The Official February 2016 Study Group Forum

[AbbeyS]

Took my first PT since the December test, after 5 weeks of doing nothing I got a 169, which I thought was pretty good since I felt rusty especially on games. But on the other hand it just confirmed how much I freaked out on the real thing.

I had just been planning on using the retake to try to get $ or off a waitlist, but considering asking schools to hold apps for this score also. Any idea how receptive schools are to that?

Don't take just my word for it, but you may not have to ask the schools to hold your application. They should be able to see on your file that you're registered for the February test. One school actually e-mailed me and asked if I wanted them to hold it until I get my new results or to review my app as is. I figured if they can see on my file that I'm registered for Feb then the other schools I'm waiting on should also see it.

I hear it's best not to hound admissions committees with e-mails if you can help it. But like I said don't take just my word for it. Anyone else have a school reach out to them acknowledging that they see you're retaking?

[wellitsover]

Took my first PT since the December test, after 5 weeks of doing nothing I got a 169, which I thought was pretty good since I felt rusty especially on games. But on the other hand it just confirmed how much I freaked out on the real thing.

I had just been planning on using the retake to try to get $ or off a waitlist, but considering asking schools to hold apps for this score also. Any idea how receptive schools are to that?

Don't take just my word for it, but you may not have to ask the schools to hold your application. They should be able to see on your file that you're registered for the February test. One school actually e-mailed me and asked if I wanted them to hold it until I get my new results or to review my app as is. I figured if they can see on my file that I'm registered for Feb then the other schools I'm waiting on should also see it.

I hear it's best not to hound admissions committees with e-mails if you can help it. But like I said don't take just my word for it. Anyone else have a school reach out to them acknowledging that they see you're retaking?

When my application status is complete at a school, I take it as meaning that it will use my current score. Two schools had my status as Incomplete pending LSAT score/Incomplete CAS report, so I contacted one of them to use my current score instead of waiting until February, since I think I can get in with my current score. I think it's a bit risky to assume that they will hold your app, especially if it's a school that discourages or does not take the Feb score. Also don't take my word for it, but I'd strategize and directly contact the schools you want your your application held at because the risk of a later application is worth the chance at admittance, and also to make sure that the ones you want to apply early to are NOT holding your score.

[AbbeyS]

Took my first PT since the December test, after 5 weeks of doing nothing I got a 169, which I thought was pretty good since I felt rusty especially on games. But on the other hand it just confirmed how much I freaked out on the real thing.

I had just been planning on using the retake to try to get $ or off a waitlist, but considering asking schools to hold apps for this score also. Any idea how receptive schools are to that?

Don't take just my word for it, but you may not have to ask the schools to hold your application. They should be able to see on your file that you're registered for the February test. One school actually e-mailed me and asked if I wanted them to hold it until I get my new results or to review my app as is. I figured if they can see on my file that I'm registered for Feb then the other schools I'm waiting on should also see it.

I hear it's best not to hound admissions committees with e-mails if you can help it. But like I said don't take just my word for it. Anyone else have a school reach out to them acknowledging that they see you're retaking?

When my application status is complete at a school, I take it as meaning that it will use my current score. Two schools had my status as Incomplete pending LSAT score/Incomplete CAS report, so I contacted one of them to use my current score instead of waiting until February, since I think I can get in with my current score. I think it's a bit risky to assume that they will hold your app, especially if it's a school that discourages or does not take the Feb score. Also don't take my word for it, but I'd strategize and directly contact the schools you want your your application held at because the risk of a later application is worth the chance at admittance, and also to make sure that the ones you want to apply early to are NOT holding your score.

That's a good point as well. I'm only waiting on 3 schools. One reached out to me. The other doesn't do their first round of acceptances until February & I was told directly from a student ambassador that it wasn't necessary to request a hold since they'll see it on my file. And the last doesn't do a rolling application process anyway so they said to expect a decision in spring. So for me, I think I'm in the right boat as far as not contacting them directly. But you make a good point as well...so it just depends on individual circumstance I guess.

[fishpaste1]

Anybody have any advice for RC?

It's my most unpredictable and inconsistent section and it seems I may even be regressing based on my last few PTs.

LG I'm solid...LR hit or miss but usually manageable...but RC...my God. I can barely get through it. Help!!

