The Official October 2015 Study Group Forum

TheProdigal · Post by **TheProdigal** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 3:37 pm

biggestlawman wrote: Oh well. Good to see Chobo again! Hope some more familiar tars show up. Let's get this done!

One more time for glory.

Joscellin · Post by **Joscellin** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 4:13 pm

whacka wrote:Just went through the questions I missed. Kicking myself because almost all of them were questions where I was battling between two answers

That's a good sign that you're doing things right. One thing that helped me in that situation is remembering that the LSAT isn't a test where there is like one kinda right and one really right answer. 4 answers are demonstrably wrong. If you get stuck on two, look specifically for what's wrong with one of them.

gamerish · Post by **gamerish** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 8:02 pm

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MrBalloons · Post by **MrBalloons** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 9:16 pm

gamerish wrote:How much do you guys get done in a usual study session and how long do you study for? I feel like I've been getting nothing done these last few weeks.

My routine in study round 1 was to flip through PowerScore/drill LG whenever I had time and felt like it. So that varied widely.

I think for this round, which will just be constant drilling in Cambridge and occasional PTing,I'm going to be rigid. Set aside 1 hour blocks in the evenings. I think the more I make it a job and not a hobby, the better it'll work for me.

gamerish · Post by **gamerish** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 9:27 pm

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The Abyss · Post by **The Abyss** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 9:33 pm

gamerish wrote:I meant more like, in any given hour of study how many questions/games do you usually get through? I know learning the test is quality over quantity but I've pretty much stopped improving lately so the quality of my studying obviously isn't great and I don't feel like I'm even doing very much because it's taking me soooo long.

The "drill, drill, drill" mantra starts to ring hollow when you've drilled every single question in the cambridge packet and still suck at everything...

I'm almost exclusively drilling at this time and I do about 4 hours on weekdays and 6-8 hours on weekends. For LR that 4 hours gets me through about 75-100 questions, but I'm also writing out explanations for every question I do (a sentence or two about why the CR is right and why the 4 other ACs are wrong). This has helped me improve immensely.

gamerish · Post by **gamerish** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 9:37 pm

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The Abyss · Post by **The Abyss** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 10:20 pm

gamerish wrote:Do you write them on the questions themselves or in a word document or something?

I write them out on a legal pad.

tskela · Post by **tskela** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 10:29 pm

seriously considering halving my work hours now that i have rent + utilities saved up for the next 12 months. I have no problem going all day on the weekends, like 9-5, but i'm always foggy after a full work day (that full head feeling you know?) and the quality of study time is just not good. i feel like i could be doing so much more but life responsibilities

On a brighter note, finished an LG section in 23 minutes today?? -3. clearly need to learn to manage my time better

ggnobbq · Post by **ggnobbq** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 10:51 pm

tskela wrote:seriously considering halving my work hours now that i have rent + utilities saved up for the next 12 months. I have no problem going all day on the weekends, like 9-5, but i'm always foggy after a full work day (that full head feeling you know?) and the quality of study time is just not good. i feel like i could be doing so much more but life responsibilities

On a brighter note, finished an LG section in 23 minutes today?? -3. clearly need to learn to manage my time better

try waking up earlier and using the time before work to study. easier said than done, I know, but it's nice knowing you got solid studying in before work even stars. I used to wake up early to work out because I felt drained after work, as well, but I'm going to use that time for LSAT studying now. Not sure how to start day 1 for a retaker. I'm guessing PT to see what I have retained and where my stamina is. I may take a 30s PT because i've exhausted all recent tests but december 2014 and june 2016, and imo PT 30s LR makes PT 60s LR look like a bunch of little rookies.

179orBust · Post by **179orBust** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 11:35 pm

Level 4 Principle Identify questions suck. I find them to be much harder than level 4 questions of other q types. I'm doing the ones from PT 1-15---the stimuli are really weird-- and so I'm hoping they get a bit easier.

nlee10 · Post by **nlee10** » Thu Jul 02, 2015 11:58 pm

Studying starts next Thurs/Friday for me.

Talarose · Post by **Talarose** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 12:22 am

Studying starts tomorrow for me. I used TPR, which is what I think killed me for the June test.

