The Official June 2017 Study Group Forum

[dm1683]

Haven't been posting much because of finals. Almost done yay Took two recent PTs, one Saturday and one today. Couldn't have felt more different. On Saturday morning I was tired and slightly hung over and it showed:

PT 65

LR: -1
LG: -5 (ugh)
LR2: -4
RC: -4

-14

170

Today, on the other hand, I was ON. Got a great nights sleep plus a catnap and the history exam I just took primed my brain I suppose.

PT 66:

LR1: -1
LR2: -0
LG: -2 (ran out of time and had to guess on last two, missed both)
RC: -1

-5

177

Goes to show you what proper test conditions can do.

Did 7 preptests so far.

Average: 173.1
Highest: 177
Lowest: 170
Average wrong: -8.8
Accuracy: 91.4%

Breakdowns:
LR: -1.7 per section (-3.4 total)
LG: -2.4 (Due to time. some of my PTs I missed 4 or 5 bc of this)
RC: -3

Is it hopeless to improve on LG timing before June? Seems like that's the only thing preventing me from consistently cracking 175.

[Platopus]

Average: 173.1
Highest: 177
Lowest: 170
Average wrong: -8.8
Accuracy: 91.4%

Breakdowns:
LR: -1.7 per section (-3.4 total)
LG: -2.4 (Due to time. some of my PTs I missed 4 or 5 bc of this)
RC: -3

Is it hopeless to improve on LG timing before June? Seems like that's the only thing preventing me from consistently cracking 175.

Hey, congrats on the progress so far. Proof positive that proper sleep does miracles (or at least lets you perform to your best )

Anyway, no, making LG improvements isn't hopeless. Keep hitting those drills and really push yourself on the games you know are easy.

[dm1683]

Just finished PT 64:

LR1: -2
LG: -2
LR2: -4 (...)
RC: -2

173

I want to see a 175+ on a PT so bad, so the -4 stings a bit, but overall, it feels good to be improving going into the final month.

Almost my exact breakdown from Saturday. Glad to know I'm not the only one that struggled with LG on this one

No kidding. I went -4 on that goddamn LG section.

[dm1683]

Average: 173.1
Highest: 177
Lowest: 170
Average wrong: -8.8
Accuracy: 91.4%

Breakdowns:
LR: -1.7 per section (-3.4 total)
LG: -2.4 (Due to time. some of my PTs I missed 4 or 5 bc of this)
RC: -3

Is it hopeless to improve on LG timing before June? Seems like that's the only thing preventing me from consistently cracking 175.

Hey, congrats on the progress so far. Proof positive that proper sleep does miracles (or at least lets you perform to your best )

Anyway, no, making LG improvements isn't hopeless. Keep hitting those drills and really push yourself on the games you know are easy.

Thanks. See, the bolded is what I have trouble with. I take waaay too long on the layup games. I check my answers etc. I guess I just feel like I have to be 100 percent sure I get everything right on those because they're gimmes. Of course, I'm shooting myself in the foot in doing so, and robbing time from the harder games.

That's what's so sad: I KNOW what I'm doing wrong, but when PT time comes I just do it anyway. And then I beat myself up when I run out of time. I'm thinking of setting strict time limits of 6.5-7 minutes for the easy sequencing games, but IDK if that's a good idea either.

[heyduchess]

Haven't been posting much because of finals. Almost done yay Took two recent PTs, one Saturday and one today. Couldn't have felt more different. On Saturday morning I was tired and slightly hung over and it showed:

PT 65

LR: -1
LG: -5 (ugh)
LR2: -4
RC: -4

-14

170

Today, on the other hand, I was ON. Got a great nights sleep plus a catnap and the history exam I just took primed my brain I suppose.

PT 66:

LR1: -1
LR2: -0
LG: -2 (ran out of time and had to guess on last two, missed both)
RC: -1

-5

177

Goes to show you what proper test conditions can do.

Did 7 preptests so far.

Average: 173.1
Highest: 177
Lowest: 170
Average wrong: -8.8
Accuracy: 91.4%

Breakdowns:
LR: -1.7 per section (-3.4 total)
LG: -2.4 (Due to time. some of my PTs I missed 4 or 5 bc of this)
RC: -3

Is it hopeless to improve on LG timing before June? Seems like that's the only thing preventing me from consistently cracking 175.

I just did PrepTest 65 on Saturday and that Reading Comp made no sense to me. I still am very confused how I got this one question wrong. But way to go on 66!!!!

