December 2013 LSAT Study Group Forum

[TheMostDangerousLG]

Welcome, October takers.

When are Oct retakers starting to study again?

I'd recommend everyone take a week off from studying before starting up again.

You want a bit of time off away from the test to clear your mind, get some perspective (decide whether you really want to retake before retaking), or even if you know you are 100% retaking, to get some breathing room away from your "Oh shit, I fucked up October!" anxiety. You don't want to be in a bad headspace during your retaking studying, or else test day anxiety on take two is going to be through the roof. It will also help prevent burn-out, and clear your brain of the "LSAT mode" we all get stuck in where our scores start to drop because common sense goes out the window and we've (for lack of better word) overstudied.

[NonTradFTW]

Checking in following Oct. 5th LG flameout. Thinking I need to change up my prep strategy. Started out great at LR and RC and rocked both today. Started out too slow on LG and was waaaay to fucking slow today.

Was feeling amazing after 3 sections of LR and RC today, spent the break praying for a smooth LG for the high 170s, and crashed and burned. Felt like a pitcher who lost the no-hitter in the 9th. Do not want that feeling again in December.

[Miracle]

Checking in following Oct. 5th LG flameout. Thinking I need to change up my prep strategy. Started out great at LR and RC and rocked both today. Started out too slow on LG and was waaaay to fucking slow today.

Was feeling amazing after 3 sections of LR and RC today, spent the break praying for a smooth LG for the high 170s, and crashed and burned. Felt like a pitcher who lost the no-hitter in the 9th. Do not want that feeling again in December.

Welcome. Somewhat in the same boat..

[vicpin5190]

Solid day. drilled 30 flaw and 25 necessary assumptions, level 3 and 2 respectively. Did 4 passages of Reading compt from PT 56 (-0,-3,-1,-1). My reading time on passages is going down, just need to not get so worked up on the 8 question passages, those seem to be where i hit too long and get too many off.

PTing tomorrow, we'll see how it goes.

[chaoticx5]

PT 60: 167. Happy I made some gains! Also my first PT with -0 on LG! Lacked focus for both LR and mainly got the last few questions in each section wrong. Will work on stamina. Aiming for 172 on the real deal. 2 months left, is this possible?

Also, will PT 70 be out before the December LSAT? How fast is the LSAC with these things? Hope everyone did well today!

[A.Taarabt7]

pt 65 got 164 at the Kaplan Free Proctored LSAT event

proctor never gave 5 minute warning , but still did pretty good. Thought I did much worse but nice to see I'm scoring around my average. Now if I can just score 5-8 points higher I'll be set .

Only need to do better in RC, got -11 on that section today. Every other section did pretty good.

[Cuneiform]

Welcome, October takers.

When are Oct retakers starting to study again?

I'd recommend everyone take a week off from studying before starting up again.

You want a bit of time off away from the test to clear your mind, get some perspective (decide whether you really want to retake before retaking), or even if you know you are 100% retaking, to get some breathing room away from your "Oh shit, I fucked up October!" anxiety. You don't want to be in a bad headspace during your retaking studying, or else test day anxiety on take two is going to be through the roof. It will also help prevent burn-out, and clear your brain of the "LSAT mode" we all get stuck in where our scores start to drop because common sense goes out the window and we've (for lack of better word) overstudied.

Is a walk of shame really a walk of shame if I'm just dragging myself back to the same frat house I just left?

*Sigh* Time to go register for December...

[goldenboy514]

Checking in...
That feeling you get when u totally space out on a logic game and the proctor calls 5 mins. Haven't gotten more than 1 wrong in any pt since June, didn't even get to the last game.
Here we go, last attempt.
On a side note, does a cancel count as an attempt?

[Hotguy]

Checking in...
That feeling you get when u totally space out on a logic game and the proctor calls 5 mins. Haven't gotten more than 1 wrong in any pt since June, didn't even get to the last game.
Here we go, last attempt.
On a side note, does a cancel count as an attempt?

yep :/ it does.

[rebexness]

Also, will PT 70 be out before the December LSAT? How fast is the LSAC with these things? Hope everyone did well today!

Yes, it should be.

[dosto]

.

[longlivetheking]

checking in and panicking.

i seem to do well on PT and fucking blank out during test day. any help?

[vicpin5190]

I know this may be crazy talk, but as I was doing the drilling and getting more comfortable with each problem, i started having this feeling. The pieces are all there. The picture that I need to paint is becoming more and more clear. I just need to put it all together. I'm ready to do it, and i know you all are too.

With t-minus 2 months, it's go time. Let's do it December LSAT-ers. Let's roll.

Edit: *steps off soap box, roll credits*

[Brettanomyces]

I did better than I expected today, but there's no way I reached my target score. Had I sealed up the games section, then maybe I wouldn't be considering cancelling.

In any event, I'll be much more ready in December. My only fear is that there is going to be a WTF game or passage that'll mess up my entire score.

Anyway, let's get back to it! (On Monday)

[wsparker]

Officially retaking. Took in feb and was happy, but an admissions officer finally convinced me that one or two points higher could make a huge difference while doing slightly worse wouldn't be terrible.

Time to buy some books and make a study schedule

[desichhori]

PLEASE REPLY IF ANYONE WANTS TO FORM A STUDY GROUP IN SEOUL... I AM VERY MUCH LOOKING FORWARD TO IT.

[civis]

.

