The Official September 2014 Study Group Forum

eulalia · Post by **eulalia** » Wed Feb 05, 2014 5:55 pm

Will do, thanks!!

eulalia · Post by **eulalia** » Thu Feb 06, 2014 2:59 am

canuckofchicago wrote:Hello again.

Hopefully someone can help me with this little issue I have with conditional grouping and its setup. I know it is probably small, but it is driving nuts.

I just need to know does the setup go alphabetically or not? For example when the rule says; If H is in, then G is In (pg 345/346 of Logic Book) I would set it up like this:

In Out[/u
H H
G G

But the solutions page (pg 346) shows the reverse G coming before H in each column. So my question is; does it matter which order their in? If so, is it alphabetically or is it whatever letter comes first?

Thanks. Again, I know it is probably a simple question but it is driving my crazy.

You can diagram the elements in whatever order you want to so long as you draw the appropriate arrows in a convenient manner -- I'm assuming you're confused by the fact that the conditional statement reads, "If H is in, then G is in" for question #1 on both p. 341 and p. 345 but the actual diagram on p. 346 has G coming before H -- To clarify, it doesn't matter what order you diagram, just make sure (as per the initial example Manhattan walks you through at the beginning of this chapter), you diagram the elements in such a way that they link up correctly according to the conditional rules given.

There's even a disclaimer at the top of the exercise instructions stating this explicitly: "Check your Logic Chains against our solutions. You may have arranged the letters differently, but make sure all of your connections match ours.

Order doesn't matter, but make sure you correctly and conveniently diagram the connections, or arrows, between and among the actual elements

Cheers

justin8509 · Post by **justin8509** » Fri Feb 07, 2014 4:39 am

Count me in! About a quarter way through The Trainer and starting logic game bible tomorrow..studying about 2-3 hours a day. Need high 160s. We all got this. Just tone the drinking down and focus on the books

justin8509 · Post by **justin8509** » Fri Feb 07, 2014 4:42 am

eulalia wrote:Checking in for a retake

Anyone have any insight on Mike Kim's LSAT Trainer -- is it worth buying as a stand-alone study guide?

Loving it so far. Must buy.... excellent price too on amazon. Too good to pass up !

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:11 am

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Mauve.Dino · Post by **Mauve.Dino** » Tue Feb 11, 2014 9:11 am

Checking in.

urbanecologie · Post by **urbanecologie** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 12:35 am

Hi all! Checking in. I'm realizing now that instead of lurking in the results threads, I should be here strategizing with you guys. Time to hit the books...

Nonconsecutive · Post by **Nonconsecutive** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 12:47 am

Best of luck everyone! Plenty of time to rock dis' September thang.

mrhaart · Post by **mrhaart** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 1:14 am

Checking in for Sept.

I've read over Manhattan LSAT's LG, can anyone vouch for it as a standalone or should I also chug through PowerScore's notorious LG Bible as well?

Thanks

jdom · Post by **jdom** » Wed Feb 12, 2014 4:43 am

mrhaart wrote:Checking in for Sept.

I've read over Manhattan LSAT's LG, can anyone vouch for it as a standalone or should I also chug through PowerScore's notorious LG Bible as well?

Thanks

I'm sort of doing it the other way around, going through powerscore first and probably only powerscore. I know a few people who only went through Manhattan LG and did well. You're pretty far out from the test, so I think if you keep up with the studying you'll know if you need additional help with LG and can pick up more material. So, to answer your question, yes there are people who will say just Manhattan LG will work, but it might not be the same for you. Luckily, you have the time to figure this out.

mrhaart · Post by **mrhaart** » Thu Feb 13, 2014 2:22 am

Jdom, thanks for the input

How many hrs/day of studying/prep is everyone here averaging a day? In between a part-time internship and looking for another part-time job, I probably get 4 hours/day in.

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Fri Feb 14, 2014 12:37 pm

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jdom · Post by **jdom** » Mon Feb 17, 2014 12:10 am

mrhaart wrote:Jdom, thanks for the input

How many hrs/day of studying/prep is everyone here averaging a day? In between a part-time internship and looking for another part-time job, I probably get 4 hours/day in.

I've been a huge slacker lately and only been putting in ~1-2hours/day. Midterms are over though, so I'll be picking it up.

mornincounselor wrote:
mrhaart wrote:Jdom, thanks for the input

How many hrs/day of studying/prep is everyone here averaging a day? In between a part-time internship and looking for another part-time job, I probably get 4 hours/day in.
A consistent 4 hrs/day is huge at this point. I am starting with about half that during the week and probably 3 hrs/daily on the weekend right now. But I plan on upping it as we get closer.

