10 weeks to a 180 Forum

[Tiago Splitter]

I've taking 3 weeks of vacation from work since Monday so i study for the LSAT full time. I take two PTs everyday. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. It's a great way to build endurance for the test

Plan


Preptest 30* 17-Nov
Preptest 31* 17-Nov
Preptest 32* 18-Nov
Preptest 33* 18-Nov
Preptest 34* 19-Nov
Preptest 35* 19-Nov
Preptest 36* 20-Nov
Preptest 37* 20-Nov
Preptest 38* 21-Nov
Preptest B 21-Nov
Preptest 52* 22-Nov
Preptest 53* 22-Nov
Preptest 54* 23-Nov
Preptest 55* 23-Nov
Preptest 56* 24-Nov
Preptest 57* 24-Nov
Preptest 58* 26-Nov
Preptest 59* + Free preptest on LSAC website 27-Nov
Preptest 60* 28-Nov
Preptest 61* 29-Nov
Preptest C 30th nov

Review main points. 2-Dec
REAL LSAT 3-Dec

You are going to take 21 preptests in the next two weeks but know that you'll need to review main point questions at the end? Or do you just mean review your main issues? Either way, the review needs to happen along the way boss.

[tronredo]

I was wary of burnout. That's why i've taken these 3 weeks off work. Since i started studying i've realized it's not bad at all. I even feel more energetic than when i would work 10 hours a day and come home to do a PT.

I wake up at 7am. Do a Full PT plus revision (minus writing section) from 8am-noon. I relax from noon to 3pm then i take another PT from 3-7pm. After that, i have all evening to chill, workout, watch movies and get ample sleep for the next day.

This is less stressful than when i was working. I work as an trading analyst at a bank. Crunching numbers and analyzing magnanimous excel spreadsheets everyday can drain you physically by the end of day. If you gotta at a PT on that, its clearly suicide.

So taking time off work and focusing on these PTs is very relaxing for me compared to my former regimen.

I want to get a 180. No excuses. We'll get there guys!!!

I've taking 3 weeks of vacation from work since Monday so i study for the LSAT full time. I take two PTs everyday. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. It's a great way to build endurance for the test

Plan


Preptest 30* 17-Nov
Preptest 31* 17-Nov
Preptest 32* 18-Nov
Preptest 33* 18-Nov
Preptest 34* 19-Nov
Preptest 35* 19-Nov
Preptest 36* 20-Nov
Preptest 37* 20-Nov
Preptest 38* 21-Nov
Preptest B 21-Nov
Preptest 52* 22-Nov
Preptest 53* 22-Nov
Preptest 54* 23-Nov
Preptest 55* 23-Nov
Preptest 56* 24-Nov
Preptest 57* 24-Nov
Preptest 58* 26-Nov
Preptest 59* + Free preptest on LSAC website 27-Nov
Preptest 60* 28-Nov
Preptest 61* 29-Nov
Preptest C 30th nov

Review main points. 2-Dec
REAL LSAT 3-Dec

I know it seems silly, but honestly, be wary of burnout. You don't want to do all this work and then bomb on the day of the test. It happened to me!

[tonton]

I wake up at 7am. Do a Full PT plus revision (minus writing section) from 8am-noon.

!

Oh no! Does everyone practice the writing section
I've looked through them, but never really worked on them.

[calidancer2]

HELL no i don't do the writing section. if it was in the middle of the test, maybe, since i'd need stamina for the sections after it that count toward my raw score. but honestly, it's not that hard to write a semi-coherent essay picking one side over another in 35 minutes, and i'm sure adcoms aren't sitting there analyzing it and expecting you to write something beautiful. they know we just sat through a 5-section test.


in other news: took Oct 11 today. I hadn't looked at the right answers to the questions I got wrong (or any answers for that matter) so I feel this makes it a pretty accurate gauge of where I'm "at." I got a -14 in Oct for a 169 (-3 LG, -1 LR1, -3 RC, -7 LR2). Today... -9 for a 173!!!!!! and yes, i included an experimental (LG from PT 37...what a <b>BUTTKICKER</b>. still -0 though luckily but weiiiird games IMO).

