JUNE 2013 Study Group / Study Partner Thread Forum

[Chambo]

I've plugged through 10 LR sections in the last week or so and put them on lsatQA. I'm averaging about -2 per section, and I'm usually finishing with a few minutes left over. There isn't a really a strong trend to what questions I'm getting wrong... The misses are about evenly distributed around the big question types, with lower accuracy on some odd ones (evaluate legitimacy, evaluate logical force).

The only pattern I really see is that my misses come on questions with level 4 and 5 difficulty. This is expected, I guess, but it doesn't help me focus review and prep to maximize gains. All I can really glean from that is "just get better overall." Was anyone in a similar situation?

I'm assuming you often lose out on questions you're 50:50 on? Find out why you're eliminating the right answer. When you come across a tough one, go ahead and slow down a bit, and really focus on the "wrong to right" approach.

The encouraging thing is that I rarely eliminate the correct AC. Rather, My 50:50s come down to more of a gut feeling. I think this is because I'm not picking up on the subtle distinctions in stims and ACs that make or break LR questions. Hopefully this will come back as i get my brain more into LSAT mode.

[NoodleyOne]

First 180 PT! Went -0 on PT 36, woohoo!

Know I should be working on PTs 40+, but I've done the majority of them, so I decided to give the high 30s a shot. Finally started studying for the LSAT again this week after being disappointed with my February score. Went 177 on 38, 175 on 37, and now this. Very encouraging.

Do you all think I should continue using old tests I haven't taken, or move on to retaking modern (40+) tests? Any thoughts are appreciated.

How many unused tests do you have? Make sure you have decent familiarity with the recent ones. Maybe alternate a modern retake with a fresh old one to stay sharp.

Edit: Oh, and Congrats on the 180!

Thanks for your thoughts, NoodleyOne (you are my retake guru!).

I have about ten fresh 40+ PTs (I completed a few sections here and there back when I first started prepping, but at least five of them should be completely fresh.. wish I had saved more for full PT sessions!). I've only done about five full PTs pre-40, but have completed RC for 1-25 (drilling RC sections). So.. running a bit low on material.

Do you have any tips for when one should do the most recent tests? For the February LSAT, I put off taking the PTs over 60 until the week of the test.. that was definitely stupid. Now wondering when I should return to them/take the remaining. Want to balance seeing modern, fresh material shortly before the test with actually having time to learn and adapt to the minute differences in the most recent tests before test day, this time around.

(And thank you! Was stupid excited to finally have a 180 PT; basically did a victory lap, lol.)

I don't think there's a right answer to start incorporating them, just make sure you have enough time. Also, it will be worth it to retake some modern ones, too, even if you have some old ones undone. While there isn't much difference, being as prepared as possible for the newer formats is never a bad thing.

[objection_your_honor]

PT 57:

LG: -0
LR1 -3 (#3, 13, 21. This girl at the next table was squeak-breathing through her nose for the entire section and it just killed my focus)
LR2: -1 (#9)
RC: -3

Raw: 93 --> Scaled: 174

All in all, I'm pretty happy. I hadn't touched anything LSAT in nearly a week, and the constant distraction on LR1 could be blamed for two of my misses there.

I am a little worried, though. Repetitive noises (foot-tapping, finger-drumming, nose-squeaking, etc.) bug the hell out of me. And what are the odds that at least one of the the 50+ people in the room on test day won't pull that BS? I tanked my O-Chem final a couple years ago because the person sitting next to me was sniffling every 5 seconds for the entire two hour test.

I used to be/can default to being the same way. Force yourself to take PTs in noisy places that would normally bug the hell out of you until you learn how to block everything out and just get in the zone. Noisy areas of the library and coffee shops seem to do the trick for most people. Better to be annoyed as hell in the weeks leading up to the test than on the actual test day.

Good advice, but don't expect to ever totally get over it. I took last weekend's PTs at a library in a major metropolitan area, which means it's basically a gymnasium for the leisured indigent. Sights, sounds, and smells.

Congrats on the 180.

[MKX]

Got my LR Packets. Hopefully this will really help.

Are the RC packets worth it?

[tehkris]

lurker here excited to be a part of this thread. as I am total noob, i must ask what are the importance of the number of test?(40+, 30+, etc...) Is it in terms of how recent they were published? In any case, I'll be on this thread constantly as I'm registered for June as well.

