The Official September 2014 Study Group Forum

[Learn_Live_Hope]

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!

I also read somewhere that June tests tend to be the hardest ….

[rebexness]

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!

I also read somewhere that June tests tend to be the hardest ….

That makes no sense since June has the lowest curve.

[Learn_Live_Hope]

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!

I also read somewhere that June tests tend to be the hardest ….

That makes no sense since June has the lowest curve.

Take it up with the article…it was also stated/challenged here on TLS.

[bondja]

That makes no sense since June has the lowest curve.

Lowest as in -5 instead of -10? I think, it's been a while, that the June test also had the lowest curve in the sense that you didn't get help.

I think when I took it in June '12 it was a -8.

[Clyde Frog]

That makes no sense since June has the lowest curve.

Lowest as in -5 instead of -10? I think, it's been a while, that the June test also had the lowest curve in the sense that you didn't get help.

I think when I took it in June '12 it was a -8.

-10

[Clyde Frog]

I have a question for those that took the lsat for the first time yesterday, did any of you exhaust every pt and are retaking?

[m0dernista]

Hi all,

I'm just getting started on my LSAT prep and have barely just made it through chapter 5 of the LGB. I was wondering if anyone has any tips for getting through the material as the chapters are a bit long and there's a lot of reading and underlining of the chapter before I can get to the questions. Additionally, the questions at the end of the chapter are a bit limited; does anyone recommend supplementing those with questions in the Cambridge LSAT drill packets? If so, what in the LGB is analogous to the questions in the drill packets?

[Louis1127]

I have been trying to avoid the "spend 4-5 minutes on the passage and know it inside and out" strategy but I think I'm going to have to take up that strategy. After doing PT 27, S3, P2 (about names and Hopis), I have concluded, based on this passage and many others, that it is critical to understand how different parts of the passage relate to each other, and I cannot get this by reading the passage in 2.5 mins.

I just have one big worry with this strategy:

That I will try and retain too much of the details and they will get all jumbled in my head.

Anyone like this strategy?

[bondja]

Louis, I think there should be a time period during your studying when you really take your time to study the passage and learn it inside and out. It will help exercise your brain into seeing what you need to pick up and retain information. It might be overkill at first but when you start timing yourself and slowly progress to a faster pace, you'll be doing just fine.

There was also a post earlier in this thread about what to look for in RC. There are about 7 common items that are almost guaranteed to be asked. If you notate those, you'll be able to reference them later when you're doing the questions. I'll see if I can find the post and quote it.

EDIT: This is from papercut.

Here are some rules of thumb:

If something caused something else to happen, they will usually ask a question about it.

If something is an illustration, or an example of something, they will usually ask a question about it.

If two things are similar, but nonetheless different (say, Revolutionary Art vs Scarred Art), they will usually ask a question about it.

If there is some study or experiment, they will usually ask a question about it.

If they told you a Marty McFly thinks something, they will usually ask you how he'd feel about something similar.

If they define some term or process, they will usually ask a question about it.

If the author says something is "the key," "the chief purpose," "the chief reason," "the primary factor," or uses any other strong language, they will usually ask a question about it.

[danmcc413]

Hey all, I'm a pretty infrequent poser on TLS but I have been browsing the forum a lot the past few months. I work full time, have an SO and began studying about two weeks ago for September, shooting for 3-5 hrs per day. I'm curious as to what you all have been doing in terms of study plans - are you strictly abiding by something like Pithypike's guide or something totally different? I've sort of loosely based my plan on that guide with tweaks that make it more well suited to myself.

Also, I'm roughly 100 pgs into both the LRB and LGB and have been using the Trainer for RC if anyone else is similarly situated and wants a study partner, feel free to PM me!

[Oskosh]

When do you guys suggest I begin studying? I was already studying in preparation for the June test. I was testing between 170-176 (last two tests being 173/176). I messed up and wasn't able to register for the June test on time, and would hate for my abilities to diminish; however, I am not sad that I missed out on the June test as much now that I've heard the horror stories.

[Oskosh]

I have been trying to avoid the "spend 4-5 minutes on the passage and know it inside and out" strategy but I think I'm going to have to take up that strategy. After doing PT 27, S3, P2 (about names and Hopis), I have concluded, based on this passage and many others, that it is critical to understand how different parts of the passage relate to each other, and I cannot get this by reading the passage in 2.5 mins.

I just have one big worry with this strategy:

That I will try and retain too much of the details and they will get all jumbled in my head.

Anyone like this strategy?

I allow myself to write brief (like one or two words) notes next to paragraphs, and box/underline things like definition, names, etc. It really does help. I don't think you should limit the time that you spend reading a passage. Why can't we treat the passage as if it were a logic game, where your understanding of it is the "set up" which you use to answer the questions? Just as you wouldn't attack a logic game without having a good foundation, you should not limit yourself to 2.5 minutes per RC passage. Some RC passages you will be able to read and digest within 2.5 minutes, but others you won't, and it beats having to go back and reread.

[dardardelight]

I have a question for those that took the lsat for the first time yesterday, did any of you exhaust every pt and are retaking?

Clyde Frog, this is me. I maybe have PT's 39 to 44 fresh for me to take, but I've used up almost every prep test for drilling and PT'ing : /

Does anybody know how to go about (re)studying in this type of circumstance. I'm optimistic in that my avg PT was in the low 170's going into June and that I have all summer to reinforce my skills and maybe better master LR and/or RC . Pretty sure I botched the test and got into the mid-high 160's though.

