JUNE 2013 Study Group / Study Partner Thread

[Daily_Double]

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[myoung7189]

I think Manhattan makes a good point about the whole detail issue. From the little lsat knowledge i have, modifiers seem to be ridiculously important in LR: some, many, none, must, most, blah blah. Once i started actively looking out for those words the harder questions became a lot easier such as parallel questions, i.e. if there's an absolute modifier in the conclusion of the stimulus like "all grey dogs must bark at mike," then an incorrect answer might throw in something along the lines of "some types of LR questions are probably not understandable." notice how some and probably are very different ideas compared to all and must. Once you start noticing these big shifts in scope and degree things start opening up a bit. Hope that helps.

I've been completely out of commission with the flu for the past two days but got to do some veryyy light drilling today lol. Not a total loss but the last two days have been so unproductive. Anyway, good luck with everything.

Very insightful comments concerning the must/some/all distinction. Hope you're fully back in action sooner rather than later.

Today I did some drilling from Cambridge, for specific PT#, S#, Q#, PM me


More Notes:
I am splitting Cambridge's question type sections up based on difficulty so that I don't work my way straight through (doing all of the questions labeled difficulty of 1, then 2, then 3, etc.), mainly because I think doing the question types in order of difficulty is a flawed approach to drilling, however, I am starting with level 1 difficulties and not introducing the toughest problems until I'm at least halfway through drilling.

Great work DD, I wish I was flying through the games like you are. I am still doing untimed drilling and am preoccupied with my accuracy for now. I did that same game with the 7 houses going from west to east and went -0. Although, it did take me around 12-15 minutes. I am going through the Cambridge packets as well, but I have been going through them order. Why do you think going from easier problems to harder one's in the laid out fashion is a flawed approach?

[Daily_Double]

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[crazyrobin]

For the same reason that batters don't only practice pitches of the same speed at batting practice, in a game, one might be thrown a 98 mph heater, or an 89 mph fastball. If you don't want to strike out, then be ready, practice to the point where you recognize the pitch, and to where the speed irrelevant, so the only thing that matters is that it is a fastball which will soon be traveling over a wall, hopefully not out of bounds. Metaphor aside, which is probably flawed, if it is, then sorry, I'm on my phone and I don't feel like fixing it, I think that while some background, level 1 questions, drilling is necessary, drilling only one difficulty level before moving to the next will not prepare you as well as well for your first PT as drilling mixed levels of difficulty because you tend to get into a rhythm when you only drill questions of the same difficulty. Just because the first 15 questions are typically easier than the next ten-ish doesn't mean that there aren't a couple ballbusters mixed in, you will need to not be stopped by a curveball or two mixed in. And furthermore, for me I would rather start seeing errors and learning from them, the easy ones don't show as much, plus I want to mix in the toughest difficulties with the easiest, and some of the mid-levels, to make sure that changing gears between difficulty levels isn't an issue. I also want to save some of the toughest ones, and some of the mid-levels, for one disgustingly awful PT.

Let me give you an example, what I have done is split Cambridge into sections, I'm starting by doing the first half of all of the level one difficulty levels to drill the basics: make sure to conceptualize the argument, visualize the gap, think about possible answers, then move to the choices, and look out for wrong answer types mentioned in Powersocre/Manhattan, etc. Next I'll do half of the level two difficulty levels, leaving half of the levels ones, half of the level twos, and the rest of the tough ones, assuming there exist ones beyond two, sometimes that's not the case. Then I will do the remaining half of level ones with half of the level threes, and half of the level twos with half of the level fours, leaving half of the level threes and half of the level fours for further drilling/PT. Sometimes this won't work, due to a lack of difficult problems, but you get the picture.

This might not be the best way, but it makes sense to me, so I started, and intend to keep doing, it, at least until someone tells me why I am wrong.

I actually like you way of drilling. Easy come easy go, then conceptualize every fundamental argument, rule, etc and move on to the harder one. I used to do it in high school for my Math, I had a book sorted all different level of questions from easy to hard, hardest. At last I could manage to hit the hardest on time and just find my way to break it down. I did well for all my exams and got a perfect score on Math part in the SAT.

One thing I still remember from a 177 test taker, she said that she would print out 4 hardest game, namely the notoriously dinosaur game, and timed herself for 35 minutes. In my opinion, this is a great way to evaluate your performance under test anxiety. And I actually believe if I can hit on time with the hardest 4 games, then I'll definitely ace the game section on the real test.

