December 2013 LSAT Study Group Forum

[mehiguess]

I find working full time actually helps because it keeps me busy and on schedule. When I get home I know that the only time to study is that time. I procrastinate and I know that about myself. Keeping busy seems to be the way to go. We want to be lawyers right? I'll sleep when I'm dead.

[fnma2jd]

Hi guys! I was registered for the October test but switched to December last minute. Retaker. I've been working through the Manhattan guides - finished LR, almost done with LG. Currently drilling games by type using the Powerscore workbook. Not getting many wrong, but ugh, am I ungodly slow. I just have to keep reminding myself with practice I WILL get timing down again, lol. That's what I get for not retaking right away!

Working full-time as well so I've been doing 5pm-8/9pm chunks in the library most weeknights and 2-4 hours on weekend afternoons. I am SO TIRED ALL THE TIME lol.

I'm with you there. it's a vicious cycle. I work 8 to 5/6 depending on the day, hour, season, how my boss is feeling, etc. get back home and immediately grab my materials, go to a library or starbucks, down a coffee and study 2-5 hours, then i can't sleep because i just had coffee at 7pm, so i don't fall asleep til 2 or 3, wake up at 7 to get to work, drink coffee to stay awake worrying all day about how i really should be studying, and then the cycle repeats.

TLDR: I drink coffee all the time and don't sleep because work is getting in the way of lsat studying.

I usually put in a solid 5 to 6 hours on weekend days though...and sleep some....

I'm with both of you guys.... I work full time so I have to fit it in where I can. I honestly think it helps in a weird way because I'm able to stay balanced. If I didn't work full time I'd probably study non stop and burn myself out

[warandpeace]

Hi guys! I was registered for the October test but switched to December last minute. Retaker. I've been working through the Manhattan guides - finished LR, almost done with LG. Currently drilling games by type using the Powerscore workbook. Not getting many wrong, but ugh, am I ungodly slow. I just have to keep reminding myself with practice I WILL get timing down again, lol. That's what I get for not retaking right away!

Working full-time as well so I've been doing 5pm-8/9pm chunks in the library most weeknights and 2-4 hours on weekend afternoons. I am SO TIRED ALL THE TIME lol.

I'm with you there. it's a vicious cycle. I work 8 to 5/6 depending on the day, hour, season, how my boss is feeling, etc. get back home and immediately grab my materials, go to a library or starbucks, down a coffee and study 2-5 hours, then i can't sleep because i just had coffee at 7pm, so i don't fall asleep til 2 or 3, wake up at 7 to get to work, drink coffee to stay awake worrying all day about how i really should be studying, and then the cycle repeats.

TLDR: I drink coffee all the time and don't sleep because work is getting in the way of lsat studying.

I usually put in a solid 5 to 6 hours on weekend days though...and sleep some....

I'm with both of you guys.... I work full time so I have to fit it in where I can. I honestly think it helps in a weird way because I'm able to star balanced. If I didn't work full time I'd probably study non stop and burn myself out

Are you guys all applying this cycle? I'm curious in general if Dec takers apply this cycle or wait for next...

[062914123]

.

[Hotguy]

Are you guys all applying this cycle? I'm curious in general if Dec takers apply this cycle or wait for next...

im applying this cycle, even if i have to retake in dec. if i dont get in where i want, ill reapply next cycle.

I'm applying this cycle as well.
If my score in December is not as high as I plan I will take February.

[Hotguy]

Out for the night.
Did about 3 hours of 7sage, he's pretty funny and seems to be really knowledgeable.
One lsat trainer chapter. About two hours of drilling on some LR and LG. And half mlsat lg chapter.

[Dr. Dre]

in this economy, there is no such thing as a "safety school"

[Erickt26]

There are some main point questions that do not have a clear conclusion. The conclusion uses "borrowed language" or "referential language". Example : Clearly, without that sympathy and the political will in engender, the needs of more obscure species will go unmet. If you see "that" referrers back to the last contextual language. In the answer, there is not such answer that states that specific conclusion, rather a inference that one can make, is the answer. How do we use the 7sage strategy in such a situation?
Question October 1991 #6 Section 1

[Erickt26]

I am wondering if MP question from early PT are different than the ones form more recent test, as far as making inferences.

