The Official October 2015 Study Group Forum

AbbeyS · Post by **AbbeyS** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 11:55 am

The Abyss wrote:
AbbeyS wrote:Hey I need some advice. I have the Cambridge bundles for LG, LR & RC...I already have my strategy for drilling LG but does anyone have a good strategy for drilling LR and RC? I'm out of ideas. Please & thanks!
For LR I do all drilling untimed. Spend as much time as you need for each question. Make sure you are 100% sure you have TCR, and 100% sure that the other 4 ACs are wrong. Doing this will help you really understand each question type's patterns and will develop your approach to each question type. I also write out little explanations for questions on a separate legal pad.

For RC I recommend doing bulk untimed sessions. Do 15-20 passages in a sitting. Work on a notation system that works for you and pay close attention to the structure of each passage.

The only issue I have with that is that I'm not yet 100% sure on the LR patterns in questions. So I might need to supplement my drilling with some type of better reading material (LR bible didn't do it for me)...I am waiting on my Manhattan LR to be delivered but I'm wondering if I can do both the reading and drilling at the same time or if I should wait on the drilling until after I'm well-versed. I don't want to waste the fresh questions ya know?

The Abyss · Post by **The Abyss** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 12:06 pm

AbbeyS wrote:
The Abyss wrote:
AbbeyS wrote:Hey I need some advice. I have the Cambridge bundles for LG, LR & RC...I already have my strategy for drilling LG but does anyone have a good strategy for drilling LR and RC? I'm out of ideas. Please & thanks!
For LR I do all drilling untimed. Spend as much time as you need for each question. Make sure you are 100% sure you have TCR, and 100% sure that the other 4 ACs are wrong. Doing this will help you really understand each question type's patterns and will develop your approach to each question type. I also write out little explanations for questions on a separate legal pad.

For RC I recommend doing bulk untimed sessions. Do 15-20 passages in a sitting. Work on a notation system that works for you and pay close attention to the structure of each passage.
The only issue I have with that is that I'm not yet 100% sure on the LR patterns in questions. So I might need to supplement my drilling with some type of better reading material (LR bible didn't do it for me)...I am waiting on my Manhattan LR to be delivered but I'm wondering if I can do both the reading and drilling at the same time or if I should wait on the drilling until after I'm well-versed. I don't want to waste the fresh questions ya know?

The Manhattan LR book is great. I would read a chapter and then drill 30 or so questions of various difficulty of the types covered in the chapter to reinforce what you learned. Repeat for each chapter. After you're finished with the book then just start drilling the packets fully.

ETA: Prep books are good for establishing methods to approach question types. Seeing the patterns within each question type comes from drilling.

chicharon · Post by **chicharon** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 1:11 pm

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Monkey D Luffy · Post by **Monkey D Luffy** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 1:55 pm

chicharon wrote:
The Abyss wrote:
chicharon wrote:
The Abyss wrote:
AbbeyS wrote:Hey I need some advice. I have the Cambridge bundles for LG, LR & RC...I already have my strategy for drilling LG but does anyone have a good strategy for drilling LR and RC? I'm out of ideas. Please & thanks!
For LR I do all drilling untimed. Spend as much time as you need for each question. Make sure you are 100% sure you have TCR, and 100% sure that the other 4 ACs are wrong. Doing this will help you really understand each question type's patterns and will develop your approach to each question type. I also write out little explanations for questions on a separate legal pad.

For RC I recommend doing bulk untimed sessions. Do 15-20 passages in a sitting. Work on a notation system that works for you and pay close attention to the structure of each passage.
How many LR questions do you do in one sitting? Or per day?
Anywhere from 50-100 questions depending on the amount of LG and RC drilling I'm doing that day.
50-100. I was afraid you'd say that. Takes me forever to go through much less

50-100 questions....? You serious? It took me a few days to complete the Flaw packet....

RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 3:03 pm

The Abyss wrote:
chicharon wrote:
The Abyss wrote:
AbbeyS wrote:Hey I need some advice. I have the Cambridge bundles for LG, LR & RC...I already have my strategy for drilling LG but does anyone have a good strategy for drilling LR and RC? I'm out of ideas. Please & thanks!
For LR I do all drilling untimed. Spend as much time as you need for each question. Make sure you are 100% sure you have TCR, and 100% sure that the other 4 ACs are wrong. Doing this will help you really understand each question type's patterns and will develop your approach to each question type. I also write out little explanations for questions on a separate legal pad.

For RC I recommend doing bulk untimed sessions. Do 15-20 passages in a sitting. Work on a notation system that works for you and pay close attention to the structure of each passage.
How many LR questions do you do in one sitting? Or per day?
Anywhere from 50-100 questions depending on the amount of LG and RC drilling I'm doing that day.

So how many hours per day are you studying? That sounds incredibly boring. At least with PTs you aren't just doing the same thing over and over.

The Abyss · Post by **The Abyss** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 8:34 pm

RZ5646 wrote:
The Abyss wrote:
chicharon wrote:
The Abyss wrote:
AbbeyS wrote:Hey I need some advice. I have the Cambridge bundles for LG, LR & RC...I already have my strategy for drilling LG but does anyone have a good strategy for drilling LR and RC? I'm out of ideas. Please & thanks!
For LR I do all drilling untimed. Spend as much time as you need for each question. Make sure you are 100% sure you have TCR, and 100% sure that the other 4 ACs are wrong. Doing this will help you really understand each question type's patterns and will develop your approach to each question type. I also write out little explanations for questions on a separate legal pad.

For RC I recommend doing bulk untimed sessions. Do 15-20 passages in a sitting. Work on a notation system that works for you and pay close attention to the structure of each passage.
How many LR questions do you do in one sitting? Or per day?
Anywhere from 50-100 questions depending on the amount of LG and RC drilling I'm doing that day.
So how many hours per day are you studying? That sounds incredibly boring. At least with PTs you aren't just doing the same thing over and over.

4-6 hours on weekdays, and 6-8 hours on weekends. I split that time between sections, so about 2 hours a day on LR. Doing the same thing over and over again is the point. That's how you get better at doing something.

dominicanguy12 · Post by **dominicanguy12** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 9:28 pm

I don't even know how you're not going to run out of material/get burnt out.^

The Abyss · Post by **The Abyss** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 9:31 pm

dominicanguy12 wrote:I don't even know how you're not going to run out of material/get burnt out.^

I take days off when I need them and I have plenty of material left.

SirArthurDayne · Post by **SirArthurDayne** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:00 pm

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chicharon · Post by **chicharon** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:01 pm

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The Abyss · Post by **The Abyss** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:06 pm

chicharon wrote:
The Abyss wrote:
dominicanguy12 wrote:I don't even know how you're not going to run out of material/get burnt out.^
I take days off when I need them and I have plenty of material left.
Are you working?

Yes, and I have a 15 month year old son. I am able to study some while working and I work a lot from home.

WMcGregs · Post by **WMcGregs** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:26 pm

The Abyss wrote:
chicharon wrote:
The Abyss wrote:
dominicanguy12 wrote:I don't even know how you're not going to run out of material/get burnt out.^
I take days off when I need them and I have plenty of material left.
Are you working?
Yes, and I have a 15 month year old son. I am able to study some while working and I work a lot from home.

I'm kinda in the same boat as you. I'm living a pretty busy life while studying for Oct, but thankfully I work at an incredibly boring job where I have almost 0 tasks to do. I have a 2 year old and a new born as well as finishing up my undergrad with online classes. But working in the back room of a court house watching inmates before they go to court, I'm able to study LR and RC on my phone with pdf's of PT's. As well as do my hw for school.

Thank goodness for a highly dull job with almost no responsibility!

RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 10:58 pm

Missed 2 on an untimed PT today, which really pissed me off. One was a simple RC question reading error (exactly the kind of thing that doing it untimed is supposed to prevent); the other was a very hard LR that's a poor question in my opinion (5.1.21 for anyone who's interested).

RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 11:00 pm

The Abyss wrote:4-6 hours on weekdays, and 6-8 hours on weekends. I split that time between sections, so about 2 hours a day on LR. Doing the same thing over and over again is the point. That's how you get better at doing something.

