February 2017 LSAT Thread Forum

[chasima]

<3

[etramak]

Ok officially locked in to study full time and (hopefully) be super active on this thread now. Currently blind reviewing PT 62, will probably drill tomorrow. What does everyone's typical study routine look like?

Oh and I'm a retaker

I just graduated and have nothing to do until.my job starts in February. So doing a PT on Monday mornings, three sections Tuesday-Friday mornings, and PT Saturday mornings. This is my third take

[maybeman]

Ok officially locked in to study full time and (hopefully) be super active on this thread now. Currently blind reviewing PT 62, will probably drill tomorrow. What does everyone's typical study routine look like?

Oh and I'm a retaker

Finally. June '17 is already more of a party than this thread

2 sections a day (LG, RC). PT twice a week. BR all of it. Haphazard memory method and foolproofing. Will increase the # of PTs I take starting next week. What's your routine looking like?

When you say BR all of it, are you reading through each answer for every question in the PT and just writing down what you think the right answer is untimed? What is haphazard memory method and foolproofing?

When I finish blind reviewing pt 62 (I've been writing out explanations for each answer because for some reason I did way worse than normal on this one and I'm trying to pinpoint where I went wrong), I will do one of each section (RC, LG, LR) per day, focusing LR on types I tend to miss. Still not sure how often I'm going to do full PTs because in all honesty, I seem to improve more through drilling than full PTs. And blind review each RC and LR section I drill/use 7Sage videos for reviewing LG.

I made it halfway through the LSAT Trainer but debating whether it's worth finishing or not.

I circle questions that I'm unsure of while going through sections/PTs and pick them apart afterwords (usually 0-4 per section).

Memory method is a great drill for RC. Find a short article (I use Scientific America or The Economist), and while reading it write down the point of each paragraph (timed). Then flip the page over and rewrite the paragraph summaries plus the main point and author's tone (also timed).

Foolproofing is redoing old LG to make sure you make all correct inferences/go -0 under time. Haphazardly means I should be doing this more often lol

[chasima]

<3

[CMac86]

Ok officially locked in to study full time and (hopefully) be super active on this thread now. Currently blind reviewing PT 62, will probably drill tomorrow. What does everyone's typical study routine look like?

Oh and I'm a retaker

At this point, I'm drilling sections, drilling question types, blind reviewing PT's, and aiming for 2-3 PT's a week depending on my work schedule.

As far as specific schedule goes, here's what a normal day looks like for me if I don't have a gig at night where I'm not taking a PT.
0545-0600 wake up, shower, caffeine, nicotine
0600-0730: drill question types and review material on 7sage
1100-1215 (lunch break from work): either drill two sections and review or drill question types
430PM-6PM: drill
6PM-630PM: Dinner, brain break
630PM-8PM: More drilling

On PT days, it is the same except for after work, move dinner up to 430-5PM, and add in a PT from 5PM till it is over followed by starting to BR it. On workout days, gig days, or other non-typical days, it gets sliced and diced to fit what I have going on.

[chasima]

<3

[chasima]

<3

[CMac86]

Ok officially locked in to study full time and (hopefully) be super active on this thread now. Currently blind reviewing PT 62, will probably drill tomorrow. What does everyone's typical study routine look like?

Oh and I'm a retaker

At this point, I'm drilling sections, drilling question types, blind reviewing PT's, and aiming for 2-3 PT's a week depending on my work schedule.

As far as specific schedule goes, here's what a normal day looks like for me if I don't have a gig at night where I'm not taking a PT.
0545-0600 wake up, shower, caffeine, nicotine
0600-0730: drill question types and review material on 7sage
1100-1215 (lunch break from work): either drill two sections and review or drill question types
430PM-6PM: drill
6PM-630PM: Dinner, brain break
630PM-8PM: More drilling

On PT days, it is the same except for after work, move dinner up to 430-5PM, and add in a PT from 5PM till it is over followed by starting to BR it. On workout days, gig days, or other non-typical days, it gets sliced and diced to fit what I have going on.

When do you typically fit in your workouts?

