The Official September 2014 Study Group Forum

Oskosh · Post by **Oskosh** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:15 pm

Hey guys! Can those of you who are doing well on the LSAT check out the thread I posted a few minutes ago?

Learn_Live_Hope · Post by **Learn_Live_Hope** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:16 pm

Oskosh wrote:Hey guys! Can those of you who are doing well on the LSAT check out the thread I posted a few minutes ago?

Link please!

WaltGrace83 · Post by **WaltGrace83** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:17 pm

^

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 6&t=231754

WaltGrace83 · Post by **WaltGrace83** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:19 pm

By the way, that thread is hilarious Oskosh.

You are going to absolutely MURDER this test.

Oskosh · Post by **Oskosh** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:28 pm

WaltGrace83 wrote:By the way, that thread is hilarious Oskosh.

You are going to absolutely MURDER this test.

Haha. Is it because I forgot to register for the test?

#ihopeso If I freeze during the test, yikes! December, here I come!

WaltGrace83 · Post by **WaltGrace83** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 9:37 pm

Oskosh wrote:
WaltGrace83 wrote:By the way, that thread is hilarious Oskosh.

You are going to absolutely MURDER this test.
Haha. Is it because I forgot to register for the test?

#ihopeso If I freeze during the test, yikes! December, here I come!

I feel that this is the right attitude. Don't put too much pressure on yourself, you know? The LSAT - unlike law school exams....or..........life - gives you THREE takes in TWO years. The LSAT is basically a joke.

DivineJustice · Post by **DivineJustice** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 1:09 am

Im a retaker and im following Noodleys guide. So far I've just been drilling the first 6 chapters of Manhattan, then moving on to heavily improve RC. I really didn't start out with LG since that's what I've done consistently well on. I took the test in December and scored a -2 on LG. Noodleys guide suggests starting with LG first but I feel like that's the last thing I need to really improve on of the 3. Thoughts?

Louis1127 · Post by **Louis1127** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 9:17 am

DivineJustice wrote:Im a retaker and im following Noodleys guide. So far I've just been drilling the first 6 chapters of Manhattan, then moving on to heavily improve RC. I really didn't start out with LG since that's what I've done consistently well on. I took the test in December and scored a -2 on LG. Noodleys guide suggests starting with LG first but I feel like that's the last thing I need to really improve on of the 3. Thoughts?

Hey!

I think it's perfectly fine to adjust and mold those guides to your particular situation. I mean, Noodley's guide can still be really effective, even if you only use it for two sections (since you are really good at the other one), or you don't do all of the things the guide says for that one section (because you are really good at that section).

IF I were you I would definitely focus on your weeks areas, and from you post it sounds like you think that is the best option too.

Good luck!

bondja · Post by **bondja** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 9:24 am

So, has anybody found a way to get to the Manhattan RC topic articles that they talk about in their 4th edition book? I was told that if you register the book, login to the student center, there would be articles for you to read that cover the different topics in RC but I can't figure out where they are

tskela · Post by **tskela** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 10:56 am

How do y'all use extra time at the end of RC or LR if you can't pinpoint anything you were particularly uncertain about? Just go through the last 5-8 questions again? Or work it out from the beginning so you don't end up having extra time? I feel like it would take a lot of planning to make yourself spend exactly x amount of time on each question.

Straw_Mandible · Post by **Straw_Mandible** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 11:02 am

tskela wrote:How do y'all use extra time at the end of RC or LR if you can't pinpoint anything you were particularly uncertain about? Just go through the last 5-8 questions again? Or work it out from the beginning so you don't end up having extra time? I feel like it would take a lot of planning to make yourself spend exactly x amount of time on each question.

Extra time on RC? Never heard of it. Please elaborate.

#firstworldproblems

Edit: Serious answer -- If you find that you consistently have extra time, but you don't consistently go -0, then spend the time you need to get the questions right on the first try, rather than going back to confirm at the end of the section.

