The Official June 2017 Study Group Forum

[dm1683]

Can somebody discuss/refer me to a discussion of recent trends in LG? When I was last studying (2014) irregular game types were making a comeback. Curious if that's still the case.

Miscellaneous type games showed up as the last game for the September and December test last year. Not sure about this year's February test. I would count on at least one to try to throw you a loop. My strategy on those was to first and foremost remain calm and stick to the process I had outlined (writing out the game board and pieces, writing out the rules, applying pieces to the gameboard, making inferences and fleshing out as much of the remainder of the game as possible before attacking each question).

That reminds me: what exactly is meant by a "weird" game? Are they games which fall into one of the obscure categories Powerscore gives (like patterns, mapping, circular etc.)? Or are they just games that defy categorization completely?

[Instrumental]

That reminds me: what exactly is meant by a "weird" game? Are they games which fall into one of the obscure categories Powerscore gives (like patterns, mapping, circular etc.)? Or are they just games that defy categorization completely?

It's more that they don't fit any specific categorization. Sometimes they have elements that are like other categories (e.g. September's misc. virus game had a sequencing aspect to it), but other aspects of the game keep it from fitting in to the typical categories like grouping, sequencing, etc.

[dm1683]

That reminds me: what exactly is meant by a "weird" game? Are they games which fall into one of the obscure categories Powerscore gives (like patterns, mapping, circular etc.)? Or are they just games that defy categorization completely?

It's more that they don't fit any specific categorization. Sometimes they have elements that are like other categories (e.g. September's misc. virus game had a sequencing aspect to it), but other aspects of the game keep it from fitting in to the typical categories like grouping, sequencing, etc.

Ah ok. So you basically have to trust your instincts and skills that you develop practicing the various game types, stay calm, and adapt. Makes sense, but it's still intimidating.

[Platopus]

Ah ok. So you basically have to trust your instincts and skills that you develop practicing the various game types, stay calm, and adapt. Makes sense, but it's still intimidating.

Exactly. Every LG is about pushing together rules and drawing inferences. The same will be true for "weird" games. I think the key (and what I'm banking on) is not getting flustered, and keeping a calm approach to diagramming, with a focus on completely understanding the rules.

[Platopus]

You guys ever do 4 timed sections of a pt separately (not all in one sitting) and just peek to see what your score would've been? I know it's kinda cheating but in that case I got a 171 on my last pt lol. Gotta have a confidence booster every now and then, that's my justification.

It's definitely cheating, but I don't see the harm. The confidence boost is worth it. Knowing what the curve is important. It's not a guarantee, but missing -5 on RC with a -13 curve helps put into perspective what you can realistically miss on the other sections and how hard that RC really was. Comparing all 4 sections helps you see if a bad section was potentially difficult for everyone.

[GoLandcrabs]

Hello brethren.

We are anchored to this slave galley together.

I have a 3.75 GPA and need a 170-171 for the results I want. Got a 160 diagnostic. Been using 7sage for studying.

[Platopus]

Took PT 53 today with LR 1 from test 30 as an experimental. Took my own advice and did a little warm up earlier in the morning before taking the test around 2pm, which I think definitely helped. -1 LR1, -0LG, -1LR2, -2 LR experimental, -1 RC, for a total of -3 and a scaled score of 179.

While I'm obviously very happy with the result, I really don't want to put too much stock in the score. I'm just happy I managed to get most of the questions right that I had circled due to uncertainty (went 4/6 on circled questions). Of course, this is probably a bit of luck, and the chips may have fallen differently. So, I'm pretty convinced that this score is a bit of an outlier, as I've been drilling around -2 for each LR section, so I'm a little worried that I'm setting myself up for a frustrating PT of test 54. Felt rushed on RC too, and dropped the point on arguably the easiest passage at the end, so I'll try drilling at a little quicker pace this week.

Definitely some personal take aways from the today's PT: 1. Do a warm-up of LR on test day, take the night before the test off, eat a solid meal beforehand, and a cup of coffee is all the caffeine I need.

[dj9i27]

Took PT 53 today with LR 1 from test 30 as an experimental. Took my own advice and did a little warm up earlier in the morning before taking the test around 2pm, which I think definitely helped. -1 LR1, -0LG, -1LR2, -2 LR experimental, -1 RC, for a total of -3 and a scaled score of 179.

