December 2011 LSAT Study Group Forum

[disconnected]

Any reason for doing 57 as your last PT? is that the dino game?

I am saving the hardest for last
The morning of the test I plan on reviewing Test 52; 1 LG, 1 RC, and the last 4 LR questions to warm me up and get me into the groove.

[tmon]

Definitely agree with taking the day off before taking the LSAT. Helped me mentally so much before I took the October one. I hadn't quite burned myself out, but my initial plan was to take a full PT the day before the test. Ended up sleeping in and not thinking about the LSAT at all, and I was able to go into the LSAT the next day feeling great about it (despite not getting more than 4-5 hours of sleep the night before... bleh, nerves). When I got to the break, I honestly didn't want to stop, I wanted to keep going.

And just wanted to remind everyone taking the December test: You CAN do better than your best PT! I did, and I know it may not seem to happen much, but believe in yourself and you'll all do great!

Thanks for the advice and congrats on doing better than your best PT!

Would you mind giving some advice on how you managed your nerves on test day? What was your experience like when you were taking the test? I have a tendency to get thrown off when something goes wrong. Many thanks in advance!

Get into the mindset of trusting in your preparation. We've all done tons of work for this, probably much more than the average test taker. We're in a great place, so we have to trust in the fact that all we have to do is follow our test-taking methods one more time. Whatever you do, don't get out of your normal habits. In October I allowed myself to go most of the way toward finding the correct response but often stopped a little short and went by instinct. Don't do that. Whatever you've been doing to succeed in PTs, just do that. All it is, is PT65

[Olive]

Get into the mindset of trusting in your preparation. We've all done tons of work for this, probably much more than the average test taker. We're in a great place, so we have to trust in the fact that all we have to do is follow our test-taking methods one more time. Whatever you do, don't get out of your normal habits. In October I allowed myself to go most of the way toward finding the correct response but often stopped a little short and went by instinct. Don't do that. Whatever you've been doing to succeed in PTs, just do that. All it is, is PT65

Thanks! I'm trying to practice more in that "test-day-mentality" but I'm still unsure if I'll be able to follow through with it when the actual time comes. The trusting that I'll be able to implement all of this great mental preparation advice on test-day is where I'm having trouble.

Can you guys tell I'm beginning to get nervous yet?

[calidancer2]

Get into the mindset of trusting in your preparation. We've all done tons of work for this, probably much more than the average test taker. We're in a great place, so we have to trust in the fact that all we have to do is follow our test-taking methods one more time. Whatever you do, don't get out of your normal habits. In October I allowed myself to go most of the way toward finding the correct response but often stopped a little short and went by instinct. Don't do that. Whatever you've been doing to succeed in PTs, just do that. All it is, is PT65

Thanks! I'm trying to practice more in that "test-day-mentality" but I'm still unsure if I'll be able to follow through with it when the actual time comes. The trusting that I'll be able to implement all of this great mental preparation advice on test-day is where I'm having trouble.

Can you guys tell I'm beginning to get nervous yet?

You got this! Seriously. When I took the test for the first time in October I had really psyched myself out and just hardcore PANICKED before the test while they were still reading instructions. I had been in the room they were testing us in, but I still wasn't prepared for test-day testing situation of extremely dark room and teeny-tiny desk space. I had been taking all my PTs in bright sunshine and at our kitchen table. Now I take them in my room (dark) and limit the space I allow myself on my desk. It sounds crazy, but every bit helps. I also know what to expect now and I think that's half the battle with nerves...and why I'm retaking! I was a point below my PT average, I think due to nerves/hadn't built up my stamina. Just think about how many hours you've spent studying, and know that the vast majority of people simply do. not. do that.

[180asBreath]

Man, trying to control the ole nerves. I can't believe we're only a week away.

Thousands of questions, hundreds of hours, dozens of PT's... and we're a week away from stepping up to the plate.

[Olive]

Get into the mindset of trusting in your preparation. We've all done tons of work for this, probably much more than the average test taker. We're in a great place, so we have to trust in the fact that all we have to do is follow our test-taking methods one more time. Whatever you do, don't get out of your normal habits. In October I allowed myself to go most of the way toward finding the correct response but often stopped a little short and went by instinct. Don't do that. Whatever you've been doing to succeed in PTs, just do that. All it is, is PT65

Thanks! I'm trying to practice more in that "test-day-mentality" but I'm still unsure if I'll be able to follow through with it when the actual time comes. The trusting that I'll be able to implement all of this great mental preparation advice on test-day is where I'm having trouble.

