The Official September 2014 Study Group Forum

[gnomgnomuch]

LSAT trainer came this week.

let the full time job that is the LSAT commence.

[Louis1127]

Hello everyone.

I planned on taking June, but I am not PT-ing where I want to be as of now, so I delayed until September. You may have seen me in the June thread, and I am happy to be joining this one. Hopefully I can provide some help to some of you along the way.

My diagnostic about 6 months ago was a 145. I have been studying since January and recently took my second fully-timed PT since some intense drilling. My breakdown was:

PT 56 (Dec 2008)

Score: 158

LG: -4
LR1: -9
LR2: -5
RC: -11

I have been drilling RC by passage pretty heavily lately so the -11 is disappointing. Also the -14 on LR is disappointing too, as I drilled LR alot, although I have been recently neglecting it.

Looking back, there were definitely some really tough LR questions, but -14 is still way unacceptable.

Looking forward to joining all of you. Let's put the work in now so we can own this test in a few months!

[cavalier2015]

frustrated with necessary assumptions cambridge packet. i am able to get the right answer intuitively but when i am trying to phrase the answers to explain, I am finding it very hard.

goals for the upcoming week: finish up necessary/SA packet. start complex ordering, flaws strengthen and weaken. 3.5 more months and we can enjoy our lives again.

[WorldsCollide]

Does anyone know anything about this? http://blueprintprep.com/lsatblog/lsat- ... n-absence/

Will the fact that I cancelled my registration for the June LSAT a few days before taking it count as one of my three tries? I'm really confused. I thought they don't know whether I was ever signed up for it.

Took prep test 45 today and got a 168, my highest score yet. I'm very excited.

Score breakdown:
-14
LR: -4
RC: -6
LG: -0
LR: -4

The LG is going to have to be my bedrock as I continue to make mistakes in LR/RC. So far I've taken four tests and received: 161, 163, 166, and 168. I wish I could say it was in that order, but it's not. Nonetheless, I think I'm improving, but still disappointed in RC. I just spent about 3 days doing over 18 RC sections from the earlier tests and was getting -3, -4 consistently. That section just seems so volatile, I do not understand.

Anyway, I'm not sure where to go from here. I've been going over answers on Manhattan forums and on Kaplan's answer explanations and trying to make sure to internalize everything I can, but anyone have any further suggestions before I take my next PT? Thanks.

I'm sure you've already read this advice from others, if you've been scouring the forums like you say, but the single most important thing you can do right now is go over every question you miss, very carefully go through every possible answer choice on those questions, and articulate clearly to yourself both why the right answer is right and the wrong answers are wrong. It's very easy to glance at a wrong answer, for instance, and think that you recognize why it's wrong. Go through the exercise of articulating in complete sentences to yourself why that answer is wrong.

The writers of the LSAT are not wellsprings of endless fallacies. They have a limited number of ways to make answers right and wrong. The writers of the LSAT, however, are extremely effective at taking this limited number of fallacious patterns of reasoning and presenting them in freshly confusing presentations. The goal is to grow to recognize these few flawed patterns of reasoning, and the best way to develop this skill is to meticulously go through the questions and answers, one at a time and untimed, and completely understand how the answers work. If you do this over and over and over again, and you have plenty of time to do that, the process will get easier and faster.

I try to spend two hours a day studying. I first do a timed LG, and then I repeat the LG, this time untimed, and really flesh out the set up, look for implications in the rules that I might have missed, think about better ways to diagram, etc. Surprisingly, the second round really doesn't take much more time than the first, timed round, because I'm so familiar with the set up of the problems from the timed session, I can break the problems down the second time around pretty efficiently. I then take a little break, watch the Daily Show or something, and then I repeat the process, this time with either a LR or RC section. (I spend a lot more time of LR's myself; the RC sections seem a little easier to me, they count for less on the test than the LR's, and I kind of feel like the methods I'm trying to develop on the LR's translate pretty well to the RC sections.) I try to do a complete, timed PT once a week, but sometimes I wait two weeks. My primary concern there is that I don't want to run out of PT's too quickly. I want to have plenty of fresh tests leading into September.

That's my approach, anyway. Different things work for different people. It's been pretty effective for me. My first PT was a 169, and I just scored my first PT 180 Thursday morning. I'm pretty stoked.

Good luck, and I hope this helps.

That's really great advice! I'll definitely do that come July. (I've taken 21 PTs in the past two weeks so I'm kind of burnt out and need some time to breathe).

[cordless99]

bah didnt start today. must-start-tomorrow.

