December 2013 LSAT Study Group Forum

[toshiroh]

Hey checking in. Took my PT52 on Saturday. The score shall not be told hahaha. Made so many easy, simple mistakes which in the end all comes down to timing. For LR, I think I'm taking to long on the first 15 questions, which I always get right. The last 5 questions, I barely get to which in turn causes me to at the very least go -5. I'll be working on timing techniques this week. Hopefully I see some improvement.

[TheMostDangerousLG]

If June and October are any indication, it seems LSAC is taking it easy on the LG's these days (since PT 68). Maybe a ray of hope for those of you worrying about them (not that you should take it easy).

Probably not. Every time LSAT has had a few easy LG sections in a row of late, it's been followed up with a killer (see: dinosaurs, zones). We're probably in for something nasty.

[Hotguy]

If June and October are any indication, it seems LSAC is taking it easy on the LG's these days (since PT 68). Maybe a ray of hope for those of you worrying about them (not that you should take it easy).

Probably not. Every time LSAT has had a few easy LG sections in a row of late, it's been followed up with a killer (see: dinosaurs, zones). We're probably in for something nasty.

Does that mean a nice curve is on its way as well or the two don't correlate?

[alecks]

Does anyone have any resources for help on conditional reasoning? I feel like it's something I'm still struggling with, as in, I'm not diagramming correctly every single time.

I'm in a Blueprint online and although helpful I feel like I need additional explanation.

[nooooo]

Also chiming in as an October retake.

Noticed my main gripe for the test this past Saturday was my lack of time on the LRs (all three sections of them). Any solid advice on how to speed up my LR? I've taken every PT already and read through the Manhattan and LR Bible. I'm solid on LG and RC.

I'm thinking of picking random passages and timing myself to do them under 1:30 each time. If I get it wrong or take too long, it goes into the drill pile. I'll create an LR section of 25 passages from the drill pile and go through it with 35 minutes. Wash, rinse, repeat until I'm confident and solid. Does this make sense or is it unrealistic?

Do what you must to get first 15 LR questions done in 15 min or less. This is essential for timing because the first 15 are usually quite easier than the last 10. So give yourself 1 min/question for first 15, and then 2/min for last 10. ALSO, do not fight with the question. Again, DO NOT FIGHT WITH THE QUESTIONS. LR is such that I routinely finish with a few minutes to spare and have time to go back and deliberate on some of the trickier questions. To have that luxury, you must maintain an internal pace and that means you cannot get bogged down on any one of two questions. Personally, I'll read the question stem and then the stimulus and then I'll answer (either by prephrasing as is often the case for inference questions, flaws, suff. assumptions, etc or by eliminating). If I do this process once and I don't have an answer, I'll repeat the process once more. That is it. I'll do a question a maximum of two times on my first go through, pick an answer which I feel is best (however marginally best it may be) and move on to the next question.

I will definitely do this. Any comments on whether I should perhaps start by category, per section, or mix them up? I feel relatively comfortable with all of the sections, but any advice is welcome.

[rebexness]

I have been trying to find places to PT early in the AM on weekends. WHY DOES NOTHING OPEN UNTIL 10 AM?

Gonna PT at Mcdonalds.

[dasani13]

If June and October are any indication, it seems LSAC is taking it easy on the LG's these days (since PT 68). Maybe a ray of hope for those of you worrying about them (not that you should take it easy).

Probably not. Every time LSAT has had a few easy LG sections in a row of late, it's been followed up with a killer (see: dinosaurs, zones). We're probably in for something nasty.

Maybe we'll get October's experimental LG which apparently was "a breeze."

[Miracle]

If June and October are any indication, it seems LSAC is taking it easy on the LG's these days (since PT 68). Maybe a ray of hope for those of you worrying about them (not that you should take it easy).

Probably not. Every time LSAT has had a few easy LG sections in a row of late, it's been followed up with a killer (see: dinosaurs, zones). We're probably in for something nasty.

Stop scaring me. You are getting to me.

[Miracle]

I have been trying to find places to PT early in the AM on weekends. WHY DOES NOTHING OPEN UNTIL 10 AM?

Gonna PT at Mcdonalds.

This seriously made me laugh. However, I know how you feel. I ran into this problem myself. I always find myself having to wait in front of Barnes and Noble. Not happy.

If I had a place to go, I would do it at 7am

[062914123]

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[John Winger]

Checking in. I know I underperformed a bit on October, but it was my first real one. Here's to killing it in December.

[Miracle]

Checking in. I know I underperformed a bit on October, but it was my first real one. Here's to killing it in December.

Welcome!

[Nonconsecutive]

Maybe we'll get October's experimental LG which apparently was "a breeze."