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 11:09 am

Post removed.

tskela · Post by **tskela** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 11:14 am

Straw_Mandible wrote:
tskela wrote:How do y'all use extra time at the end of RC or LR if you can't pinpoint anything you were particularly uncertain about? Just go through the last 5-8 questions again? Or work it out from the beginning so you don't end up having extra time? I feel like it would take a lot of planning to make yourself spend exactly x amount of time on each question.
Extra time on RC? Never heard of it. Please elaborate.

#firstworldproblems

Edit: Serious answer -- If you find that you consistently have extra time, but you don't consistently go -0, then spend the time you need to get the questions right on the first try, rather than going back to confirm at the end of the section.

~3-5 minutes. Never gotten -0.

It's frustrating because I tend to not read all the answer choices once I've found one that "jumps out". This is almost always the reason I miss a couple. But you never know which question is the one you should have read all the answer choices for. And if I read all the answer choices for ALL the questions, I get bogged down/confused and end up making MORE mistakes.

Because that's when I get into the "weeeeellll, this one sounds pretty good too".

tskela · Post by **tskela** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 11:15 am

mornincounselor wrote:
tskela wrote:How do y'all use extra time at the end of RC or LR if you can't pinpoint anything you were particularly uncertain about? Just go through the last 5-8 questions again? Or work it out from the beginning so you don't end up having extra time? I feel like it would take a lot of planning to make yourself spend exactly x amount of time on each question.
For LR I usually have extra time. You circle the question numbers (I do it on the answer sheet) you are unsure about. You start by going back to those questions. The trick is to correctly assess which questions you know you have correct and which ones you could be off about. This is why habits like eliminating all incorrect choices (even after you've chosen a likely correct choice) can be very useful. After that, I'd go back to the questions you have a tendency to speed through. For some people its questions 12-15 (in an attempt to finish 15 under 15) for example.

YES. So true.

mornincounselor · Post by **mornincounselor** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 11:38 am

Post removed.

tskela · Post by **tskela** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 11:43 am

mornincounselor wrote:I have a question about the word "unlikely" in LSAT.

According to the Manhattan RC 4th Ed. (p. 95) "We're safe calling something 'unlikely' as long as its likelihood is less than 50 percent."

This doesn't seem right to me in the real world. If I have a 47.5 percent chance of choosing YLS I wouldn't consider the possibility unlikely. It could potentially be the most likely of all possible choices.

Are we truly safe to assume this on the LSAT though?

I figure something has to have >50% chance to be likely, and if it's not likely, it's unlikely. If you have a 47.5 percent chance of choosing YLS, you have a 52.5% chance of NOT choosing YLS, no matter the likelihood of choosing CLS, HLS, etc.

Straw_Mandible · Post by **Straw_Mandible** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 12:01 pm

tskela wrote: ~3-5 minutes. Never gotten -0. It's frustrating because I tend to not read all the answer choices once I've found one that "jumps out". This is almost always the reason I miss a couple. But you never know which question is the one you should have read all the answer choices for. And if I read all the answer choices for ALL the questions, I get bogged down/confused and end up making MORE mistakes. Because that's when I get into the "weeeeellll, this one sounds pretty good too".

The bolded portion above sounds like a problem with your skill set, which you're going to have to address. I would argue that it is absolutely, 100% necessary to read every answer choice for every LR and RC question. If you find that you have a tendency of being led astray by incorrect answers, then you need to strengthen your elimination process. Very often, on the most difficult questions, the answers that "jump out" will be traps, and the correct answer will be subtly or strangely worded. If you don't have an absolutely religious devotion to the process of elimination, these questions will nail you.

