December 2011 LSAT Study Group Forum

[LSAT Blog]

Is there a list anywhere which says which questions are formal logic questions? I wanted to practice diagramming.

Yes - the shorter (3-page) spreadsheet linked here notes formal logic questions with an "f".

[emkay625]

Just popping in to wish you all best of luck.

Advice: eat a lot of cupcakes to destress.

[ss3825]

Is there a list anywhere which says which questions are formal logic questions? I wanted to practice diagramming.

Yes - the shorter (3-page) spreadsheet linked here notes formal logic questions with an "f".

Thanks a lot. This is great.

[SA1928]

I'm on break from PT 57 right now if you wanna do that one. MAUUUUUUVE DINOSSSSSSS what a rush that game is hahaha. I first took Dec 09, and consciously avoided PT 57 in my prep so that I wouldn't let my confidence get shaken after hearing all the horror stories. Game 4 in that section is a bitch too. I think I hypo'd every single question for dinos+game4.

I haven't taken 57 yet...I had met with GetAFix after the study session the last night and we talked about reviewing 45. Have you taken this one yet? We are going to do one in the 50s next week I believe.

GirlStop - have you taken 45?

If you want to review a different test, maybe we can get another group together to review that one also!

[ss3825]

Just popping in to wish you all best of luck.

Advice: eat a lot of cupcakes to destress.

Thanks for the wishes and the solid destressing advice, emkay.

Hope your application process is treating you well.

[barneytrouble]

I'm on break from PT 57 right now if you wanna do that one. MAUUUUUUVE DINOSSSSSSS what a rush that game is hahaha. I first took Dec 09, and consciously avoided PT 57 in my prep so that I wouldn't let my confidence get shaken after hearing all the horror stories. Game 4 in that section is a bitch too. I think I hypo'd every single question for dinos+game4.

I haven't taken 57 yet...I had met with GetAFix after the study session the last night and we talked about reviewing 45. Have you taken this one yet? We are going to do one in the 50s next week I believe.

GirlStop - have you taken 45?

If you want to review a different test, maybe we can get another group together to review that one also!

Ugh I did take 45 but that was like a month and a half ago so I've already reviewed it to death. One in the 50s next week sounds good... my randomization has 53, 58, and 59 up next in line so any one of those 3 will work.

[Maye]

Ugh, I've really hit a wall in terms of motivation. I've been doing pretty well but I just opened up my books and I can't even stand to look at them! I've taken two days off this week already, this isn't good! Tips for motivation? Getting back into studying? Arlkjslkjfsd

[ngogirl]

Ugh, I've really hit a wall in terms of motivation. I've been doing pretty well but I just opened up my books and I can't even stand to look at them! I've taken two days off this week already, this isn't good! Tips for motivation? Getting back into studying? Arlkjslkjfsd

Me too!!!! I'm officially BURNING OUT!!! When you write a poem in your latest preptest about burnout instead of reviewing, I think its a pretty good sign...

Please help me!!!!!

[calidancer2]

Tonight should I take June 07 (already took before, but got a 168) or June 02 (never taken before, but have seen a lot of its questions already too)?

[tmon]

For those struggling with burnout:

I've been prepping for....a long time, so I've hit the wall many times. If you feel burned out and you've been practicing for months at this point you should stop what you're doing and go do something fun and/or relaxing. Take your mind off of everything law school admissions-related. If you can't really get out of the house, disconnect from your computer for a day and watch some movies or something. If you try to cram more prep in you'll just waste material and possibly make things worse. Once you've taken a little time off you might find that it's still hard to get back into the swing of things, even after only one day off. At that point it's a motivation issue, IMO, not burnout. That's from my experience though. If I'm having issues starting back up I find a way to stress how much I have to gain from doing well on the test. For instance, looking at last year's LSN graphs and comparing the Law School Transparency stats for my the schools on my list usually gives me a nice motivation kick. Don't overdo it and freak yourself out, but find a way to zone back in.

[Olive]

I'm on break from PT 57 right now if you wanna do that one. MAUUUUUUVE DINOSSSSSSS what a rush that game is hahaha. I first took Dec 09, and consciously avoided PT 57 in my prep so that I wouldn't let my confidence get shaken after hearing all the horror stories. Game 4 in that section is a bitch too. I think I hypo'd every single question for dinos+game4.