[patfeeney]

Took the first LR section of Preptest 21 (December 1996, Sec. 2)
After about a week's break from actual LR work (save for reading through Manhattan's LR book), I got a 22/25. If I can replicate that on a PT, I'm looking at a 168... vast improvement in my book.


However, I failed to grasp #19 in that section. It's a necessary assumption question, but the answer is so vague that I can't wrap my head around it. None of the answers are clear, not even the one I ended up picking and getting wrong (I chose A, answer was C).

Can anyone who's taken this particular preptest work the logic around it? It's about spectroscopic analysis of materials on the surface of Pluto.

[patfeeney]

as I am total noob, i must ask what are the importance of the number of test?(40+, 30+, etc...) Is it in terms of how recent they were published? In any case, I'll be on this thread constantly as I'm registered for June as well.

Yes, the higher the number, the more recent the test. Tests in the 60+ range are from the past two years, 1-30 are from the 90s, etc.

Try to get the latest ones; they're most similar to how the current test looks. The LSAT has changed significantly over the course of the 60 or 70 published preptests.

[objection_your_honor]

Took the first LR section of Preptest 21 (December 1996, Sec. 2)
After about a week's break from actual LR work (save for reading through Manhattan's LR book), I got a 22/25. If I can replicate that on a PT, I'm looking at a 168... vast improvement in my book.


However, I failed to grasp #19 in that section. It's a necessary assumption question, but the answer is so vague that I can't wrap my head around it. None of the answers are clear, not even the one I ended up picking and getting wrong (I chose A, answer was C).

Can anyone who's taken this particular preptest work the logic around it? It's about spectroscopic analysis of materials on the surface of Pluto.

We know there is N, M, and C ice on Pluto. We know that these vaporize and produce an atmosphere, and that the more readily they vaporize the higher their proportion in the atmosphere. From this information, the argument concludes that the atmosphere must be, in order of abundance, comprised of N (most abundant), C, and M (least abundant).

A key assumption here, and the one covered in the correct answer, is that the argument has not taken account of other gases (or ice that can vaporize into gas) that may possibly exist on Pluto. It assumes we're only working with N, C, M. If another one were to vaporize more readily than the three listed here, then it would screw up the order: N, C, M. What if X vaporizes more readily than M, but less readily than C? The atmosphere would now be comprised of N, C, X, M (in that order), and the conclusion is no longer valid.

[Chambo]

Got my LR Packets. Hopefully this will really help.

Are the RC packets worth it?

I like to drill RC as whole sections. I think it's more useful for pacing purposes because passages don't exist in a vacuum. A few in one section are easier and can be done in short order, others are more difficult and take more time. It's important to keep this in mind when figuring out how quickly you should be working through the section. Aside from this, I don't think there's a huge difference in approach to the different kinds of passages (i.e. sciences vs. humanities), and the packet organization is a bit irrelevant.

Also, I'm drilling RC today. I hate drilling RC.

[okaygo]

Question. I'm currently working on PT47-S4-G3 and I feel like it should be an easy game but I'm having a hard time. What am I supposed to derive from 'V does not carry any type of music that Z carries'?

[CardozoLaw09]

Question. I'm currently working on PT47-S4-G3 and I feel like it should be an easy game but I'm having a hard time. What am I supposed to derive from 'V does not carry any type of music that Z carries'?

If V carries a certain kind of music then Z doesn't. So if V carries something like jazz then Z doesn't carry jazz. There can be no mutual elements between V and Z. Each must carry different types of music.

[ricekrispies]

It's one of those nights...I have been doing well at LR, making progress and whatnot, and then BOOM. I drop a -7 in one section on PT35. Frickin ridiculous man. It definitely motivates me to work harder but is still quite discouraging to see that one randomly difficult section can just destroy you like that.

[SteelPenguin]

It's one of those nights...I have been doing well at LR, making progress and whatnot, and then BOOM. I drop a -7 in one section on PT35. Frickin ridiculous man. It definitely motivates me to work harder but is still quite discouraging to see that one randomly difficult section can just destroy you like that.

That was me with logic games on test day. I was getting between -0 and -3, and then I didn't even get to the last 5 questions on test day. I scribbled a few Ds down, and got 1/5 correct. I was way too relaxed and took too much time on the easier games, and when it came time for the harder ones, I was screwed.