BTW: My calendar shows 225 days till showtime.

That's just scary. Time to cuddle up with the LG Bible.

Bigfish41 · Post by **Bigfish41** » Mon Feb 17, 2014 4:52 pm

I'll start studying in June. Y'all are bonkers!!!

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Tue Feb 18, 2014 12:14 pm

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mrhaart · Post by **mrhaart** » Wed Feb 19, 2014 1:34 am

Finished up reading over Chapter 15 in the Trainer, and I must say -- I think it's great thus far. I am currently reading through the Trainer according to the 2-month plan - anyone else doing something similar?

Also -- I bought Cambridge's LG Grouped by Type. Seeing as they stem from Practice Tests 1-38, I hope there isn't a huge dichotomy between the type of games in this "older" set and those comprising the much more "modern" games. I have the pack in my hands, so I figure it can't hurt to go through a few of them here and there and then transition to the more modern games more and more as test day arrives.

Anyone currently reading and drilling through the Trainer? What are your thoughts?

Twitch · Post by **Twitch** » Thu Feb 20, 2014 3:25 am

Checking in for September! I started studying on Feb 2 and have so far put in about 25 hours in actual study and another 20 hours in research. I got a 168 on my diagnostic, up to 176 after BR, so I'm shooting for 180 (I'll be happy with 175+ though. Since I'm a URM, that's going to look huge to admissions).

Right now, I'm on my second time through Kaplan LR book (I know, I know. I'm not using it for strategy, just for basic information about question types and I'm not going to use more Kaplan books).

Study sources: PowerScore bibles LG/LR, Cambridge packets, as many PTs as I can get my hands on (working on this right now), and Master the LSAT book. Not going to get a tutor or take a course. I understand the logic enough that I just need to perfect my ability to be accurate under the time constraints.

Present plan:Work my way through the bibles twice, drill with Cambridge packets, and take 1-2 PTs a week with copious notes and intensive blind review. I've been averaging 2 hours a day, and I plan to keep that as a minimum all 9 months.

Current conundrum: PENCILS! I need something that will be a direct link between my brain and the test, something that feels natural and easy. Tried out some nice triangular pencils today (not Tri-con), but they sucked. They didn't keep their point very long and they dragged on the paper too much. Tri-con review coming soon.

Good luck to us!

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Thu Feb 20, 2014 1:10 pm

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Twitch · Post by **Twitch** » Fri Feb 21, 2014 4:40 am

mornincounselor wrote:
Twitch wrote:Checking in for September! I started studying on Feb 2 and have so far put in about 25 hours in actual study and another 20 hours in research. I got a 168 on my diagnostic, up to 176 after BR, so I'm shooting for 180 (I'll be happy with 175+ though. Since I'm a URM, that's going to look huge to admissions).

Right now, I'm on my second time through Kaplan LR book (I know, I know. I'm not using it for strategy, just for basic information about question types and I'm not going to use more Kaplan books).

Study sources: PowerScore bibles LG/LR, Cambridge packets, as many PTs as I can get my hands on (working on this right now), and Master the LSAT book. Not going to get a tutor or take a course. I understand the logic enough that I just need to perfect my ability to be accurate under the time constraints.

Present plan:Work my way through the bibles twice, drill with Cambridge packets, and take 1-2 PTs a week with copious notes and intensive blind review. I've been averaging 2 hours a day, and I plan to keep that as a minimum all 9 months.

Current conundrum: PENCILS! I need something that will be a direct link between my brain and the test, something that feels natural and easy. Tried out some nice triangular pencils today (not Tri-con), but they sucked. They didn't keep their point very long and they dragged on the paper too much. Tri-con review coming soon.

Good luck to us!
Very impressive diagnostic. Do you have a lot of experience with standardized tests? What is your breakdown of non-credited responses per section?
Looking forward to working with you.

I agree completely with the need for "Copious notes and intensive blind review." I have been trying to review in the following way:

LR -- Double Blind Review
Timed Attempt as part of 4-section test --> Second Timed Attempt >48 hours after original --> Blind Review 7Sage 100%Circle Technique* --> Grading --> Post-Grading Review and Writing of Explanations

RC -- Visualization Review
Timed RC as part of 4-section test --> Visualization Review** --> Grading --> Post-Grading Review and Writing of Explanation

LG -- 7Sage Fool Proof Method / NoodleyOne's Game Perfection
|Timed drilling of each game in a section --> 7Sage Video --> Timed Drilling again| Repeat for every game type

