The Official September 2016 Study Group - WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS Forum

[Alexandros]

Alright so just finished up BRing RC for PT 60, so now I'm done with this test.

PT 60 breakdown:
LR: -7 (BR -2)
LG: -5 (BR -0)
LR: -9 (BR -2)
RC: -7 (BR -4)

Original score: 159
BR score: 173

that BR score makes me feel good inside , that potential tho

Congrats Mikey!! YOU GOT THIS.

[Justice4Birdperson]

Is there anyone here (doubt it) that doesn't finish RC sections on time, and is actually just going to focus on getting 3 passages done and all correct? I read on 7sage that if you can't do all 4 passages in time, even after tons of practice, that getting perfect accuracy on 3 passages is a second option. I also saw some small tips about skimming the 4th passage for questions that directly ask you to go to a line and you just try to figure it out. Or questions that ask about the authors view, you can try skimming for that.

I might have to accept the fact that my RC skills are just not on fleek, as the youngsters are saying now a days.

What's taking up most of your time? The initial reading or answering the questions?

Initially I guess both. It takes me about 4 mins to complete a passage, and then I find myself on the questions for about 6-7 mins, no matter if it has 5 or 8 questions. I try myself to go off of memory on the questions, but even then I hesitate a ton which eats up all of my time.

By all means find a method that works for you personally but I try to not answer any question on memory alone. I've found that my timing is better when I don't spend too long on the initial reading and instead take time to reread relevant sections to answer questions.

Interesting. How long does it take you to read each passage? And how long does it take you on average to finish up the questions for that a single passage?

I'm not sure how long it usually takes for me to finish the first read through but I think around 2-3 minutes and then 5-6 minutes to answer questions. However I don't let myself get caught up on a single question for too long. If I can't get it quickly I move on and come back later. Last PT I finished with 6 minutes to spare and spent that time going back to questions I was unsure about. Also I read the passage with haste the first time. I want to get to the actual tasks at hand as quickly as I can. That's what works for me.

[Alexandros]

So I officially have testing problem. I'm thinking about maybe doing a PT every other day or something - anyone had experience with that? I know drilling >>> PTs, but my accuracy on drilling would easily land me in the 176+, and I'm consistently underperforming on PTs.

I think I'll BR this one, I guess? Tbh, it takes such a long time and I know that my untimed / sans nerves accuracy level is pretty good, so I'm not sure it's really the best use of my time, but I think it would make me feel better, at the very least.

I think doing that many PT will very quickly result in burnout. When you say a testing problem, do you mean just having nerves?

Mainly nerves, also endurance + mornings.
It just seems like it's so close to test day now and I'm so close to being where I want - testing performance is really the last obstacle. But yeah, burn-out's still a valid concern, of course.

Yea- Just keep at it and stay motivated. Your drilling performance indicates you have what it takes, but I think you just need to stay motivated and be persistent putting all your skills together for Test Day. I think all of sudden you will peak and just blow your PTs out of teh water. And yeah as mentioned before, don't overdo it either.

Thanks - I really hope you're right!

You done with work now?

Marked pre-BR - 175. Raw 94 on six in a row. Welp, only way to deal with this kinda flatline is take-out pad thai. 'Be back y'all.

[Mikey]

Alright so just finished up BRing RC for PT 60, so now I'm done with this test.

PT 60 breakdown:
LR: -7 (BR -2)
LG: -5 (BR -0)
LR: -9 (BR -2)
RC: -7 (BR -4)

Original score: 159
BR score: 173

that BR score makes me feel good inside , that potential tho

Congrats Mikey!! YOU GOT THIS.

thanks! i'm going to do another PT tomorrow, probably PT 61 or 62, and take Saturday and Sunday off, then BR it Monday. I'm going to atlantic city tomorrow ready to waste my life-savings and get drunk af, leggo

eta: will be PTing early in the morning, and will be heading out to AC in the late afternoon. just wanted to show the breakdown of tomorrow in case anyone was like "PTing in AC???" lol HELL NO

[20170322]

Last week of work, then I can balance class and LSAT prep pretty evenly. I hope I haven't lost much skill during this hiatus. Tho, during all of my other breaks, I've done just as well as before the break on my first PT back, so I think it may be like riding a bike.

