Pithypike's Complete LSAT Study Guide Forum

[tmon]

Pithypike seems to have been MIA for quite some time, so I'll just ask on here:

This may or may not have already been discussed but there are a heap of posts to read through. So......

Since the only Big Orange and Kaplan Mastery books on Amazon are all used, and I'm not sure if I'd want to purchase a used book with markings all through it, what would be a good substitute?

Thanks in advance.

http://www.cambridgelsat.com/product/lsat/by_bundle/83

LR, LG and RC bundles for tests 1-38, if you're willing to sacrifice that many tests to drilling (and I'm assuming if you're doing Pithypike, you probably are).

[B-Brav0]

Pithypike seems to have been MIA for quite some time, so I'll just ask on here:

This may or may not have already been discussed but there are a heap of posts to read through. So......

Since the only Big Orange and Kaplan Mastery books on Amazon are all used, and I'm not sure if I'd want to purchase a used book with markings all through it, what would be a good substitute?

Thanks in advance.

http://www.cambridgelsat.com/product/lsat/by_bundle/83

LR, LG and RC bundles for tests 1-38, if you're willing to sacrifice that many tests to drilling (and I'm assuming if you're doing Pithypike, you probably are).

Yes I am following Pithypike's guide and thanks a lot.

[totaltest.milan]

Pithypike's approach is pretty solid. I find that my students get the best results with a couple of adjustments. I tend to focus on the sections in sequence - games, arguments, then reading comprehension - all the while making sure that the hw I assign has elements of what we had gone over previously. Part of the reason that works for me is because my games approach is different from powerscore's and closer to the 'Big Fat Genius' guide.

Reading dense material in order to improve your RC skills is a great suggestion. I don't recommend magazines or newspapers (even the more sophisticated ones like the Economist or the Wall Street Journal) because that kind of material tends to be written for content. You don't want to train yourself to read for content, you want to train yourself to read for structure. I recommend my students read philosophy textbooks like the Blackwell or Routledge companion guides. The one I recommend the most is the Blackwell Companion to Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory.


____________________________

[SgtL]

How much adjustment to this approach would be required to attempt to take someone from the mid high 160's to the mid-high 170's? I understand the further you improve, the less room there is for improvement, but just wondering if this is applicable or is there something more prudent for that purpose anyone cares to recommend.

[B-Brav0]

How much adjustment to this approach would be required to attempt to take someone from the mid high 160's to the mid-high 170's? I understand the further you improve, the less room there is for improvement, but just wondering if this is applicable or is there something more prudent for that purpose anyone cares to recommend.

It is true that the higher up you are the less there is to do. But to achieve the highest you possibly can, the key is to really just practice. If you're in the high 160s then you're probably just making a few minor mistakes. Find them and correct them. Some mistakes you'll find are the same ol mistakes. You can put a stop to it with repetition.

[SgtL]

How much adjustment to this approach would be required to attempt to take someone from the mid high 160's to the mid-high 170's? I understand the further you improve, the less room there is for improvement, but just wondering if this is applicable or is there something more prudent for that purpose anyone cares to recommend.

It is true that the higher up you are the less there is to do. But to achieve the highest you possibly can, the key is to really just practice. If you're in the high 160s then you're probably just making a few minor mistakes. Find them and correct them. Some mistakes you'll find are the same ol mistakes. You can put a stop to it with repetition.

Thanks. I really appreciate the advice. Honestly for a while I wasn't even reviewing my PrepTests until my instructor almost smacked me for not doing so. Probably started too late, but when I did my most significant improvement came.

[B-Brav0]

How much adjustment to this approach would be required to attempt to take someone from the mid high 160's to the mid-high 170's? I understand the further you improve, the less room there is for improvement, but just wondering if this is applicable or is there something more prudent for that purpose anyone cares to recommend.

It is true that the higher up you are the less there is to do. But to achieve the highest you possibly can, the key is to really just practice. If you're in the high 160s then you're probably just making a few minor mistakes. Find them and correct them. Some mistakes you'll find are the same ol mistakes. You can put a stop to it with repetition.

