The Official June 2016 Study Group Forum

[somewhatferal]

I take 2-3 PT's a week, including one on the weekend, and give myself about an hour afterwards to review missed questions. Doesn't take much time in total. Luckily, I work from home so I can PT whenever I want.

Today's results:

PT 61, 175 (-2 LR, -2 LG, -2 RC).

nice score. how did you get to this level in rc/lr?

I had a major in undergrad that is very useful for the LSAT, and my current job essentially requires me to do LR and RC-type tasks.

One thing I do during the RC section is really try to "pump myself up" and consciously make myself excited about the passages. I also consciously try to do active reading where I underline clauses and sentences that seem important, etc.

[7Steps]

Checking in for a retake.

[CPAlawHopefu]

I take 2-3 PT's a week, including one on the weekend, and give myself about an hour afterwards to review missed questions. Doesn't take much time in total. Luckily, I work from home so I can PT whenever I want.

Today's results:

PT 61, 175 (-2 LR, -2 LG, -2 RC).

nice score. how did you get to this level in rc/lr?

I had a major in undergrad that is very useful for the LSAT, and my current job essentially requires me to do LR and RC-type tasks.

One thing I do during the RC section is really try to "pump myself up" and consciously make myself excited about the passages. I also consciously try to do active reading where I underline clauses and sentences that seem important, etc.

For RC, are you the type to spend a lot of time on reading and understanding the passage and breeze through the Q's? Or do you take the opposite approach (breeze through the reading, then give yourself extra time answering questions)?

[CPAlawHopefu]

As for my study schedule, I'm a CPA working full-time (especially busy this time of the year for tax). I've been working 10 hr day for a month now but this is expected to slow down starting next week.

My typical schedule:

M-F:
8pm - 1am - Study (2 PTs, typically on Monday & Thursday, with Tuesday and Friday dedicated for reviewing the PTs, and Wednesday as my free day)

Sat:
1pm - 12am - Full time Study, I usually get 1 PT done, and finish Blind Review and review.

Sun:
4pm - 12am - I take the morning and early afternoon off doing my own thing, then get to study mode. I spend Sunday revisiting the week's material, drilling, and re-doing tough questions.

so that comes to between 35-40 hr studying a week, 3 PTs/week. yes, I look forward to finishing this damned thing on June.

[Mikey]

As for my study schedule, I'm a CPA working full-time (especially busy this time of the year for tax). I've been working 10 hr day for a month now but this is expected to slow down starting next week.

My typical schedule:

M-F:
8pm - 1am - Study (2 PTs, typically on Monday & Thursday, with Tuesday and Friday dedicated for reviewing the PTs, and Wednesday as my free day)

Sat:
1pm - 12am - Full time Study, I usually get 1 PT done, and finish Blind Review and review.

Sun:
4pm - 12am - I take the morning and early afternoon off doing my own thing, then get to study mode. I spend Sunday revisiting the week's material, drilling, and re-doing tough questions.

so that comes to between 35-40 hr studying a week, 3 PTs/week. yes, I look forward to finishing this damned thing on June.

Out of curiosity, if you don't mind answering, what made you want to leave being an accountant to becoming an attorney?

[somewhatferal]

I take 2-3 PT's a week, including one on the weekend, and give myself about an hour afterwards to review missed questions. Doesn't take much time in total. Luckily, I work from home so I can PT whenever I want.

Today's results:

PT 61, 175 (-2 LR, -2 LG, -2 RC).

nice score. how did you get to this level in rc/lr?

I had a major in undergrad that is very useful for the LSAT, and my current job essentially requires me to do LR and RC-type tasks.

One thing I do during the RC section is really try to "pump myself up" and consciously make myself excited about the passages. I also consciously try to do active reading where I underline clauses and sentences that seem important, etc.

For RC, are you the type to spend a lot of time on reading and understanding the passage and breeze through the Q's? Or do you take the opposite approach (breeze through the reading, then give yourself extra time answering questions)?

Hmm. I would say that I'm in the middle. I usually have to go back and examine the text (at least on a cursory level) for 50% of the questions.

[YupSports]

Drilled the games I missed from the previous days as well as the games from PT50.

Was feeling pretty tired today, so I wasn't very sharp.

It is looking like I may be able to give myself Saturday off, then on to PTs for the rest of the way!