[dm1683]

Haven't been posting much because of finals. Almost done yay Took two recent PTs, one Saturday and one today. Couldn't have felt more different. On Saturday morning I was tired and slightly hung over and it showed:

PT 65

LR: -1
LG: -5 (ugh)
LR2: -4
RC: -4

-14

170

Today, on the other hand, I was ON. Got a great nights sleep plus a catnap and the history exam I just took primed my brain I suppose.

PT 66:

LR1: -1
LR2: -0
LG: -2 (ran out of time and had to guess on last two, missed both)
RC: -1

-5

177

Goes to show you what proper test conditions can do.

Did 7 preptests so far.

Average: 173.1
Highest: 177
Lowest: 170
Average wrong: -8.8
Accuracy: 91.4%

Breakdowns:
LR: -1.7 per section (-3.4 total)
LG: -2.4 (Due to time. some of my PTs I missed 4 or 5 bc of this)
RC: -3

Is it hopeless to improve on LG timing before June? Seems like that's the only thing preventing me from consistently cracking 175.

I just did PrepTest 65 on Saturday and that Reading Comp made no sense to me. I still am very confused how I got this one question wrong. But way to go on 66!!!!

Thank you!

Yeah that RC on 65 was difficult. It's rated "hard" by 7sage. Was it the last passage that tripped you up? The one about farming and weeds?

[Amerision]

Super duper happy. Just graded PT 62 and got a 173. The generous curve helped (ended up with -10). I didn't check my breakdown yet, but I know I likely had -3 or -4 on LG. Feels like as I improve at one thing (LR), another one of my skills starts slipping (LG). I've been running out of time for my recent PTs on LG and it's frustrating for what should be easy points.

[Platopus]

That's what's so sad: I KNOW what I'm doing wrong, but when PT time comes I just do it anyway. And then I beat myself up when I run out of time. I'm thinking of setting strict time limits of 6.5-7 minutes for the easy sequencing games, but IDK if that's a good idea either.

I'd be cautious about setting a strict time limit on the "gimme games", sometimes the set-ups seem easier but the questions are designed to be time-sinks. But you certainly need to stop checking your answers. If you get it, move on. That simple. Just do it for one test, and when you see that you still get them all right you'll feel a lot more comfortable doing it.

[calmike]

How do you recommend studying when you are already scoring in the 170+ on your PTs?

I am planning to take two PTs a week, one on Thursday and one on Sunday.

The days in between I am going to review the PT and drill RC and Flaw LR questions.

What are your plans?

[calmike]

Haven't been posting much because of finals. Almost done yay Took two recent PTs, one Saturday and one today. Couldn't have felt more different. On Saturday morning I was tired and slightly hung over and it showed:

PT 65

LR: -1
LG: -5 (ugh)
LR2: -4
RC: -4

-14

170

Today, on the other hand, I was ON. Got a great nights sleep plus a catnap and the history exam I just took primed my brain I suppose.

PT 66:

LR1: -1
LR2: -0
LG: -2 (ran out of time and had to guess on last two, missed both)
RC: -1

-5

177

Goes to show you what proper test conditions can do.

Did 7 preptests so far.

Average: 173.1
Highest: 177
Lowest: 170
Average wrong: -8.8
Accuracy: 91.4%

Breakdowns:
LR: -1.7 per section (-3.4 total)
LG: -2.4 (Due to time. some of my PTs I missed 4 or 5 bc of this)
RC: -3

Is it hopeless to improve on LG timing before June? Seems like that's the only thing preventing me from consistently cracking 175.

I just did PrepTest 65 on Saturday and that Reading Comp made no sense to me. I still am very confused how I got this one question wrong. But way to go on 66!!!!

Thank you!

Yeah that RC on 65 was difficult. It's rated "hard" by 7sage. Was it the last passage that tripped you up? The one about farming and weeds?

If you get your act together with LG, you can score a 180 soon!

I wish I had your LR skills

[calmike]

Back from my break and ready to take PT 62 later today. Going to try a new strategy in LR -- doing the first fifteen questions, and then going backwards from the last question. We'll see how it goes.

Did doing the questions backward helped?

I usually miss random questions in the middle lol

[Future Ex-Engineer]

How do you recommend studying when you are already scoring in the 170+ on your PTs?

I am planning to take two PTs a week, one on Thursday and one on Sunday.

The days in between I am going to review the PT and drill RC and Flaw LR questions.

What are your plans?

I'm in that range, and here's what I'm doing. I also work full time as an engineer (somewhat mentally taxing), so my schedule may not be best if you've got more time on your hands.