Thanks. I really appreciate the advice. Honestly for a while I wasn't even reviewing my PrepTests until my instructor almost smacked me for not doing so. Probably started too late, but when I did my most significant improvement came.

That's the hard part: Reviewing. Time-consuming but has to be done, otherwise if you're trying to make big gains, taking a bunch of PTs without dissecting them are a waste of time.

[OUBobcat]

Beginning Day 1 of this guide today!

[Deuce85]

Is it broken down by day somewhere or did you just make you own schedule out of it?

[sfsplitter]

Is it broken down by day somewhere or did you just make you own schedule out of it?

i was wondering the same thing. how do the days break down?

[Deuce85]

Here you go splitter. Somebody posted this on a topic of mine. You have to pay but its only 20 bucks. http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/da ... uides.html

[tmon]

Is it broken down by day somewhere or did you just make you own schedule out of it?

i was wondering the same thing. how do the days break down?

It's easy enough to do yourself. Take the amount of work you want to accomplish and just start dividing it up by the number of days you have. If you're mainly drilling and then mainly testing, maybe aim to drill for 1/2 your time and test the second 1/2, then look at how many weeks you have and divide question types/passages/game types among the weeks, and then break down by day. It takes a little time, but it definitely helped me create a sustainable schedule from February through June.

[omeezy4sheezy]

I took a princeton review course and learned everything the 'princeton way', per se. Will that affect me negatively if I try and do pityhpikes plan for the next three months? I took a look at the LGB and the way they categorize stuff looks pretty different and foreign to me.

[funstuff]

In the guide, Pithypike says to spend 1 day taking a RC section, then 2 days reviewing. What did you guys do during those two days/how much time did you spend?

[TMC116]

In the guide, Pithypike says to spend 1 day taking a RC section, then 2 days reviewing. What did you guys do during those two days/how much time did you spend?

I have the same question. Two days of review seems like a lot. What exactly do you do during that time?

[eesana]

Pithypike: regarding the proposed study agenda for LG.. you have numbers between parentheses. what do they refer to?

[crimsonred]

I'm having difficulty understanding the latest editions of the books mentioned in here. Anyone care to help me out?

[gavinstevens]

"Pithypike: regarding the proposed study agenda for LG.. you have numbers between parentheses. what do they refer to?"

That's the number of each type of game contained in the ones you photocopy. (e.g. there's 23 balanced linear games in the 10 more books)

"I'm having difficulty understanding the latest editions of the books mentioned in here. Anyone care to help me out?"

Not sure specifically what's troubling you, but all of those books are available on amazon. This is an example of a "10 More" book: http://www.amazon.com/Next-Actual-Offic ... 410&sr=8-1

The exception is the Kaplan Mastery book, which you can find used various places on the internet. If you have trouble finding it, you can drill LR questions by type using this list: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 6&t=108425

[Easy-E]

Thoughts on condensing this plan down to a 2 month span (8 & 1/2 weeks). I'm guessing just make the first two months 3 weeks each, and the last month 2&1/2 weeks? Or is that not enough time dedicated to taking PTs? Would it be better to cut out some material instead of crunching it all in?


Edit: NM, found an answer back a few pages!

[thehannahband]

Ok, so which Kapal Mastery Book has everyone been getting?

Also is my interpretation of Pithy's directions correct?

LG- I need to make 3 copies of each logic game and then put them into their specific groups based on powerscores grouping. THEN I need to read the LGB chapter and do 3 of the corresponding games that I have photocopied?

So the first day say I'd do 3 LGs and review why I missed the answers I missed. Then like two days later I redo the same question while adding more new questions to my review? Is that correct?

LR- For this section I will read the appropriate LR chapter and then work on the LR in the matching Kaplan Mastery Book? Then I review why I got certain problems wrong, hoping that I will see some kind of pattern?

I have approximately 8 weeks before I take the Dec LSAT. How can I condense this down to 2 months? I already have a perfect score on almost all of the RC sections I've done so I'm not really worried about that section.