[Mikey]

Just went -1 on an individual LR section (after blind review). Even though it's my BR score, it still makes me happy to see that I ACTUALLY understand the material. My main issue is getting too anxious while timing myself, fml.

I just want to point out, that I reached my 180th post.

[ayylmao]

172 on PT 70:

-5 LR -3 LG -1 RC

More worrying than the score is my inability to self-assess. I got questions wrong I didn't even circle for review, and got several wrong even after blind review. Not sure what to do about that.

[ayylmao]

Also, I've decided to skip PTs 62-69 for now and go straight into 70-77 to learn the nuances of the most recent tests. If I don't finish 62-69 then that's fine; I'd rather have more time to look at the newest tests.

[Mikey]

Also, I've decided to skip PTs 62-69 for now and go straight into 70-77 to learn the nuances of the most recent tests. If I don't finish 62-69 then that's fine; I'd rather have more time to look at the newest tests.

That's actually a good idea, I may do the same now that you mention it.

[lawschoolbound17]

Anyone else struggle with mental fatigue? Not just on test days but during the week I find myself struggling with keeping focus and attention.

Considering taking my pre-workout or something similar prior to studying. Thoughts?

[ayylmao]

Anyone else struggle with mental fatigue? Not just on test days but during the week I find myself struggling with keeping focus and attention.

Considering taking my pre-workout or something similar prior to studying. Thoughts?

I don't have quite that problem, but I find that sleep is soooo crucial. I feel awful when I suffer from the mental fog that results from sleep deprivation.

[ayylmao]

I've never been a stress eater, but the LSAT is definitely making me one haha. Definitely less careful about calories now, and I'll be damned if I won't have some ice cream after a tough day of studying.

[MAPP]

Hello June-takers!

Since you are all established lsat-studiers, I have a study question for you (I'm gonna start studying this summer). Should I start out just doing powerscore LG w/ 7sage and LG drills intensively for like the first weeks/month? Or should I start out more balanced? That is, reading LG and LR prep books and drilling both?

I'm thinking that if I start with just LG, I can then move to LR and focus mostly on that but also include some brush-up LG drills. Basically, it boils down to studying section by section? Or studying all sections at once?

[ayylmao]

Hello June-takers!

Since you are all established lsat-studiers, I have a study question for you (I'm gonna start studying this summer). Should I start out just doing powerscore LG w/ 7sage and LG drills intensively for like the first weeks/month? Or should I start out more balanced? That is, reading LG and LR prep books and drilling both?

I'm thinking that if I start with just LG, I can then move to LR and focus mostly on that but also include some brush-up LG drills. Basically, it boils down to studying section by section? Or studying all sections at once?

You should take a diagnostic and see what your strengths and weaknesses are. I started out with -22 in LG, so I knew I'd have to devote a vastly disproportionate amount of my study time to figuring that section out. In contrast, I'm naturally better at RC. So it's just a matter of prioritizing.

One of the biggest mistakes I made early on was trying to assimilate everything at once by taking full PTs. Don't. Master each section, and then when you've done that you can move on to full practice tests.

I will say, though, that I heartily recommend 7sage's logic games curriculum, and do not like many of Powerscore's diagramming methods. Personally, 7sage is much more intuitive and their techniques are often objectively superior (although I know I just provoked the ire of some Powerscore fanboys out there).

[MAPP]

Hello June-takers!

Since you are all established lsat-studiers, I have a study question for you (I'm gonna start studying this summer). Should I start out just doing powerscore LG w/ 7sage and LG drills intensively for like the first weeks/month? Or should I start out more balanced? That is, reading LG and LR prep books and drilling both?

I'm thinking that if I start with just LG, I can then move to LR and focus mostly on that but also include some brush-up LG drills. Basically, it boils down to studying section by section? Or studying all sections at once?

You should take a diagnostic and see what your strengths and weaknesses are. I started out with -22 in LG, so I knew I'd have to devote a vastly disproportionate amount of my study time to figuring that section out. In contrast, I'm naturally better at RC. So it's just a matter of prioritizing.

One of the biggest mistakes I made early on was trying to assimilate everything at once by taking full PTs. Don't. Master each section, and then when you've done that you can move on to full practice tests.

