The Official June 2015 Study Group Forum

gamerish · Post by **gamerish** » Wed May 13, 2015 9:30 pm

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RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Wed May 13, 2015 9:32 pm

gamerish wrote: Well, not to humblebrag OP-style, but I've gotten -3 on every single PT RC section I've ever taken

RC = liberal arts bros' revenge

We may not have jobs, but we do have reading skills.

ccordero · Post by **ccordero** » Thu May 14, 2015 12:28 am

zacboro wrote:Hey guys, hope everyone's prep went well. I have great news! Well, by great I mean great for me... So I took PT 20 today w/ exp full timed conditions and I got a 177!!!! Highest PT ever, even after countless prep for Feb I never broke 176.

LR1: -2
RC: -1
LG: -0
LR2: -2

For anyone who knows my struggle with RC, going -1 is insane for me. I didn't blind review. I don't know if I'm going to BR for June because BR is so draining and I think my main holdback with Feb was how much I drained myself during the two month period leading up to the test. I haven't reviewed my answers yet though so I should probably go do that. I just wanted to share my good news for today with yinz all. Good luck to everyone else still prepping today!

jesus, congrats. i hope things click well enough for me to get scores like yours. i'd be happy enough as it is if i could break 170.

Smallville · Post by **Smallville** » Thu May 14, 2015 8:56 am

RZ5646 wrote:
gamerish wrote: Well, not to humblebrag OP-style, but I've gotten -3 on every single PT RC section I've ever taken
RC = liberal arts bros' revenge

We may not have jobs, but we do have reading skills.

dont really see how liberal arts equals reading skills but okay

NL2424 · Post by **NL2424** » Thu May 14, 2015 9:08 am

JackelJ · Post by **JackelJ** » Thu May 14, 2015 9:36 am

Smallville wrote:
RZ5646 wrote:
gamerish wrote: Well, not to humblebrag OP-style, but I've gotten -3 on every single PT RC section I've ever taken
RC = liberal arts bros' revenge

We may not have jobs, but we do have reading skills.
dont really see how liberal arts equals reading skills but okay

OP typically goes -1 or -0 on LR so no offense to you Smalls, but OP's reasoning is superior to yours and he provides a flawless argument

buckiguy_sucks · Post by **buckiguy_sucks** » Thu May 14, 2015 9:52 am

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NL2424 · Post by **NL2424** » Thu May 14, 2015 10:17 am

buckiguy_sucks · Post by **buckiguy_sucks** » Thu May 14, 2015 10:36 am

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jumbocolumbo · Post by **jumbocolumbo** » Thu May 14, 2015 10:50 am

zacboro wrote:So I think one of the biggest helps for me was having to read Hume, Kant, Descartes, and Berkeley for my class on Epistemology. Like having to read books by these people definitely helped my RC skills. I wanna keep it up but I don't know what to read now. Anyone know any books similar to these on epistemology I may enjoy for leisure reading? (No one say "I don't know any like that but you can read the Economist")

Try Richard Rorty's Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature. He has some pretty radical views on epistemology. Rorty''s more contemporary, and definitely a more controversial figure in philosophy than the early modern philosophers you mentioned.

Also I hate Descartes...

Cochran · Post by **Cochran** » Thu May 14, 2015 11:38 am

Hello all,

I am an Oct. taker, but have seen multiple posts here from users who show a proficiency in RC and time management. I was wondering what you guys did to improve your RC score, and what you've been doing to continue improving your time rate on sections. Like many, RC is my main problem. With me, timing is the biggest issue, and I generally get to 3 of 4 passages. While my accuracy has improved (I usually get ~18 of the 21-22 I get to), I'm still missing quite a few problems due to timing. And my timing struggles are also quite prevalent in LR sections, and to a lesser extent, on LG sections as well. I have looked at several strategies here, and none seem to encapsulate anything other than generalities. I assume that with more practice and drilling, my rate will improve, but was wondering if anyone here had any pointed advice or strategies that led to their improvement. Any advice you can give would be invaluable. Thanks!