Are you using the Manhattan Prep RC book? If not, I would recommend it. Their technique differs from Powerscore and I found it a lot more helpful. That being said, RC is the hardest section to improve upon for a reason. There's no magic fix. If you weren't a strong reader before this test, that's probably not going to change. Over the last 6 months I've been able to work my RC score from -7ish wrong to -3ish wrong by making little changes. Experiment with different techniques. Perhaps you're annotating too much/ too little. Some people like to write little blurbs next to each paragraph. But overall, just stay positive. You can still get a great score without "acing" RC. Just knock the other 3 sections out of the park.

[appind]

Anybody have any advice for RC?

It's my most unpredictable and inconsistent section and it seems I may even be regressing based on my last few PTs.

LG I'm solid...LR hit or miss but usually manageable...but RC...my God. I can barely get through it. Help!!

Are you using the Manhattan Prep RC book? If not, I would recommend it. Their technique differs from Powerscore and I found it a lot more helpful. That being said, RC is the hardest section to improve upon for a reason. There's no magic fix. If you weren't a strong reader before this test, that's probably not going to change. Over the last 6 months I've been able to work my RC score from -7ish wrong to -3ish wrong by making little changes. Experiment with different techniques. Perhaps you're annotating too much/ too little. Some people like to write little blurbs next to each paragraph. But overall, just stay positive. You can still get a great score without "acing" RC. Just knock the other 3 sections out of the park.

if you are targeting mid 170s then you probably need to ace RC. I suck at rc while doing well in generally all other sections and mostly it is what keeps me out of my target though my Dec score is not representative of this. It's very hard to reach such target consistently relying on perfect lr and lg and accepting -8/-9 in rc. You only have to slip -1 in each of lg lr sections to miss your target unless you improve the rc.

[fishpaste1]

Anybody have any advice for RC?

It's my most unpredictable and inconsistent section and it seems I may even be regressing based on my last few PTs.

LG I'm solid...LR hit or miss but usually manageable...but RC...my God. I can barely get through it. Help!!

Are you using the Manhattan Prep RC book? If not, I would recommend it. Their technique differs from Powerscore and I found it a lot more helpful. That being said, RC is the hardest section to improve upon for a reason. There's no magic fix. If you weren't a strong reader before this test, that's probably not going to change. Over the last 6 months I've been able to work my RC score from -7ish wrong to -3ish wrong by making little changes. Experiment with different techniques. Perhaps you're annotating too much/ too little. Some people like to write little blurbs next to each paragraph. But overall, just stay positive. You can still get a great score without "acing" RC. Just knock the other 3 sections out of the park.

if you are targeting mid 170s then you probably need to ace RC. I suck at rc while doing well in generally all other sections and mostly it is what keeps me out of my target though my Dec score is not representative of this. It's very hard to reach such target consistently relying on perfect lr and lg and accepting -8/-9 in rc. You only have to slip -1 in each of lg lr sections to miss your target unless you improve the rc.

I guess that's true. It depends what your definition of ace is. If you go -5 on RC, which is solid but not spectacular, a 170 is still within reach if you're strong in LR and LG (which are generally easier to conquer than RC). But yeah, a 170+ probably requires strength in all three of the sections. Just didn't fit into my encouragement narrative haha.

[appind]

Anybody have any advice for RC?

It's my most unpredictable and inconsistent section and it seems I may even be regressing based on my last few PTs.

LG I'm solid...LR hit or miss but usually manageable...but RC...my God. I can barely get through it. Help!!

I guess that's true. It depends what your definition of ace is. If you go -5 on RC, which is solid but not spectacular, a 170 is still within reach if you're strong in LR and LG (which are generally easier to conquer than RC). But yeah, a 170+ probably requires strength in all three of the sections. Just didn't fit into my encouragement narrative haha.

yeah a solid rc with strong other sections may be fine for a 170 score. a lot depends on what op's target and current section scores are. op, what are your section breakdowns in your pts/past administrations and your target?

[Shib26]

Took my first PT since the December test, after 5 weeks of doing nothing I got a 169, which I thought was pretty good since I felt rusty especially on games. But on the other hand it just confirmed how much I freaked out on the real thing.

I had just been planning on using the retake to try to get $ or off a waitlist, but considering asking schools to hold apps for this score also. Any idea how receptive schools are to that?

Don't take just my word for it, but you may not have to ask the schools to hold your application. They should be able to see on your file that you're registered for the February test. One school actually e-mailed me and asked if I wanted them to hold it until I get my new results or to review my app as is. I figured if they can see on my file that I'm registered for Feb then the other schools I'm waiting on should also see it.

I hear it's best not to hound admissions committees with e-mails if you can help it. But like I said don't take just my word for it. Anyone else have a school reach out to them acknowledging that they see you're retaking?