I will say, though, that I heartily recommend 7sage's logic games curriculum, and do not like many of Powerscore's diagramming methods. Personally, 7sage is much more intuitive and their techniques are often objectively superior (although I know I just provoked the ire of some Powerscore fanboys out there).

I took a diagnostic in December: -8 LG, -7 LR, -5 LR, -5 RC

[StopLawying]

172 on PT 70:

-5 LR -3 LG -1 RC

More worrying than the score is my inability to self-assess. I got questions wrong I didn't even circle for review, and got several wrong even after blind review. Not sure what to do about that.

I found the 2nd LR section to be really difficult, very time consuming. Did you feel the same?

[ayylmao]

Hello June-takers!

Since you are all established lsat-studiers, I have a study question for you (I'm gonna start studying this summer). Should I start out just doing powerscore LG w/ 7sage and LG drills intensively for like the first weeks/month? Or should I start out more balanced? That is, reading LG and LR prep books and drilling both?

I'm thinking that if I start with just LG, I can then move to LR and focus mostly on that but also include some brush-up LG drills. Basically, it boils down to studying section by section? Or studying all sections at once?

You should take a diagnostic and see what your strengths and weaknesses are. I started out with -22 in LG, so I knew I'd have to devote a vastly disproportionate amount of my study time to figuring that section out. In contrast, I'm naturally better at RC. So it's just a matter of prioritizing.

One of the biggest mistakes I made early on was trying to assimilate everything at once by taking full PTs. Don't. Master each section, and then when you've done that you can move on to full practice tests.

I will say, though, that I heartily recommend 7sage's logic games curriculum, and do not like many of Powerscore's diagramming methods. Personally, 7sage is much more intuitive and their techniques are often objectively superior (although I know I just provoked the ire of some Powerscore fanboys out there).

I took a diagnostic in December: -8 LG, -7 LR, -5 LR, -5 RC

For a diagnostic, your LG score is good, and your RC score is quite good. I'm going to assume you have a long time to study because you didn't mention any constraints of that sort in your OP. I'd spend a while nailing down LR first, because that's very time intensive and the most important part of the whole test. You don't lose those skills as easily as you lose LG skills with time, IMO. But I stand by my section-by-section approach.

[ayylmao]

172 on PT 70:

-5 LR -3 LG -1 RC

More worrying than the score is my inability to self-assess. I got questions wrong I didn't even circle for review, and got several wrong even after blind review. Not sure what to do about that.

I found the 2nd LR section to be really difficult, very time consuming. Did you feel the same?

Hm, I'd have to go back and look. I definitely remember it being harder than the first LR section, but I thought both were well on the easier side of the spectrum and I ended up doing worse than my average and not realizing it. So I might not be the best person to ask haha.

[R. Jeeves]

I started out with -22 in LG.

When you first posted this I though it was a typo....anyway damn, if you're now PTing at 170+ you might be the best person to take LG advice from ITT. I am one of the aforementioned powerscore fanboys, and idk if its worth trying to change my approach now, because I go around -2 average on LG, but I'll def want to give the 7sage method a look in light of what you said.

What was your score on the second LG you ever took? The only way I can see a you getting -22 is with some pretty bad luck - like idk maybe you made a mistaken inference an inference in the two games you were able to fully attempt on your first LG? How do you typically score on LG now?

[ayylmao]

I started out with -22 in LG.

When you first posted this I though it was a typo....anyway damn, if you're now PTing at 170+ you might be the best person to take LG advice from ITT. I am one of the aforementioned powerscore fanboys, and idk if its worth trying to change my approach now, because I go around -2 average on LG, but I'll def want to give the 7sage method a look in light of what you said.

What was your score on the second LG you ever took? The only way I can see a you getting -22 is with some pretty bad luck - like idk maybe you made a mistaken inference an inference in the two games you were able to fully attempt on your first LG? How do you typically score on LG now?

Haha yeah, idk how I didn't get at least a couple more acceptable situation questions right. I just had no idea how to diagram, and tried to make deductions and inferences in my head. (I can faintly hear the collective laughter of TLSers across the country.) I'm averaging 174 now, with some better and some lower scores, so it's been a long journey. Looking back at my score log, I see I got a -5 on my next PT, but I ran wayyy over time so that's a gross misrepresentation of my progress. Reading the LG bible got me out of shit-eating land real quick, but it's been an extremely long and difficult slog to get where I am today (which is -2.5 per LG section across my last 8 PTs).