2-3PTs a week, either Tuesday/Thursday/Sunday, or Wednesday/Saturday. Monday is my actual 'off' day, meaning no LSAT prep whatsoever. Mondays are hard at work, so I feel that time spent prepping would be less beneficial on Mondays. On my non-PT days, I am doing a mixture of things: 1) Reviewing missed questions on those PTs - this doesn't take too long, since I'm not really missing more than 10-12 questions (hopefully that continues and shrinks) 2) full timed sections of whatever I'm not scoring well on (probably will take one or two RC sections from the mid 50s tomorrow) 3) once I have a couple more PTs under my belt, I will be identifying problem question types on LR and drill those specifically on 'off' days.

That will allow me to have approximately 12-15 of the newest PTs done in the run up to D-Day, and I think it's aggressive enough to finish off my weaknesses while not too aggressive to cause me to burn out.

[Walliums]

Wellll I took PT 74 today. Feel generally good because I scored in the 170s but did real bad on LR 2 and made several dumb mistakes and ran out of time. Fixed most of it in BR:

Pt 74: 171 timed, 176 BR
LR1: -2/-1
LG: 0
RC: -2 (that's more like normal, finally)
LR2: -7/-3 (yikes)

Am in the process of testing out different caffeine types to see what will give me the best benefit. Experimental was 5th section but I was starting to feel tired after the 4th - don't think the caffeine I had during the break kicked in until the 5th section lol.

[tuna_wasabi]

Hey guys, quick question on negation:

How do you negate this? "Most, if not all, students in the Spanish class who abandon the use of laptops will periodically write their notes."

Would it be: "Few, if at all, students in the Spanish class who abandon the use of laptops will periodically write their notes" or "most, if not all, students in the Spanish class who abandon the use of laptops will NOT periodically write their notes"? Are they the same or even similar?

[calmike]

How do you recommend studying when you are already scoring in the 170+ on your PTs?

I am planning to take two PTs a week, one on Thursday and one on Sunday.

The days in between I am going to review the PT and drill RC and Flaw LR questions.

What are your plans?

I'm in that range, and here's what I'm doing. I also work full time as an engineer (somewhat mentally taxing), so my schedule may not be best if you've got more time on your hands.

2-3PTs a week, either Tuesday/Thursday/Sunday, or Wednesday/Saturday. Monday is my actual 'off' day, meaning no LSAT prep whatsoever. Mondays are hard at work, so I feel that time spent prepping would be less beneficial on Mondays. On my non-PT days, I am doing a mixture of things: 1) Reviewing missed questions on those PTs - this doesn't take too long, since I'm not really missing more than 10-12 questions (hopefully that continues and shrinks) 2) full timed sections of whatever I'm not scoring well on (probably will take one or two RC sections from the mid 50s tomorrow) 3) once I have a couple more PTs under my belt, I will be identifying problem question types on LR and drill those specifically on 'off' days.

That will allow me to have approximately 12-15 of the newest PTs done in the run up to D-Day, and I think it's aggressive enough to finish off my weaknesses while not too aggressive to cause me to burn out.

Sounds like a good plan. I will probably drill RC passages and FLAW lr questions in the time between PTS. I will also review again questions that I have got wrong in previous PTs. Good luck man! I hope you get a 175+!

[Mint-Berry_Crunch]

Hey guys, quick question on negation:

How do you negate this? "Most, if not all, students in the Spanish class who abandon the use of laptops will periodically write their notes."

Would it be: "Few, if at all, students in the Spanish class who abandon the use of laptops will periodically write their notes" or "most, if not all, students in the Spanish class who abandon the use of laptops will NOT periodically write their notes"? Are they the same or even similar?

Good Q which question is this? For more context

[tuna_wasabi]

Hey guys, quick question on negation:

How do you negate this? "Most, if not all, students in the Spanish class who abandon the use of laptops will periodically write their notes."

Would it be: "Few, if at all, students in the Spanish class who abandon the use of laptops will periodically write their notes" or "most, if not all, students in the Spanish class who abandon the use of laptops will NOT periodically write their notes"? Are they the same or even similar?

Good Q which question is this? For more context

It's a (badly made) analogous sentence to AC A for PT 73, section 2, no. 20 Got the question right but this AC stumped me a bit.

[Slippin' Jimmy]

Late check in, but I've been prepping since the beginning of Feb and started with an initial diagnostic of 153.

Just did PT 68 5 sections yesterday going LR1: -1 (BR -1) LR2: -2 (BR -1) LG: -5 (BR -0) and RC: -8 (BR -4) (AHHHH!!!) Standardized score of 167.

I'm finally starting to get almost there in LG (ran out of time on the last one and went -4 and missed another one on a stupid mistake on G3) but these gains I've seen recently have been offset in a downtrend in RC, seems like for every point I pick up in LG I lose one in RC. PT 67 was also kind of rough for RC, as I went -5 and these last two tests are down from a consistent range of missing 1-3. Not a fan of excuses, but I had a really rough Colitis flare up the night before, and it took me a while to really get in the grove for S1, which was the RC that I flopped on.