[wealtheow]

Are you guys all applying this cycle? I'm curious in general if Dec takers apply this cycle or wait for next...

im applying this cycle, even if i have to retake in dec. if i dont get in where i want, ill reapply next cycle.

I'm applying this cycle as well.
If my score in December is not as high as I plan I will take February.

also applying this cycle. gettin too old to put it off !

just got back from a free proctored exam at a local college. 170! so validating. curiously enough, timing was no issue, i kept finishing w/ time to spare. RC keeps biting me in the rear, though. anyone have suggestions for someone who is ordinarily a strong reader? stereotypically, it is the "natural science" passages that screw me up. going to give this a try: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 6&t=203798

[lhn5007]

Are you guys all applying this cycle? I'm curious in general if Dec takers apply this cycle or wait for next...

im applying this cycle, even if i have to retake in dec. if i dont get in where i want, ill reapply next cycle.

I'm applying this cycle as well.
If my score in December is not as high as I plan I will take February.

also applying this cycle. gettin too old to put it off !

just got back from a free proctored exam at a local college. 170! so validating. curiously enough, timing was no issue, i kept finishing w/ time to spare. RC keeps biting me in the rear, though. anyone have suggestions for someone who is ordinarily a strong reader? stereotypically, it is the "natural science" passages that screw me up. going to give this a try: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 6&t=203798

Congratulations! With more than 2 months left you should def be able to get a few more crucial points!

[Erickt26]

I was doing a 7sage drill for Most Strongly Supported. 10 questions. I got to number 9 in 16 minutes withe 30 seconds. number 10 took me 4 minutes! I ended up getting 9/10 but man, that was a stupid mistake, should have skipped it after I realized that it was a very hard question.

[Hotguy]

Did about 4 hours of 7sage, one mlsat rc chapter and that's it. Didn't have that much time to study, had a concert to go and also gym.

Bee, I read that urm article, thanks for directing me to it. Very informative.

Quick question, does anyone know if past work as a model(non-nude or anything like that) negatively impacts law school admission?

Also quick note about 7sage, I think that velocity and 7sage would compliment each other on LR pretty well. More on this later.

[062914123]

.

[vicpin5190]

After quick trip to Chicago to watch my XC team race returned back to town and cranked out some prep. My LSAT trainer came in the mail so I worked through the first 5 chapters and then did a timed LR first section from PT60 (a retake from my diagnostic). Seems like the trainer will be good to start solidifying what seems like something that is missing with LRs. I scored -6 on the LR, but a -4 off blind review. It was an improvement from the diagnostic where I scored -13, but i'm still stuck at that -6 mark per LR which i'm starting to get more and more pissed about. Culprit question types were Principle x 2, Weaken, Assumption and then the two BRs I got were a Parallel (skipped for time and went back after and did it), and a most supports.

Back at it tomorrow, will try and work on a few chapters in the trainer, brush up on formal logic/conditional on the bible and do a few sections timed or LR and RC.

[Hotguy]

Did about 4 hours of 7sage, one mlsat rc chapter and that's it. Didn't have that much time to study, had a concert to go and also gym.

Bee, I read that urm article, thanks for directing me to it. Very informative.

Quick question, does anyone know if past work as a model(non-nude or anything like that) negatively impacts law school admission?

Also quick note about 7sage, I think that velocity and 7sage would compliment each other on LR pretty well. More on this later.

a friend worked as a (runway) model all throughout ug and ended up at uva, which is right where her numbers dictated she might be going. it should be alright as long as it isnt anything really risque i think

Thanks again Bee!

Vicpin, I'm sure you will find the trainer useful. Also, that's a solid improvement.