While I'm obviously very happy with the result, I really don't want to put too much stock in the score. I'm just happy I managed to get most of the questions right that I had circled due to uncertainty (went 4/6 on circled questions). Of course, this is probably a bit of luck, and the chips may have fallen differently. So, I'm pretty convinced that this score is a bit of an outlier, as I've been drilling around -2 for each LR section, so I'm a little worried that I'm setting myself up for a frustrating PT of test 54. Felt rushed on RC too, and dropped the point on arguably the easiest passage at the end, so I'll try drilling at a little quicker pace this week.

Definitely some personal take aways from the today's PT: 1. Do a warm-up of LR on test day, take the night before the test off, eat a solid meal beforehand, and a cup of coffee is all the caffeine I need.

You're in a great spot for this far out dude. Keep at it and you know you'll hit big numbers come test day.

I have to postpone to September because work is consuming my life more that I like it.

[Platopus]

I have to postpone to September because work is consuming my life more that I like it.

Damn, dude. Sorry to hear this. Any chance of just putting in insane hours on a weekday or tons of extra time on a weekend and making up the difference? Any chance it blows over in a couple weeks? If not, I really feel for you. The real world sucks. But if you can't put in the time to study as much as you want, then postponing is smart.

[dj9i27]

I have to postpone to September because work is consuming my life more that I like it.

Damn, dude. Sorry to hear this. Any chance of just putting in insane hours on a weekday or tons of extra time on a weekend and making up the difference? Any chance it blows over in a couple weeks? If not, I really feel for you. The real world sucks. But if you can't put in the time to study as much as you want, then postponing is smart.

lmao putting in the hours over the weekend is what is killing me lol. Lots of people have been doing nefarious criminal things in my town rn (college town, spring break) but my superior said it gets quiet around May. It got to the point where I was at the library at 11pm grinding at it almost a zombie, figured to give me brain a week or two to decompress and read some more, I just don't want to blow take #2. My MCAT friend is suffering the same fate and had to postpone so, when he starts again I will.

[Platopus]

I have to postpone to September because work is consuming my life more that I like it.

Damn, dude. Sorry to hear this. Any chance of just putting in insane hours on a weekday or tons of extra time on a weekend and making up the difference? Any chance it blows over in a couple weeks? If not, I really feel for you. The real world sucks. But if you can't put in the time to study as much as you want, then postponing is smart.

lmao putting in the hours over the weekend is what is killing me lol. Lots of people have been doing nefarious criminal things in my town rn (college town, spring break) but my superior said it gets quiet around May. It got to the point where I was at the library at 11pm grinding at it almost a zombie, figured to give me brain a week or two to decompress and read some more, I just don't want to blow take #2. My MCAT friend is suffering the same fate and had to postpone so, when he starts again I will.

Sounds like you really have no choice then, sorry to hear it. You're at the point though where you know what you're doing so even taking some time off won't hurt too bad. Hopefully once May comes around you can get back at it and CRUSH September.

[dj9i27]

I have to postpone to September because work is consuming my life more that I like it.

Damn, dude. Sorry to hear this. Any chance of just putting in insane hours on a weekday or tons of extra time on a weekend and making up the difference? Any chance it blows over in a couple weeks? If not, I really feel for you. The real world sucks. But if you can't put in the time to study as much as you want, then postponing is smart.

lmao putting in the hours over the weekend is what is killing me lol. Lots of people have been doing nefarious criminal things in my town rn (college town, spring break) but my superior said it gets quiet around May. It got to the point where I was at the library at 11pm grinding at it almost a zombie, figured to give me brain a week or two to decompress and read some more, I just don't want to blow take #2. My MCAT friend is suffering the same fate and had to postpone so, when he starts again I will.

Sounds like you really have no choice then, sorry to hear it. You're at the point though where you know what you're doing so even taking some time off won't hurt too bad. Hopefully once May comes around you can get back at it and CRUSH September.

it is kind of a bummer but, it isn't like I'm taking a cycle off (I swear to fucking god if I do). June gives me a fresh PT to work off of as well and more time to get these weird games down. Hell, if I don't hit 177 after almost 1.5 years of this I might as well hang up the gloves.

[Platopus]

I have to postpone to September because work is consuming my life more that I like it.

Damn, dude. Sorry to hear this. Any chance of just putting in insane hours on a weekday or tons of extra time on a weekend and making up the difference? Any chance it blows over in a couple weeks? If not, I really feel for you. The real world sucks. But if you can't put in the time to study as much as you want, then postponing is smart.

lmao putting in the hours over the weekend is what is killing me lol. Lots of people have been doing nefarious criminal things in my town rn (college town, spring break) but my superior said it gets quiet around May. It got to the point where I was at the library at 11pm grinding at it almost a zombie, figured to give me brain a week or two to decompress and read some more, I just don't want to blow take #2. My MCAT friend is suffering the same fate and had to postpone so, when he starts again I will.