I'm just worried that by drilling for 6 hours per day you're approaching lethal levels of boredom.

pittsburghpirates · Post by **pittsburghpirates** » Tue Jul 07, 2015 11:31 pm

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mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 12:23 am

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mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 12:30 am

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MrBalloons · Post by **MrBalloons** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 1:08 am

The Abyss wrote:4-6 hours on weekdays, and 6-8 hours on weekends. I split that time between sections, so about 2 hours a day on LR. Doing the same thing over and over again is the point. That's how you get better at doing something.

Honestly, though, what inexhaustible material are you even using if you plan to keep up a 40 hour a week pace until October? Assuming you didn't just start studying this week, that's gotta be well over 500 total hours.

Have you mapped it all out? Genuinely curious on your thought process here.

SirArthurDayne · Post by **SirArthurDayne** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 2:38 am

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The Abyss · Post by **The Abyss** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 8:24 am

MrBalloons wrote:
The Abyss wrote:4-6 hours on weekdays, and 6-8 hours on weekends. I split that time between sections, so about 2 hours a day on LR. Doing the same thing over and over again is the point. That's how you get better at doing something.
Honestly, though, what inexhaustible material are you even using if you plan to keep up a 40 hour a week pace until October? Assuming you didn't just start studying this week, that's gotta be well over 500 total hours.

Have you mapped it all out? Genuinely curious on your thought process here.

I do have it mapped out and I understand that there's only so much material. My plan from the start was to do every question/game/passage from the Cambridge packets 2-3 times. Redoing questions is still useful, I believe. Even if I remember the answer to a question I force myself through the reasoning of why that AC is correct and the others are wrong. My way may not work for everyone, but it works for me. Knowing myself, burnout isn't an issue I'm concerned about, and if I need a day off I take it.

RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 8:53 am

mornincounselor wrote:
RZ5646 wrote:Missed 2 on an untimed PT today, which really pissed me off. One was a simple RC question reading error (exactly the kind of thing that doing it untimed is supposed to prevent); the other was a very hard LR that's a poor question in my opinion (5.1.21 for anyone who's interested).
I have no idea what the answer to that question is. I would probably guess (E) but it would be a shot in the dark.

I've heard respected people say that LSAC has went on record saying that the first 16 PT's are not representative of the current test and are therefore less valuable as study tools. I'd say this especially applies to LR with this question perhaps being a good example. Maybe check Manhattan if you want closure on the question but I'd wouldn't spend too much time on it.

Yeah TCR is E, but I think you can make a compelling argument for D. It makes sense to me that if voting "depends on who their challengers are," you don't vote them out when their challengers are also guilty, which explains the difference in voting. I understand why E is right, but I don't think D is obviously wrong.

The early tests are definitely weird. LR has something of an RC flavor, with lots of questions requiring interpretation to figure out what the argument is and possibly a greater proportion of questions like main point and argumentative strategy. These also have two-question stimuli, which I think don't occur anymore. Meanwhile, LG tends to resist the today's linear, grouping, and sequencing categories.

pittsburghpirates · Post by **pittsburghpirates** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 9:16 am

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RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 10:48 am

OP, can we get a poll up?

The Abyss · Post by **The Abyss** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 10:52 am

RZ5646 wrote:OP, can we get a poll up?

I don't think the OP has been on here in a few months. Maybe we can get a mod to make someone more active the OP?

ETA: Giving your take an early PT untimed method a try today. Doing PT 7.

RZ5646 · Post by **RZ5646** » Wed Jul 08, 2015 11:02 am

The Abyss wrote:
RZ5646 wrote:OP, can we get a poll up?
I don't think the OP has been on here in a few months. Maybe we can get a mod to make someone more active the OP?

ETA: Giving your take an early PT untimed method a try today. Doing PT 7.

I think it's a useful method. Basically just untimed drilling but with an actual test's full gamut of questions.

Today I'm probably just going to drill LG for a couple hours because I have to work on school stuff. I might do an LR or RC section depending on how much I get done.

I'll message the OP, and if he doesn't reply then maybe we can get a mod to replace him.