[vicpin5190]

Today was long but solid. Spent the morning to mid after noon (10ish to around 2:30ish) going through the trainers chapter 6 thur 9 and doing 2 of the last 5 games in Cambridge's Difficult Games Passage. Then took a 3 hour break to watch the Dolphins game, and then did the lsat 3 difficult logic games (i suppose the "hardest"), drilled through 25 Principle Identify LR Questions and then PT 35's RC section with each section timed but not all at the same time. Scored -5 overall on the RC section, but that came mainly from the last question where I attempted to "speed complete" in under 7 minutes. The break down over 4 passages was -0, -1,-1, -3.

Overall I think it adds up to like 7 hours of total studying for the day.

[alpha kenny body]

2.5 months left and I need to step my game the fuck up if I want to score where I should be scoring. Ordering more preptests tomorrow. Shooting for 2-4 hours/day minus Sundays until December.

[dasani13]

I did 3 straight sections of RC today (PT 32, 31, and 30). I've been dreading RC prep because it's my worst section but honestly when it came down to it, I saw an immediate improvement section after section. I hope this motivates anyone who's having a hard time drilling their worst section. Also, I have a feeling that my timing issues in RC is due to my lack of drilling.

[Hotguy]

Today was long but solid. Spent the morning to mid after noon (10ish to around 2:30ish) going through the trainers chapter 6 thur 9 and doing 2 of the last 5 games in Cambridge's Difficult Games Passage. Then took a 3 hour break to watch the Dolphins game, and then did the lsat 3 difficult logic games (i suppose the "hardest"), drilled through 25 Principle Identify LR Questions and then PT 35's RC section with each section timed but not all at the same time. Scored -5 overall on the RC section, but that came mainly from the last question where I attempted to "speed complete" in under 7 minutes. The break down over 4 passages was -0, -1,-1, -3.

Overall I think it adds up to like 7 hours of total studying for the day.

How do you like it so far?


Did about 4 hours of 7sage, one mlsat rc chapter. One chapter on the trainer and one mlsat lg chapter. Drilled LR LG and RC from Cambridge packets.

Edit: I couldn't sleep so I also reviewed the whole velocity LR book and am starting to read mlsat lr 3rd edition (had read only the second edition, while there isn't that many changes, I have decided to read it again).

[vicpin5190]

Today was long but solid. Spent the morning to mid after noon (10ish to around 2:30ish) going through the trainers chapter 6 thur 9 and doing 2 of the last 5 games in Cambridge's Difficult Games Passage. Then took a 3 hour break to watch the Dolphins game, and then did the lsat 3 difficult logic games (i suppose the "hardest"), drilled through 25 Principle Identify LR Questions and then PT 35's RC section with each section timed but not all at the same time. Scored -5 overall on the RC section, but that came mainly from the last question where I attempted to "speed complete" in under 7 minutes. The break down over 4 passages was -0, -1,-1, -3.

Overall I think it adds up to like 7 hours of total studying for the day.

How do you like it so far?


Did about 4 hours of 7sage, one mlsat rc chapter. One chapter on the trainer and one mlsat lg chapter. Drilled LR LG and RC from Cambridge packets.

so far its nice to drill finding flaws in argument. it's a bit of review at this point, but i'm at least seeing where my potential weaknesses are right now. The one thing I disagree with in the LSAT Trainer is the approach of read the question first, stimulus second. but in general its getting me in the habit of drilling the elements of the LR questions. I'm just going to be going through chapters that are on LR's and RC's so i'll probably skip ahead tomorrow to the next LR chapters. Based on my performance on the difficult LGs my base, inferencing, and understanding of LG conditionals are really firm. With LR, seems to me though at this point my biggest thing isn't how i read the stimulus but more being as meticulous with answer choices. I could also stand to have a better grasp of conditional statements in word form. And with RCs, i'm seeing more and more if I have time I a lot better than if i have to force it and my points often come off of detail questions referring specifically back to content in the passage than they do to main point type questions. Seems like my thing right now is to proactively anticipate areas that may be referenced back to and annotate better so i can find it quicker...its working out better now, but as the rushed section indicated, definitely not ready...

speaking of cambridge packets, i really need to find a printer to use them as i actually don't have one of my own...