[shieldofachilles]

Definitely agree with Daily_Double's way of drilling LR. So for me, ive done the better half of the diffic 1 problems for the questions types. Today i took a page from each of the different difficulties for the question type to make a little workbook. Its like 120 or so questions--gonna work through that today and finish the LGB (havent completed that shit yet and its hanging over my head lol). Good luck with your studies everybody.

[CanILive]

Just finished my first timed LSAT.

159

On the bright side, almost all of the questions I missed were either because if running out of time or due to hurrying knowing that my back was against the wall.

It looks like it is going to be an interesting road to 180...

[wtrc]

Just finished my first timed LSAT.

159

On the bright side, almost all of the questions I missed were either because if running out of time or due to hurrying knowing that my back was against the wall.

It looks like it is going to be an interesting road to 180...

159 isn't bad at all for a first take!! You scored better than nearly 80% of actual test takers-- on your first timed test! Great benchmark, and you've got 5 full months (or, if needed, more) til the real thing. Just improving by 3 points a month gives you a solid mid-170's score. Did you lose about an equal amount of points per section?

[CanILive]

Just finished my first timed LSAT.

159

On the bright side, almost all of the questions I missed were either because if running out of time or due to hurrying knowing that my back was against the wall.

It looks like it is going to be an interesting road to 180...

159 isn't bad at all for a first take!! You scored better than nearly 80% of actual test takers-- on your first timed test! Great benchmark, and you've got 5 full months (or, if needed, more) til the real thing. Just improving by 3 points a month gives you a solid mid-170's score. Did you lose about an equal amount of points per section?

My breakdown is as follows:

LG: -11 (Stumped by 1 game, cost me an opportunity at the the last game)
LR1: -9
LR2: -8
RC: -8

A trend I have noticed is that I miss questions towards the end. I am wondering if this is a timing issue or a lack of focus on my part.

I plan on reviewing my my answers throughly for the next 2-3 days and then taking another PT.

[pada2000]

Hello. Checking in. I already took the test and really feel like I need to retake it. I am planning on withdrawing from this application cycle. I won't get in anywhere worth going.

I'm late in joining so if this has already been asked I apologize. How have you set up studying for the test along with school and/or work?

[Daily_Double]

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[navaho]

Checking in. Started the Steve Schwartz 3 month study guide about a month ago. Haven't looked at it in 2 weeks cause procrastination peaking, but after reading through all 15 pages of this forum, I'm getting my study back on. Freaking the fuck out is an understatement. My GPA is abysmal so I need at least a 172 to even have a shot at a good school.

Got Uni starting in March so trying to just get all the core study done before then, and then just doing left over practice tests and reviewing. From Sydney, Australia btw. Anyone from down here so I can have a study buddy or something, it's so lonely being so far away from everyone

[shieldofachilles]

From Sydney, Australia btw. Anyone from down here so I can have a study buddy or something, it's so lonely being so far away from everyone

I think we have one person on the thread that's from Shanghai if you dont mind traveling a little to study lol...

So after two days of being bed ridden with the flu and not getting much done...woke up somewhat better today and did the following...

Completions for the Day:

Mixed LR Drilling Mostly untimed but the last 30 i did at 55 seconds each. The questions ranged in Cambridge difficultly.

1) Necc. Assump. -0/11
2) Suff. Assump -3/14 (#s 43,45,46) Gotta get back to the MLRB chapter on this...im definitely missing something
3) Flaw -1/20 (#70)
4) Must Be True -0/15
5) Most Support -1/13
6) Strengthen -0/14
7) Weaken -1/10 (#56)
Principle Identify -0/8
9) Method Argument -0/11
9) Method Statement -1/12 (#21 reallllyyy stupid mistake, but then again the lsat doesnt measure stupid mistakes...just mistakes lol)

Totals: -7/128. Not bad. Other half of the questions im doing tomorrow along with a couple sections from pt 33-34 to see if this trend carries over. Once i introduced the clock the "techniques" for the question types weren't really part of the thought process it seems relatively automatic at this point. good sign i guess.

Edit: number 8 followed by ) equals lol

[crazyrobin]

shieldofachilles, good work!!!
I wish I had a decent LR like you. I always have some troubles with wordy assumption question. I am pacing up and wraping up with LR Bible, will move on to MLRB soon, hope to see some improvement.

