The Official June 2015 Study Group Forum

nlee10 · Post by **nlee10** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 11:11 pm

GauchoMarx wrote: Thanks, I'm thinking I need to drill the tits out of the LR questions I have a hard time with, last time I spent most of my time taking PT's.

And yeah, I guess my username and avatar make it pretty obvious where I go to school haha

I mean you already have a good score. Just stay consistent with PT'ing/review and hope for prime testing conditions.

haha. I graduated from your guys' rival school last year.

msp8 · Post by **msp8** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 11:12 pm

RZ5646 wrote:
msp8 wrote:
RZ5646 wrote:
msp8 wrote:Is it normal to consistently score in a range like that, and BR consistently like that?
I'd say so. The timing is what makes the LSAT hard. Any idiot could get 175+ untimed.
Sure. Pretty frustrating nonetheless. Would sooner have a worse BR and clearly see issues to work on.
How much time do you have left at the end of a section? Sounds like you might actually be going too fast.

I'm pretty tight for time, actually. That's another source of frustration.

On LG, I'm normally done in ~28-30mins. LR, depends. Usually it's tight. Rare occasions I'm done around ~32mins. RC is generally tight for time.

RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 11:13 pm

Does anyone have in-person study partners? If so, how useless would you say they are? Please answer by referring to a scale from "completely useless" to "actually caused a regression in my PT scores."

JackelJ · Post by **JackelJ** » Thu Mar 26, 2015 11:19 pm

TheWalkingDebt wrote:
JackelJ wrote: What is your accuracy for the cambridge packets like? It took me a little while to make progress on LR, but improvement is definitely possible. I took some time off and then went back in and I think it helped. I also re-vamped how I approached drilling and how I reviewed reviewed questions. I stopped taking shortcuts that I was in denial of taking and really tried to internalize the patterns seen in the types of questions.
It's anywhere from 60-80% on the Level 4 questions across question types. Even though most of the questions I'm getting wrong are higher level difficulty, I'm still getting more higher level difficulty questions right than wrong.

I found that once I went through a few books and knew the fundamentals the only thing that helped me improve was taking my time drilling and really going through each answer choice and saying in my head why it was right or wrong. There were a lot of times where I would be between 2 answers (happens commonly when PTing) and I forced myself to spend extra time and really work out for myself which one the correct answer was for reasons other than "it sounds better". I found that I improved the most by just slowing down and thinking and being 100% of the correct answer before moving on as opposed to trying to drill quickly and just reviewing what the correct answer choice is after I get it wrong.

A tip that someone gave me is to retake the PT or sections from it the next day. If you reviewed properly and understand everything then you should be able to go -0 and explicitly understand why 4 choices are wrong and 1 choice is correct. If you get the same question wrong twice then go back to the book you're using for fundamentals and figure out why.

Smallville · Post by **Smallville** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 9:24 am

RZ5646 wrote:Negativity breeds negativity.

RZ5646 wrote:Does anyone have in-person study partners? If so, how useless would you say they are? Please answer by referring to a scale from "completely useless" to "actually caused a regression in my PT scores."

Rigo · Post by **Rigo** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 9:39 am

I do image study buddies are actually worthless though.
Maybe someone to keep you on track is good, but actually studying together? No thanks.

ChoboPie · Post by **ChoboPie** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 9:51 am

RZ5646 wrote:Does anyone have in-person study partners? If so, how useless would you say they are? Please answer by referring to a scale from "completely useless" to "actually caused a regression in my PT scores."

Meh, not that useful for me.

I had what seemed like a perfect match, in that I started with -0 in the section he was weakest in, and he started with -0 in the section I was weakest in. But rather than really doing anything productive whenever we met up, we'd just end up talking shit about random stuff.

Whenever we DID do LSAT, explanations were basically like, "Yo dude, this shit be obvious lol." Then after minute of thinking it over, it'd just be like, "LOL, you're right wtf."

I'm sure others have had completely different experiences though.

santoki · Post by **santoki** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 9:55 am

Post removed.

ChoboPie · Post by **ChoboPie** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 9:56 am

santoki wrote:does anyone like cheese? if so, what kind? why?

sharp with a side of 6pool. zerg op af.

RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:33 am

Anyone else really bummed out that the LG Bible doesn't include LG prayers or sacrificial rituals?

santoki · Post by **santoki** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:37 am

Post removed.

tapenade · Post by **tapenade** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:54 am

santoki wrote:anyone else REALLY like cheese?

Parmesan, mozzarella, brie, havarti, ricotta, paneer, asiago, occasionally white cheddar.

TheWalkingDebt · Post by **TheWalkingDebt** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:01 am

santoki wrote:does anyone like cheese? if so, what kind? why?

Publix has this 1000 day aged canadian cheddar that I think might be a crime to commit based on how good it is.

RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:23 am

Your trolling efforts have been subpar lately Toki.