I haven't taken 57 yet...I had met with GetAFix after the study session the last night and we talked about reviewing 45. Have you taken this one yet? We are going to do one in the 50s next week I believe.

GirlStop - have you taken 45?

If you want to review a different test, maybe we can get another group together to review that one also!

Ugh I did take 45 but that was like a month and a half ago so I've already reviewed it to death. One in the 50s next week sounds good... my randomization has 53, 58, and 59 up next in line so any one of those 3 will work.

I would be up for 53 or 58!

[Olive]

With that said, I swear this guy in the study room is trolling me - he's also studying for the LSAT and he keeps on walking by and trying to look over at what I'm typing / books I'm drilling on.

Anyone have advice on how to practice getting over nerves when taking a PT? The thing is no matter how much I try to pretend this is the real thing, I feel myself slowly slipping back into reality and getting relaxed during my practice tests. I want these last few PTs to really focus on execution so I'm looking for a good way to practice this.

Any thoughts?

[Maye]

With that said, I swear this guy in the study room is trolling me - he's also studying for the LSAT and he keeps on walking by and trying to look over at what I'm typing / books I'm drilling on.

Anyone have advice on how to practice getting over nerves when taking a PT? The thing is no matter how much I try to pretend this is the real thing, I feel myself slowly slipping back into reality and getting relaxed during my practice tests. I want these last few PTs to really focus on execution so I'm looking for a good way to practice this.

Any thoughts?

Can you find someone to proctor the test for you? I think having someone sit in the room and time it for you might make you less relaxed, and might give your PTs a more authentic feel.

[GirlStop]

I'm up for 40 if you wanna review and 53/58 sounds good to me for next week. How do yall wanna do this? Dividing questions/sections or just have a group discussion ?

[xChiTowNx]

1. How is June 2012 top of the page over the Dec 2011? lol

2. I was on Lawstudents forum and came across a post where a person did a section by section game plan on how they were going to approach their LSAT. Original link to the post here: LINK

Pretty inspiring in that she went 148, 149, 163. Below is her gameplan - I thought since people mention specific approaches to the test, it was cool seeing a holistic game plan. Who knows, this might help people get over nerves come test day?

LSAT GAME PLAN - this is the final one i used for feb 2011

LOGIC GAMES:
1) Calm down and don’t panic, you know how to do every type of game
2) Start the 1st game 1st
3) Asses other games quickly based on size
4) Lay out the names and spaces like always
5) Games that seem hard often have easy questions
6) If it’s not coming together, adjust diagram
7) Utilize the highlighter to stabilize original diagram
Identify free floating entities
9) Identify valid hypotheticals for future questions
10) If running out of time, do specified questions first
11) Skip substitution questions

READING COMPREHENSION:
1) Biggest one first
2) Parallel passage second
3) Save the lowest numbered passage for last
4) COMPLETE FOCUS
5) Maintain pace
6) Do NOT zone out
7) Stay engaged and interested
Identify the viewpoints
9) If you’re not getting it, don’t keep reading without figuring it out!

LOGICAL REASONING:
1) Quickly glance at question stem
2) Don’t be speedy, don’t be greedy!
3) Focus on the conclusion
4) Prephrase answers where applicable
5) Read the stimulus properly the first time
6) Don’t be so quick to cross of answer choices, make certain that it’s truly wrong
7) Don’t just guess, be 100% confident!
Skip parallel reasoning, hard formal logic/conditional questions, and justify
9) BE ENGAGED and FOCUS
10) Be a critical reader, don’t make stupid mistakes
11) Don’t spend too long on questions that aren’t coming together
12) Watch out for absolute terms in the stimulus, stem, and answer choices
13) Never relax, always examine ALL answer choices
14) One answer is completely correct, the other 4 choices are completely wrong