------------------------

* - See:
http://7sage.com/the-blind-review-how-t ... at-part-1/
http://7sage.com/the-blind-review-how-t ... at-part-2/
http://7sage.com/the-blind-review-how-t ... at-part-3/
http://7sage.com/the-blind-review-how-t ... at-part-5/
http://7sage.com/the-blind-review-how-t ... at-part-6/
http://7sage.com/the-blind-review-how-t ... at-part-7/
http://7sage.com/the-blind-review-how-t ... at-part-8/
http://7sage.com/the-blind-review-how-t ... at-part-9/

** - Upon my information and belief this is a technique that I am pioneering. The technique begins by typing up the passage(s). This step alone, I feel, is critical in order to see precisely why the author uses the exact phrases she does. Then I use: bold; italic; underline and strikethrough to visualize the argument. This allows one to easily--visually--see the argument. For passages with multiple viewpoints text can be colored to reflect the differing viewpoints without affecting one's ability to bolden or italicize them etc. (Will post an example in the near future)

Interesting. I like that idea. I'd love to see exactly how that works, so your example will be appreciated, whenever you get to it.

And thank you for the compliment! Yes, I'm really familiar with the psychology of testing, which I think gives me an advantage. I've taught SAT/ACT test prep for the past five years, and the LSAT is similar in many ways. Especially reading comprehension, that's almost exactly the same.

Which is why.... drumroll, please!

I PT'ed a strictly-timed, five-section test at 167 today.... with a perfect RC section!

Totally stoked about that. I had this mental block about 180 --that's perfect, and I can't really expect to be perfect (even though you can miss a few and get 180, that's still how it feels). But getting zero wrong in a section really makes this goal feel like it's graspable.

Of course, LR and LG need more work.

LR: -8
LG: -9
RC: -0

Of course, I haven't studied LG at all and my timing and diagramming is atrocious on them, so I'm hoping I can cut that in half pretty soon once I start studying LG in earnest, probably sometime next week. Feeling pretty good for day 18.

Looking forward to working with you all

Twitch · Post by **Twitch** » Sat Feb 22, 2014 2:27 am

Went back over PT18 today. My brain was absolutely refusing to cooperate on some of those problems. Pulled my 167 up to a 177 after review, with at least 2 wrong answers due to overthinking and 2 due to not thinking at all on a couple of the "EXCEPT" questions.

LR trend appears to be that I don't miss but maybe one until question 20 or so, and then I miss 3 or 4. I blame the dual effect of the time crunch and the general upward trend in difficulty as the section progresses.

Next PT I am going to start LR sections at problem 15 and do the tougher section first, then go back around and do the easier part as the time is running down. I think it'll help me psychologically.

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 1:40 pm

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WaltGrace83 · Post by **WaltGrace83** » Mon Feb 24, 2014 7:55 pm

Twitch wrote:Went back over PT18 today. My brain was absolutely refusing to cooperate on some of those problems. Pulled my 167 up to a 177 after review, with at least 2 wrong answers due to overthinking and 2 due to not thinking at all on a couple of the "EXCEPT" questions.

LR trend appears to be that I don't miss but maybe one until question 20 or so, and then I miss 3 or 4. I blame the dual effect of the time crunch and the general upward trend in difficulty as the section progresses.

Next PT I am going to start LR sections at problem 15 and do the tougher section first, then go back around and do the easier part as the time is running down. I think it'll help me psychologically.

Something you should try to, and something that I am beginning to implement, is to go 1-15 straight and then work backwards from the last question. I wouldn't recommend starting on #15 or so for a few reasons:

1) Get the easier points! Everything is worth the same!
2) What if you spend TOO much time on the questions and you instead have a time crunch on the easier questions? It would suck more to miss the easier ones then the hard ones but of course it sucks to miss anything period.
3) I don't know about you, but I like to get "warmed up" so to speak. It is easier for me to go from easy to continually harder.

Twitch · Post by **Twitch** » Tue Feb 25, 2014 1:19 pm

Points well taken, Walt, particularly considering the fact that I tried it my way yesterday and it didn't work out. Could have been that I only got 4 hours of sleep the night befo...naaaaah.

I'll try it your way a couple of times and see how it feels.

ETA for a general announcement that Tri-conderogas are the king of pencils! I'm a convert. Anyone on the fence about pencils should check them out.

canuckofchicago · Post by **canuckofchicago** » Thu Feb 27, 2014 9:39 am

I have expanded my arsenal for the September LSAT by hooking up with 7Sage. I have been watching their video explainations for the Logic Games I have done and I must say they make it easy to understand and you can pickup a little tips with each video. Looking forward to see how they handle LR and RC.

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Fri Feb 28, 2014 10:39 am

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