This time I went -0 LG, -2 LR1, -2 RC, -5 LR2. Ran out of time on the last questions and looking quickly over them I would have gotten the last one right (pretty easy). #17 on LR2 in oct 11 was a HUGE timesuck for me both times (+/- 3 minutes). I need to learn to cut my losses. Got it right this time around though!

This makes me happy. gonna watch some tv, hang out, then look over my answers before going out tonight. I honestly think test-day jitters have something to do with it. I'm hoping, anyway. Maybe this round I'll feel more confident/know what's coming going in. My goal has been to tighten up on LGs and RC since I feel that LRs are sometimes a crapshoot for me. Feel much better.

[LetsGoLAW]

I wake up at 7am. Do a Full PT plus revision (minus writing section) from 8am-noon.

!

Oh no! Does everyone practice the writing section
I've looked through them, but never really worked on them.

No, I studied for three straight months without doing a writing section. At the end of the test, I read a few pointers online concerning the writing section. There's no wrong answer, just make sure you have a neatly structured essay. I used a four paragraph essay format: introduction, pros, cons, conclusion. Make sure you detail each point mentioned in the question.

[180asBreath]

PT 59

LR1: -3
LR2: -2
LG: -1
RC: -7 (missed none on the first 2 passages, bunch of undergrads sat next to me and started talking about getting drunk the night before and I missed 7 on the last 2)
RCX: -2

-13 for a 170.

Not too bad. Starting last 5 PT's on Monday.

[petunia28]

Long time lurker here, and I've really appreciated all the tips and tricks ya'll have been swapping.

Here's the sich - I've made huge strides in Reading Comp and Games, generally going -0 or -1 in Games and -1 to -3 in Reading Comp. Logical Reasoning has really been holding me back though, and I usually go anywhere from -5 to -11. I've drilled the types, and usually don't have much difficulty figuring out what i missed during review and why the correct answer is correct and the others are wrong.

So, how do you suggest proceeding with LR? I'm set on taking in Dec and applying this cycle, so I need to get LR in gear in the next two weeks.....eek.

Thanks in advance!

[tronredo]

GO BLUE.

[180asBreath]

How are you doing, tronredo? Still getting killer scores?

[chesterfan1230]

Killed it today with doing some timed sections.

Games: -0 and 5 minutes to spare
Logical reasoning: -0 and 7 minutes to spare
Reading Comprehension: -5 and 0 minutes to spare -_-. I did get to all four passages BUT i made a few stupid mistakes. I did anticipate the answer and it helped.....

[calexhg88]

I got worked today by PT60. Earl-Earl, El Guincho-Polca Mazurca, Moby-Natural Blues. I was HYPE, but terribly unfocused. Lesson learned. Back to work tomorrow. Drinking now. LLETTTSSS GOOOOO

[180asBreath]

What happened? What'd you get? Great Moby song, btw.

[calexhg88]

165. floated through the whoooolllleee thing. Didn´t even finished LG

[180asBreath]

Oh, no worries. I used my 165 as a real learning experience. Here's the thing: the only reason people do worse on some tests is because they are doing something different than they have before. All of those people with 172 averages who get 163 on game day are baffled, but they shouldn't have been surprised; was that test really that much more difficult than all of the PT's (as PT's are real tests)? Not a chance. They underperformed because they did not do all of the same behaviors, on game day, as they had during their prep.

Like you said, you have a sense of why you underperformed; you should really think about what it is that was different, so you're able to guard yourself from a similar deviation from the game plan on test day.