Sounds like you really have no choice then, sorry to hear it. You're at the point though where you know what you're doing so even taking some time off won't hurt too bad. Hopefully once May comes around you can get back at it and CRUSH September.

it is kind of a bummer but, it isn't like I'm taking a cycle off (I swear to fucking god if I do). June gives me a fresh PT to work off of as well and more time to get these weird games down. Hell, if I don't hit 177 after almost 1.5 years of this I might as well hang up the gloves.

Yeah, consider this a good thing. More time to go at a more casual pace. It's not like you have to completely shut down on the studying either - a couple sections a week is hopefully still doable. 177 come September, GUARANTEED.

[dj9i27]

Yeah, consider this a good thing. More time to go at a more casual pace. It's not like you have to completely shut down on the studying either - a couple sections a week is hopefully still doable. 177 come September, GUARANTEED.

haha thanks, inb4 TTT score and homelessness. I'm going to get my shit together next week, a bit of a bummer but my MCAT friend is going through 100% the same thing and we are on the same schedule once he graduates so I've got a study buddy in a way.

Meanwhile, you're pulling 179s lol.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Yeah, consider this a good thing. More time to go at a more casual pace. It's not like you have to completely shut down on the studying either - a couple sections a week is hopefully still doable. 177 come September, GUARANTEED.

haha thanks, inb4 TTT score and homelessness. I'm going to get my shit together next week, a bit of a bummer but my MCAT friend is going through 100% the same thing and we are on the same schedule once he graduates so I've got a study buddy in a way.

Meanwhile, you're pulling 179s lol.

Im taking in September as well... So much going on right now haha. June Ill have much more freetime all summer till Sept so thatll help a ton.

[dj9i27]

Yeah, consider this a good thing. More time to go at a more casual pace. It's not like you have to completely shut down on the studying either - a couple sections a week is hopefully still doable. 177 come September, GUARANTEED.

haha thanks, inb4 TTT score and homelessness. I'm going to get my shit together next week, a bit of a bummer but my MCAT friend is going through 100% the same thing and we are on the same schedule once he graduates so I've got a study buddy in a way.

Meanwhile, you're pulling 179s lol.

Im taking in September as well... So much going on right now haha. June Ill have much more freetime all summer till Sept so thatll help a ton.

Hey, I have a friend!

Are you just going to pick it up 5 months out and do some prepbook reading & drilling with PTs on the weekend? That is my skeleton so far. Luckily, the both of us have experienced the Sep2k16 disaster LSAT. It won't get much worse than that one imo.

[Saylor1720]

Took PT33 today.

LR1: -3
RC: -8
LR2: -3
LG: -4
Score: 167

I BR'd it at a 170 (didn't blind review games, not sure if people do this?). Got a couple questions wrong that I didn't circle. I was on 5 hours of sleep, but I felt pretty good. I know I can get LG to -0, as I did it before my December take. RC I felt better than I performed, I went -4 on the first passage, so I will definitely be doing that one over and over again. Improvement on my last PT for sure. Still a lot of work to be done! I hope everyone is having a good weekend, March Madness has consumed my life!

[pnwpineapple]

Hi everyone! Just thought I would pop in and say hello. I started self-studying with Powerscore + official practice tests last month. Currently I work FT and am still finishing my BA, so I only can study a few times during the week and then spend most of my hours studying on the weekends.

[Platopus]

I BR'd it at a 170 (didn't blind review games, not sure if people do this?)

I don't. If I miss an LG question, it's usually because of a stupid mistake or a misreading. My guess is that it's probably similar for you too. If you get the majority of the questions right for the game, you clearly have a solid grasp of what you should be doing, and your set up is probably correct. I think it's more important to re-evaluate your set up if a game gave you real difficulty or you missed a key inference. I wouldn't sweat the small stuff.

Congrats on the 167! Progress is a good thing. We still have a ton of time to hone it in!

[Saylor1720]

I BR'd it at a 170 (didn't blind review games, not sure if people do this?)

I don't. If I miss an LG question, it's usually because of a stupid mistake or a misreading. My guess is that it's probably similar for you too. If you get the majority of the questions right for the game, you clearly have a solid grasp of what you should be doing, and your set up is probably correct. I think it's more important to re-evaluate your set up if a game gave you real difficulty or you missed a key inference. I wouldn't sweat the small stuff.

Congrats on the 167! Progress is a good thing. We still have a ton of time to hone it in!