Generally · Post by **Generally** » Thu May 14, 2015 11:56 am

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RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Thu May 14, 2015 11:59 am

zacboro wrote:So I think one of the biggest helps for me was having to read Hume, Kant, Descartes, and Berkeley for my class on Epistemology. Like having to read books by these people definitely helped my RC skills. I wanna keep it up but I don't know what to read now. Anyone know any books similar to these on epistemology I may enjoy for leisure reading? (No one say "I don't know any like that but you can read the Economist")

Kant makes RC passages look like The Cat in the Hat.

JackelJ · Post by **JackelJ** » Thu May 14, 2015 12:05 pm

Cochran wrote:Hello all,

I am an Oct. taker, but have seen multiple posts here from users who show a proficiency in RC and time management. I was wondering what you guys did to improve your RC score, and what you've been doing to continue improving your time rate on sections. Like many, RC is my main problem. With me, timing is the biggest issue, and I generally get to 3 of 4 passages. While my accuracy has improved (I usually get ~18 of the 21-22 I get to), I'm still missing quite a few problems due to timing. And my timing struggles are also quite prevalent in LR sections, and to a lesser extent, on LG sections as well. I have looked at several strategies here, and none seem to encapsulate anything other than generalities. I assume that with more practice and drilling, my rate will improve, but was wondering if anyone here had any pointed advice or strategies that led to their improvement. Any advice you can give would be invaluable. Thanks!

I just started PTing regularly about 2 weeks ago after a 7 month break from regularly PTing, and when I did take a PT is was a retake. The only thing that I did those 7 months was drilling (and it was not like every day, and I took sometimes a month off in between). When I started PTing 3-4 times a week 2 weeks ago I no timing issues where as before I would commonly miss seeing the last few questions in LR and get to the last RC passage with 5 minutes left. So, I really think the best way to get faster is by drilling and getting better at the questions and then the speed will naturally come.

RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Thu May 14, 2015 12:33 pm

Cochran wrote:Hello all,

I am an Oct. taker, but have seen multiple posts here from users who show a proficiency in RC and time management. I was wondering what you guys did to improve your RC score, and what you've been doing to continue improving your time rate on sections. Like many, RC is my main problem. With me, timing is the biggest issue, and I generally get to 3 of 4 passages. While my accuracy has improved (I usually get ~18 of the 21-22 I get to), I'm still missing quite a few problems due to timing. And my timing struggles are also quite prevalent in LR sections, and to a lesser extent, on LG sections as well. I have looked at several strategies here, and none seem to encapsulate anything other than generalities. I assume that with more practice and drilling, my rate will improve, but was wondering if anyone here had any pointed advice or strategies that led to their improvement. Any advice you can give would be invaluable. Thanks!

RC - don't get bored when you read the passage

NL2424 · Post by **NL2424** » Thu May 14, 2015 12:38 pm

nlee10 · Post by **nlee10** » Thu May 14, 2015 1:04 pm

I totally forgot to check back in but hit a 167 on PT 60. I took this as part of my BP class in the fall and I think I got like a 152 or something. Progress.

biggestlawman · Post by **biggestlawman** » Thu May 14, 2015 1:23 pm

nlee10 wrote:I totally forgot to check back in but hit a 167 on PT 60. I took this as part of my BP class in the fall and I think I got like a 152 or something. Progress.

nlee, that's awesome!