[calexhg88]

cheers bro. I´m going to refine my prep strategy. Tell me what you think:

I´m really a terrible reader, there´s always a few passages on the LR that I´ll have to re-read a few times. Doing old PTs effectively cancels out this weakness most of the time, as I´ll be familiar with the more difficult texts. So, instead of doing a mix of old PTs and new PTs and supplement that with review and drills, I´m going to do all of the less recent, but new, material I have, and supplement that with pattern analysis with the old, recent PTs. I figure I will be able to recreate test-like experiences better by doing new, less recent sections than old, but more recent sections. If I supplement that with pattern analysis on the old, more recent sections I figure I can still maintain a firm grasp on what to expect.

That was probably really confusing. My local just got Sam Adams Winter Lager on tap.

I was pretty bummed, of course, when I got the score but it really isn´t a huge deal. I´m still capable of the 173 I got a few weeks ago, nothing has changed.


I´ll copy and paste what I mean about pattern analysis, it comes from Dave´s 3 180s thread:

Start here:
Part (A)
Go through an entire LR section, looking at each question. For each one, answer the following questions:
1. What exactly does the question demand from you? (You must be able to answer for 26 of the 26 questions)
2. What can you expect the right answer to do? (You must be able to answer for 26 of the 26 questions)
3. What can you expect the right answer to sound like? (You must be able to answer for at least 22 of the 26 questions)
4. What is one wrong answer likely to say? (You must be able to answer for 26 of the 26 questions)
Part (B)
Then, go back through that section (without bothering with questions this time) and read each passage. For each, answer the following questions:
1. What is the main conclusion of the argument? (You must be able to answer for at least 20 of the 26 passages - no main conclusion for Inference and Resolution Questions!)
2. What is wrong with the argument? (You must be able to answer for at least 16 of the 26 passages - several passages don't exhibit flawed reasoning)
3. How is this flaw typical of others you've seen? (You must be able to answer for at least 10 of the 16-19 passages that exhibit flaws)
4. Which words are likely to be most important in determining the correct answer (no matter what question you might be asked)? (You must be able to answer for at least 20 of the 26 questions)
If you cannot answer all eight of these questions in the proportions indicated, then you do not yet have a strong enough grasp of the fundamental principles involved, and you'll know what you need to work on!

[chesterfan1230]

cheers bro. I´m going to refine my prep strategy. Tell me what you think:

I´m really a terrible reader, there´s always a few passages on the LR that I´ll have to re-read a few times. Doing old PTs effectively cancels out this weakness most of the time, as I´ll be familiar with the more difficult texts. So, instead of doing a mix of old PTs and new PTs and supplement that with review and drills, I´m going to do all of the less recent, but new, material I have, and supplement that with pattern analysis with the old, recent PTs. I figure I will be able to recreate test-like experiences better by doing new, less recent sections than old, but more recent sections. If I supplement that with pattern analysis on the old, more recent sections I figure I can still maintain a firm grasp on what to expect.

That was probably really confusing. My local just got Sam Adams Winter Lager on tap.

I was pretty bummed, of course, when I got the score but it really isn´t a huge deal. I´m still capable of the 173 I got a few weeks ago, nothing has changed.


I´ll copy and paste what I mean about pattern analysis, it comes from Dave´s 3 180s thread:

Start here:
Part (A)
Go through an entire LR section, looking at each question. For each one, answer the following questions:
1. What exactly does the question demand from you? (You must be able to answer for 26 of the 26 questions)
2. What can you expect the right answer to do? (You must be able to answer for 26 of the 26 questions)
3. What can you expect the right answer to sound like? (You must be able to answer for at least 22 of the 26 questions)
4. What is one wrong answer likely to say? (You must be able to answer for 26 of the 26 questions)
Part (B)
Then, go back through that section (without bothering with questions this time) and read each passage. For each, answer the following questions:
1. What is the main conclusion of the argument? (You must be able to answer for at least 20 of the 26 passages - no main conclusion for Inference and Resolution Questions!)
2. What is wrong with the argument? (You must be able to answer for at least 16 of the 26 passages - several passages don't exhibit flawed reasoning)
3. How is this flaw typical of others you've seen? (You must be able to answer for at least 10 of the 16-19 passages that exhibit flaws)
4. Which words are likely to be most important in determining the correct answer (no matter what question you might be asked)? (You must be able to answer for at least 20 of the 26 questions)
If you cannot answer all eight of these questions in the proportions indicated, then you do not yet have a strong enough grasp of the fundamental principles involved, and you'll know what you need to work on!

