The Official September 2016 Study Group - WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS Forum

[PhiladelphiaCollins]

YAY! Got over my hump today and surpassed 170!!! Using the mastermind-mind watch too (Coincidence? I think Not)

PT 48 : 172 (95 raw)

LR: -2
LG: -0
RC: -4 (EXP)
RC: -3
LR: -1

First time getting LR under -3 and second consecutive LG at -0. The back-to-back RC was pretty brutal. My second RC section I missed 2/3 questions in the last passage, which was on the topic of science(Bores me to death) and I rushed it due to running out of time. I like RC in a weird way. Its always been my strong point in test-taking. Very pleased with the results but now I just gotta make this a consistent thing.

That's huge, congrats!! I've just started to break into the high 160 range after being stuck in the mid-160s for like a month, do you have any pointers for what you did, or was it just a matter of getting your reps in?

[Instrumental]

Seems like the two 170+ scores I got were just a fluke. Haven't gotten another one since those which were over two weeks ago :\ Based on my stats, I'm averaging a 165 on my Saturday practice tests (I've taken 9 PTs on Saturday). Only one point higher if I only average the last five tests. I haven't really improved my score so much as I've improved getting the score consistently. I got a 166 on my second test and the only real difference between then and now is that back then my scores were regularly bouncing between mid 150s and mid 160s and now they pretty consistently hit the mid to upper 160s.

On another note, I think most of the difficulty of RC comes from interpreting the answer choices. I've got to do better at that.

[appind]

Seems like the two 170+ scores I got were just a fluke. Haven't gotten another one since those which were over two weeks ago :\ Based on my stats, I'm averaging a 165 on my Saturday practice tests (I've taken 9 PTs on Saturday). Only one point higher if I only average the last five tests. I haven't really improved my score so much as I've improved getting the score consistently. I got a 166 on my second test and the only real difference between then and now is that back then my scores were regularly bouncing between mid 150s and mid 160s and now they pretty consistently hit the mid to upper 160s.

On another note, I think most of the difficulty of RC comes from interpreting the answer choices. I've got to do better at that.

RC has been a very difficult section for me too despite much practice. i began taking much longer (like 5-6 mins) to read the passage which has helped with accuracy but now i run out of time due to the impossible task of having 3 mins to answer 7 questions.

[Shemp]

PT 76 tonight, -2 LR, -1 RC for a 179. I can live with it I guess.

[20170322]

PT 76 tonight, -2 LR, -1 RC for a 179. I can live with it I guess.

High rollers club


How are you approaching test day? I feel like I should have a plan.

[Shemp]

My plan is to not be as nervous and jittery as last time.

[Shemp]

Also I think I might bring a slice of pizza for my snack.

[appind]

PT 76 tonight, -2 LR, -1 RC for a 179. I can live with it I guess.

which ones missed? how did you find rc q3?

[Shemp]

PT 76 tonight, -2 LR, -1 RC for a 179. I can live with it I guess.

which ones missed? how did you find rc q3?

RC Q23, LR S2 Q16 and S4 Q22. Also I missed Q21 from the mirrors passage from the RC on PT 71 that I took as an experimental.

Not sure if you mean question 3 or passage 3 of RC, but I didn't think either of them were anything out of the ordinary.

[appind]

PT 76 tonight, -2 LR, -1 RC for a 179. I can live with it I guess.

which ones missed? how did you find rc q3?

RC Q23, LR S2 Q16 and S4 Q22. Also I missed one on the mirrors passage from the RC on PT 71 that I took as an experimental.

Not sure if you mean question 3 or passage 3 of RC, but I didn't think either of them were anything out of the ordinary.

somehow i find rc q3 on passage 1 very difficult.

[+] Spoiler

there is nothing in the vicinity of the quote that's referred in the question that suggests the credited choice D is correct. choices A and B are i think attractive even if someone read the passage carefully. i'm not sure there are any other lsat questions that refer to a quote or line and the purpose of the quote or phrase isn't clear right before or after the referred quote.
how did you explain to yourself or get to the point when reading the passage or doing this question where you picked D?

LR1.16 is i think highly ambiguous and sorta hard to get in real timed conditions.