I am still in drilling mode, PTs will need to wait until I finish drilling sets 1 and 2 out of 4. Struggling with pretty bad cold since yesterday, its been a bitch today in particular. Finally sitting at my work desk about to start studying.

jumbocolumbo · Post by **jumbocolumbo** » Thu May 14, 2015 1:28 pm

Cochran wrote:Hello all,

I am an Oct. taker, but have seen multiple posts here from users who show a proficiency in RC and time management. I was wondering what you guys did to improve your RC score, and what you've been doing to continue improving your time rate on sections. Like many, RC is my main problem. With me, timing is the biggest issue, and I generally get to 3 of 4 passages. While my accuracy has improved (I usually get ~18 of the 21-22 I get to), I'm still missing quite a few problems due to timing. And my timing struggles are also quite prevalent in LR sections, and to a lesser extent, on LG sections as well. I have looked at several strategies here, and none seem to encapsulate anything other than generalities. I assume that with more practice and drilling, my rate will improve, but was wondering if anyone here had any pointed advice or strategies that led to their improvement. Any advice you can give would be invaluable. Thanks!

I pretty much speed through the passage as quickly as I can and then spend extra time on the Q's, This took me from about -6 to ~-4to -2. It still needs some work but this really helped me give myself enough time. I normally get to the last passage with ~10 minutes left.

Also, I realized how much time I was spending going back to mark things I had already read instead of actually doing it AS I read. This was a major time sink. Now instead of reading something and saying "Wow, that seemed important, I should mark that." I just try to utilize my intuition about the argument's structure and guess and mark as I read. If it turns out to be insignificant, oh well, its just a little more clutter on the paragraph. If it is significant, I can find it easily and I haven't wasted time going back to mark it.

TLDR: Read fast, don't waste too much time marking stuff.

Generally · Post by **Generally** » Thu May 14, 2015 2:27 pm

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RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Thu May 14, 2015 3:32 pm

zacboro wrote:
RZ5646 wrote:
zacboro wrote:So I think one of the biggest helps for me was having to read Hume, Kant, Descartes, and Berkeley for my class on Epistemology. Like having to read books by these people definitely helped my RC skills. I wanna keep it up but I don't know what to read now. Anyone know any books similar to these on epistemology I may enjoy for leisure reading? (No one say "I don't know any like that but you can read the Economist")
Kant makes RC passages look like The Cat in the Hat.
Exactly! I wrote a term paper on Hume's problem with inductive reasoning and honestly I must have read his Enquiry about 5 times and some specific parts 20 times through, it does make RC look so easy. I think that's what helped me the most!

And the Enquiry is explicitly a rewrite of the Treatise designed to be more accessible haha.

TheWalkingDebt · Post by **TheWalkingDebt** » Thu May 14, 2015 4:15 pm

hey hey! how's everyone doing. I was in DC for a post-lsat job interview and now in Minnesota visiting a friend. PT 61 ended up at 169 with 172 BR. Going to take PT 60 tomorrow and feel good after taking a few days off. Less than a month left everyone. Hoping to see 3-4 175+ scores before d-day

biggestlawman · Post by **biggestlawman** » Thu May 14, 2015 4:25 pm

Seamus887 wrote:So with 25 days left I am curious. How is everyone's studying going? Where is your avg pt and what is the goal? Final stretch now Hoping none of us ever need to deal with this thing again. I am sure my wife will be glad to get her husband back, at least until law school....

I am taking in October. Drilling these days. First PT maybe in 3 weeks or so! Maybe Sooner!

TheWalkingDebt · Post by **TheWalkingDebt** » Thu May 14, 2015 4:50 pm

Seamus887 wrote:So with 25 days left I am curious. How is everyone's studying going? Where is your avg pt and what is the goal? Final stretch now Hoping none of us ever need to deal with this thing again. I am sure my wife will be glad to get her husband back, at least until law school....

Going great. Had a drop off after my initial puncture into 170s (3 tests in a row). Took a few days off to eliminate any potential from burnout. Last 5 tests overall have average 169.4. My testing pattern has been pretty predictable. I make gains and increase my scaled score by 5-7 followed by a drop-off for 2-3 tests, then I usually rise back up and solidify gains. Hoping that's the case here as I absolutely NEED to hit 173+

Generally · Post by **Generally** » Thu May 14, 2015 5:02 pm

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