December 2014 RE-takers Thread Forum

[GreenTee]

Checking in! My September score was a few points off my target (it seems my brain went AWOL during LR), so here I am. I was worried mostly about timing/fatigue issues last time around, so I burned up a lot of PTs and didn't drill enough. I'm going to check out Noodley's Guide for Retakers and see what kind of magic can happen in the next 45 days. Good luck to everyone!

Hey Movie! Thanks for posting the link to Noodley's guide. I'm going to read that right now. Looking forward to this (hopefully final) push for December.

[blacklungz]

Would using McGraw Hill's LSATs or India's LSATs be ok for retakers? I know it's not encouraged, but I'm desperate since I did a lot of the actual PTs and Cambridge packet problems.

[Yeezus]

Here for Round 3. Third time's the charm. I might need to change my approach to LR, since I consistently get around -3 on both sections combined in PTs but have gotten -9 on the real thing twice in a row. Maybe the Trainer will do the trick.

Same exact situation here! Checking in.

What are you doing differently this time around dasani, if anything? I'm not sure if I did anything wrong in prepping the first time, and especially the second time, but it does worry me that I go from a 174 average to a 166 two times in a row. I know bad days happen, but two bad days in a row is a little concerning.

[Smallville]

Looking at the stats on LSN there are still plenty of people admitted who apply in December - chances probably aren't AS good but if you have EVERYTHING else taken care of and are just waiting on your LSAT score it seems like you're probably okay if your numbers are on par with the schools you're applying. By mid January if everything isn't submitted I wouldn't bother, though. I have another friend who has a scholarship at ND and he had a mentor who used to be on an admission committee and he said to basically apply the first day you can submit applications. Another year of work experience is helpful anyway.

With the decline in applicants things are changing a little bit. I believe in general a majority of applicants come from around this time, not a huge deal. As for applying after Dec LSAT there are plenty of spots that schools leave open and money reserved for in-case of receiving apps later on. the Feb LSAT is another story though you can still technically apply. But its not completely a waste to apply after Dec. Too lazy to look for sources so take it as you please. (this does not mean Dec is the best time to apply with but schools arent full writing everyone off after say the month of Dec or w.e)

Okay so let me ask you all this - what if I apply in the next week or so and indicate I will be taking the test again in December? How does that factor into the game?

Im not fully up on that part of admissions, sorry :/ I could assume it depends on if its a school youll get accepted into with ur current score and Dec would be for $ or if Dec is for admissions... but again I cant really answer that with my limited knowledge

[dasani13]

Is a set strategy for LR necessary? I'm asking because I've always done LR intuitively, without using any methods from Manhattan or Powerscore, getting around -3 on both sections combined on PTs 36-72. But on my past two takes on the real thing, I've gotten -9. I'm not sure if this is from nerves or because I'm approaching LR the wrong way. Is it worth trying to build from the ground up again? I'm worried that I won't have enough time if I do decide to follow a set strategy, since I haven't looked at a problem since the September test.

I have set strategies for each question type for LR, I score 0-2 wrong in any given LR section, and my real two takes I went -9 (June) and -11 (September)!! I think I am going to retake the September LSAT the week before the December LSAT. Its going to tell me what I need to know.

I'd strongly suggest retaking September at least 2 weeks before Dec.

[lawjag2015]

Is a set strategy for LR necessary? I'm asking because I've always done LR intuitively, without using any methods from Manhattan or Powerscore, getting around -3 on both sections combined on PTs 36-72. But on my past two takes on the real thing, I've gotten -9. I'm not sure if this is from nerves or because I'm approaching LR the wrong way. Is it worth trying to build from the ground up again? I'm worried that I won't have enough time if I do decide to follow a set strategy, since I haven't looked at a problem since the September test.

I have set strategies for each question type for LR, I score 0-2 wrong in any given LR section, and my real two takes I went -9 (June) and -11 (September)!! I think I am going to retake the September LSAT the week before the December LSAT. Its going to tell me what I need to know.

I'd strongly suggest retaking September at least 2 weeks before Dec.

Why?

[dasani13]

Here for Round 3. Third time's the charm. I might need to change my approach to LR, since I consistently get around -3 on both sections combined in PTs but have gotten -9 on the real thing twice in a row. Maybe the Trainer will do the trick.

Same exact situation here! Checking in.

What are you doing differently this time around dasani, if anything? I'm not sure if I did anything wrong in prepping the first time, and especially the second time, but it does worry me that I go from a 174 average to a 166 two times in a row. I know bad days happen, but two bad days in a row is a little concerning.

I barely drilled my mistakes after a PT during my September prep. I ran out of time on both LR sections during September and went -8 on those unanswered questions. I'm attributing this to the fact that the recent LR (69-73) feels a lot different to me compared to the older stuff. I've noticed a lot more trap answer choices and I spent way too much time contemplating on those during the test. So I'm going to be drilling a lot more this time around.

[dasani13]

Is a set strategy for LR necessary? I'm asking because I've always done LR intuitively, without using any methods from Manhattan or Powerscore, getting around -3 on both sections combined on PTs 36-72. But on my past two takes on the real thing, I've gotten -9. I'm not sure if this is from nerves or because I'm approaching LR the wrong way. Is it worth trying to build from the ground up again? I'm worried that I won't have enough time if I do decide to follow a set strategy, since I haven't looked at a problem since the September test.

I have set strategies for each question type for LR, I score 0-2 wrong in any given LR section, and my real two takes I went -9 (June) and -11 (September)!! I think I am going to retake the September LSAT the week before the December LSAT. Its going to tell me what I need to know.

