December 2011 LSAT Study Group Forum

[LSAT Blog]

Offtopic: My friend is a 2L at a Midwest T25 and recently struck out at OCI, saying he had trouble demonstrating ties. I told him he should have gotten a bunch of pay-as-you-go phones for like 10 bucks a pop from the different areas he was applying in. So like 1 phone number with an area code from st lous, 1 phone number with a cincinnati area code, etc. But he said doing that would've been super unethical. Verdict?

Ethics aside, can't see this making a difference. It'll still be clear from his resume that he doesn't have geographic ties to the area. A local phone number isn't really a strong indicator of "ties."

[lhess218]

Quick reminder:

Study Session, Tuesday @ 8pm EST, MLSAT study room
We'll be focusing on RC: Comparative passages and LR: Inference questions.

See you there!

[GoldenGloves]

I'm already signed up on MLSAT from October, can anyone send me a link for December's room for tonight?

[noleknight16]

Just took PT#30, got a 167, my highest score yet. Still not where I want to be, but there are many positives. I got only -2 on logic games but I got -7 on reading comprehension, which killed a chance at 170. That's typically -3 or so, but that was easily the hardest RC section I've ever done. Was perfect on the first LR till #20 and ended up missing 4 -______-

Anyways, I'm happy my score has seen a jump a month before the test. Hopefully it wasn't because #30 is easy. I am gonna come back to the test in an hour and review it, but let's hope this means the upward trend will continue over the next month of studying.

[xChiTowNx]

Some reading for a study break for you all


5 Logical Fallacies That Make You Wrong More than you Think
http://www.cracked.com/article_19468_5- ... think.html

[calidancer2]

Just took my first LSAT since the October LSAT. Was Jun 04 (PT 43) and got a 176. My highest from previous studying before the Oct Admin was a 175. I did add in an experimental this time to help with stamina (I had been previously just doing 4-section tests and I think that's why I struggled in October), but one of the LRs was one I had DEFINITELY done before as an entire section (thinking I saw it as an experimental in a TM Diagnostic Test), and got a -0 on it...ARGH. A little frustrating knowing that the score is inflated due to this.

Should I be doing way older tests, like late 1990s, to try to eliminate this? I am planning on retaking any previous LSAT that I got lower than a 170 on to see if I can improve, but now I'm not so sure...argh, so frustrated with trying to figure out a good way to study for a retake.

[SA1928]

Great Study session last night! There is going to be a review of PT 57 on Thursday night at 8pm for anyone who wants to join You can use the same link as for the regular Tuesday night study sessions!

[the_pakalypse]

SPC last game LG is the hardest game I've done so far(and I've basically done 1-55, except 26, 27)... it just blew my mind because of how open it was. Guess its more important to remain really tight on the constraints

[lhess218]

This is the only study music you will ever need. Be forewarned, the power of awesome may be a little too hard to handle.

--LinkRemoved--

[barneytrouble]

PT 56

LR1: -1
LR2: -3
LG: -0
RC: -3

For 93 raw/174 scaled. A little disappointed to not have shown any real improvement overall since my last PT, but comforted by my best RC section so far. LR2 was a bitch, I actually just finished in time whereas I usually end with 5 minutes to check my answers.

[ss3825]

This is the only study music you will ever need. Be forewarned, the power of awesome may be a little too hard to handle.

--LinkRemoved--

I just listened to it and greatly enjoyed it! Thanks.

PT 56

LR1: -1
LR2: -3
LG: -0
RC: -3

For 93 raw/174 scaled. A little disappointed to not have shown any real improvement overall since my last PT, but comforted by my best RC section so far. LR2 was a bitch, I actually just finished in time whereas I usually end with 5 minutes to check my answers.

[/quote]

Great score, barney. Seems like you are well on your way to getting a high score.
I haven't taken a single PT since my Oct test. I have been drilling LR and a little bit of LG all this while. The one section seriously worrying me is RC. From now on till the test, I will focus mostly on RC and hope that section improves.

[the_pakalypse]

PT 56

LR1: -1
LR2: -3
LG: -0
RC: -3

For 93 raw/174 scaled. A little disappointed to not have shown any real improvement overall since my last PT, but comforted by my best RC section so far. LR2 was a bitch, I actually just finished in time whereas I usually end with 5 minutes to check my answers.

that's so funny, i found LR1 very difficult whereas LR2 was super easy for me. RC was on the easyish side, even though I ended up getting 4 wrong.