Can you guys tell I'm beginning to get nervous yet?

You got this! Seriously. When I took the test for the first time in October I had really psyched myself out and just hardcore PANICKED before the test while they were still reading instructions. I had been in the room they were testing us in, but I still wasn't prepared for test-day testing situation of extremely dark room and teeny-tiny desk space. I had been taking all my PTs in bright sunshine and at our kitchen table. Now I take them in my room (dark) and limit the space I allow myself on my desk. It sounds crazy, but every bit helps. I also know what to expect now and I think that's half the battle with nerves...and why I'm retaking! I was a point below my PT average, I think due to nerves/hadn't built up my stamina. Just think about how many hours you've spent studying, and know that the vast majority of people simply do. not. do that.

Thanks, guys!

I can't remember if you posted about the lighting before, but I remember reading someone's post about not having good lightning in the test room, and since then I've been practicing in a darker room just in case (my power has also been going out this week so that's part of the reason as well!)

[calidancer2]

Get into the mindset of trusting in your preparation. We've all done tons of work for this, probably much more than the average test taker. We're in a great place, so we have to trust in the fact that all we have to do is follow our test-taking methods one more time. Whatever you do, don't get out of your normal habits. In October I allowed myself to go most of the way toward finding the correct response but often stopped a little short and went by instinct. Don't do that. Whatever you've been doing to succeed in PTs, just do that. All it is, is PT65

Thanks! I'm trying to practice more in that "test-day-mentality" but I'm still unsure if I'll be able to follow through with it when the actual time comes. The trusting that I'll be able to implement all of this great mental preparation advice on test-day is where I'm having trouble.

Can you guys tell I'm beginning to get nervous yet?

You got this! Seriously. When I took the test for the first time in October I had really psyched myself out and just hardcore PANICKED before the test while they were still reading instructions. I had been in the room they were testing us in, but I still wasn't prepared for test-day testing situation of extremely dark room and teeny-tiny desk space. I had been taking all my PTs in bright sunshine and at our kitchen table. Now I take them in my room (dark) and limit the space I allow myself on my desk. It sounds crazy, but every bit helps. I also know what to expect now and I think that's half the battle with nerves...and why I'm retaking! I was a point below my PT average, I think due to nerves/hadn't built up my stamina. Just think about how many hours you've spent studying, and know that the vast majority of people simply do. not. do that.

Thanks, guys!

I can't remember if you posted about the lighting before, but I remember reading someone's post about not having good lightning in the test room, and since then I've been practicing in a darker room just in case (my power has also been going out this week so that's part of the reason as well!)

Yep, that was me (unless there was someone else- possible). I was sitting dead center in the middle of an already dark testing room/lecture hall (with no windows...) and the ONLY light out in the entire room? The one directly over my head. of course... There was another spot I could have moved to, but it would have been right next to the most obnoxious kid from my test prep class who was a foot-jiggler, so I sucked it up.

[rkjay]

getting a little stressed heading into dec..

I'm retaking, was practicing in the 164-168 range before the october test, with a high score of 170, then come test day and I got a 159..still do not know what happened, I attribute it to nerves and probably not setting a schedule to wake up early and get practice in.

So started waking up early and hoping to do better next week. But for some reason my past 3 PTs have gone horrendously bad. I have been doing 30 min sections instead of 35 because timing was an issue for me in October--so I think I'm going to try PT 60 tonight with all 35 minute sections to see if it'll be a little bit better. Hopefully will be!

If anyone see's a trend let me know, I'm trying on the LG I feel like I should be able to get it down to a -2 hopefully by test day, the only problem I have is RC I used to be able to get these sections with a -3 sometimes- I feel like if I knock down RC and LG I have a shot at breaking 170 as long as I keep my LR down to a -9 or below combined. Timing is the biggest issue for me in RC, my strategy right now is to do the first easiest passage, then the next hardest/one with the most questions, comparitive reading after that since its a strength and then the last mediocre difficulty one. I skip about 3 going through and then save those for last- and usually end up rushing through those and getting them wrong.
any advice would be appreciated!