GENERAL TEST DETAILS:
1) Remember to adjust analog watch before each section and be aware not to pull off markers
2) Remember to mark unfinished questions on bubble sheet, but also remember to erase after
3) Circle and star unfinished questions in booklet, star questions that you are unsure of
4) Don’t make careless errors in bubbling and marking the answers
5) Sharpen pencils at the break
6) Transfer answers one at a time for LR, transfer answers one game/passage at a time for AR/RC
7) Don’t get down because of a bad game or passage, you can still do good
Don’t dwell on past questions
9) Focus on the present and the task at hand, one question at a time
10) Don’t freak out when the proctor calls 5 minutes, but you should bubble in remaining blanks
11) Don’t be distracted by other test takers
12) Arrive at 7:45 and complete 3 games and a page of LR

BIG PICTURE:
1) You have prepared exceptionally well, there is nothing more you could have done to improve your score
2) Regardless of what score you get, you will get into at least one law school
3) This test is not a measure of your intelligence or aptitude for law school
4) Everything happens for a reason
5) Be positive, aggressive and confident. The LSAT rewards confidence
6) Think of how much more preparation and work you have put in as opposed to thousands of other test takers

[SA1928]

Okay great! So let's plan on doing 53 next week on Thursday? Does Thursday work everyone or would you all rather do it earlier in the week, like on Monday night? Also, 8pm like the study sessions or is another time better? Olive, I know last time you had to be up incredibly early, would another time work better for you?

[ss3825]

Just finished Super Prep C and disappointed with the result.

LG: -5. I was too slow to do the games and could not do the last game at all.
LR: -4. Not happy with this. I actually thought I had done quite well in this section. Don't know what happened.
LR: -1. Only positive thing about this test.
RC: -6. So sad about it. I had been practicing RC a lot and even thought the section had gone well. Quite shocked to see the -6 actually. Can't wait to see where I went wrong.

Raw Score: 85
Scaled Score: 169.
Generous curve.

[GirlStop]

Okay great! So let's plan on doing 53 next week on Thursday? Does Thursday work everyone or would you all rather do it earlier in the week, like on Monday night? Also, 8pm like the study sessions or is another time better? Olive, I know last time you had to be up incredibly early, would another time work better for you?

Thursday works good for me, same time as study session. How does that sound for everyone else?

[noleknight16]

Nothing really too much to update on besides the fact I hate the LSAT. I wish I was just naturally smart enough to effortlessly get a 170 because this test blows.

[Olive]

Okay great! So let's plan on doing 53 next week on Thursday? Does Thursday work everyone or would you all rather do it earlier in the week, like on Monday night? Also, 8pm like the study sessions or is another time better? Olive, I know last time you had to be up incredibly early, would another time work better for you?

That should work for me.

It's no problem for me to wake up early, but thanks for asking 8PM is great!

[Olive]

About 20 days left.

How is everyone feeling?

[tonton]

Nothing really too much to update on besides the fact I hate the LSAT. I wish I was just naturally smart enough to effortlessly get a 170 because this test blows.

Seconded

In Cape Town, South Africa, one of the most beautiful places on earth, and I've been in a library dungeon for 15hours on a 28 degree celsius day with paragliders over the mountains, and cyclists on the side of the roads. birds are actually chirping

I wanted to become a lawyer again because????

[barneytrouble]

About 20 days left.

How is everyone feeling?

Liked I've peaked, at least score-wise... so just focusing on staying sharp. Hoping for some minor improvements in LR but it's gonna be tough this late in the game. Just turning into a test taking machine is the goal.

[calidancer2]

Nothing really too much to update on besides the fact I hate the LSAT. I wish I was just naturally smart enough to effortlessly get a 170 because this test blows.

Seconded

In Cape Town, South Africa, one of the most beautiful places on earth, and I've been in a library dungeon for 15hours on a 28 degree celsius day with paragliders over the mountains, and cyclists on the side of the roads. birds are actually chirping

I wanted to become a lawyer again because????

Thirded...I live somewhere in southern california ON the beach (living at home with my parents currently). really looking forward to dec lsat to be done with so i can enjoy the beach/water/beauty. 70 degrees, no clouds in the sky...

[SA1928]

About 20 days left.

How is everyone feeling?

Little disappointed and a lot frustrated. Just finished a PT and timing on LR and RC is absolutely killing my score. Why can't the LSAT be all LGs? Looks like tomorrow is going to be a fun-filled day of drills upon drills...luckily my team doesn't play during the day!

How are you feeling?