[Gamine]

So I took a week off work to refocus my prep for the last 2 months until test day. Took PTs 60 and 61 and scored 173 on both. I'm just finishing off my LR and LG Cambridge packets over the next week or so and then I guess it's just PTs and individual timed sections from then on. Is there anything else I should focus on that I'm forgetting?

[wealtheow]

finished Manhattan LG last week and did PT 57 yesterday timed/blind review. Changed a few answers during review, felt very good, and did fairly well (LG -2 LR1 -2 LR2 -1 RC -1). i was SO pissed because i let the mauve dinosaurs reputation shake me...it actually was NOT bad once i chilled out. thankfully this will not be a scenario on test day because obviously none of those games will have a rep yet >:D

Debating doing PT 58 or drilling LR/LG today. what lovely life choices the lsat has presented to me...

[cookiecrisp]

Hey guise.

Just took PT 52 and got totally buttrammed. First time I've ever done real testing conditions - 3 in a row, 10 min break, 2 in a row. And I got a 156. I was LG -10 (I freaked out. I don't know why normally I'm -3 at worst) RC -8 and LR -7 LR -7. WHAT HELL?

Am I totally screwed? Once again this is my first time under the real time conditions. Saturday I took PT 18 for fun untimed and got a 170. Kind words? I feel like shit.

[wealtheow]

hahahaha buttram

you are NOT screwed...don't be discouraged. the fact that you got a 170- untimed confirms you've got a good noggin' to work with. this is your very first time timing? then you have ample room to improve. getting the timing down takes, well, time, and a lot of it is very unpleasant/confidence demolishing because you're improving based on your $!%^-ups. hardly anyone can just sit down and crank out all sections with time to spare. and play-timing can be just as never-wracking as the real deal - freak-outs happen. better that those get out of your system now. keep on doing it until it becomes habitual. try to establish an internal clock and force yourself to move on when you know you're taking too long. this is what the timing practice is for - to help you anticipate the worst case scenario and devise your ideal exam strategy.

make sure you review that test if you haven't already. i know you probably want to burn it, but you've gotta spend some time with it to see what sort of twists in logic caused you to freak.

also people say this all the time, but the 50s/60s are quite different than the older tests. i was better at the older tests, personally. it is hard to pin down what is different about them but it does require some re-tuning of focus. mainly games seem more linear and RC/LR ask a bit more in terms of subtle details. first time i took a test in the 60s after acing the old ones it was a rude awakening, i tell you what.

TL;DR- occasional or even frequent buttramming is an essential component of lsat studying, do not worry

[chaoticx5]

finished Manhattan LG last week and did PT 57 yesterday timed/blind review. Changed a few answers during review, felt very good, and did fairly well (LG -2 LR1 -2 LR2 -1 RC -1). i was SO pissed because i let the mauve dinosaurs reputation shake me...it actually was NOT bad once i chilled out. thankfully this will not be a scenario on test day because obviously none of those games will have a rep yet >:D

Debating doing PT 58 or drilling LR/LG today. what lovely life choices the lsat has presented to me...

Doing PT 58 today too! Good luck to you!

[vicpin5190]

finished Manhattan LG last week and did PT 57 yesterday timed/blind review. Changed a few answers during review, felt very good, and did fairly well (LG -2 LR1 -2 LR2 -1 RC -1). i was SO pissed because i let the mauve dinosaurs reputation shake me...it actually was NOT bad once i chilled out. thankfully this will not be a scenario on test day because obviously none of those games will have a rep yet >:D

Debating doing PT 58 or drilling LR/LG today. what lovely life choices the lsat has presented to me...

Doing PT 58 today too! Good luck to you!

same here, right after the Dolphins game.

[retaking23]

What up December. I hope I won't be coming in here in a few weeks as a retaker BUT, have any of you seen this video of this guy claiming to go from 160s to 180 in just a couple of weeks?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sOsE0OlR00

If this is true, and it doesn't seem too unrealistic given what he claims to have done, scoring a 180 on the LSAT following his hardcore PTing might be the definition of effectiveness and inefficiency. In other words, this might be the new epitome of hardwork. What ya think?

[retaking23]

Hey guise.

Just took PT 52 and got totally buttrammed. First time I've ever done real testing conditions - 3 in a row, 10 min break, 2 in a row. And I got a 156. I was LG -10 (I freaked out. I don't know why normally I'm -3 at worst) RC -8 and LR -7 LR -7. WHAT HELL?

Am I totally screwed? Once again this is my first time under the real time conditions. Saturday I took PT 18 for fun untimed and got a 170. Kind words? I feel like shit.

You would seriously benefit from trying to do the following instead of fully timed PTing:

Do 4 sections of an LSAT. On LR's, try to do first 15 questions within 20 minutes (so, 40 minutes total). On RC, try to do first two passages within 20 minutes. On games, try to do the first two within 20 minutes. So in total, you will be taking a 1 hour and 20 minute PT.

Practice this a few times and once you can get all of the questions right in the allotted time, give yourself 15 minutes for first 15 LR questions, 15 minutes for first 2 RC passages, and 15 minutes for first two games. A lot easier said than done and I have a lot of hard time getting my first two RCs done within 15 minutes. But, do this enough and timing will not be an issue.

Or, you can just chuck out my suggestions and go full-on PTing until you hit your stride. Both will work but I feel my shortened PTs are friendlier on self-esteem.