[Mikey]

Last week of work, then I can balance class and LSAT prep pretty evenly. I hope I haven't lost much skill during this hiatus. Tho, during all of my other breaks, I've done just as well as before the break on my first PT back, so I think it may be like riding a bike.

I think you'll be fine I believe breaks do more good than bad

[tofuspeedstar]

Alright so just finished up BRing RC for PT 60, so now I'm done with this test.

PT 60 breakdown:
LR: -7 (BR -2)
LG: -5 (BR -0)
LR: -9 (BR -2)
RC: -7 (BR -4)

Original score: 159
BR score: 173

that BR score makes me feel good inside , that potential tho

That's fkn amazing man. Good stuff. Keep it up.

Just finished PT64. Will BR this evening after playing basketball. I struggled to finish the LR sections a lot more on this exam than others.

But screw game 3 from this exam (I know I said it before, just wanted to reiterate it)

Hope the rest of you guys are doing well in the home stretch!

I did something different this time and took 64 spread over 2 days rather than all at once. Has anyone done a PT like this before? Or do you do all 4/5 sections in one sitting.

[20170322]

Last week of work, then I can balance class and LSAT prep pretty evenly. I hope I haven't lost much skill during this hiatus. Tho, during all of my other breaks, I've done just as well as before the break on my first PT back, so I think it may be like riding a bike.

I think you'll be fine I believe breaks do more good than bad

Yeah, I'm trying not to worry. Like, as long as I can hit 5 points below my PT average or better, I'm happy. Just weird to be in this place but not get to take the test for 6 weeks.

[Mikey]

Alright so just finished up BRing RC for PT 60, so now I'm done with this test.

PT 60 breakdown:
LR: -7 (BR -2)
LG: -5 (BR -0)
LR: -9 (BR -2)
RC: -7 (BR -4)

Original score: 159
BR score: 173

that BR score makes me feel good inside , that potential tho

That's fkn amazing man. Good stuff. Keep it up.

Just finished PT64. Will BR this evening after playing basketball. I struggled to finish the LR sections a lot more on this exam than others.

But screw game 3 from this exam (I know I said it before, just wanted to reiterate it)

Hope the rest of you guys are doing well in the home stretch!

I did something different this time and took 64 spread over 2 days rather than all at once. Has anyone done a PT like this before? Or do you do all 4/5 sections in one sitting.

Thanks!! Yeah game 3 is weird but like I said, it's really not that bad once you understand the game pieces and the 3 splitting rule. I solved for all possibilities in like a minute and a half before heading into the questions. I screwed up big time on game 4 when doing it timed, but saw my mistakes during BR.

[tofuspeedstar]

Alright so just finished up BRing RC for PT 60, so now I'm done with this test.

PT 60 breakdown:
LR: -7 (BR -2)
LG: -5 (BR -0)
LR: -9 (BR -2)
RC: -7 (BR -4)

Original score: 159
BR score: 173

that BR score makes me feel good inside , that potential tho

That's fkn amazing man. Good stuff. Keep it up.

Just finished PT64. Will BR this evening after playing basketball. I struggled to finish the LR sections a lot more on this exam than others.

But screw game 3 from this exam (I know I said it before, just wanted to reiterate it)

Hope the rest of you guys are doing well in the home stretch!

I did something different this time and took 64 spread over 2 days rather than all at once. Has anyone done a PT like this before? Or do you do all 4/5 sections in one sitting.

Thanks!! Yeah game 3 is weird but like I said, it's really not that bad once you understand the game pieces and the 3 splitting rule. I solved for all possibilities in like a minute and a half before heading into the questions. I screwed up big time on game 4 when doing it timed, but saw my mistakes during BR.

I might've missed that post. But I definitely got tripped up, but once I saw the YS block and T are p limited...I was able to construct 4 boards, but it took awhile..I had to scramble through the last game.

[Mikey]

Alright so just finished up BRing RC for PT 60, so now I'm done with this test.

