The Official October 2015 Study Group Forum

RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:14 am

I've been "studying" for like 2 years but really more like 2 months lol

nerdylsat · Post by **nerdylsat** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:16 am

I hate people that are PTing at like 178 after two months of studying.

How does that even happen?

TLS makes me feel so dumb.

nlee10 · Post by **nlee10** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:21 am

nerdylsat wrote:I hate people that are PTing at like 178 after two months of studying. How does that even happen?

TLS makes me feel so dumb.

https://www.cambridgelsat.com/resources ... les-table/
Whenever you feel like that, take a look...
TLS sort of attracts the high scorers so it may seem like a 170+ is the norm. I don't consider myself a high scorer (low 160's myself) but after talking to a few friends (and friends of friends), you hardly ever hear about 170+ scorers.

ugg · Post by **ugg** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:25 am

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flash21 · Post by **flash21** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:30 am

guys, was PT 74 reading comprehension section pretty tough?

I just reviewed over the questions I got wrong in blind review and some of them were still really really hard to understand.. -4 after blind review.

Mint-Berry_Crunch · Post by **Mint-Berry_Crunch** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:33 am

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nlee10 · Post by **nlee10** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:37 am

Mint-Berry_Crunch wrote: When I first started prepping I felt like I couldn't find anyone who was even taking the LSAT nonetheless someone who was a high scorer. Kinda sucked.
Met a girl at a bar with a 172, decided she didn't want to go to LS... Another girl I worked with got a 171.

They're hard to find tho. I forget my 165 is like, better than most.

The highest score I've met IRL is a 167. But because his GPA was shot from having a STEM (<2.75) he decided it wasn't worth it since he wanted T20 and a big scholly.

pterodactyls · Post by **pterodactyls** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:39 am

chalky wrote:
mornincounselor wrote:
chalky wrote:Here's a fun hypothetical: even if you scored 180 and got your pick of HYS, would you go? I don't think I would.
Then what's the point of studying at all?
Realistically, there's probably so many gunners and curvebreakers there it would be miserable, I'd prob have to study 18 hours a day just to finish in the top half of the class.

Hey I'd go to HYS and be dead last. A degree from HYS is still a degree from HYS, whether you're in top 10% or bottom 10%.

PatriotP74 · Post by **PatriotP74** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:39 am

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gamerish · Post by **gamerish** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:40 am

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pterodactyls · Post by **pterodactyls** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:41 am

Serious question,

If I uncheck that box on LSAC website that says "Law schools may contact me, etc." will I still receive fee waivers?

I checked the box because I didn't want to hurt my chances of getting fee waivers (don't want to say "law schools are not allowed to contact me" if they're sending me a fee waiver). But, it's starting to get annoying. I had a law school call my cell phone last week to try to talk to me. Spam email is one thing, I can delete it, but phone calls are pretty annoying.

Mint-Berry_Crunch · Post by **Mint-Berry_Crunch** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:48 am

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Theresa87 · Post by **Theresa87** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:52 am

I have been studying since late may/beginning of June. By august I was scoring a 169. I started with the oldest PT after 38 and have been working up to the newest. I was definitely hitting 172/173 consistently, and I reached 175 a couple times, a 176, and a 177.

I started a full time job in September and I think the travelling and training for it threw me off of my game and I scored a couple of 165-167.

My last 4 scores- 170 (60), 167 (61), 172 (63), 174 (71).

I plan to take 72 and 75 wednesday and thursday. If I drop below 170, I will withdraw.

My goal is to get at the very least 170 and really want to get 172+

It seems liked I was consistently hitting this and I would be fine, but a couple of scores in the high 160s and the toughness of the newer tests has shaken my confidence a little.

Should I withdraw and take it in December or just go ahead and do October. This is my last shot as its my 3rd retake (last 2 were last cycle and didn't consistently study for them). I know you should wait until you feel 100% ready, but to be honest I may never feel that way, and if I wait until December I won't have any new recent practice tests to take.

chalky · Post by **chalky** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:54 am

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gamerish · Post by **gamerish** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:57 am

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RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:58 am

So I just went back to that stained glass windows game I couldn't do last week, and it wasn't that hard at all... I didn't time myself, but I'm sure it took less under 10 minutes. What the hell.