6-715PM. It is a 10ish minute drive (including traffic) to my gym, so I don't need to allow a ton of time for it. So, the schedule would shift to look more like this.

430-6PM: drill and protein shake
6-715/730PM: Workout (including driving to and from, showering, etc)
730PM-830PM: drilling

[AvatarMeelo]

Around when should we expect our scores? I'm planning on visiting my undergrad for a yearly tradition first weekend of March and would be so great to have a score to talk about when I have a sit down with my rec writers at school.

[airwrecka]

Took PT 74 on Saturday and got a 171 (+1 from my June test), however I got a 177 with BR!! Four of my incorrect answers were because I had somehow skipped a question in LG and had to go back and change half of the answers on my bubble sheet, which cost precious time! Either way, that was a fluke mistake, and I feel confident it won't happen again

As for my study schedule...I am doing a condensed version of the 12-week LSAT Trainer schedule. Since I'm on a retake, I've already gone through the Trainer once. Now I'm basically redoing all the drilling and reviewing sections in the book when I realize my weaknesses. I'm doing one PT a week until the test, too. I do most of my studying at work (not a lot happening at my office right now so I have a ton of free time), but the PTs I always do at home on the weekends (where there won't be distractions or interruptions, obviously).

Around when should we expect our scores? I'm planning on visiting my undergrad for a yearly tradition first weekend of March and would be so great to have a score to talk about when I have a sit down with my rec writers at school.

I think it's usually almost exactly one month after the test date. So somewhere around March 4-5 I think.

[maybeman]

I think it's usually almost exactly one month after the test date. So somewhere around March 4-5 I think.

The past 5 or so Feb releases took 19-25 days

[chasima]

[chasima]

<3

[etramak]

Very jealous of the December takers right now. I'd take this test tomorrow if I could. Not really because Im sure I'd do well (I'm not). I just want to end 13 months of being consumed by the lsat

[airwrecka]

Do we have any idea when the December test will be available to use as a practice test? Based on everything I've heard about the Games section, I really want to get my hands on it before February. It looks like the September test became available on Amazon on November 1--a little more than 5 weeks after the test date--so I'm hoping that means the December test will be available next week sometime.

Took PT 74 on Saturday and got a 171 (+1 from my June test), however I got a 177 with BR!! Four of my incorrect answers were because I had somehow skipped a question in LG and had to go back and change half of the answers on my bubble sheet, which cost precious time! Either way, that was a fluke mistake, and I feel confident it won't happen again

As for my study schedule...I am doing a condensed version of the 12-week LSAT Trainer schedule. Since I'm on a retake, I've already gone through the Trainer once. Now I'm basically redoing all the drilling and reviewing sections in the book when I realize my weaknesses. I'm doing one PT a week until the test, too. I do most of my studying at work (not a lot happening at my office right now so I have a ton of free time), but the PTs I always do at home on the weekends (where there won't be distractions or interruptions, obviously).

Around when should we expect our scores? I'm planning on visiting my undergrad for a yearly tradition first weekend of March and would be so great to have a score to talk about when I have a sit down with my rec writers at school.

I think it's usually almost exactly one month after the test date. So somewhere around March 4-5 I think.

Congratulations on your PT 74 scores I'm also a June retaker.

Have you used any other methods besides the LSAT Trainer? I only picked up the LSAT Trainer for my retake and started reading through it but I'm not sure how helpful it is when I'm only doing the exercises in the book and I already have methods I learned outside of it.

Nope, I have only used the Trainer. It's worked really well for me but I think my learning style just really meshes with the book. The most helpful thing I think I've learned (other than the basic strategies for answering questions and thinking about them properly) is the idea that it is IMPERATIVE to thoroughly review any question you get wrong. That's something I'm focusing on a LOT during this second prep--understanding for absolutely every question why the right answer is right and why what I chose was wrong, and correcting my thinking so I don't continue to make those mistakes. I think it's working well

[greatspirit]

All this raving on the Trainer...I'm going to get it for the March 7th-June 12th leg of my studying. Will aim to have the Bibles finished by then.