[crazyrobin]

From Sydney, Australia btw. Anyone from down here so I can have a study buddy or something, it's so lonely being so far away from everyone

Another Asian/pacific test taker, we have our test date on June 23 in the morning..... Too bad we can't join most of peers here for score waiting.

But we get 10 more days to study. Lol not a bad thing.

[shieldofachilles]

shieldofachilles, good work!!!
I wish I had a decent LR like you. I always have some troubles with wordy assumption question. I am pacing up and wraping up with LR Bible, will move on to MLRB soon, hope to see some improvement.

Thanks! When u do MLRB i recommend taking notes on every chapter and reading over them before you drill the question type. Seems to have helped me reinforce the tricks/tips for each question. Good luck!

[crazyrobin]

Thanks! When u do MLRB i recommend taking notes on every chapter and reading over them before you drill the question type. Seems to have helped me reinforce the tricks/tips for each question. Good luck!

Sure will do, thanks bro!!!!
I'll keep you guys posted.

[wtrc]

Just finished my first timed LSAT.

159

On the bright side, almost all of the questions I missed were either because if running out of time or due to hurrying knowing that my back was against the wall.

It looks like it is going to be an interesting road to 180...

159 isn't bad at all for a first take!! You scored better than nearly 80% of actual test takers-- on your first timed test! Great benchmark, and you've got 5 full months (or, if needed, more) til the real thing. Just improving by 3 points a month gives you a solid mid-170's score. Did you lose about an equal amount of points per section?

My breakdown is as follows:

LG: -11 (Stumped by 1 game, cost me an opportunity at the the last game)
LR1: -9
LR2: -8
RC: -8

A trend I have noticed is that I miss questions towards the end. I am wondering if this is a timing issue or a lack of focus on my part.

I plan on reviewing my my answers throughly for the next 2-3 days and then taking another PT.

With enough drilling, you can get that LG down to 0, or close to it. The LR's will improve with time too, and the RC is harder to improve but will get better as you improve the LR's. You're in good shape if you can put the time into it!

[Daily_Double]

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[alpha kenny body]

I have drilled every question type of every LG, LR, and RC twice. I used Powerscore. I have timed games, but not the other sections. I am going to start timed sections here shortly. I have read LRB/LGB bibles twice as well as Manhattan RC guide. I had the opportunity to purchase Manhattan's LR and LG guide today. I am consistently making -0 and -1 on games, as well as -2 to -3 LR and RC each section. Is it worth my time to purchase these guides and continue drilling taking timed sections or just continue taking timed sections and start fully timed preptests? Re-takers or high PT advice accepted.

[rogernotario]

YOOOOO!!! June tester!! This thread is going to be my get away for the next few months lol

[Luke81]

I'm just about to start working through the Cambridge LR packet. I'm a bit behind where I'd like to be because of work, but I've kept my promise to myself to work every day on LSAT prep.

I've been reading the MLSAT LG book and working the problems repeatedly. I want everything to be completely automatic, so even though I might remember one tricky part of a problem, I've found that if I get too distracted by that I can make other stupid mistakes. At this point it seems to be working for me.

Planning to take my first full diagnostic on Saturday at 8:30.

Also, I've begun to create an Anki deck for the book. Since I bought the kindle edition of MLSAT LG, I am taking screen shots of their question answer diagrams and using those as answers to the cards. I've also created another deck just of questions from the book (all tagged appropriately), so when I'm on the bus or subway or in a café and don't have my kindle with me I can just take out my phone and do some practice.

It can feel good to be obsessive like this about things, especially when you're able to see the progress.

163 days until test day here in Beijing.

[Daily_Double]

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[shieldofachilles]

ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit......june 10th is officially 5 months away or 151 days....who's counting. ok ill go to sleep now. good luck with prep today everybody.

[Scotchandsoda]

This thread is inspiring. Thanks, everyone! Im a Dec retaker here. Its straight noodelyone retake guide for me. WE GOT THIS!

[navaho]

Another Asian/pacific test taker, we have our test date on June 23 in the morning..... Too bad we can't join most of peers here for score waiting.

But we get 10 more days to study. Lol not a bad thing.

I've been to scared to even look at the test date, but fuck my life this is right in the middle of my uni exam period. FUN TIMES AHEAD! Time to start my 3 hour study sesh for the night, and cry a little more.