[ebouchard]

Hi everyone, first post!
I'm looking for an in-person study partner. I'm in New York City (although just for the summer)--I'd love to find someone who's aiming for 175+ and motivated.
I hope to get 177+ in September. I withdrew my June registration, because my PT scores were not satisfactory (172-174 range). I was stuck in the low 170s and could not figure out how to get to the high 170s. So I'm having a fresh new start, starting with reviewing the powerscore bibles and MLSAT books.

This is such a great community!

[DestroyingTheLSAT]

Anyone have any advice for temporary burn-out phases? I just finished rereading the Trainer's Necessary Assumption chapter in order to start drilling from Cambridge, finally delved into the questions themselves, and just couldn't formulate any constructive thought processes or get a tempo going. Despite having done close to a couple hundred of these questions in the past and knowing exactly how to approach them (I've read MLSAT & the Trainer's chapters and completed corresponding drill sets over and over in months prior), I was mentally drained.

I usually can't study for more than 4-5 hours straight at a time and even then, I usually end up zoning out during the tail end of a chunk like that -- which concerns me, as this is exactly the amount of time I'll need to stay focused during the actual exam. I take breaks but try and limit them in order to try and strengthen endurance but nothing seems to be clicking quite the way I'd like things to...

During these lackluster moments when I can't seem to muster even a semblance of mental rigidity, should I revert to games, perhaps one at a time to stay sharp during these temporary burn-out phases? I definitely odn't want to take too much time off, as we only have a few more months...

Thanks for any insight!

Hey just a reminder. Section 6 is the writing section that doesn't really count. So 5*35 = 175 mins, which is just under 3 hours.. then you can include the breaks etc... so if you can hammer out 5 sections in ~3.5 hours with ultra focus I think your solid.

[sunsheyen]

How do you all set up 5 section PTs? All those that I have are 4 section...do you just randomly pick an extra from another test to add on at the end? Do you then just score the initial component, and use the fifth for endurance purposes??

I have also thought about this! Ideally it would be great to not know which section is the "experimental" but I have no idea how someone would achieve that. To me it makes more sense to put the extra section up front so you see how the fatigue affects you on the later, scored sections. That would be like the worst case scenario on test day of having the experimental as first section.

That's a great idea! I have also worried about the possibility of mental fatigue/struggles if the scored portions all come after the exp. I'll definitely try that when I ramp up to full pts.

I took the Jun 2007 PT yesterday to check my original diagnostic of 154 (well original after no academic brain activity for years), and scored a 165. In that month, I have basically just read the first couple of chapters of PS LG Bible and drilled the Basic Linear packet and done a few random games from the first "10 Actual official" series. I was -3 LG (stupid errors, going to drill those), -3 on each LR section and -6 (HUH??) on RC. In comparing the section scores, I noted those I got wrong both times, and plan on studying the corresponding chapters on those types of questions.

I just started the Manhattan LR book yesterday--did a couple of chapters after the PT, and so far so good. I have the 4th ed on Kindle (and bought the 2nd ed on Ebay when i forgot I had already bought the e-version). I prefer to use the newer one, of course, but it does make it a little harder with drill questions, like crossing off eliminated choices before proceeding. Overall, I would recommend the ebook, because you can't beat Manhattan for 9.99!

[vracovino]

Reading comprehension continues to kick my ass. My best ever was -2 and I chalk it up to an easy section. Ten sections in and my scores have been all over the place, with two straight -7s. After successfully using Manhattan's method of rereading the paragraph and underlining it the second time through, I've recently had some trouble with timing, and I'm often forced to rush on the last section. Looks like maybe I should only use that strategy for passages I can see are particularly difficult to follow, and try to read the easy passages a bit quicker (I've found that a lot of the time an "easy" passage contains a lot of detail oriented questions that make you revisit the text).

Headed to Bonaroo tomorrow and that means a weak of no LSAT. Hopefully I won't come back and lose a ton of my progress so far...

[berkeleynick]

Hi everyone, first post!
I'm looking for an in-person study partner. I'm in New York City (although just for the summer)--I'd love to find someone who's aiming for 175+ and motivated.
I hope to get 177+ in September. I withdrew my June registration, because my PT scores were not satisfactory (172-174 range). I was stuck in the low 170s and could not figure out how to get to the high 170s. So I'm having a fresh new start, starting with reviewing the powerscore bibles and MLSAT books.

This is such a great community!

I'm essentially your twin. Lol. I withdrew as well for the same reason and having a rough weekend kind of took me out in the zone so I just decided it was best not to take it today. I live in NYC too, and am taking in September.