I don't think you should abandon a method that you're already used to and is working for you simply because I have lots of good things to say about it. Initially, I used the LG bible and reviewed with 7sage's free explanation videos. I found that there are many similarities between the two methods, but Powerscore places a far greater (and I think unnecessary) degree of emphasis on Not-Laws and I thought some of their symbolic representations of certain rules didn't make intuitive sense to me. Eventually I just decided to buy a 7sage course, do the whole LG curriculum, and immerse myself in their method.

[R. Jeeves]

I don't think you should abandon a method that you're already used to and is working for you simply because I have lots of good things to say about it. Initially, I used the LG bible and reviewed with 7sage's free explanation videos. I found that there are many similarities between the two methods, but Powerscore places a far greater (and I think unnecessary) degree of emphasis on Not-Laws and I thought some of their symbolic representations of certain rules didn't make intuitive sense to me. Eventually I just decided to buy a 7sage course, do the whole LG curriculum, and immerse myself in their method.

Yeah I mean I would ideally like to go -0/-1 consistently on LG, and I considered supplementing with 7sage - not completely abandoning my approach - to get that edge.

But I didn't realize that you have to pay for the stuff. I've been looking at 7sage's explanation videos and assumed (dumbly) that their LG diagramming method could also be learned for free.

[YupSports]

I started out with -22 in LG.

When you first posted this I though it was a typo....anyway damn, if you're now PTing at 170+ you might be the best person to take LG advice from ITT. I am one of the aforementioned powerscore fanboys, and idk if its worth trying to change my approach now, because I go around -2 average on LG, but I'll def want to give the 7sage method a look in light of what you said.

What was your score on the second LG you ever took? The only way I can see a you getting -22 is with some pretty bad luck - like idk maybe you made a mistaken inference an inference in the two games you were able to fully attempt on your first LG? How do you typically score on LG now?

Haha yeah, idk how I didn't get at least a couple more acceptable situation questions right. I just had no idea how to diagram, and tried to make deductions and inferences in my head. (I can faintly hear the collective laughter of TLSers across the country.) I'm averaging 174 now, with some better and some lower scores, so it's been a long journey. Looking back at my score log, I see I got a -5 on my next PT, but I ran wayyy over time so that's a gross misrepresentation of my progress. Reading the LG bible got me out of shit-eating land real quick, but it's been an extremely long and difficult slog to get where I am today (which is -2.5 per LG section across my last 8 PTs).

I don't think you should abandon a method that you're already used to and is working for you simply because I have lots of good things to say about it. Initially, I used the LG bible and reviewed with 7sage's free explanation videos. I found that there are many similarities between the two methods, but Powerscore places a far greater (and I think unnecessary) degree of emphasis on Not-Laws and I thought some of their symbolic representations of certain rules didn't make intuitive sense to me. Eventually I just decided to buy a 7sage course, do the whole LG curriculum, and immerse myself in their method.

I still occasionally wake up in the middle of the night worrying that I may slide back into shit-eating land.

[ayylmao]

I don't think you should abandon a method that you're already used to and is working for you simply because I have lots of good things to say about it. Initially, I used the LG bible and reviewed with 7sage's free explanation videos. I found that there are many similarities between the two methods, but Powerscore places a far greater (and I think unnecessary) degree of emphasis on Not-Laws and I thought some of their symbolic representations of certain rules didn't make intuitive sense to me. Eventually I just decided to buy a 7sage course, do the whole LG curriculum, and immerse myself in their method.

Yeah I mean I would ideally like to go -0/-1 consistently on LG, and I considered supplementing with 7sage - not completely abandoning my approach - to get that edge.

But I didn't realize that you have to pay for the stuff. I've been looking at 7sage's explanation videos and assumed (dumbly) that their LG diagramming method could also be learned for free.

Honestly, you don't need to buy anything if you want to learn most of their techniques. You can just assimilate it from watching the explanations for lots of different games. I wanted to do a tear-down and rebuild of my LG methodology at a focal point in my prep, which is why I bought one of their courses. If you're willing to part with $179 you can get their basic course without any add-ons, but for you I don't think it's strictly necessary.