I would be ok with that, considering I've already seen it.

[dasani13]

I have been trying to find places to PT early in the AM on weekends. WHY DOES NOTHING OPEN UNTIL 10 AM?

Gonna PT at Mcdonalds.

Are there any community colleges or universities around you? There's one by my house and I just walk in there and find an empty classroom (they never lock their rooms/buildings).

[rebexness]

I have been trying to find places to PT early in the AM on weekends. WHY DOES NOTHING OPEN UNTIL 10 AM?

Gonna PT at Mcdonalds.

Are there any community colleges or universities around you? There's one by my house and I just walk in there and find an empty classroom (they never lock their rooms/buildings).

The university is a dick with parking fees. Totally forgot about non-Library rooms though. Thanks

[chaoticx5]

I have been trying to find places to PT early in the AM on weekends. WHY DOES NOTHING OPEN UNTIL 10 AM?

Gonna PT at Mcdonalds.

Are there any community colleges or universities around you? There's one by my house and I just walk in there and find an empty classroom (they never lock their rooms/buildings).

The university is a dick with parking fees. Totally forgot about non-Library rooms though. Thanks

Starbucks opens at 530-6AM usually. That's my go-to even though the noise levels can be a little outrageous at times.

[chaoticx5]

He also said that there are 80 PTs. This guy definitely does not know his facts but his idea of taking 20 PTs each week for 3 weeks with review for 10 hours a day might have some validity in helping him increase from a 160 to a 180. I could use some proof though lol

I agree that some of the stuff that dood said was inaccurate, but you're right in that his method is not too far off.

I mean bp shinners said he prepped for the LSAT in one month—doing 2 PTs per day and studying 10+ hours. Also, he ate tiger meat lol.

But yeah I seriously think putting a shitload of hours instead of 2-3 per day is the credited response.

I need to start doing more PTs, i've only done 6 and they've been super spaced out with no coherence in which one i took (60,15, '07, 30, 38, 58). I made a huge jump from my diagnostic really quickly but i've been kinda stuck now and that could be right now because i just haven't been PTing enough. Ugh today was so frustrating.

After going through Cambridge packets, Manhattan LR and RC, Powerscore LRB and LGB, I feel like I have a good foundation. I'm thinking for the next two months until test day I will be going straight through PT 60-69 (maybe 50-69 depending on time and feasibility) continuously with review until I have scored a 180 on each. Each exam I score a 180 on, I then drop from my PT list and continue with the rest until I've gotten a perfect score on each test. I know this goes against the traditionally drilling route but it sort of is drilling in itself right? Thoughts on this idea?

[tofuspeedstar]

Will be joining you guys this Sunday. Enjoying a week off from the October exam this past Saturday.

[OVOXO]

Took my first PT today:

PT50
LR1 −4
LR2 −1
LRX −5 (ugh)
RC −1
LG-0

RS: 94
SS: 175

I am a retaker from Feb and bombed for a 165 after PTing 170-175. Spent September drilling LG by type and some LR by type, though mainly NA/SA/Flaw.
Really happy about this score though b/c I only had 6 hours of sleep and contemplated not taking a PT today.

Anyways, back to the drawing boards to get that LR down. (Also, I like the not 180/redo idea posted above )


Happy studying!

[Hotguy]

If June and October are any indication, it seems LSAC is taking it easy on the LG's these days (since PT 68). Maybe a ray of hope for those of you worrying about them (not that you should take it easy).

Probably not. Every time LSAT has had a few easy LG sections in a row of late, it's been followed up with a killer (see: dinosaurs, zones). We're probably in for something nasty.

Does that mean a nice curve is on its way as well or the two don't correlate?

67 had zones and a -10

Life isn't fair..

[vicpin5190]

Idk, zones seemed like fun. i keep seeing these hard ones and not being to daunted, but it could be also because i know they're hard so i'm hyper sensitive...

if only the lsat was all logic games....

[dosto]

.

[Nonconsecutive]

Idk, zones seemed like fun. i keep seeing these hard ones and not being to daunted, but it could be also because i know they're hard so i'm hyper sensitive...

if only the lsat was all logic games....

There is a difference between seeing those games on a PT and seeing them on the real deal.

[062914123]

.

[cookiecrisp]

PT 53 tonight 5 sections full timing...

LR -6
LG -2 (woo, but i've heard this was an easy test for LG)
LR -9 (ouch - need to review but got hurt here)
RC -6 (surprised I did this well, did not have time for an entire section)

Score: 161 - better than my 156 yesterday so I guess that's cool but still not where I want to be.

Any recommendations on killing LR? Good books? I just did LR Bible and I think I somehow got worse at LR. I used to hit -4 or -5 pretty regularly.