PT 53: 166
LR: -9
LG -1
RC -6

PT 54: 162
LR -14 (ouch)
LG -4
RC -5

PT 55: 161
LR: -11
LG -4
RC -6

[Olive]

Anyone taken PT 61 yet? What did you think of the LG section?

[180asBreath]

I just did 61 LG and I thought it was straight-forward. However, I had seen it before.

[barneytrouble]

PT 53
LR1: -1
LR2: -1
LG: -0
RC: -5
93 raw = 174

First test I took with a 5th section thrown in the middle, so it is comforting to see no real decrease. I was about to kill myself when scoring it, both of my LR misses were #4 in their respective sections. THERE ARE NO TRICK QUESTIONS EARLY ON. I out-leveled myself on those 2. Also thought it was one of the hardest RCs in a while, actually ran out of time with 1 question to go which never happens.

[xChiTowNx]

Had a reality check with PT 57. I hadn't done it before but i mixed up the game section and took the scored game section lightly - got rocked by it.

Lesson? dont take stuff for granted on the LSAT.

[barneytrouble]

more like "Lesson, get blackout wasted in T minus 168 hours" amirite

[CorkBoard]

more like "Lesson, get blackout wasted in T minus 168 hours" amirite

+1

[iamrobk]

Definitely agree with taking the day off before taking the LSAT. Helped me mentally so much before I took the October one. I hadn't quite burned myself out, but my initial plan was to take a full PT the day before the test. Ended up sleeping in and not thinking about the LSAT at all, and I was able to go into the LSAT the next day feeling great about it (despite not getting more than 4-5 hours of sleep the night before... bleh, nerves). When I got to the break, I honestly didn't want to stop, I wanted to keep going.

And just wanted to remind everyone taking the December test: You CAN do better than your best PT! I did, and I know it may not seem to happen much, but believe in yourself and you'll all do great!

Thanks for the advice and congrats on doing better than your best PT!

Would you mind giving some advice on how you managed your nerves on test day? What was your experience like when you were taking the test? I have a tendency to get thrown off when something goes wrong. Many thanks in advance!

I didn't really have a specific strategy, but I just approached it as if it was any other test that I've taken. I didn't keep thinking "oh my god it's the lsat oh no I need to do amazing or I'm screwed oh god lsat lsat lsat lsat" or whatever, and really, until I actually opened the test booklet, I wasn't really thinking about the LSAT at all. I did mess up a bit at two points. As soon as I opened the test and did the first problem, I began to freak out a bit, but I quickly just told myself to calm down and chill out. I re-read the problem and was calm for the rest of the test. Later, before the 5th section, I had a bit of a watch problem (I couldn't get it back to noon) and lost like 30 seconds or so, but I ended up with a -4 on the section despite freaking out the whole time about losing almost a minute, so I guess it didn't affect me THAT much.

Another thing that I think helped me was that since I didn't really discover this forum until right before I took the test, I didn't really prepare as hardcore as a lot of people here. I didn't use scantrons on any of my PT's, didn't take 5 section PT's, would sometimes split up my PT's into 2 sections then 2 sections later, etc. I think since I took everything a little less seriously, it helped calm my nerves before I took it.

[xChiTowNx]

more like "Lesson: " amirite?

FTFY.

[JamMasterJ]

just stopped in to say good luck guys

[the_pakalypse]

The December LSAT has had a generous curve since December 2000, with the one exception of December 2005 (PT48) where it was a ridiculous stingy curve (so really, really easy test)

...... 6 days

[180asBreath]

My money is on a -15 curve.

[tonton]

My money is on a -15 curve.

Here's to hoping! Maybe if we all believe hard enough at same moment, to the second. Say Friday 2nd December 5pm? Time zones need to be taken into account ofcourse

[calidancer2]

The only downside to that generous of a curve is me leaving the test feeling like I bombed it and that could lead to alcohol poisoning

[SA1928]

Just a reminder for anyone who is interested! We're doing a review of PT 60 tonight at 6pm in the Manhattan room! Please bring whatever questions you want to discuss

[disconnected]

How about PT 61 review on Tuesday night at 8 p.m.?

[CorkBoard]

How about PT 61 review on Tuesday night at 8 p.m.?

Just took PT 61. I'll be there, but I'm not sure how to get to the review so I'm going to PM you.

[JDndMSW]

Not sure how I am going to prep these next few days. Haven't really done shit since the Oct test LOL.