Thank you! I wrote notes after the test on general observations. I remember what happened now (long day). I wrote a rule wrong onto the diagram in game 4, and I didn't realize until question #3 of the game, by then I was running low on time to fix my mess, that was -3. The other wrong answer was a misread. So yeah, just stupid mistakes! I'll review and keep the study going, hopefully PT again on Tuesday/Wednesday.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Yeah, consider this a good thing. More time to go at a more casual pace. It's not like you have to completely shut down on the studying either - a couple sections a week is hopefully still doable. 177 come September, GUARANTEED.

haha thanks, inb4 TTT score and homelessness. I'm going to get my shit together next week, a bit of a bummer but my MCAT friend is going through 100% the same thing and we are on the same schedule once he graduates so I've got a study buddy in a way.

Meanwhile, you're pulling 179s lol.

Im taking in September as well... So much going on right now haha. June Ill have much more freetime all summer till Sept so thatll help a ton.

Hey, I have a friend!

Are you just going to pick it up 5 months out and do some prepbook reading & drilling with PTs on the weekend? That is my skeleton so far. Luckily, the both of us have experienced the Sep2k16 disaster LSAT. It won't get much worse than that one imo.

Hopefully, it wont get worse haha-- but yeah, I feel like you are right. My goal is to finish all the content by May 19th and then take it from there with heavy drilling PT, Review ETC and I can refer and review books/material as needed.

[ngogirl12]

Yeah, consider this a good thing. More time to go at a more casual pace. It's not like you have to completely shut down on the studying either - a couple sections a week is hopefully still doable. 177 come September, GUARANTEED.

haha thanks, inb4 TTT score and homelessness. I'm going to get my shit together next week, a bit of a bummer but my MCAT friend is going through 100% the same thing and we are on the same schedule once he graduates so I've got a study buddy in a way.

Meanwhile, you're pulling 179s lol.

Im taking in September as well... So much going on right now haha. June Ill have much more freetime all summer till Sept so thatll help a ton.

Me three. I'm just not ready for June, I need more time to get where I want to be.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Yeah, consider this a good thing. More time to go at a more casual pace. It's not like you have to completely shut down on the studying either - a couple sections a week is hopefully still doable. 177 come September, GUARANTEED.

haha thanks, inb4 TTT score and homelessness. I'm going to get my shit together next week, a bit of a bummer but my MCAT friend is going through 100% the same thing and we are on the same schedule once he graduates so I've got a study buddy in a way.

Meanwhile, you're pulling 179s lol.

Im taking in September as well... So much going on right now haha. June Ill have much more freetime all summer till Sept so thatll help a ton.

Me three. I'm just not ready for June, I need more time to get where I want to be.

Yeah my biggest problem with last sept was rushing. I got good enough to score 170+ but didn't have the time to have the unrelenting confidence nor consistency. I studied 4 Months while working on average 75 hrs a week and then the last month school started. So going to take it easy still keep at studying as much as I can get in every day and weekend, but summer the grind will really start. I want to be PTing and drilling my Ass off by the June test, not doing elementary prep stuff like reading the books etc. Im working on MH series now

[dj9i27]

Yeah, consider this a good thing. More time to go at a more casual pace. It's not like you have to completely shut down on the studying either - a couple sections a week is hopefully still doable. 177 come September, GUARANTEED.

haha thanks, inb4 TTT score and homelessness. I'm going to get my shit together next week, a bit of a bummer but my MCAT friend is going through 100% the same thing and we are on the same schedule once he graduates so I've got a study buddy in a way.

Meanwhile, you're pulling 179s lol.

Im taking in September as well... So much going on right now haha. June Ill have much more freetime all summer till Sept so thatll help a ton.

Me three. I'm just not ready for June, I need more time to get where I want to be.

Yeah my biggest problem with last sept was rushing. I got good enough to score 170+ but didn't have the time to have the unrelenting confidence nor consistency. I studied 4 Months while working on average 75 hrs a week and then the last month school started. So going to take it easy still keep at studying as much as I can get in every day and weekend, but summer the grind will really start. I want to be PTing and drilling my Ass off by the June test, not doing elementary prep stuff like reading the books etc. Im working on MH series now

This is gon sound really stupid, but I think I'm going to refresh all three (PS, MH, and Trainer). Next week, I'll skim through the traniner and then use PS or MH until may-june and june-september use the other. idk, im a mess.

[mmorrell94]

Took my first PT in 2.5 years (65) and got 171, which is exactly my target score for the real thing. Went -5 in LG, too, so I think I have some room for improvement.

I'm very happy