Here's a thought: During your next blind review session, take a red pen and cross out every incorrect answer choice once you can figure out the reason why it is absolutely, 100% incorrect. Don't allow yourself to move on to the next question until you can use your red pen on exactly four of the answer choices--no matter how long it takes. This will sharpen your elimination skills, and it will eventually just naturally become a part of your process to always look for wrong answers first.

tskela · Post by **tskela** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 12:25 pm

Straw_Mandible wrote:
tskela wrote: Here's a thought: During your next blind review session, take a red pen and cross out every incorrect answer choice once you can figure out the reason why it is absolutely, 100% incorrect. Don't allow yourself to move on to the next question until you can use your red pen on exactly four of the answer choices--no matter how long it takes. This will sharpen your elimination skills, and it will eventually just naturally become a part of your process to always look for wrong answers first.

Thank you for this. I think I've been relying on instinct a lot more than I should, and usually only have a superficial understanding of why an answer is definitively right or wrong beyond my initial instinct. I'll definitely follow your elimination advice for future studying.

bound · Post by **bound** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 1:02 pm

Checking in. Sup ya'll?

Louis1127 · Post by **Louis1127** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 2:01 pm

PT 40

LR1: -2

LG: -6 (Zephyr airlines was tough, but still that's no excuse for not doing better)

LR2: -9

(yea I have no idea how I went -2 on one and then -9 on the other)

RC: -8 (while this is a personal best, I did really well on 3 but got KILLED by one of the passage).

So I've gone 145, 154, 158, 160 with lots of drilling in between.

Trending in the right direction but I've got work to do on all 3 sections, especially in LR and RC (but mainly LR, -11 combined is just not acceptable) before my next PT.

Louis1127 · Post by **Louis1127** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 2:02 pm

bound wrote:Checking in. Sup ya'll?

sup your majesty

DivineJustice · Post by **DivineJustice** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 2:04 pm

Just took 51.5 today.

LG: -2
LR: -4
LR2: -5
RC: -12 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Subscore: 77
Score: 159

Im quite confident i can get my LG down to -0 with just doing more under timed pressure, and I'm not completely done drilling LR yet. I was quite surprised at how poorly I performed on RC. Actually, holy hell -- that section alone gave more than half my wrong answers overall. Granted it was my first RC section in a while but I performed better on the actual exam in RC than that...I guess I should just do RC untimed until I can actually get in a comfortable range.

Louis1127 · Post by **Louis1127** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 2:11 pm

DivineJustice wrote:Just took 51.5 today.

LG: -2
LR: -4
LR2: -5
RC: -12 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Subscore: 77
Score: 159

Im quite confident i can get my LG down to -0 with just doing more under timed pressure, and I'm not completely done drilling LR yet. I was quite surprised at how poorly I performed on RC. Actually, holy hell -- that section alone gave more than half my wrong answers overall. Granted it was my first RC section in a while but I performed better on the actual exam in RC than that...I guess I should just do RC untimed until I can actually get in a comfortable range.

I view this as a huge positive that your misses were really concentrated in one of the three sections. Better than if your misses were spread out.

DivineJustice · Post by **DivineJustice** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 4:55 pm

Louis1127 wrote:
DivineJustice wrote:Just took 51.5 today.

LG: -2
LR: -4
LR2: -5
RC: -12 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Subscore: 77
Score: 159

Im quite confident i can get my LG down to -0 with just doing more under timed pressure, and I'm not completely done drilling LR yet. I was quite surprised at how poorly I performed on RC. Actually, holy hell -- that section alone gave more than half my wrong answers overall. Granted it was my first RC section in a while but I performed better on the actual exam in RC than that...I guess I should just do RC untimed until I can actually get in a comfortable range.
I view this as a huge positive that your misses were really concentrated in one of the three sections. Better than if your misses were spread out.

Haha yeah, I was pleased to see that my LR score was getting a lot better once I started taking TLS advice more seriously(I had a -15 combined on LR on the December exam). I'm just hoping my RC score will get significantly better as I continue to just read through lsat passages.

Louis1127 · Post by **Louis1127** » Thu Jun 26, 2014 5:37 pm

Oh I'm glad you said that, DivineJustice! What were some LR things that really helped you make that solid gain?