The Official December 2015 Study Group Forum

gulagorkestar · Post by **gulagorkestar** » Tue Oct 06, 2015 1:38 am

First time poster here. I've been studying since early August with the intent of taking October. I withdrew feeling that I was far off my potential (in the 150s). I took a Testmasters course and while I feel like it helped me with the basics, (it took me a month to conceptually understand the test), I wasn't very confident under timed conditions to risk October. With two months to go (and no TM guidance), does anyone have advice on what to utilize with self-study?

I have seven recent Preptests (no earlier than October 2008)
Powerscore LR and LG bibles
Hundreds of TM practice questions.

Monkey D Luffy · Post by **Monkey D Luffy** » Tue Oct 06, 2015 3:22 am

Help guys. Need advice.

I'm planning to invest in a solid printer that won't breakdown on me. I heard good things about the Brothers brand. Which one would you guys recommend?

Thanks

PatriotP74 · Post by **PatriotP74** » Tue Oct 06, 2015 6:32 pm

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PatriotP74 · Post by **PatriotP74** » Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:05 pm

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splitterfromhell · Post by **splitterfromhell** » Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:14 pm

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SirArthurDayne · Post by **SirArthurDayne** » Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:24 pm

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AfrocentricAsian · Post by **AfrocentricAsian** » Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:26 pm

Something I realized before but can state as fact now: I am terrible on passage type logical reasoning questions. How do I get better at them? I read the information within the stimulus and forget it by the time I have to answer the questions.

gulagorkestar · Post by **gulagorkestar** » Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:46 pm

PatriotP74 wrote:
gulagorkestar wrote:First time poster here. I've been studying since early August with the intent of taking October. I withdrew feeling that I was far off my potential (in the 150s). I took a Testmasters course and while I feel like it helped me with the basics, (it took me a month to conceptually understand the test), I wasn't very confident under timed conditions to risk October. With two months to go (and no TM guidance), does anyone have advice on what to utilize with self-study?

I have seven recent Preptests (no earlier than October 2008)
Powerscore LR and LG bibles
Hundreds of TM practice questions.

Work on weaknesses and take PT's. I would say at least 7 PT's between now and test day and those should include 70-75 for sure. Drill the practice questions, work through the LG bible if you haven't mastered LG yet.

Nothing will prepare you better for test day than taking real LSAT's under timed conditions!

Thanks man! I appreciate the advice.

libertttarian · Post by **libertttarian** » Tue Oct 06, 2015 11:19 pm

gulagorkestar wrote:
PatriotP74 wrote:
gulagorkestar wrote:First time poster here. I've been studying since early August with the intent of taking October. I withdrew feeling that I was far off my potential (in the 150s). I took a Testmasters course and while I feel like it helped me with the basics, (it took me a month to conceptually understand the test), I wasn't very confident under timed conditions to risk October. With two months to go (and no TM guidance), does anyone have advice on what to utilize with self-study?

I have seven recent Preptests (no earlier than October 2008)
Powerscore LR and LG bibles
Hundreds of TM practice questions.

Work on weaknesses and take PT's. I would say at least 7 PT's between now and test day and those should include 70-75 for sure. Drill the practice questions, work through the LG bible if you haven't mastered LG yet.

Nothing will prepare you better for test day than taking real LSAT's under timed conditions!
Thanks man! I appreciate the advice.

I'd suggest getting the first and/or second Powerscore "game type training" books. Together they include the games from the first 50 Practice Tests, arranged by type. I did four games every day as a warmup before actual LSAT prep, and went from rage quitting LGs on my diagnostic to -0 in June. Those books were especially helpful to me because many of the LGs from the early PTs are weird and nonstandard, so drilling those games got me good at understanding new LGs rather than just applying fixed rules.

ltowns1 · Post by **ltowns1** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 10:10 am

Reading comprehension and LG are my focus. If i can get good at those two sections, I'll be in good shape for December. If I can't, it's despair.

Hey that's a good conditional for you LSAT young folks out there lol

seashell.economy · Post by **seashell.economy** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 10:29 am

Trying a new method:

Watched 7Sage's Blind Review videos and realized I had been doing some of the same things in the videos, both good and bad. The good: I already naturally make certain marks as I go through a PT or drill. For example, I'll circle questions where I am not sure I am right. When I eliminate an answer, I will draw a solid line through the A,B,C,D or E if I feel 100% certain it is wrong. If I am only partially certain, I draw a squiggly line through the letter of the answer choice, instead. Questions where I am semi-guessing because I am running out of time, I mark in a certain way, etc...The bad: I am also doing the "jackpot" method of reviewing my answers: rapidly checking to see if they are right or wrong and hardly reviewing them to figure out 100% why one answer is right and why the other four answers are 100% wrong.

So I photocopied all of the answers I got wrong or guessed on from the last 3 PTs that I did: 68, 67 and 74. After printing them out, I cut out each of the questions that I got wrong and photocopied each single question onto its own sheet of paper. I now have a packet of LR's that are each on an individual piece of paper, with ample blank space where I can write notes as to 1) what type of question it was (using the LR Bible's methods) and 2) why I got the answer wrong, why the correct answer is correct, and just for good measure, why the other 3 answers are also incorrect.