PT 60 breakdown:
LR: -7 (BR -2)
LG: -5 (BR -0)
LR: -9 (BR -2)
RC: -7 (BR -4)

Original score: 159
BR score: 173

that BR score makes me feel good inside , that potential tho

That's fkn amazing man. Good stuff. Keep it up.

Just finished PT64. Will BR this evening after playing basketball. I struggled to finish the LR sections a lot more on this exam than others.

But screw game 3 from this exam (I know I said it before, just wanted to reiterate it)

Hope the rest of you guys are doing well in the home stretch!

I did something different this time and took 64 spread over 2 days rather than all at once. Has anyone done a PT like this before? Or do you do all 4/5 sections in one sitting.

Thanks!! Yeah game 3 is weird but like I said, it's really not that bad once you understand the game pieces and the 3 splitting rule. I solved for all possibilities in like a minute and a half before heading into the questions. I screwed up big time on game 4 when doing it timed, but saw my mistakes during BR.

I might've missed that post. But I definitely got tripped up, but once I saw the YS block and T are p limited...I was able to construct 4 boards, but it took awhile..I had to scramble through the last game.

Yeah I see. Redo the game and try to find other games like it. And yeah, game 4 wasn't that bad but under timing I kind of fucked it up. Scrambled through it as well and it was where I got 3 questions wrong lmao

[Rupert Pupkin]

So I officially have testing problem. I'm thinking about maybe doing a PT every other day or something - anyone had experience with that? I know drilling >>> PTs, but my accuracy on drilling would easily land me in the 176+, and I'm consistently underperforming on PTs.

I think I'll BR this one, I guess? Tbh, it takes such a long time and I know that my untimed / sans nerves accuracy level is pretty good, so I'm not sure it's really the best use of my time, but I think it would make me feel better, at the very least.

I think doing that many PT will very quickly result in burnout. When you say a testing problem, do you mean just having nerves?

Mainly nerves, also endurance + mornings.
It just seems like it's so close to test day now and I'm so close to being where I want - testing performance is really the last obstacle. But yeah, burn-out's still a valid concern, of course.

Yea- Just keep at it and stay motivated. Your drilling performance indicates you have what it takes, but I think you just need to stay motivated and be persistent putting all your skills together for Test Day. I think all of sudden you will peak and just blow your PTs out of teh water. And yeah as mentioned before, don't overdo it either.

Thanks - I really hope you're right!

You done with work now?

Marked pre-BR - 175. Raw 94 on six in a row. Welp, only way to deal with this kinda flatline is take-out pad thai. 'Be back y'all.

Yea dude, I finished on Monday. Feels good to be back in the groove just focusing on working out and studying. today was the first ultra-productive day Ive had studying since I finished.

[appind]

Anyone else find newer RCs easier?

thought it was the opposite. how do you define newer rc?

That's what I'd heard too. My last 2 were in the 60s and went -0, which is less wrong than I seem to get drilling older ones. May have been easier sections / luck / the fact that I mainly drill the hardest from Cambridge packs.

60s rc i thought was tough. RC is a section where retake can make a big difference. are these fresh?
does Cambridge hardest pack only have old rc?

[proteinshake]

"Hearing of a number of law schools that are going to be up +1, +2, and even +3 LSAT points" https://twitter.com/SpiveyConsult/statu ... 1524033536 -- NOOOOOO

[34iplaw]

"Hearing of a number of law schools that are going to be up +1, +2, and even +3 LSAT points" https://twitter.com/SpiveyConsult/statu ... 1524033536 -- NOOOOOO

HEARSAY!

[proteinshake]

"Hearing of a number of law schools that are going to be up +1, +2, and even +3 LSAT points" https://twitter.com/SpiveyConsult/statu ... 1524033536 -- NOOOOOO

HEARSAY!

hm maybe these aren't T14s tho

[Alexandros]

Alright so just finished up BRing RC for PT 60, so now I'm done with this test.

PT 60 breakdown:
LR: -7 (BR -2)
LG: -5 (BR -0)
LR: -9 (BR -2)
RC: -7 (BR -4)

Original score: 159
BR score: 173

that BR score makes me feel good inside , that potential tho

That's fkn amazing man. Good stuff. Keep it up.