Yeah I've run into that already, GWU sent me an e-mail saying they were holding it until the Feb score. I was tempted to ask them to go ahead and review it with my Dec score but then reconsidered. I figured there's little upside to that but potentially a lot of downside.

[AbbeyS]

Anybody have any advice for RC?

It's my most unpredictable and inconsistent section and it seems I may even be regressing based on my last few PTs.

LG I'm solid...LR hit or miss but usually manageable...but RC...my God. I can barely get through it. Help!!

I guess that's true. It depends what your definition of ace is. If you go -5 on RC, which is solid but not spectacular, a 170 is still within reach if you're strong in LR and LG (which are generally easier to conquer than RC). But yeah, a 170+ probably requires strength in all three of the sections. Just didn't fit into my encouragement narrative haha.

yeah a solid rc with strong other sections may be fine for a 170 score. a lot depends on what op's target and current section scores are. op, what are your section breakdowns in your pts/past administrations and your target?

My target is a 170 but I've been PTing in the 165 range. LR is hit or miss...usually go -0/1 in LG...and then RC. RC is the bane of my existence.

I really am finding it progressively harder to get through the section and almost always am crunched for time. I find myself frequently having to refer back to the passage...and end up with anywhere from -4 to -10...it's so annoying. I'm like, how can I even fix this? Doesn't seem possible

[Li'l Sebastian]

My target is a 170 but I've been PTing in the 165 range. LR is hit or miss...usually go -0/1 in LG...and then RC. RC is the bane of my existence.

I really am finding it progressively harder to get through the section and almost always am crunched for time. I find myself frequently having to refer back to the passage...and end up with anywhere from -4 to -10...it's so annoying. I'm like, how can I even fix this? Doesn't seem possible

Try using the same strategy you use for games. Spend more time up front on the prompt, the passage/set-up, and that will give you a better understanding of what the questions are asking. Making predictions about what they will ask you based on what they normally ask you about will additionally make you go faster.

Basically just try to get more exposure with more passages. It will pay off. just print off like 10 RC sections and do the lot back to back while timed and get used to working with the time pressure and additionally you will start to see the patterns emerge. This will allow you to most efficiently and accurately predict both where the author is going and what is important for you to pay attention to as you're reading through the passage the first time.

Hope this helps.

[Billy Madison]

Welp, PT62 just made me want to jump off of a bridge. Pretty sure that'll be the last time I take a PT after lunch.

[Li'l Sebastian]

Welp, PT62 just made me want to jump off of a bridge. Pretty sure that'll be the last time I take a PT after lunch.

Oh yeah, I learned that lesson just recently too. Although for me it was just the last section. I was so tired and lethargic I felt like I was just going through the test on autopilot. I managed to fix every question I missed in less than 30 seconds each on the first try so I know if I had just been awake I would have done better.

[AbbeyS]

Any advice for "warming up" before you go in on test day?

I've noticed my first two sections are usually my worst, especially if one of them is RC. So I'm thinking maybe if I do a warm up then I'll perform better if I'm hit with a dense reading section right off the bat.

thinking maybe bringing a couple passages from my Cambridge bundles, a couple games & a few LR to "warm up" at the test center before check in but idk. What are your all's rituals?

[Li'l Sebastian]

Any advice for "warming up" before you go in on test day?

I've noticed my first two sections are usually my worst, especially if one of them is RC. So I'm thinking maybe if I do a warm up then I'll perform better if I'm hit with a dense reading section right off the bat.

thinking maybe bringing a couple passages from my Cambridge bundles, a couple games & a few LR to "warm up" at the test center before check in but idk. What are your all's rituals?

I do one game, 4 LR questions, and I just read one passage no questions done here.

[mbk271613]

Logic Games Study Tip:

With the weird LGs this past December, same chance of that happening for Feb? Seems like it pops up once or twice every 10 exams.

They weren't weird.

Every single (and I mean every single one) test administration has people saying that they swore the game section was so unlike anything that had ever seen before they assumed it was the experimental.

I agree with everything you said about being adaptable-- I personally find that thinking about games in terms of type is not so beneficial, and my experience on the Dec 2015 exam definitely reinforced that.

However, I don't think it's fair to say that game 3 on the Dec test wasn't weird--it actually doesn't resemble any other game I've seen (aside from maybe that one with Summit Company workpieces) and it felt considerably more abstract than your average logic game.