7sage, last trainer, powerscore, Manhattan prep.
What do you guys recommend?
I'm good with LG, LR & RC are my weaknesses. Especially LR.

bigv · Post by **bigv** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 12:40 am

Finally found a system for RC that works for me

SirArthurDayne · Post by **SirArthurDayne** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 12:50 am

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T Hagen · Post by **T Hagen** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 5:07 am

For anyone scoring in the 164+ range, how did/do you approach the experimental section in your prep ? I believe this is an important aspect of LSAT prep when you factor in the fatigue that may effect your score writing a 5 section test vs. a 4 section test. I personally had an experimental RC as my first section during the June 2015 admin and it kind of threw me off. Any suggestions or experiences?

The Abyss · Post by **The Abyss** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 10:21 am

T Hagen wrote:For anyone scoring in the 164+ range, how did/do you approach the experimental section in your prep ? I believe this is an important aspect of LSAT prep when you factor in the fatigue that may effect your score writing a 5 section test vs. a 4 section test. I personally had an experimental RC as my first section during the June 2015 admin and it kind of threw me off. Any suggestions or experiences?

I take every fifth PT and break it into sections to use as experimental sections. I have my wife randomly insert a section into the PT I'm taking so I don't know going into the test what the experimental will be. Since the sections are numbered at the top, she always puts a 1 right after another 1 or a 2 right with another 2 so that I can't tell which section was the experimental.

ggnobbq · Post by **ggnobbq** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 10:30 am

The Abyss wrote:
T Hagen wrote:For anyone scoring in the 164+ range, how did/do you approach the experimental section in your prep ? I believe this is an important aspect of LSAT prep when you factor in the fatigue that may effect your score writing a 5 section test vs. a 4 section test. I personally had an experimental RC as my first section during the June 2015 admin and it kind of threw me off. Any suggestions or experiences?
I take every fifth PT and break it into sections to use as experimental sections. I have my wife randomly insert a section into the PT I'm taking so I don't know going into the test what the experimental will be. Since the sections are numbered at the top, she always puts a 1 right after another 1 or a 2 right with another 2 so that I can't tell which section was the experimental.

haha same. imo that's the best way. you never know what you're gonna get test day so you should just build your stamina up and always take 5 sections

bigv · Post by **bigv** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 11:05 am

SirArthurDayne wrote:
bigv wrote:Finally found a system for RC that works for me
Can you shed light on what's working for you know and what didn't work before.

What definitely didn't work for me before was underlining and circling certain words within the passage. At the end of it, everything felt clustered and it was difficult for me to go back and separate what was important.

Now, I sort of write down words/phrases into the margin of the passage as I read and create a sort of roadmap in writing. Everything I read told me to create this roadmap in my head and evaluate everything I've read afterwards. Rather, I have my pencil in the margin as I'm reading, and I'm noting/summarizing what's going on.

This results in taking about 5 minutes on just the passage, and zooming right through the questions. I've learned that any sort of speed-reading completely kills any chance I had at the questions, especially on the more difficult passages. I'm hoping I can just work on this until I can get through the easier passage in no time and be effective with my time on the harder passages.

biggestlawman · Post by **biggestlawman** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 11:38 am

TheProdigal wrote:
biggestlawman wrote: Oh well. Good to see Chobo again! Hope some more familiar tars show up. Let's get this done!
One more time for glory.

Yes!

The Abyss · Post by **The Abyss** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 11:58 am

I'm about to sit down and take PT 63.

biggestlawman · Post by **biggestlawman** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 12:11 pm

The Abyss wrote:I'm about to sit down and take PT 63.

Good luck! Let us know how it went.

waw · Post by **waw** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 1:28 pm

So I got my June score back. Scored below my average receiving a 167 on test day. My most recent 5 PTs were averaging 170. I did have some extenuating circumstances during the test (fire alarm everyone had to evacuate) which I'm choosing to blame for such a drop

anyway I'm looking for advice as to how to retackle studying for the test. LG is my strong suit followed by LR with RC being my weakest. Also I know I struggle with test endurance. I ordered the LSAT trainer since I didn't use any prep books the first time around. Any advice? My original goal was 170 since I have 3 more months of studying should I push for 173?

WMcGregs · Post by **WMcGregs** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 3:02 pm

Joining up on this thread. Started studying from scratch about about a month ago. Just finished powerscore LR and LG. Starting to drill with a lot of intensity now. LR is killing me the most LG I have almost no problems with. Look forward to studying with you guys!

ltowns1 · Post by **ltowns1** » Fri Jul 03, 2015 3:12 pm

In this for good or for bad...here goes nothin!