[Shemp]

[+] Spoiler

there is nothing in the vicinity of the quote that's referred in the question that suggests the credited choice D is correct. choices A and B are i think attractive even if someone read the passage carefully. i'm not sure there are any other lsat questions that refer to a quote or line and the purpose of the quote or phrase isn't clear right before or after the referred quote.
how did you explain to yourself or get to the point when reading the passage or doing this question where you picked D?

[+] Spoiler

I think you can eliminate A and B pretty easily because whichever composer you think is being referred to, the author of the passage doesn't think it's an accurate account and in fact has a much more positive opinion of both composers. In the third paragraph the author shows how that characterization of Beethoven has changed over time, which sums up the reason for including the opening quote. The following paragraphs lay out the case for a similar change in opinion toward Schoenberg.

[thatlawlkid]

Woke up with PT 74 on my mind. Gunna start trying to PT closer to test time. I miss sleeping in

[Mikey]

Hoping this hurricane passes over nyc quickly and doesn't fuck me hard like hurricane sandy did. That would suck so fucking much, UGH.

[Alexandros]

New strategy for non-PT mornings is old PTs 7sage proctored, with analog watch, no break. Might up it to 5 or 6 sections no break.

[Alexandros]

My plan is to not be as nervous and jittery as last time.

Anything in particular you'd do differently to avoid that?

[Shakawkaw]

New strategy for non-PT mornings is old PTs 7sage proctored, with analog watch, no break. Might up it to 5 or 6 sections no break.

If you're doing retakes, just do two four section PTs back to back, one break in the middle. Just to get your endurance to peak.

[Mikey]

I was looking at the 7sage discussions and I wanted some opinions on this. Some people on there (and the method itself) are saying that during BR, you shouldn't review questions that you were certain you got right. Obviously you all know, that during BR, to focus on questions you circled.

Now, I always BR EVERY question on a PT, regardless if I circled it or not. Apparently on 7sage's forum, this is a disadvantage because you can't tell what your true weaknesses are or some shit like that?? What do YOU guys think?

[Alexandros]

New strategy for non-PT mornings is old PTs 7sage proctored, with analog watch, no break. Might up it to 5 or 6 sections no break.

If you're doing retakes, just do two four section PTs back to back, one break in the middle. Just to get your endurance to peak.

Good idea, thanks! I have limited time in the morning (class at 11) but that's definitely something I'm gonna prioritize doing when I can.

[Instrumental]

I would rarely be able to BR by that method because even on the ones I get wrong, at the time, I almost always think I got them right. Once I finish the test, I just write down all the questions I got wrong and then go back and try to do them again. For a while I made note of the question types I got wrong, but there were no trends so I stopped.

[Alexandros]

I was looking at the 7sage discussions and I wanted some opinions on this. Some people on there (and the method itself) are saying that during BR, you shouldn't review questions that you were certain you got right. Obviously you all know, that during BR, to focus on questions you circled.

Now, I always BR EVERY question on a PT, regardless if I circled it or not. Apparently on 7sage's forum, this is a disadvantage because you can't tell what your true weaknesses are or some shit like that?? What do YOU guys think?

That ... doesn't really make sense to me? I guess the assumption here would be that all of the questions you didn't circle were ones you were certain you got right, and the questions you're certain you got right you did get right. For me at least, neither of these things are the case. Reasons being: I make stupid mistakes during PTs, so sometimes the questions I'm confident on I get wrong. I also find it difficult to gauge how 'certain' I am of my answer during timed conditions. I feel like if I circled every question I had some degree of doubt on, I'd be circling half the questions.
Also, if you have a systematic problem in your approach to some questions, and you're getting questions wrong that you were confident you got right, you're not gonna catch that during BR if you only review the questions you weren't certain on.

[Shakawkaw]

My plan is to not be as nervous and jittery as last time.

Anything in particular you'd do differently to avoid that?

I haven't been keeping up with TT this time around, but are you a retaker?

If you're feeling shaky or nervous during the exam, put down your pencil and just regain your composure by focusing on your breathing. Slow everything down and talk yourself down. The 5-15 seconds you'll use doing this will be worth the 15 minute freak out. You want to get to a point in your practice where everything becomes mechanic and second nature that you go into autopilot the day of.

