The Official June 2015 Study Group Forum

[Motivator9]

Ok so instead of those game drills I decided to take an old PT, PT 10.

Scaled: 174
LR: -1
LG: -4
RC: -1

I think I did well because this one had some really weird games, but hey, I'll take it.

edit: I used the stim first method for this, but I definitely see how stem first might have helped me. I'll have to try it out next time.

Bravo!

[NL2424]

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[RZ5646]

And, how are you already scoring that high in LR? Did you drill? Would love to know some of your strategies.

LR seems to be a natural strength for me... I think I missed 4 on my diagnostic. I haven't done very much to study for it yet except reading some of the LR Bible and reading the "Logical Reasoning: Set One" part of the Trainer yesterday.

For me, focusing seems to be the most important thing. LR stims can be rather long and complicated, and sometimes I find myself slipping away and not really comprehending what I'm reading, just letting my eyes pass over the words, which is obviously not good. When that happens I try to recompose myself and then just start the question over. Relatedly, I was going to do this PT this morning but postponed it because I was feeling groggy and knew I wasn't in the right state of mind. Unfortunately idk how to improve focus or enter that proper state of mind voluntarily... I've considered doing meditation but idk if that really works. This worries me because I really think I'd be screwed if I woke up with a headache or something on test day and couldn't get in "the zone" and focus. (Note also that this issue plays an even bigger role in RC, where you have to retain more info at once and for a longer time.)

One different strategy I used this time was to move quickly and go with my instincts instead of obsessing over every question I wasn't sure about. Especially with parallel reasoning, which is a major time consumer, if I saw an answer choice that looked/felt very right, I just chose it and moved on, circling the question number so I could come back to it later. I adopted this strategy after I wasted a ton of time painstakingly scrutinizing every answer on some of the earlier questions where my gut feeling should have let me swiftly find TCR and move on.

Beyond that, I don't have much advice for LR. Hopefully I'll have some insights once I study it seriously, but thus far my prep has been almost entirely focused on LG.

Finally, to whoever asked about the Trainer and drilling, I think the Trainer is the one book where outside drilling probably isn't that important (as you read, at least). Its sample questions and explanations are more thorough than PS's, and his mini-drills with made-up stimuli are really helpful. If there's one book you can just read straight through as intro material, it's the Trainer.

[RZ5646]

Bravo!

Lol thanks man. Hopefully I can repeat (or beat) that in June.

[RZ5646]

RZ are you a retaker, or a troll?

Lol neither. I think I may have just gotten lucky with an easier than usual LG section haha.

[keosu11]

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[Smallville]

Thanks. I think I got lucky with an easy LG section lol... 7sage gives a lot of the questions only one star of difficulty. There was also this strange game about word games that doesn't seem to match any of the usual game types.

Still, it feels good. And now that I know I'm capable of getting a good score, I'll be motivated to work harder to ensure I actually do that on test day.

Congrats! No doubt you'll be able to achieve a 175+ by June. Maybe consider taking in Feb?

Also, I just did that LG section a few weeks ago and found it relatively easy. Word game especially, loved it.

And, how are you already scoring that high in LR? Did you drill? Would love to know some of your strategies.

And lastly, I haven't done shit in the last few days(NFL playoffs).Glad I'm a part of this forum because it holds me accountable. All you guys make me feel like crap when I see you studied for 5+ hours. Have to really get moving. I have a very high GPA and the LSAT is really the only thing in my way.

Don't worry. I'm not going to start until February or March. As I tend to get bored easily and as my cold diagnostic placed me within a range I'm satisfied with, I'm putting it off until that 3 month period

just putting it out there... I have seen people with pretty decent diagnostics, studied, and scored lower than their diagnostic. If you have the time, you should get started IMO

[The Abyss]

And, how are you already scoring that high in LR? Did you drill? Would love to know some of your strategies.

LR seems to be a natural strength for me... I think I missed 4 on my diagnostic. I haven't done very much to study for it yet except reading some of the LR Bible and reading the "Logical Reasoning: Set One" part of the Trainer yesterday.