Also, I think I mistakenly thought I was "good" on RC a few weeks ago and really cut back my work in that section. Won't be making that mistake again!

I know I'm capable of doing well in all sections, I just can't seem to do well in all 4 in the same PT. Current plan is to continue to drill LG like crazy while adding in RC sections + blind review. I'm very close to a true LG breakthrough and if I can just get back to where I was on RC, I should be in the score range that I'm aiming for.

[Mint-Berry_Crunch]

Thank god we'll probably never see circle games again

Got rekt by pt b games

[Mint-Berry_Crunch]

Hey guys, quick question on negation:

How do you negate this? "Most, if not all, students in the Spanish class who abandon the use of laptops will periodically write their notes."

Would it be: "Few, if at all, students in the Spanish class who abandon the use of laptops will periodically write their notes" or "most, if not all, students in the Spanish class who abandon the use of laptops will NOT periodically write their notes"? Are they the same or even similar?

Good Q which question is this? For more context

It's a (badly made) analogous sentence to AC A for PT 73, section 2, no. 20 Got the question right but this AC stumped me a bit.

I looked up the q on lsat hacks and here's how he negates it

[+] Spoiler

Only half of the farmers who stop using chemical fertilizer will use alfalfa.

it doesn't matter which side of a most statement you negate bc it actually turns out to the same thing.

Also the "if not all" is irrelevant bc most allows for all and if you negate "most" you get "only half" which precludes "not all" anyway

[heyduchess]

Thank you!

Yeah that RC on 65 was difficult. It's rated "hard" by 7sage. Was it the last passage that tripped you up? The one about farming and weeds?

Nah. It was the third one, which I believe was the Roman legal section. I usually do well on legal and science, too! And then if the history/art section is about anything other than Neanderthals, I'm good. (Which is why I'm reading Sapiens now. The struggle is real.)

[Mikey]

Thank god we'll probably never see circle games again

Got rekt by pt b games

Only one I've done was I think the one in pt40 (maybe 41??).

It was weird af and iirc, it took me like 14 mins to do with still getting some wrong the first time

[dj9i27]

Thank god we'll probably never see circle games again

Got rekt by pt b games

Only one I've done was I think the one in pt40 (maybe 41??).

It was weird af and iirc, it took me like 14 mins to do with still getting some wrong the first time

I vaguely remember it and would still rather do it than viruses.

[zkyggi]

PT 67 today:

RC: -1
LR1: -3
LG: -2
LR2: -1

173

I am really annoyed by my -2 in LG. For both questions, my set-ups were correct but I applied a rule backwards, which I don't even know how to fix since it is not a conceptual issue. I finished LG with 7 mins left and didn't have the wherewithal to go back and check the game with all of my errors. In any case, LR has become consistently a combined -6 or less, which I am really excited about. The second RC passage was one of the tougher ones I have had in a while, but it looks like my new approach to RC is paying off. This is the best raw score I have received to date.

Going to take a couple days off to study and finish up finals.

[zkyggi]

Late check in, but I've been prepping since the beginning of Feb and started with an initial diagnostic of 153.

Just did PT 68 5 sections yesterday going LR1: -1 (BR -1) LR2: -2 (BR -1) LG: -5 (BR -0) and RC: -8 (BR -4) (AHHHH!!!) Standardized score of 167.

I'm finally starting to get almost there in LG (ran out of time on the last one and went -4 and missed another one on a stupid mistake on G3) but these gains I've seen recently have been offset in a downtrend in RC, seems like for every point I pick up in LG I lose one in RC. PT 67 was also kind of rough for RC, as I went -5 and these last two tests are down from a consistent range of missing 1-3. Not a fan of excuses, but I had a really rough Colitis flare up the night before, and it took me a while to really get in the grove for S1, which was the RC that I flopped on.

Also, I think I mistakenly thought I was "good" on RC a few weeks ago and really cut back my work in that section. Won't be making that mistake again!

I know I'm capable of doing well in all sections, I just can't seem to do well in all 4 in the same PT. Current plan is to continue to drill LG like crazy while adding in RC sections + blind review. I'm very close to a true LG breakthrough and if I can just get back to where I was on RC, I should be in the score range that I'm aiming for.

RC on the more recent tests appears to be objectively harder than older tests. When I started I was -2 consistently on RC, but when I started the more recent tests I stayed above -4 for ages. They demand a deeper understanding of the passage than earlier tests because the ACs have gotten harder. I have to line-check almost every question now whereas before there was usually a standout correct answer. Are you reading for structure now?