Also don't talk to any betas on the line while you wait to get checked in. Or ask your doc for beta blockers.

[Mikey]

I was looking at the 7sage discussions and I wanted some opinions on this. Some people on there (and the method itself) are saying that during BR, you shouldn't review questions that you were certain you got right. Obviously you all know, that during BR, to focus on questions you circled.

Now, I always BR EVERY question on a PT, regardless if I circled it or not. Apparently on 7sage's forum, this is a disadvantage because you can't tell what your true weaknesses are or some shit like that?? What do YOU guys think?

That ... doesn't really make sense to me? I guess the assumption here would be that all of the questions you didn't circle were ones you were certain you got right, and the questions you're certain you got right you did get right. For me at least, neither of these things are the case. Reasons being: I make stupid mistakes during PTs, so sometimes the questions I'm confident on I get wrong. I also find it difficult to gauge how 'certain' I am of my answer during timed conditions. I feel like if I circled every question I had some degree of doubt on, I'd be circling half the questions.
Also, if you have a systematic problem in your approach to some questions, and you're getting questions wrong that you were confident you got right, you're not gonna catch that during BR if you only review the questions you weren't certain on.

Yeah, idk man. I feel like they say that so that way you focus on the ones you circled, but at the same time, I feel like the ones you didn't circle can teach you something during BR as well, no? Like, I always review everything, but the questions I circled, I spent the most time on compared to the ones I didn't circle, but I still go over them to review my thought process and obviously to see why the answers are right/wrong.

[Alexandros]

My plan is to not be as nervous and jittery as last time.

Anything in particular you'd do differently to avoid that?

I haven't been keeping up with TT this time around, but are you a retaker?

If you're feeling shaky or nervous during the exam, put down your pencil and just regain your composure by focusing on your breathing. Slow everything down and talk yourself down. The 5-15 seconds you'll use doing this will be worth the 15 minute freak out. You want to get to a point in your practice where everything becomes mechanic and second nature that you go into autopilot the day of.

Also don't talk to any betas on the line while you wait to get checked in. Or ask your doc for beta blockers.

Thank you! That's really helpful. and haha, sounds like a plan. I think I'm also gonna try to limit my caffeine intake. Not enough coffee > Too much coffee, in terms of mental clarity (at least for me.)

First time but nerves have screwed with me quite a bit on PTs and obviously I can expect that factor to be substantially greater on the actual test.

[Mikey]

Thank you! That's really helpful. and haha, sounds like a plan. I think I'm also gonna try to limit my caffeine intake. Not enough coffee > Too much coffee, in terms of mental clarity (at least for me.)

First time but nerves have screwed with me quite a bit on PTs and obviously I can expect that factor to be substantially greater on the actual test.

A regret of mine was not drinking coffee the day of the June LSAT. Rip

e: oh, and also bombing the test, but more regretful about the coffee thing

[Shakawkaw]

My plan is to not be as nervous and jittery as last time.

Anything in particular you'd do differently to avoid that?

I haven't been keeping up with TT this time around, but are you a retaker?

If you're feeling shaky or nervous during the exam, put down your pencil and just regain your composure by focusing on your breathing. Slow everything down and talk yourself down. The 5-15 seconds you'll use doing this will be worth the 15 minute freak out. You want to get to a point in your practice where everything becomes mechanic and second nature that you go into autopilot the day of.

Also don't talk to any betas on the line while you wait to get checked in. Or ask your doc for beta blockers.

Thank you! That's really helpful. and haha, sounds like a plan. I think I'm also gonna try to limit my caffeine intake. Not enough coffee > Too much coffee, in terms of mental clarity (at least for me.)

First time but nerves have screwed with me quite a bit on PTs and obviously I can expect that factor to be substantially greater on the actual test.

Re: caffeine - I think that's a good plan. I think drinking coffee the day of screwed me up a little bit too because you're already functioning on some adrenaline, and caffeine can push you over the edge. I got super jittery the first section. Granted, there were also people in my TC who were drinking Redbull so...