For me, focusing seems to be the most important thing. LR stims can be rather long and complicated, and sometimes I find myself slipping away and not really comprehending what I'm reading, just letting my eyes pass over the words, which is obviously not good. When that happens I try to recompose myself and then just start the question over. Relatedly, I was going to do this PT this morning but postponed it because I was feeling groggy and knew I wasn't in the right state of mind. Unfortunately idk how to improve focus or enter that proper state of mind voluntarily... I've considered doing meditation but idk if that really works. This worries me because I really think I'd be screwed if I woke up with a headache or something on test day and couldn't get in "the zone" and focus. (Note also that this issue plays an even bigger role in RC, where you have to retain more info at once and for a longer time.)

One different strategy I used this time was to move quickly and go with my instincts instead of obsessing over every question I wasn't sure about. Especially with parallel reasoning, which is a major time consumer, if I saw an answer choice that looked/felt very right, I just chose it and moved on, circling the question number so I could come back to it later. I adopted this strategy after I wasted a ton of time painstakingly scrutinizing every answer on some of the earlier questions where my gut feeling should have let me swiftly find TCR and move on.

Beyond that, I don't have much advice for LR. Hopefully I'll have some insights once I study it seriously, but thus far my prep has been almost entirely focused on LG.

Finally, to whoever asked about the Trainer and drilling, I think the Trainer is the one book where outside drilling probably isn't that important (as you read, at least). Its sample questions and explanations are more thorough than PS's, and his mini-drills with made-up stimuli are really helpful. If there's one book you can just read straight through as intro material, it's the Trainer.

For me basic calisthenics and yoga in the morning helped my focus. The calisthenics get the blow flowing and the yoga helps to stretch, calm you down, and allows you to calmly think about the task ahead. Additionally, I found that these also eliminated any discomfort I was experiencing from being seated for a long period of time. I also limited myself to 1 cup of coffee on days I was taking a test so as not to get too jittery.

[Hazel]

And lastly, I haven't done shit in the last few days(NFL playoffs).Glad I'm a part of this forum because it holds me accountable. All you guys make me feel like crap when I see you studied for 5+ hours. Have to really get moving. I have a very high GPA and the LSAT is really the only thing in my way.

Don't worry. I'm not going to start until February or March. As I tend to get bored easily and as my cold diagnostic placed me within a range I'm satisfied with, I'm putting it off until that 3 month period

just putting it out there... I have seen people with pretty decent diagnostics, studied, and scored lower than their diagnostic. If you have the time, you should get started IMO

Yep, I assumed I got lucky on my diagnostic so I did study for a month a while back (I'm lazy not foolish) and took around ten PTs but fortunately all were north of my diagnostic score. It's just I know I will half-ass it if I start now and I'd rather not waste my time.

LR seems to be a natural strength for me... I think I missed 4 on my diagnostic. Hopefully I'll have some insights once I study it seriously, but thus far my prep has been almost entirely focused on LG.

You and I are exact opposites: LG comes naturally for me (-0 on diagnostic) whereas LR is my weakness. Let us somehow merge our brains.

[mds6d]

My copy of the LSAT Trainer just arrived! Excited to start on it, along with the LG Bible which I plan to go over in tandem with the Trainer (in place of the Trainer's LG).

For those of you who are using the Trainer as your primary study source, at least for LR, how do you recommend we study? Read a few chapters, drill from Cambridge packets for that particular question type, review, repeat, move on?

Thanks!

There is TLS tread for The Trainer that has a wealth of great information on studying with it. Mike Kim, the author of the book, has number of great study schedules that you can incorporate in you studies while going through the book. The book really stresses the importance of learning skills and translating them into habits, and not going through your studies with the typical one question type at a time approach. It's always a good idea to incorporate drilling in your LR studies, but make sure you throw in plenty of mixed review, typically with individual sections, so that you don't forget how to approach one type of question while spending two weeks working on another. I'm confident that the Trainer will be a great addition to your studies!

http://www.thelsattrainer.com/

Thanks for the info -- I think I'm going to stick with the 2-month plan while drilling from Cambridge. It's good to see the creator himself running a question thread, as well!