What are some other games that are less easily categorized by type that could be good for practice? Any study tips for becoming more adaptable for dealing with less straightforward games?

[texasreznikoff]

just took the december LSAT as a PT (i never reviewed it so i could save it to take later as a fresh-ish test) and got a 173. not sure how much this means since i've been agonizing over some of those LR questions (LEMURS) for nearly 2 months now, but it's still nice to see. now i know for sure that my issues on test day were that i ran out of time on RC and missed 3 questions in the last passage and that i completely choked on LG and made careless errors on the easy games because i was rushing through to save time for game 3. not making those mistakes again!

[darthrevan92]

Anyone find PT 57 to be a difficult test? The last 2 games of that PT were long and time consuming and that reading comp passage with the fractals

[tedofsandimas]

Anyone find PT 57 to be a difficult test? The last 2 games of that PT were long and time consuming and that reading comp passage with the fractals

Ugh I just did that one the other night. I ran out of time on games and missed three questions (I'm usually -0 or -1), and that fractals one was rough. LR wasn't too bad though.

I'm finally realizing that the natural sciences passages are the hardest for me, so I'm going to try and drill one or two of those every day up until the test.

[Li'l Sebastian]

Anyone find PT 57 to be a difficult test? The last 2 games of that PT were long and time consuming and that reading comp passage with the fractals

Ugh I just did that one the other night. I ran out of time on games and missed three questions (I'm usually -0 or -1), and that fractals one was rough. LR wasn't too bad though.

I'm finally realizing that the natural sciences passages are the hardest for me, so I'm going to try and drill one or two of those every day up until the test.

You should watch Cosmos with Neil DeGrasse Tyson or however you spell it.

Every single episode covers a subject that has been addressed in an RC science passage at one point or another. And it's also very entertaining.

And it makes you excited about science and stuff. Should help you better engage with the passages!

[betterLawyerUP]

How do guys use your watches during the test? I took december without a watch and I went too quickly out of panic and it hurt me a bit. I am pretty good with keeping a nice pace during the test, I only really need the watch for the last 5min to know if I have time or I have to hurry and circle in answers or take my time. The problem is the second hand on the watch doesnt reset so the last minute you can't really tell where your at.

[tedofsandimas]

You should watch Cosmos with Neil DeGrasse Tyson or however you spell it.

Every single episode covers a subject that has been addressed in an RC science passage at one point or another. And it's also very entertaining.

And it makes you excited about science and stuff. Should help you better engage with the passages!

Thanks! I hadn't thought about that.

[fishpaste1]

How do guys use your watches during the test? I took december without a watch and I went too quickly out of panic and it hurt me a bit. I am pretty good with keeping a nice pace during the test, I only really need the watch for the last 5min to know if I have time or I have to hurry and circle in answers or take my time. The problem is the second hand on the watch doesnt reset so the last minute you can't really tell where your at.

You should definitely use a watch. When you pull the pin to stop the seconds hand, just move the minute hand to match where you stopped the seconds hand and that becomes your new 12. If your watch has a bezel, you can rotate that to match up with your new 12 so you remember where it is.

[Li'l Sebastian]

My problem is I go too fast. This take I'm not gonna use a watch. But make sure if you're practicing with or without you do the same thing on test day.

[betterLawyerUP]

How do guys use your watches during the test? I took december without a watch and I went too quickly out of panic and it hurt me a bit. I am pretty good with keeping a nice pace during the test, I only really need the watch for the last 5min to know if I have time or I have to hurry and circle in answers or take my time. The problem is the second hand on the watch doesnt reset so the last minute you can't really tell where your at.

You should definitely use a watch. When you pull the pin to stop the seconds hand, just move the minute hand to match where you stopped the seconds hand and that becomes your new 12. If your watch has a bezel, you can rotate that to match up with your new 12 so you remember where it is.

Ahh thanks for the input, very clever. I think I am actually going to just reset to 12 and be aware that the last minute isn't exact, I don't want to have to keep numbers in my head or do any math.

[Billy Madison]

PT 63 - 168
LR1 -2
LG -2 (couldn't grasp the boxes game)
LR2 -7
RC -2

Took it with an LR from PT57 and I think I just got burned myself out on LR. 6 of my misses in LR2 (my third of the test) were in the last 8 questions. Gotta believe I can clean that up in the next 2 weeks. Even a -5 would've given me a 170. Haven't done that poorly on an LR section in a while. I'd kill to go -2 in RC on test day though! Working through the RCB and Manhattan RC book, so maybe it's paying off...