I'm hoping that this will help me get past the string of 168's I've had and - finally - bump me two points up to my goal of 170. I'll let you know how it goes!

mintme · Post by **mintme** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 10:54 am

How is everyone finding time to prep? Between 16 hours of classes + work I'm struggling to find time to even just work through the Trainer.

SirArthurDayne · Post by **SirArthurDayne** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 10:56 am

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cheeseee · Post by **cheeseee** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 11:40 am

i took the october test and i cant get myself to start studying again.

calmike · Post by **calmike** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 12:23 pm

I took october lsat and I messed up in the 3rd game and guessed on about 3 questions. I also did not understand the 4th RC passage and probably guessed in 4 questions. I cannot believe that I felt more confident with LR than with RC and LG because LR was my weakest section.

I will retake in Dec and I know I can improve whatever score I get in the next few weeks.

daisrt · Post by **daisrt** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 12:43 pm

PatriotP74 wrote:Going to take me a few days to get back to studying. Been looking through the things I have access to on Manhattan via Interact, and I have to say its pretty cool. Kinda wish I hadn't purchased all the PTs from cambridge now that I have access to them anyways. You also get not only the interact classes but each session as it happened in real time with a class of real students. Waiting on the books/materials in the mail and planning on knocking the 12 sessions out in roughly 6 weeks. Wanting to do somewhere around 7-10 PTs along the way.

Anyone else taking some sort of course?

I took the TestMasters live course. Didn't think the live course was helpful but REALLY enjoyed the online resources. I wish I'd utilized them more while I was studying for October. Unfortunately they've expired and it's way too expensive to renew them. I might pay $150 to go to their weekly proctored exams, though.

PatriotP74 · Post by **PatriotP74** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 1:30 pm

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Mint-Berry_Crunch · Post by **Mint-Berry_Crunch** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 1:44 pm

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Mint-Berry_Crunch · Post by **Mint-Berry_Crunch** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 1:46 pm

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PatriotP74 · Post by **PatriotP74** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 1:47 pm

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cheeseee · Post by **cheeseee** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 2:07 pm

Mint-Berry_Crunch wrote:Hi December peoples!

Took October, checking in because I might possibly maybe kinda start studying for December sometime, even if just for scholly. Would love to get my RC lower as its about -4 to -6 on newer tests.

Me 222. Why is RC so hard?

Had to guess on last few questions on the last passage. I hate mercury now.

cheeseee · Post by **cheeseee** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 2:14 pm

Test centers nearby are all full, and I managed to get a last minute spot at one place that doesn't have favorable ratings. I've taken June and October tests and I had a good experience with testing centers so far. Do you guys think it's worth $90 to change the center if a spot at my previous test center opens up?? I thought it was about $30 but apparently it's $90. + $175 lsat...

daisrt · Post by **daisrt** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 2:21 pm

cheeseee wrote:Test centers nearby are all full, and I managed to get a last minute spot at one place that doesn't have favorable ratings. I've taken June and October tests and I had a good experience with testing centers so far. Do you guys think it's worth $90 to change the center if a spot at my previous test center opens up?? I thought it was about $30 but apparently it's $90. + $175 lsat...

Ugh, I'm in the same boat. I feel like it depends on why the center is unfavorable. My center has small desks (my first center had huuuge roomy tables) which I'm not thrilled about but I can take practice exams at the center as often as I want so I'm just going to roll with it. Plus, if you are waiting on another test center that means you have to monitor LSAC day in and day out to grab the open spot and your time could probably be better spent studying, etc. If you can practice in the conditions that make your testing center unfavorable, as long as the conditions aren't outrageous or like a personal pet peeve or something, then it's probably not worth the $90 to change.

But maybe this is just me trying to make myself feel better about my testing center, haha.

cheeseee · Post by **cheeseee** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 2:28 pm

daisrt wrote:
cheeseee wrote:Test centers nearby are all full, and I managed to get a last minute spot at one place that doesn't have favorable ratings. I've taken June and October tests and I had a good experience with testing centers so far. Do you guys think it's worth $90 to change the center if a spot at my previous test center opens up?? I thought it was about $30 but apparently it's $90. + $175 lsat...
Ugh, I'm in the same boat. I feel like it depends on why the center is unfavorable. My center has small desks (my first center had huuuge roomy tables) which I'm not thrilled about but I can take practice exams at the center as often as I want so I'm just going to roll with it. Plus, if you are waiting on another test center that means you have to monitor LSAC day in and day out to grab the open spot and your time could probably be better spent studying, etc. If you can practice in the conditions that make your testing center unfavorable, as long as the conditions aren't outrageous or like a personal pet peeve or something, then it's probably not worth the $90 to change.

But maybe this is just me trying to make myself feel better about my testing center, haha.

yeah, I think I'm being too picky. I read somewhere that the center had small desks, and I just assumed = bad testing center. i should definitely visit the center. thanks

daisrt · Post by **daisrt** » Wed Oct 07, 2015 3:05 pm

Retakers- how many PTs do you think you will do this time around?

edit: this time around as in over the next two months.