This is great for testing if you know the material. But if you've been PT'nt in the 170's I'm not sure if you really need to test your skills rather than just figure out your weaknesses. I think with the reading problem it helps to try to calm yourself down when you're taking the exam and tell yourself that you have like 50 problems left and you don't have enough time for them all. Doing that generally makes me slow down and analyze everything to their full merit.

[chesterfan1230]

In for my quick 15 minute break between the first 3 sections...

Taking PT 52 and I feel great about it!

[180asBreath]

Glad to hear; finish strong and no more computer breaks during test from now on! Gotta simulate the test as much as you can!

[chesterfan1230]

PT 52:

LR1: -2
LG1: -0
LG2: -4
RC: -2

Raw Score 91. 172 =) OMFG HOLY **** HIGHEST SCORE EVER WHO IS THE MAN?

You guys are awesome btw.

[calidancer2]

PT 52:

LR1: -2
LG1: -0
LG2: -4
RC: -2

Raw Score 91. 172 =) OMFG HOLY **** HIGHEST SCORE EVER WHO IS THE MAN?

You guys are awesome btw.

NOIIIICEEEE. I took June 2009 today and got a 171 overall. Not great HARD curve. And I also got WORKED during the dinosaur game. Need to go over that tonight for sure. Got a 173 on the Oct 11 test, which on the "real thing" back in October I only go a 169 on. OOF.

[180asBreath]

Good job guys! Congrats on personal best!

[Tiago Splitter]

Solid efforts fellas! I took the June 2009 PT a few weeks before my actual LSAT and got a 170. Therefore, you guys are sure to do better than me on the real thing!

[calidancer2]

Solid efforts fellas! I took the June 2009 PT a few weeks before my actual LSAT and got a 170. Therefore, you guys are sure to do better than me on the real thing!

what'd you get on the real thing, tiago? or do you mean you got a 170 on the real deal? either way congrats!

[Tiago Splitter]

Solid efforts fellas! I took the June 2009 PT a few weeks before my actual LSAT and got a 170. Therefore, you guys are sure to do better than me on the real thing!

what'd you get on the real thing, tiago? or do you mean you got a 170 on the real deal? either way congrats!

178 for me so 179 or 180 is in the cards for you. I can feel it.

[180asBreath]

Solid efforts fellas! I took the June 2009 PT a few weeks before my actual LSAT and got a 170. Therefore, you guys are sure to do better than me on the real thing!

what'd you get on the real thing, tiago? or do you mean you got a 170 on the real deal? either way congrats!

178 for me so 179 or 180 is in the cards for you. I can feel it.

Seriously? I got a 171 on that bad boy! Thanks for the vote of confidence!

My whole mentality is changing; I had a real bad case of anxiety, these past few weeks, and had a couple of dreams where I got a 164. I guess the stories of people who were PT'ing in the 170's, and got a low 160's, have been wearing on me. Now I realize that they must have changed something about their approach on game day, otherwise they wouldn't have done so poorly.

Now I see that, as long as I do all of the same things (prephrase, read carefully, etc) I will get a similar result. With a week and a half left, my confidence is at an all time high. I really feel like I haven't knocked a test out of the park, yet. Even my 174 was hampered by two complete guesses - which I missed.

I know that I can get a -1 on RC, -0 on LG, and a couple of goose eggs on LR. Hopefully, before the test, I will finally get a -0 on RC so I can know that there is no reason I have to miss any questions.

I'm really starting to see the test as an opportunity to show what I'm made of; I've put in some good work, I'm a moderately intelligent guy, and I know this test. There is no reason that I can't do exceedingly well.

I'm excited to prove that on December 3rd!