[Motivator9]

I was working on the second LR section on PT 21, and I must say that is one bizarre section. Sometimes I question the usefulness of relying too much on the older questions.

[mysojuli]

Does anyone make multiple copies of LR or RC for drilling? I've made 3 copies of every LG game, but I'm debating if I should do the same for the other sections?

Thanks,

[RZ5646]

I forgot how much school sucks. I'd rather do logic games all day.

[JackelJ]

I forgot how much school sucks. I'd rather do logic games all day.

Haha, I just drilled LR in all my classes today. They were so boring

Does anyone make multiple copies of LR or RC for drilling? I've made 3 copies of every LG game, but I'm debating if I should do the same for the other sections?

Thanks,

I have, but I reprinted them out as needed when I decided to re do them. I've started redoing RC passages I've done months ago because I need the practice

[Motivator9]

Does anyone make multiple copies of LR or RC for drilling? I've made 3 copies of every LG game, but I'm debating if I should do the same for the other sections?

Thanks,

I would make 2 copies for LR because you will want to make note of the questions that give you a hard time and do them later, and you can drill again later in your studies on questions you need more work on.

[gamerish]

Post removed...

[Motivator9]

How do you guys feel about diagramming conditionals for LR? How often do you diagram? I find that I diagram more often then I should, but I'm afraid that not doing so will cause me to get sloppy with some of the tougher questions.

[nlee10]

How do you guys feel about diagramming conditionals for LR? How often do you diagram? I find that I diagram more often then I should, but I'm afraid that not doing so will cause me to get sloppy with some of the tougher questions.

FWIW, I don't really diagram too often. Per PT (2 LR sections) maybe once or twice max. I've been hitting -3 to -5 total on LR as of late and my errors haven't been on ones where you can diagram...

[flash21]

Starting 7sage back up. 165 or bust this time. Lets go. Actually aiming for Oct. but we will see how I feel around June (finishing up undergrad, suspect I will not have huge amount of time to pour into LSAT until April but will be studying nonetheless)

[RZ5646]

How do you guys feel about diagramming conditionals for LR? How often do you diagram? I find that I diagram more often then I should, but I'm afraid that not doing so will cause me to get sloppy with some of the tougher questions.

I did it once on my last PT. I say do it whenever you can't keep things straight in your head (which I think is actually the point of those questions... to overwhelm you). It doesn't take long, so the benefits tend to outweigh the costs.

[ilikebaseball]

How do you guys feel about diagramming conditionals for LR? How often do you diagram? I find that I diagram more often then I should, but I'm afraid that not doing so will cause me to get sloppy with some of the tougher questions.

I probably diagram for 2 each section. Hardly do I ever do it... I only do so to simplify things. Its a little time consuming, and the more LR formal logic questions you do, the more predictable they get. For example, frequently the answer will just be the contrapositive of the beginning 3 statements or something of that nature.

I've found that diagramming the answer choices to compare with the text of the stimulus sometimes can be more helpful than the opposite, FWIW

[karmago]

How do you guys feel about diagramming conditionals for LR? How often do you diagram? I find that I diagram more often then I should, but I'm afraid that not doing so will cause me to get sloppy with some of the tougher questions.

Just echoing some of the other posters here, but the most I've ever diagrammed on LR was like 3 per section. Usually on SA or MBT questions and only when there's an almost obscene amount of conditional language and elements that you need to balance out.

[RZ5646]

How do ya'll review RC? Just look for textual support for TCR?

[ChoboPie]

How do you guys feel about diagramming conditionals for LR? How often do you diagram? I find that I diagram more often then I should, but I'm afraid that not doing so will cause me to get sloppy with some of the tougher questions.

I almost never diagram conditionals, though when I do, it ends up taking only a little bit more time than when I just keep it in my head. At least for me, there's a trade off between time writing out conditionals vs. extra bit of time it takes to make sure I really have the conditional solid in my head.

[NL2424]

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