Blueprint Ben · Post by **Blueprint Ben** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:26 am

JackelJ wrote: I found that once I went through a few books and knew the fundamentals the only thing that helped me improve was taking my time drilling and really going through each answer choice and saying in my head why it was right or wrong. There were a lot of times where I would be between 2 answers (happens commonly when PTing) and I forced myself to spend extra time and really work out for myself which one the correct answer was for reasons other than "it sounds better". I found that I improved the most by just slowing down and thinking and being 100% of the correct answer before moving on as opposed to trying to drill quickly and just reviewing what the correct answer choice is after I get it wrong.

A tip that someone gave me is to retake the PT or sections from it the next day. If you reviewed properly and understand everything then you should be able to go -0 and explicitly understand why 4 choices are wrong and 1 choice is correct. If you get the same question wrong twice then go back to the book you're using for fundamentals and figure out why.

Spot on, Jackel. IMO this is the value of untimed drilling. When the timer is off, there's absolutely no reason to move on until you are 100% certain that you have the right answer. The LSAT is not a guessing game. If you're stuck between 2 answers, either you read something wrong or your reasoning is shoddy. Time gives us the opportunity to go back to the stimulus/setup/passage and find what we missed. Eventually, with enough repetition, we won't miss anything anymore, and we'll always know why the correct answer is unequivocally correct and each wrong answer is unequivocally wrong. Once the process becomes automatic, then we can do it under timed pressure just as easily.

e: Also retaking the PT after reviewing it is an awesome idea. Some people might not see the value in it, but I think it would really help ingrain everything you fixed during the review. And -0 180s feel awesome.

biggestlawman · Post by **biggestlawman** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:26 am

santoki wrote:anyone else REALLY like cheese?

I do. Whole Foods tends to provide in abundance the kind of cow, sheep and goat productions that I favor.

biggestlawman · Post by **biggestlawman** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:27 am

BP Ben wrote:
JackelJ wrote: I found that once I went through a few books and knew the fundamentals the only thing that helped me improve was taking my time drilling and really going through each answer choice and saying in my head why it was right or wrong. There were a lot of times where I would be between 2 answers (happens commonly when PTing) and I forced myself to spend extra time and really work out for myself which one the correct answer was for reasons other than "it sounds better". I found that I improved the most by just slowing down and thinking and being 100% of the correct answer before moving on as opposed to trying to drill quickly and just reviewing what the correct answer choice is after I get it wrong.

A tip that someone gave me is to retake the PT or sections from it the next day. If you reviewed properly and understand everything then you should be able to go -0 and explicitly understand why 4 choices are wrong and 1 choice is correct. If you get the same question wrong twice then go back to the book you're using for fundamentals and figure out why.
Spot on, Jackel. IMO this is the value of untimed drilling. When the timer is off, there's absolutely no reason to move on until you are 100% certain that you have the right answer. The LSAT is not a guessing game. If you're stuck between 2 answers, either you read something wrong or your reasoning is shoddy. Time gives us the opportunity to go back to the stimulus/setup/passage and find what we missed. Eventually, with enough repetition, we won't miss anything anymore, and we'll always know why the correct answer is unequivocally correct and each wrong answer is unequivocally wrong. Once the process becomes automatic, then we can do it under timed pressure just as easily.

Nothing that we don't know, but, it does not take away anything from these golden words!

RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:31 am

Retakers' detailed knowledge of tutors and test prep companies is a compelling argument against using tutors and test prep companies.

Blueprint Ben · Post by **Blueprint Ben** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:32 am

biggestlawman wrote: Nothing that we don't know, but, it does not take away anything from these golden words!

True true BLM, I guess that was all painfully obvious. But I think a lot of people prioritize timing before accuracy (I made that mistake myself on RC before my first take). But every time you circle an answer without being 100% sure why, you're reinforcing bad habits.

Shakawkaw · Post by **Shakawkaw** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:38 am

RZ5646 wrote:Retakers' detailed knowledge of tutors and test prep companies is a compelling argument against using tutors and test prep companies.

How detailed would you like me to get, OP?

RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:41 am

Shakawkaw wrote:
RZ5646 wrote:Retakers' detailed knowledge of tutors and test prep companies is a compelling argument against using tutors and test prep companies.
How detailed would you like me to get, OP?

Oh Shak, how I have missed your quirkiness

Rigo · Post by **Rigo** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:42 am

Shakawkaw wrote:
RZ5646 wrote:Retakers' detailed knowledge of tutors and test prep companies is a compelling argument against using tutors and test prep companies.
How detailed would you like me to get, OP?

Ding ding ding!
Winner winner chicken dinner!

RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:50 am

Heading to the library with more linear games, an LR section, and an RC section. #studious

Shakawkaw · Post by **Shakawkaw** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 11:51 am

RZ5646 wrote:Heading to the library with more linear games, an LR section, and an RC section. #studious

To answer your earlier question - I like to study on the train.

acidwash · Post by **acidwash** » Fri Mar 27, 2015 4:58 pm

pretty frustrated that i just pt'd a 163, when my diagnostic 2.5 months ago was a 161. i got a 170 earlier this week but it was on a test i did untimed, very slowly.

out of ten timed PTs, i've averaged a 163. i think i've put too much emphasis on completing PTs and not enough on slow, careful review, as was mentioned upthread. but man it feels bad. i was originally shooting for a 174, and i don't want to readjust that goal.