacing 1 gasket, 3 bolts, one of which i had to use pliers, a drill, and about 6 other tools). All i know is that if this whole 99th percentile thing doesn't work out in June, I can be a plumber.
3. This is so that you guys are not let down too much by a bitch of a June curve:



It's highly unlikely to be more generous than 13.

31 Jun 00 -14
34 Jun 01 -13
37 Jun 02 -10
40 Jun 03 -10
43 Jun 04 -12
46 Jun 05 -9
49 Jun 06 -10
51.5 Jun 07 -8
54 Jun 08 -10
57 Jun 09 -11
60 Jun 10 -12

[theaether]

1. Good job you guys above who got 173/175 today.
2. Guess what I did today instead of PTing? Fixing a leaking toilet (ended up replacing 1 gasket, 3 bolts, one of which i had to use pliers, a drill, and about 6 other tools). All i know is that if this whole 99th percentile thing doesn't work out in June, I can be a plumber.
3. This is so that you guys are not let down too much by a bitch of a June curve:



It's highly unlikely to be more generous than 13.

that difference could almost be statistically significant. wow

[mickeyD]

As long as it's not -8, I can live with it.

Just checked the most recent curves for 175:

October '08 - December '10

-5, -6, -6, -6, -8, -6, -6, -8

We can do this!

[coldshoulder]

As long as it's not -8, I can live with it.

Just checked the most recent curves for 175:

October '08 - December '10

-5, -6, -6, -6, -8, -6, -6, -8

We can do this!

That is exactly what I want! -8 for 175 would be like a guaranteed 170.

[zozin]

That is exactly what I want! -8 for 175 would be like a guaranteed 170.

I think they're talking about the June 07 LSAT where the max ?s wrong for a 170 was 8...

Speaking of June 07, I just took it today. For some reason I never actually prepped this at the beginning.

LG: -1 Dumb mistake, like all my LG wrong answers. Mental farts...
RC: -2 Super easy passages, 3/4 difficult questions.
LR1: -5 Finished question 25 with 5 minutes left and 6 questions that I left unaswered/had to review... way too many. Plus FedEx showed up at my door halfway through the section.
LR2: -2

168 for -10 overall is pretty brutal.

[soj]

Thanks, hearing you guys confirm the difficulty of PT60 RC makes me feel better about the -5.

BTW, I was reviewing PT23 LR1 Q26 (posted in the previous page ... about teenage drivers), and I noticed a CRITICAL phrase that completely elucidates the question.

(B) Teenagers and their passengers are less likely to use seat belts and shoulder straps than others.

OMG. I completely missed the bold part the first time. Now it's obvious that B weakens the argument and is thus not TCR. While the driver is responsible for making sure passengers buckle up, passengers not buckling up can't reasonably be construed as "a lack of basic driving skills." B is a clear loser, and D is TCR.

Note to self: read every word of every LR AC carefully. This is only the 45987320473256233526th time I've noted this.

[mickeyD]

Note to self: read every word of every LR AC carefully. This is only the 45987320473256233526th time I've noted this.

+1