[Hotguy]

Today was long but solid. Spent the morning to mid after noon (10ish to around 2:30ish) going through the trainers chapter 6 thur 9 and doing 2 of the last 5 games in Cambridge's Difficult Games Passage. Then took a 3 hour break to watch the Dolphins game, and then did the lsat 3 difficult logic games (i suppose the "hardest"), drilled through 25 Principle Identify LR Questions and then PT 35's RC section with each section timed but not all at the same time. Scored -5 overall on the RC section, but that came mainly from the last question where I attempted to "speed complete" in under 7 minutes. The break down over 4 passages was -0, -1,-1, -3.

Overall I think it adds up to like 7 hours of total studying for the day.

How do you like it so far?


Did about 4 hours of 7sage, one mlsat rc chapter. One chapter on the trainer and one mlsat lg chapter. Drilled LR LG and RC from Cambridge packets.

so far its nice to drill finding flaws in argument. it's a bit of review at this point, but i'm at least seeing where my potential weaknesses are right now. The one thing I disagree with in the LSAT Trainer is the approach of read the question first, stimulus second. but in general its getting me in the habit of drilling the elements of the LR questions. I'm just going to be going through chapters that are on LR's and RC's so i'll probably skip ahead tomorrow to the next LR chapters. Based on my performance on the difficult LGs my base, inferencing, and understanding of LG conditionals are really firm. With LR, seems to me though at this point my biggest thing isn't how i read the stimulus but more being as meticulous with answer choices. I could also stand to have a better grasp of conditional statements in word form. And with RCs, i'm seeing more and more if I have time I a lot better than if i have to force it and my points often come off of detail questions referring specifically back to content in the passage than they do to main point type questions. Seems like my thing right now is to proactively anticipate areas that may be referenced back to and annotate better so i can find it quicker...its working out better now, but as the rushed section indicated, definitely not ready...

speaking of cambridge packets, i really need to find a printer to use them as i actually don't have one of my own...

Most people like question stem first then stimulus, but if stim first works for you, then by all means stick to it. Btw, its more than fine to skip chapters on the trainer. I liked the drills too, well most of them. And like you said, most of the stuff is repeat, but it's always good to reinforce.

As far as a printer goes, I remember someone posting a very cheap laser one around here selling on amazon. Maybe someone who remembers seeing it can post again, but I remember it was really cheap, and laser is definitely the way to go - way more pages.

Glad you're liking the trainer. I'm out for the night. C ya guys.

[tanes25]

Hey guys! I have a few questions. To those using 7Sage when and how do you do blind review? I absolutely hate it. I can do 20-25 questions, but I struggle trying to then go back and do those that I circled. Just everything about blind review is a struggle for me. I always find it hard to study in groups, but maybe this would push me to actually do it. Those in the study group, what's the structure? Also, for those using 7Sage when do you drill? After doing the lessons on the question type I usually drill on that question throughout the week. Any suggestions are welcomed!

[vicpin5190]

Hey guys! I have a few questions. To those using 7Sage when and how do you do blind review? I absolutely hate it. I can do 20-25 questions, but I struggle trying to then go back and do those that I circled. Just everything about blind review is a struggle for me. I always find it hard to study in groups, but maybe this would push me to actually do it. Those in the study group, what's the structure? Also, for those using 7Sage when do you drill? After doing the lessons on the question type I usually drill on that question throughout the week. Any suggestions are welcomed!

Do you go and do the review right after taking the section? I tend to wait like 20-30 minutes so I can come back fresh

[Hotguy]

Hey guys! I have a few questions. To those using 7Sage when and how do you do blind review? I absolutely hate it. I can do 20-25 questions, but I struggle trying to then go back and do those that I circled. Just everything about blind review is a struggle for me. I always find it hard to study in groups, but maybe this would push me to actually do it. Those in the study group, what's the structure? Also, for those using 7Sage when do you drill? After doing the lessons on the question type I usually drill on that question throughout the week. Any suggestions are welcomed!

Do you go and do the review right after taking the section? I tend to wait like 20-30 minutes so I can come back fresh

Taking a break is fine. I don't really get why blind review is a struggle for you, do you feel exhausted when you do it?