[Ben Reilly]

PT 51

LR: -1
RC: -7
LR: -5
LG: -0

Score: 169

I learned a very important lesson after taking this one. I drank some coffee on an empty stomach beforehand thinking that it would improve my concentration. I couldn't have been any more wrong. I was jittery during most of the test, resulting in an attention span of no more than 10 seconds, hence the -7 on RC. Strange, considering I usually don't go more than -4 on that section in the latest PTs. I also made a lot of dumb mistakes on the second LR section.

PT 53

LR: -3
LG: -0
LR: -4
RC: -3

Score: 171

I really have to get a hold on my habit to second guess myself on RC since it's really screwing me over. Other than that, I did better than I expected.

And I just realized that I haven't posted on this forum in years. Hi, everyone.

[xChiTowNx]

My 15-year old brother just did the bus game from PT 36 in 5 minutes and missed the last question. talk about feeling inadequate ha ha

[ss3825]

My 15-year old brother just did the bus game from PT 36 in 5 minutes and missed the last question. talk about feeling inadequate ha ha

Haha...I am still hopeless with that game even though I have done it 3 times already.
Is he some kind of a genius?

[xChiTowNx]

My 15-year old brother just did the bus game from PT 36 in 5 minutes and missed the last question. talk about feeling inadequate ha ha

Haha...I am still hopeless with that game even though I have done it 3 times already.
Is he some kind of a genius?

Not that I know of - he's currently taking the same courses at the same high school I went to and our GPAs at this point in time are roughly the same.

I looked at his set up and he didn't even write any conditionals down - he had figured out where GH could be placed and from there he went at the questions!

[TRex77]

any suggestions on strategies on RC?

Besides reading long articles.

[tonton]

any suggestions on strategies on RC?

Besides reading long articles.

Prephrasing before looking at the answers, on post-its or just a sheet of paper covering the answers (Dave Hall, 2011:na). BUT has anyone found a way to do this that does not adversely affect time management? its a reallly effective method, but I haven't done an RC section in 35mins since I started using it.

[Ben Reilly]

any suggestions on strategies on RC?

Besides reading long articles.

Prephrasing before looking at the answers, on post-its or just a sheet of paper covering the answers (Dave Hall, 2011:na). BUT has anyone found a way to do this that does not adversely affect time management? its a reallly effective method, but I haven't done an RC section in 35mins since I started using it.

I think the most helpful tip is to make sure that you actually understand the passage as you're reading it. To this end, I usually ask myself questions about what I just read as I finish each paragraph or after a block of information that seems paramount to the argument within the passage. If you don't actually understand all of the central points of the text, it becomes very easy to select answers that contain specious information.

I allot myself a maximum of 2 minutes to finish each passage, since that ensures that I've had enough time to fully comprehend all of the information in the passage without wasting too much time. The only problem now is that I'm getting questions wrong because I start jetting through answers once I feel that I've been on a section for too long, resulting in some dumb mistakes. Even still, I'll take 2 or 3 wrong answers over the 7 or 9 that routinely resulted from my last method on RC.

[barneytrouble]

"Which one of the following principles must be assumed in order for the psychologist's conclusion to be properly drawn?"

Is this a principle or assumption question?

[happyshapy]

"Which one of the following principles must be assumed in order for the psychologist's conclusion to be properly drawn?"

Is this a principle or assumption question?

assumption

[xChiTowNx]

What are peoples thoughts about doing drilling as the experimental, and also inserting it randomly as the 4th/5th?

For example, if i want to drill LR, I'll do a set of 25 assumption, or 4 random RC passages, or 4 games, etc.

[SA1928]

"Which one of the following principles must be assumed in order for the psychologist's conclusion to be properly drawn?"

Is this a principle or assumption question?

I think I would go as far to even say it is a necessary assumption question.

[SA1928]

What are peoples thoughts about doing drilling as the experimental, and also inserting it randomly as the 4th/5th?

For example, if i want to drill LR, I'll do a set of 25 assumption, or 4 random RC passages, or 4 games, etc.

I think it is a good idea. I plan on using the majority of my 5th sections as RC sections. I think it would also be fine to do the same with specific types of questions like you said. It is still testing your endurance. However, depending on what type of question you're doing, you might need more/less than 35 minutes because, at least IMO, some questions tend to take longer than others. Although, maybe it would be good practice to increase speed on those types!

[barneytrouble]

New high score! Woot woot

PT 54
LR1: -1
LR2: -2
LG: -0
RC: -3

For 95 raw/175 scaled. LR2 should have been a -0, I had like 6 minutes left to double check the ones I was unsure about but stuck with all of my original answers for some reason. Que sera sera.