On the other hand, I don't know what to freekin do with my PT schedule... I'm thinking of just reprinting every one I have and just taking/reviewing it regardless whether some questions may look familiar to me. Any tips or personal anecdotes and success stories would be much appreciated!

[DaRascal]

I'll be focusing heavily on the toughest RC passages out there for September. Also want to spend a lot of time understanding how to get those adv. conditional logic questions down in LR.
I had RC-LR-RC (exp)-LR-LG on Monday and the RC that counted felt like an RC section from the past 10 PTs except on steroids (and I felt like I went -12 to -14 on it) whereas the RC (exp) felt like a pre PT-40 RC section and I wouldn't be surprised if I had gone -0 on it.

If there's one thing I noticed about the LSAT, it's that there's never going to uniform difficulty across the board. If that does happen, the curve will be on one end of an extreme (low or high). There's always going to be one really difficult section relative to the other sections on the exam and whether or not that particular section is a strength or weakness of a given test taker will determine how they do compared to everyone else assuming they stay focused throughout.

[CardozoLaw09]

DaRascal if you don't mind me asking, what take are you on?

[CardozoLaw09]

If there's one thing I noticed about the LSAT, it's that there's never going to uniform difficulty across the board. If that does happen, the curve will be on one end of an extreme (low or high). There's always going to be one really difficult section relative to the other sections on the exam and whether or not that particular section is a strength or weakness of a given test taker will determine how they do compared to everyone else assuming they stay focused throughout.

And this is very true

[rebexness]

I have a question for those that took the lsat for the first time yesterday, did any of you exhaust every pt and are retaking?

Clyde Frog, this is me. I maybe have PT's 39 to 44 fresh for me to take, but I've used up almost every prep test for drilling and PT'ing : /

Does anybody know how to go about (re)studying in this type of circumstance. I'm optimistic in that my avg PT was in the low 170's going into June and that I have all summer to reinforce my skills and maybe better master LR and/or RC . Pretty sure I botched the test and got into the mid-high 160's though.

On the other hand, I don't know what to freekin do with my PT schedule... I'm thinking of just reprinting every one I have and just taking/reviewing it regardless whether some questions may look familiar to me. Any tips or personal anecdotes and success stories would be much appreciated!

If you look at the dates you have taken them, you can try to maximize the length of time.
TBH there is always something new to be learned from an old test. The scores might not be super indicative, but they are still useful.

[Oskosh]

What are the advanced conditional logic questions?

I need to spend time getting down those really tough LR questions. Some of them just seem so stupid and like they have no valid answer under time constraints, and they always end up causing me to go -2, -3 on LR.

I guess I should also be studying untraditional logic games, but I hate those.

[cavalier2015]

check out my flaw guide (created a separate thread on the LSAT specific forum).

hope this helps us all in acing the LSAT. there's still about 3.5 months left. so we can easily crush this test! keep up the hard work y'all.

[Learn_Live_Hope]

check out my flaw guide (created a separate thread on the LSAT specific forum).

hope this helps us all in acing the LSAT. there's still about 3.5 months left. so we can easily crush this test! keep up the hard work y'all.

Link please

[rebexness]

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 6&t=230932
This was literally right above this thread.

[kittenmittens]

Hey all,

I've been doing some LR drilling on old PT's (guided by a Trainer schedule) and have a number of questions that I still have issues bothering me. Here's one

PT 53 S1 Q6

This is a question asking about Jackie's musical preferences with the bands Moral Vacuum and The Cruel Herd.

I was able to eliminate the wrong answers (B-E), but when I re-examined A it didn't feel like a slam dunk. Isn't the "musical arranger" being the same for the bands, just as inconclusive as the complex rock and witty lyrics mentioned in the question? I hate when I can eliminate four answers the first time through but the one left standing doesn't seem to make sense. It leads me to second guessing and going through all the wrong answers again to double check. Thanks for any thoughts

[WaltGrace83]

Hey all,

I've been doing some LR drilling on old PT's (guided by a Trainer schedule) and have a number of questions that I still have issues bothering me. Here's one

PT 53 S1 Q6

This is a question asking about Jackie's musical preferences with the bands Moral Vacuum and The Cruel Herd.

I was able to eliminate the wrong answers (B-E), but when I re-examined A it didn't feel like a slam dunk. Isn't the "musical arranger" being the same for the bands, just as inconclusive as the complex rock and witty lyrics mentioned in the question? I hate when I can eliminate four answers the first time through but the one left standing doesn't seem to make sense. It leads me to second guessing and going through all the wrong answers again to double check. Thanks for any thoughts

I remember this question! You're totally right! It is NOT a slam-dunk. However, with strengthen and weaken, they don't always need to be. The rest of the answers suck and so (unfortunately) we are just left with one - (A) - that tries to "trick" you with the off-putting beginning

[jw316]

Checking in. Taking a couple more days off then let's go back to work. Turn down for what? 180.

[DaRascal]

DaRascal if you don't mind me asking, what take are you on?

It will be my 5th and final in September. I already know I'm retaking unless I miraculously got 167+ on Monday, which I definitely know I didn't barring a string of extreme luck. I wish I had never wasted those takes when I was in college. I just wasn't ready. I forced myself to burn through all that prep material without seeing very many gains and now I regret it so much.