As far as my cambridge progress, so far I'm a perfect 50/50 on parallel reasoning. I feel very confident with PR now. I'll finish the packet tomorrow and then take another LSAT in the afternoon.

[RhymesLikeDimes]

PT 58

LG: -0 (First encounter with Mauve Dinosaurs. Not that bad, but it was very time-consuming.)
LR1: -3 (#13, 16, 24. Misread #13, switched from correct on #16. #24 was just mean and vicious.)
LR2: -0
RC: -1 (#8, felt like a really easy RC section overall. Finished in ~29m, and I usually push 35m.)

Raw: 97 --> Scaled: 177

Starting to run out of PTs (59-60, 62-68 are all I have left), so I'm going to slow it down a bit. Maybe start drilling RC

EDIT: That was PT 58, not 57.

[patfeeney]

PT 57
Starting to run out of PTs (58-60, 61-68 are all I have left), so I'm going to slow it down a bit. Maybe start drilling RC

Perhaps go back to the much older tests and try to run through the answers again? Not sure if that would be futile, though. Sounds like you're set for June.

[rebexness]

PT 57

LG: -0 (First encounter with Mauve Dinosaurs. Not that bad, but it was very time-consuming.)
LR1: -3 (#13, 16, 24. Misread #13, switched from correct on #16. #24 was just mean and vicious.)
LR2: -0
RC: -1 (#8, felt like a really easy RC section overall. Finished in ~29m, and I usually push 35m.)

Raw: 97 --> Scaled: 177

Starting to run out of PTs (58-60, 61-68 are all I have left), so I'm going to slow it down a bit. Maybe start drilling RC

Make yourself "Super PTs". Take your hardest LG, two hardest LR, and RC (and whichever for experimental) and make your own PTs.

[patfeeney]

PT 12, RC Sec. 3
27/27
I'm sure it's an anomaly, but has anyone else taken this section, and if so, how does it compare in difficulty to other ones? I'm extremely giddy as I normally average 21/27 on the RC, but I just came back from a week's break from the section, so I'm not sure if I'm just lucky or if I've seen real progress.

[SteelPenguin]

Gah, even after drilling I only got 2/3 parallel reasoning questions right. I was running a little low on time in the section, but still disappointed.

Here's my most recent PT:

PT 41: 171

LR: -2
LG: -4
LR: -2
RC: -2

Overall, I'm very happy with the way this one went. I haven't gotten to review yet, but the 4 LGs I got wrong were all part of game four, a circle game. I haven't been very good with those, and it took me almost two minutes to figure out which direction someone is if "X is clockwise to Y."

[NoodleyOne]

PT 57

LG: -0 (First encounter with Mauve Dinosaurs. Not that bad, but it was very time-consuming.)
LR1: -3 (#13, 16, 24. Misread #13, switched from correct on #16. #24 was just mean and vicious.)
LR2: -0
RC: -1 (#8, felt like a really easy RC section overall. Finished in ~29m, and I usually push 35m.)

Raw: 97 --> Scaled: 177

Starting to run out of PTs (58-60, 61-68 are all I have left), so I'm going to slow it down a bit. Maybe start drilling RC

Make yourself "Super PTs". Take your hardest LG, two hardest LR, and RC (and whichever for experimental) and make your own PTs.

Either that or a Super LG section. Do something like Zephyr/Dinos/Stained Glass/New and Used CDs. If you can do that in 35 minutes -0, you win.

[RhymesLikeDimes]

The only problem there is that I have done every single game from PTs 1-58 at this point. And the especially hard ones (Manikins, Zephyr Airlines, CDs, Snakes and Lizards, etc.) I've done 4-6 times each already. I haven't missed an LG question in 6 or 7 PTs, so unless the June LSAT has a nasty, nasty surprise in store I think I'm set with that.

The problem with making LR sections is that I am either re-doing problems, or I'm cherry-picking a bunch of L3 and L4 questions. It just isn't realistic to do 25 tough LR questions in 35 minutes. I still have about 400 LR questions from PTs 21-40 that I need to drill, so what I think I'll do is tightly timed drilling (something like 35 seconds per L1, 50 per L2, 70 per L3, 90 per L4).