ETA: Yeah, being the last guy at HYS isn't very desirable. Prestige isn't going to make up for staggering incompetence, and an HYS degree costs $250,000. You'd probably still get a legal job somewhere, but you wouldn't make enough to pay back your loans.

chalky · Post by **chalky** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 11:00 am

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TheProdigal · Post by **TheProdigal** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 11:05 am

nlee10 wrote:
Mint-Berry_Crunch wrote: When I first started prepping I felt like I couldn't find anyone who was even taking the LSAT nonetheless someone who was a high scorer. Kinda sucked.
Met a girl at a bar with a 172, decided she didn't want to go to LS... Another girl I worked with got a 171.

They're hard to find tho. I forget my 165 is like, better than most.
The highest score I've met IRL is a 167. But because his GPA was shot from having a STEM (<2.75) he decided it wasn't worth it since he wanted T20 and a big scholly.

I've met a 3.8ish, 177 MA in the wild.

RZ5646 wrote:Yeah, being the last guy at HYS isn't very desirable. Prestige isn't going to make up for staggering incompetence, and an HYS degree costs $250,000. You'd probably still get a legal job somewhere, but you wouldn't make enough to pay back your loans.

Google Harvard Law and some random city/town that wouldn't even be a tertiary market. You'll find young HLS grads working for absolute shitlaw (5 attorney, worker's comp focused) shops.

mist4bison · Post by **mist4bison** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 11:20 am

I work at a big law firm and the majority of attorneys who I've discussed it with have gotten a 170+. They also always ask "why are you studying so much?" It's hard to remember that my high-160 scores aren't actually terrible.

Nlee, I've never seen that chart. Kind of nice to see I've scored in the top 1.5%. I never realized that.

nerdylsat · Post by **nerdylsat** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 11:23 am

Well, I just withdrew from the October test and changed my plane tickets to take the December test. (I live outside the US so I'm going to fly to Puerto Rico to take the test.)

Now to bust my ass for December while working full time and praying I don't miss this cycle.

I am stressing so much I can't even sleep well. Hopefully I'll get out of the 160s soon and take some pressure off.

Mint-Berry_Crunch · Post by **Mint-Berry_Crunch** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 11:49 am

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McJimJam · Post by **McJimJam** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 11:49 am

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McJimJam · Post by **McJimJam** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 11:54 am

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mist4bison · Post by **mist4bison** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 12:24 pm

Just BRd 72 RC

Original: -13
BR: -5 (and every wrong answer I was going back and forth between a wrong AC and the right one)

Would've liked to do better on BR, but realized a lot of my mistakes were about being too strict on wording.

Is it just me, or are the newer RCs less strict on wording? For example, in passage4, the comp passage about taxes, I got 27 wrong. I crossed off the correct answer because it said "tax codes allow for evasion due to loopholes and deductions, not bc they're gradual." But line 4 says that a flat tax has "no schedule of rates, no deductions." I guess that loopholes would still exist in both, but I crossed it out because A specifically mentions deductions not being a factor.

I just feel like I read into the questions too much. All my other misses were for the same type of error: eliminating the correct AC because I was super picky with wording.

Any tips on how to avoid this?

204Wpg · Post by **204Wpg** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 12:39 pm

Just did 74 this morning - it was easily the worst "feeling" PT I've ever done. LR1 went pretty smooth, then I got to games and couldn't get #10 and thus ended up running out of time because I couldn't put together any meaningful inferences on the last game. Then I think after feeling like I had gone -5 or more on games I really wasn't in the mood for RC and went -6, and found it very tough (easily thought I was in the -6 to -10 range), and then after the break I was just discouraged.

All in all a 168 on PT 74:
LR1: -2
LG: -3
RC: -6
LR2: -4

This ties my lowest PT and lowest scores on LG and LR. All in all pretty disappointing especially since it didn't feel well, but hopefully I can pick it up on PT 70 tomorrow and that'll be my last one before test day. Really want to go in with a nice high score of 173+.