Do I stand a chance of hitting 170 at least in my PT's? Forum

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Madman

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Do I stand a chance of hitting 170 at least in my PT's?

Post by Madman » Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:28 pm

Okay so I have done 10 PT's (29-38) and my highest score thus far was 167 (and was my most recent test), lowest was 158 (first test) and average about 164/165. I plan on doing 14-15 more tests before Feb 6th.

Do you think I stand a reasonable chance of hitting 170 in my pt's before Feb 6th?

Any opinions are much appreciated.

Thanks

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MF248

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Re: Do I stand a chance of hitting 170 at least in my PT's?

Post by MF248 » Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:33 pm

It can be done. It will depend on how you study in addition to how much you study.

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JazzOne

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Re: Do I stand a chance of hitting 170 at least in my PT's?

Post by JazzOne » Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:33 pm

Don't waste them.

No1ustad

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Re: Do I stand a chance of hitting 170 at least in my PT's?

Post by No1ustad » Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:34 pm

yes! definitely. my avg practice test was about 167, with the highest (only one 170+) being 171. I scored a 173 on the real deal.

Madman

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Re: Do I stand a chance of hitting 170 at least in my PT's?

Post by Madman » Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:34 pm

MF248 wrote:It can be done. It will depend on how you study in addition to how much you study.
I plan to review every single PT for at least 2-3 hours

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Madman

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Re: Do I stand a chance of hitting 170 at least in my PT's?

Post by Madman » Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:36 pm

JazzOne wrote:Don't waste them.
Just curious, what would be deemed a waste of tests, do you mean taking them and not reviewing them?

vassarman

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Re: Do I stand a chance of hitting 170 at least in my PT's?

Post by vassarman » Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:37 pm

Madman wrote:
MF248 wrote:It can be done. It will depend on how you study in addition to how much you study.
I plan to review every single PT for at least 2-3 hours


The real key is to isolate the mistakes that you've been making--you'll probably notice that the types of questions that you miss are similar. For instance, if you find yourself losing points on Logical reasoning, take some time not only to drill those sections, but to study some basic logic--sufficient/necessary conditions, contrapositives, etc. If you are able to isolate your problem areas, there is no reason to think you won't be capable of an awesome score.

Madman

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Re: Do I stand a chance of hitting 170 at least in my PT's?

Post by Madman » Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:43 pm

vassarman wrote:
Madman wrote:
MF248 wrote:It can be done. It will depend on how you study in addition to how much you study.
I plan to review every single PT for at least 2-3 hours


The real key is to isolate the mistakes that you've been making--you'll probably notice that the types of questions that you miss are similar. For instance, if you find yourself losing points on Logical reasoning, take some time not only to drill those sections, but to study some basic logic--sufficient/necessary conditions, contrapositives, etc. If you are able to isolate your problem areas, there is no reason to think you won't be capable of an awesome score.
My main issue is LG & RC. I get approx -5/-6 in LG and -7 in RC. My intention is to do at least 4 LG's per day in the 4 weeks I have left in the hopes I can trim that score down. It is mainly just a speed thing for me (I have tough time finishing up the last game).

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MF248

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Re: Do I stand a chance of hitting 170 at least in my PT's?

Post by MF248 » Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:52 pm

Madman wrote:
vassarman wrote:
Madman wrote:
MF248 wrote:It can be done. It will depend on how you study in addition to how much you study.
I plan to review every single PT for at least 2-3 hours


The real key is to isolate the mistakes that you've been making--you'll probably notice that the types of questions that you miss are similar. For instance, if you find yourself losing points on Logical reasoning, take some time not only to drill those sections, but to study some basic logic--sufficient/necessary conditions, contrapositives, etc. If you are able to isolate your problem areas, there is no reason to think you won't be capable of an awesome score.
My main issue is LG & RC. I get approx -5/-6 in LG and -7 in RC. My intention is to do at least 4 LG's per day in the 4 weeks I have left in the hopes I can trim that score down. It is mainly just a speed thing for me (I have tough time finishing up the last game).
Try practicing in different ways too. Try timed sections. Try doing them untimed and get them all right. Make a section of 4 very hard games or 4 very hard RC passages.

Specifically something that helps w/ RC is to do a timed RC passage at the end of every one of your practice sessions. This way your used to tackling the densest part of the test when you're most fatigued.

Practicing well isn't just hammering through stuff until you get better. Try different methods so you target all the aspects you need to work on (Timing, diagramming, thinking etc.)

Compared to most people on this board I did very very little practice but I made sure what I did was actually useful and I ended up with a huge improvement in my score.

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missvik218

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Re: Do I stand a chance of hitting 170 at least in my PT's?

Post by missvik218 » Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:55 pm

Depends what you're stuggling with and how you plan on correcting it. There is a TON of LSAT prep information on this site, you should be able to find what you need. Good luck!

thegor1987

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Re: Do I stand a chance of hitting 170 at least in my PT's?