Just finished PT64. Will BR this evening after playing basketball. I struggled to finish the LR sections a lot more on this exam than others.

But screw game 3 from this exam (I know I said it before, just wanted to reiterate it)

Hope the rest of you guys are doing well in the home stretch!

I did something different this time and took 64 spread over 2 days rather than all at once. Has anyone done a PT like this before? Or do you do all 4/5 sections in one sitting.

Eyyy did 64 today as well. Game 3 completely ate up my time, and game 4 was not the easy pure sequencing game I needed. Took longer on the LRs as well. glad it wasn't just me!

[34iplaw]

"Hearing of a number of law schools that are going to be up +1, +2, and even +3 LSAT points" https://twitter.com/SpiveyConsult/statu ... 1524033536 -- NOOOOOO

HEARSAY!

hm maybe these aren't T14s tho

Who knows. Probably depends on whether it is the 25/50/75 too. This cycle there were far more 165+s, correct? If the number of 168-170+ didn't change much, it would seem likely that the +1, +2, +3 came from the middle 50s of schools immediately outside the T14.

Then again, it could actually go up or go down are cycle. TBD.

[Alexandros]

Anyone else find newer RCs easier?

thought it was the opposite. how do you define newer rc?

That's what I'd heard too. My last 2 were in the 60s and went -0, which is less wrong than I seem to get drilling older ones. May have been easier sections / luck / the fact that I mainly drill the hardest from Cambridge packs.

60s rc i thought was tough. RC is a section where retake can make a big difference. are these fresh?
does Cambridge hardest pack only have old rc?

yeah, fresh PTs. I'm using 1-35 Cambridge packs mostly for RC rn.

[34iplaw]

Having a pretty off day in general. RC was just kind of all over the place

What do y'all do when you're having a bit of an off day or what makes you decide to pack it in for the day?

[theothercat]

Took my third PT today, PT 76:

RC: -2
LR: -1
LG: -0
LR: -6
Score: 173

I'm definitely still several points away from my retake goal, but after a couple low 160s tests, this made me so happy. Gonna do blind review tomorrow. And then start the Mahattan LR guide to try to fix that -6.

[theothercat]

Having a pretty off day in general. RC was just kind of all over the place

What do y'all do when you're having a bit of an off day or what makes you decide to pack it in for the day?

I think it's just important to realize that burnout is real, and to be honest with yourself when you actually need to do the literal opposite of LSAT prep (like have a beer or watch TV). I also recently started journaling about specific LSAT-related things that are stressing me out, like having too high of expectations and getting angry at myself when I fall short. That kind of attitude makes burnout worse, too, so singling it out helps.

When I took my first LSAT in February 2013, I burned myself out so badly and obsessed to my own detriment. I think the most effective change this time has been being purposely mindful not to do that, and to take actual whole days off and quit studying when I really, really don't feel like doing it.

[Alexandros]

Took my third PT today, PT 76:

RC: -2
LR: -1
LG: -0
LR: -6
Score: 173

I'm definitely still several points away from my retake goal, but after a couple low 160s tests, this made me so happy. Gonna do blind review tomorrow. And then start the Mahattan LR guide to try to fix that -6.

Congrats! That's killer

[theothercat]

Took my third PT today, PT 76:

RC: -2
LR: -1
LG: -0
LR: -6
Score: 173

I'm definitely still several points away from my retake goal, but after a couple low 160s tests, this made me so happy. Gonna do blind review tomorrow. And then start the Mahattan LR guide to try to fix that -6.

Congrats! That's killer

Thanks! Gotta give credit to the Manhattan RC guide, which I just finished. It helped so much on that section.

[ngogirl12]

So I didn't do much prep today. I had a dentist appointment which took up a bunch of time, got distracted with the Olympics, and texted with my friend (I met on 7Sage and is also prepping for the LSAT) about law school apps and the LSAT lol..

I also did some light review of the 7 questions, I also watched videos for questions I circled but still got correct. There were two questions in the packet from yesterday that I still didn't understand so I'm still trying to work through those.