I'd strongly suggest retaking September at least 2 weeks before Dec.

Why?

I took the real June test and then retook it a week before Sept. as part of my prep. It was my lowest PT score by far. When I came on TLS to cry about it, it turns out this is pretty common and the consensus seems to be that we shouldn't retake a test we took as the real thing so close to the next real one.

[lawjag2015]

Here for Round 3. Third time's the charm. I might need to change my approach to LR, since I consistently get around -3 on both sections combined in PTs but have gotten -9 on the real thing twice in a row. Maybe the Trainer will do the trick.

Same exact situation here! Checking in.

What are you doing differently this time around dasani, if anything? I'm not sure if I did anything wrong in prepping the first time, and especially the second time, but it does worry me that I go from a 174 average to a 166 two times in a row. I know bad days happen, but two bad days in a row is a little concerning.

Do you have a weak area? In my case, my performance in LG and RC does not match my PTs, but I feel strong in them. I am going to assume that I will get 0-6 wrong in these despite the fact that I go 0-2 in LRs and 0-3 in RC in PTs. I am going to concentrate on LG as I know that I am weak in it and I am losing a lot more points in it. My target is to go in knowing that I am not weak in any section. I think that will put me near or over 170.

The issue with you is that you are already sort of near 170.

[hetookmetoamovie]

Checking in! My September score was a few points off my target (it seems my brain went AWOL during LR), so here I am. I was worried mostly about timing/fatigue issues last time around, so I burned up a lot of PTs and didn't drill enough. I'm going to check out Noodley's Guide for Retakers and see what kind of magic can happen in the next 45 days. Good luck to everyone!

Hey Movie! Thanks for posting the link to Noodley's guide. I'm going to read that right now. Looking forward to this (hopefully final) push for December.

I've just unearthed my banker's box of LSAT materials and bought 2 reams of printer paper

I'm glad I have such great company here <3

[lawjag2015]

Should we do a spreadsheet tracking everyone's daily progress?? Competition and accountability??

[lawjag2015]

I took the real June test and then retook it a week before Sept. as part of my prep. It was my lowest PT score by far. When I came on TLS to cry about it, it turns out this is pretty common and the consensus seems to be that we shouldn't retake a test we took as the real thing so close to the next real one

Not having details for one PT is not that bad. Will wrap up everything else by that time. And, I will do September will 4 days to go in any case. Plenty of time for review after that!

[Yeezus]

Do you have a weak area? In my case, my performance in LG and RC does not match my PTs, but I feel strong in them. I am going to assume that I will get 0-6 wrong in these despite the fact that I go 0-2 in LRs and 0-3 in RC in PTs. I am going to concentrate on LG as I know that I am weak in it and I am losing a lot more points in it. My target is to go in knowing that I am not weak in any section. I think that will put me near or over 170.

The issue with you is that you are already sort of near 170.

I guess it's with LR and RC, even though I only get between 2-4 wrong combined in LR and 2-4 in RC on PTs. In the September test, I went -9 on LR and -7 on RC. I have no idea how to explain this. Even on my cold diagnostic, I did better than -9 on LR and -7 on RC.

[dasani13]

my tentative PT schedule. anything I should add/change?

[Yeezus]

I'm curious, what do you mean by Drill 58, 59, etc? Are you drilling questions from the PT that you missed?

[Porkypots]

noob question, but what do you guys mean by drill??

[Rigo]

[LeeAllen]

Hi all, long time lurker checking in. Need some support because thinking about getting back on that study schedule sounds pretty horrible to me right now. I got a 169 in Sept. though my practice test average was 175. Really need to up it to have a shot at my top choice schools and I really think I can do better.

I'm in the same boat as you. PT'ing at 174 and I freaked out as soon as the test started, took a hit on the first section, and just couldn't mentally recover after that. I got a 169 after dropping 9 on LR, 2 on RC, and 1 on LG.

[rbrown0824]

Looks good (and remarkably similar to mine) dasani. I stagger the tests a little more though.
For example, I have: 56,57,58,60,61,62,70,63,64,71,65,66,72,67,69,73,68

Im curious, have you all already done these tests or will this be the first time that your eyes have seen them?

[Rigo]

[historyman7]

I may sound like an idiot, but what is the "Percentile Rank" and how is it important?

Thanks!

[Beasty0219]

After screaming "fuck" at my computer screen for about 20 minutes last night, I've collexted myself and am now setting a realistic goal for December's test. My fear that I had misbubbled was confirmed upon inspection of my answer sheet (skipped a question but didn't account for it on the scantron; went -6 to close that section). It's upsetting because I would have hit slightly above my test average (168/169). Oh well.

Couple questions for you knowledgable folk: first, is an addendum a good idea? I think it's necessary to explain what happened (carelessness - I'm taking responsibility for this) and that this score is not an accurate reflection of my lsat capability and of my strength as an applicant. I'm confident my next score will be better but I think it's important that I explain my sept score. Second: because I don't feel it's necessary to return to basics, what's a good approach in terms of an intensive 6 week study regimen? I think my sept prep was too heavy on quantity of PT versus quality of each. I need to research this 'blind review' you're all mentioning, but would appreciate that and any other advice. I, too, struggle with the first section and getting control of my nerves when the proctor says 'begin'. It took nearly a minute to take deep breaths and regain composure. That's another matter I need to address and come up with ways of managing it. Thanks for the help!

[Rigo]

[mornincounselor]

Post removed.

[historyman7]

Thanks!