Thanks everyone for the help and clarification. Yes, I have read all 15 pages of this thread, but I would like some more input given that some of the responses are over 2 years old.

[thehannahband]

Pithypike seems to have been MIA for quite some time, so I'll just ask on here:

This may or may not have already been discussed but there are a heap of posts to read through. So......

Since the only Big Orange and Kaplan Mastery books on Amazon are all used, and I'm not sure if I'd want to purchase a used book with markings all through it, what would be a good substitute?

Thanks in advance.

http://www.cambridgelsat.com/product/lsat/by_bundle/83

LR, LG and RC bundles for tests 1-38, if you're willing to sacrifice that many tests to drilling (and I'm assuming if you're doing Pithypike, you probably are).

Yes I am following Pithypike's guide and thanks a lot.

Do these bundles come with explanations? Or would I be better trying to track down a mastery book

EDIT- could i just buy these LSAT Logic Games Solutions Manual: Complete Solutions to All Analytical Reasoning Sections from PrepTests 1-50 (Cambridge LSAT) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/145360 ... 1453605096

AND

http://www.amazon.com/LSAT-Logical-Reas ... =pd_sim_b5

[LSAT Blog]

Ok, so which Kapal Mastery Book has everyone been getting?

Also is my interpretation of Pithy's directions correct?

LG- I need to make 3 copies of each logic game and then put them into their specific groups based on powerscores grouping. THEN I need to read the LGB chapter and do 3 of the corresponding games that I have photocopied?

So the first day say I'd do 3 LGs and review why I missed the answers I missed. Then like two days later I redo the same question while adding more new questions to my review? Is that correct?

LR- For this section I will read the appropriate LR chapter and then work on the LR in the matching Kaplan Mastery Book? Then I review why I got certain problems wrong, hoping that I will see some kind of pattern?

I have approximately 8 weeks before I take the Dec LSAT. How can I condense this down to 2 months? I already have a perfect score on almost all of the RC sections I've done so I'm not really worried about that section.

Thanks everyone for the help and clarification. Yes, I have read all 15 pages of this thread, but I would like some more input given that some of the responses are over 2 years old.

Your interpretation of Pithy's directions looks good to me!

As for your other question, people use all different versions of the Mastery Practice book.

There aren't significant differences between those from different years - what typically varies between editions are the questions/PrepTests used, with small modifications from year to year. Some versions vary widely in page count, though.

You can take a look at what's available on Amazon here. Just be sure to get a copy that's described as having little-to-no writing in it.

[LSAT Blog]

Do these bundles come with explanations? Or would I be better trying to track down a mastery book

EDIT- could i just buy these LSAT Logic Games Solutions Manual: Complete Solutions to All Analytical Reasoning Sections from PrepTests 1-50 (Cambridge LSAT) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/145360 ... 1453605096

AND

http://www.amazon.com/LSAT-Logical-Reas ... =pd_sim_b5

The bundles don't appear to come with explanations, and the Kaplan Mastery book's explanations are lacking (they're the same explanations Kaplan gives out in its course, which often explain wrong answer choices as simply being "out of scope").

However, my site has a variety of detailed LSAT explanations covering most PrepTests available for PDF download.

[mgp2675]

I'm just confused as to which 3 "more LSAT tests" to buy because there are 4 on their website --> https://os.lsac.org/Release/Shop/Publications.aspx

Also, where do I find the 10 most recent PTs?

Sorry, I'm new here and trying to order this stuff ASAP.

[LSAT Blog]

Here are the 4 books of 10 PrepTests each (when pithy wrote his guide, only the 1st 3 books below existed):

10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests (PrepTests 7, 9-16, 18)

10 More Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests (PrepTests 19-28)

The Next 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests (PrepTests 29-38)

10 New Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests (PrepTests 52-61)

You can also get many of the PrepTests, including the newest ones, for instant PDF download. 62 and up are not yet in a book of 10.

Hope this helps!