[NoodleyOne]

The only problem there is that I have done every single game from PTs 1-58 at this point. And the especially hard ones (Manikins, Zephyr Airlines, CDs, Snakes and Lizards, etc.) I've done 4-6 times each already. I haven't missed an LG question in 6 or 7 PTs, so unless the June LSAT has a nasty, nasty surprise in store I think I'm set with that.

The problem with making LR sections is that I am either re-doing problems, or I'm cherry-picking a bunch of L3 and L4 questions. It just isn't realistic to do 25 tough LR questions in 35 minutes. I still have about 400 LR questions from PTs 21-40 that I need to drill, so what I think I'll do is tightly timed drilling (something like 35 seconds per L1, 50 per L2, 70 per L3, 90 per L4).

How are you on time? I was more recommending that for fun/challenge/masochism. If your timing is good I wouldn't stress to much. Just address weaknesses and tweak your approach a bit to maximize uour time. I think the goal is to be"in the zone" come test day. I have to say personally this is a big reason for my personal success. I wouldn't worry too much about difficulty. Just succeed on everything.

[redecember]

Gah, even after drilling I only got 2/3 parallel reasoning questions right. I was running a little low on time in the section, but still disappointed.

Here's my most recent PT:

PT 41: 171

LR: -2
LG: -4
LR: -2
RC: -2

Overall, I'm very happy with the way this one went. I haven't gotten to review yet, but the 4 LGs I got wrong were all part of game four, a circle game. I haven't been very good with those, and it took me almost two minutes to figure out which direction someone is if "X is clockwise to Y."

Just took PT 41 too.

171

LR: -3 (#10, #13, #22)
LG: -4
LR: -0
RC: -4

I also got 4 wrong on the circle game. Which ones did you get wrong on your LR?

[SteelPenguin]

Gah, even after drilling I only got 2/3 parallel reasoning questions right. I was running a little low on time in the section, but still disappointed.

Here's my most recent PT:

PT 41: 171

LR: -2
LG: -4
LR: -2
RC: -2

Overall, I'm very happy with the way this one went. I haven't gotten to review yet, but the 4 LGs I got wrong were all part of game four, a circle game. I haven't been very good with those, and it took me almost two minutes to figure out which direction someone is if "X is clockwise to Y."

Just took PT 41 too.

171

LR: -3 (#10, #13, #22)
LG: -4
LR: -0
RC: -4

I also got 4 wrong on the circle game. Which ones did you get wrong on your LR?

I actually made some of the most careless mistakes I've ever made on LR.

LR1:
10 (misread question entirely)
23 (short on time, should have noticed I was wrong based on ending of answer/stimulus)

LR2:
2 (forgot about EXCEPT partway through answers)
9 (Plain old incorrect)

[redecember]

Gah, even after drilling I only got 2/3 parallel reasoning questions right. I was running a little low on time in the section, but still disappointed.

Here's my most recent PT:

PT 41: 171

LR: -2
LG: -4
LR: -2
RC: -2

Overall, I'm very happy with the way this one went. I haven't gotten to review yet, but the 4 LGs I got wrong were all part of game four, a circle game. I haven't been very good with those, and it took me almost two minutes to figure out which direction someone is if "X is clockwise to Y."

Just took PT 41 too.

171

LR: -3 (#10, #13, #22)
LG: -4
LR: -0
RC: -4

I also got 4 wrong on the circle game. Which ones did you get wrong on your LR?

I actually made some of the most careless mistakes I've ever made on LR.

LR1:
10 (misread question entirely)
23 (short on time, should have noticed I was wrong based on ending of answer/stimulus)

LR2:
2 (forgot about EXCEPT partway through answers)
9 (Plain old incorrect)

Nice. They all seem like little mistakes that are definitely fixable.

PT41 S1 Q22 on LR1 was really confusing for me, do you think you can explain it? Or anyone else?

[SteelPenguin]

PT41 S1 Q22 on LR1 was really confusing for me, do you think you can explain it? Or anyone else?

Which answer did you choose?

The stimulus reads as:

If A happens routinely, then B will happen. B will lead to C. So, A should NEVER be allowed to happen.

D is correct because A can happen some of the time without leading to B.

I didn't want to put the question down and break LSAT rules, but I hope this helps.