[DestroyingTheLSAT]

^^ hey guys I am taking it in NYC too. Any consensus as to which is the best test center to take it at?

[180kickflip]

I'll be in here for September. I gave it a go today and it was an absolute nightmare. No way in hell Sept. will be as tough, so all of you that postponed to do September made a great call lol

[berkeleynick]

I'll be in here for September. I gave it a go today and it was an absolute nightmare. No way in hell Sept. will be as tough, so all of you that postponed to do September made a great call lol

LOL good to hear. $165 wasted but gladly so then...hahaha.

[berkeleynick]

^^ hey guys I am taking it in NYC too. Any consensus as to which is the best test center to take it at?

I was initially registered at Wagner College on Staten Island. It's not difficult to get to from Manhattan, and it's in suburbia and quiet, so I think it would be way better than Pace or some random place deep in Brooklyn.

[Learn_Live_Hope]

I'll be in here for September. I gave it a go today and it was an absolute nightmare. No way in hell Sept. will be as tough, so all of you that postponed to do September made a great call lol

How do you know it won't be as tough?

[cherrypie]

I will most likely be retaking in September as I need to work on Logic Games.

[180kickflip]

I'll be in here for September. I gave it a go today and it was an absolute nightmare. No way in hell Sept. will be as tough, so all of you that postponed to do September made a great call lol

How do you know it won't be as tough?

Just my feeling. I guess nothing is technically impossible, but until today's test I hadn't been stumped by a game in at least the past 30 PTs (I've run out of time, but never been stumped). Having a difficult RC section on top of that is like the perfect storm. From the june retaker and waiter's threads, that doesn't seem to be an uncommon feeling. I just can't see the next test being on the same level. Hopefully it's not just wishful thinking

[chicharon]

Post removed...

[greenlit]

Checking in with less than 15 weeks to go. This is my first and hopefully only take of the LSAT.

Scored 162 on diagnostic but I'm honestly not trusting that score since it was on an earlier PrepTest. Most of my materials will be here Wednesday but I plan on studying 4 hours a day split between morning and afternoon. I thought my Computer Science major would have prepared me for the logic games but i was completely blindsided.

LG: -8
LR1: -2
RC: -8
LR2: -5

I'm having trouble concentrating near the end so endurance will have to be a focus. I missed 4 of the last 7 problems on the last section and with 5 sections I'll really be struggling.

My unrealistic goal for the LSAT is a 178 to make up for a very low GPA.

[Learn_Live_Hope]

I'll be in here for September. I gave it a go today and it was an absolute nightmare. No way in hell Sept. will be as tough, so all of you that postponed to do September made a great call lol

How do you know it won't be as tough?

Just my feeling. I guess nothing is technically impossible, but until today's test I hadn't been stumped by a game in at least the past 30 PTs (I've run out of time, but never been stumped). Having a difficult RC section on top of that is like the perfect storm. From the june retaker and waiter's threads, that doesn't seem to be an uncommon feeling. I just can't see the next test being on the same level. Hopefully it's not just wishful thinking

Hopefully so. Ill be re-taking, so I'm really hoping your intuition is accurate.

[DestroyingTheLSAT]

^^ hey guys I am taking it in NYC too. Any consensus as to which is the best test center to take it at?

I was initially registered at Wagner College on Staten Island. It's not difficult to get to from Manhattan, and it's in suburbia and quiet, so I think it would be way better than Pace or some random place deep in Brooklyn.

I'll check those out thanks!

[berkeleynick]

^^ hey guys I am taking it in NYC too. Any consensus as to which is the best test center to take it at?

I was initially registered at Wagner College on Staten Island. It's not difficult to get to from Manhattan, and it's in suburbia and quiet, so I think it would be way better than Pace or some random place deep in Brooklyn.

I'll check those out thanks!

In previous threads people also say the desks have plenty of space to write on!

[santoki]

got up and left the building after 1.5 sections- i knew i was done. didn't wanna waste a PT for September studying

here we go again buddies and pals

[Clyde Frog]

got up and left the building after 1.5 sections- i knew i was done. didn't wanna waste a PT for September studying

here we go again buddies and pals

Lol. This is actually what I did on my first take. Didn't sleep one hour the night before either. Needless to say, the second take went fine.

[bondja]

Hopefully so. Ill be re-taking, so I'm really hoping your intuition is accurate.

I remember seeing some statistics back in 2012 that the October test, I guess now September, was generally the easiest overall. So, hopefully that makes you feel a little better!