Should I also look into Manhattan LR? Consensus seems to be that it's better for LR than the Powerscore Bible. Only on chapter 8 of the latter, and have found it helpful so far.

[greatspirit]

Wow...I meant to post the above in the June 2017 thread lmao.

Regardless...I'm not working full time at the moment...so I should be taking cues from this thread anyway...

[greatspirit]

Ok officially locked in to study full time and (hopefully) be super active on this thread now. Currently blind reviewing PT 62, will probably drill tomorrow. What does everyone's typical study routine look like?

Oh and I'm a retaker

At this point, I'm drilling sections, drilling question types, blind reviewing PT's, and aiming for 2-3 PT's a week depending on my work schedule.

As far as specific schedule goes, here's what a normal day looks like for me if I don't have a gig at night where I'm not taking a PT.
0545-0600 wake up, shower, caffeine, nicotine
0600-0730: drill question types and review material on 7sage
1100-1215 (lunch break from work): either drill two sections and review or drill question types
430PM-6PM: drill
6PM-630PM: Dinner, brain break
630PM-8PM: More drilling

On PT days, it is the same except for after work, move dinner up to 430-5PM, and add in a PT from 5PM till it is over followed by starting to BR it. On workout days, gig days, or other non-typical days, it gets sliced and diced to fit what I have going on.

What an epic schedule.

[CMac86]

What an epic schedule.

It was a little crazier when I am in class. I take 6 credit hours at a time for 8-week courses to finish my undergrad, but I don't resume classes till the 30th.

If I don't plan, I tend to devolve into playing Xbox or bass guitar for the bulk of the night. I've always been a planner, but joining the military helped a bit as well.

Some days, it feels like I'm trying to fit 15 pounds of crap in a 5-pound bag. Other days, are AOK.

[chasima]

<3

[AMcJV12]

Yo first post, nice to meet you guys and girls.

What games have been giving you guys trouble lately? Considering how smart everyone seems to be on here, if they're rough for y'all then they're gonna be hell for me. AR is my weakest section and I want to brush up.

[chasima]

<3

[etramak]

Weird day today. Two perfect LR sections but went 3 below my usual RC average and three wrong on a single logic game. I misread one of the RC questions and I finished the LG section very early. I really need to work on carelessness during logic games - I almost always understand the game but get questions wrong all the time just because I rush.

Do we have any idea when the December test will be available to use as a practice test? Based on everything I've heard about the Games section, I really want to get my hands on it before February. It looks like the September test became available on Amazon on November 1--a little more than 5 weeks after the test date--so I'm hoping that means the December test will be available next week sometime.

Before February seems like a good bet but I wouldn't count on next week. The December scores come out late because of the holidays and I think the preptest release is similarly delayed. The December 2015 preptest has an incorrect publication date on Amazon (at least the one I looked at, it said December 1, 2015) but the December 2014 preptest wasn't published until January 21, 2015 (assuming that is the correct publication date, of course).

What's so special about the games section? I haven't been reading about it here but I heard that it was an easy RC, regular games, and harder than usual logical reasoning.

Yo first post, nice to meet you guys and girls.

What games have been giving you guys trouble lately? Considering how smart everyone seems to be on here, if they're rough for y'all then they're gonna be hell for me. AR is my weakest section and I want to brush up.

LG is my weakest section, but after doing it a couple times yesterday I think Game 3 of PT 62 is a pretty rough game

Agreed. Game 2 on this test is also very tough.

[christmascookie]

I just finished PT 69 (178), and have averaged a 173 from tests 61-69. How much harder do the tests get, from people who have taken 70+? What changes in your practice tests have you seen?

[etramak]

I just finished PT 69 (178), and have averaged a 173 from tests 61-69. How much harder do the tests get, from people who have taken 70+? What changes in your practice tests have you seen?

In the early 70s we start to see tests with at least one very difficult RC passage and/or a "weird" game. The nontraditional games aren't exactly difficult if you look at the rules carefully, but they come as a shock the first time you see them.