Post by thegor1987 » Mon Jan 11, 2010 5:56 pm

Madman wrote:
MF248 wrote:It can be done. It will depend on how you study in addition to how much you study.
I plan to review every single PT for at least 2-3 hours
This seems excessive amount of time to review a test, 2 to 3 hours!!!??? especially if your hitting 165's that is about 15 wrong, your flaw in reasoning should become apparent quickly upon review. Once it makes perfect sense why you got a question wrong there is no more need to spend extra time? If you get a 165 on a PT it should take no more than 15 min. to review your wrong answer choices. about a minute per question once you notice you overlooked a tricky little phrase, etc... It's not like you are reviewing a dissertation here

As for checking ones you got right, there should only be a few that you were 'unsure' of and you may want to go back to re-affirm your choice, but for the most part, you chose the correct answer choice for a reason and thus there is no need to go back to it when you could be using the precious time to solve more problems.

Madman

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Re: Do I stand a chance of hitting 170 at least in my PT's?

Post by Madman » Mon Jan 11, 2010 6:01 pm

thegor1987 wrote:
Madman wrote:
MF248 wrote:It can be done. It will depend on how you study in addition to how much you study.
I plan to review every single PT for at least 2-3 hours
This seems excessive amount of time to review a test, 2 to 3 hours!!!??? especially if your hitting 165's that is about 15 wrong, your flaw in reasoning should become apparent quickly upon review. Once it makes perfect sense why you got a question wrong there is no more need to spend extra time? If you get a 165 on a PT it should take no more than 15 min. to review your wrong answer choices. about a minute per question once you notice you overlooked a tricky little phrase, etc... It's not like you are reviewing a dissertation here

As for checking ones you got right, there should only be a few that you were 'unsure' of and you may want to go back to re-affirm your choice, but for the most part, you chose the correct answer choice for a reason and thus there is no need to go back to it when you could be using the precious time to solve more problems.
See, I have always heard that extensive review is essential, even more so than just doing the tests themselves.

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JazzOne

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Re: Do I stand a chance of hitting 170 at least in my PT's?

Post by JazzOne » Mon Jan 11, 2010 6:02 pm

Madman wrote:
JazzOne wrote:Don't waste them.
Just curious, what would be deemed a waste of tests, do you mean taking them and not reviewing them?
Yes. Not just reviewing them, but re-doing the games, analyzing the RC structures, pinpointing weaknesses. Also, use every test to work on pacing. Don't wait until the end to start thinking about timing.

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thegor1987

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Re: Do I stand a chance of hitting 170 at least in my PT's?

Post by thegor1987 » Mon Jan 11, 2010 6:14 pm

Madman wrote:
thegor1987 wrote:
Madman wrote:
MF248 wrote:It can be done. It will depend on how you study in addition to how much you study.
I plan to review every single PT for at least 2-3 hours
This seems excessive amount of time to review a test, 2 to 3 hours!!!??? especially if your hitting 165's that is about 15 wrong, your flaw in reasoning should become apparent quickly upon review. Once it makes perfect sense why you got a question wrong there is no more need to spend extra time? If you get a 165 on a PT it should take no more than 15 min. to review your wrong answer choices. about a minute per question once you notice you overlooked a tricky little phrase, etc... It's not like you are reviewing a dissertation here

As for checking ones you got right, there should only be a few that you were 'unsure' of and you may want to go back to re-affirm your choice, but for the most part, you chose the correct answer choice for a reason and thus there is no need to go back to it when you could be using the precious time to solve more problems.
See, I have always heard that extensive review is essential, even more so than just doing the tests themselves.
I agree review is essential, but it does not automatically mean that you have to spend too much time on it. The nature of the test is that wrong answer choices are made due to 'stupid little mistakes' especially if you are a high scorer, as you are, it comes down too silly misinterpretations or overlooking of slight details and tricky placements of words.

Even for RC you should only have to re-read a paragraph or two related to the question you got wrong.

inmans

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Re: Do I stand a chance of hitting 170 at least in my PT's?

Post by inmans » Mon Jan 11, 2010 7:01 pm

I did it, good luck

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klussy

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Re: Do I stand a chance of hitting 170 at least in my PT's?

Post by klussy » Mon Jan 11, 2010 7:52 pm

Madman wrote:Okay so I have done 10 PT's (29-38) and my highest score thus far was 167 (and was my most recent test), lowest was 158 (first test) and average about 164/165. I plan on doing 14-15 more tests before Feb 6th.

Do you think I stand a reasonable chance of hitting 170 in my pt's before Feb 6th?

Any opinions are much appreciated.

Thanks

Just keep doing LGs frequently until you're getting -0, with maybe some occasional -1 or -2s (careless errors).

Practice LRs, focusing on the difficult ones and what's throwing you off. Some of the past LRs were heavy on assumption questions, which were easy for me (I even hit 172 on one of those). But as of late, LRs are heavy on weaken Qs (my weakness..I'd eliminate 3 and get down to 2 that both kind of sucked), flaw, parallel reasoning, principle, function of a part of the argument (premise, subsidiary conclusion, etc.).

Let the RCs go...just be aware of "however" "furthermore" and other keywords. They steer you, the reader, through the passage, giving away the author's intention. For detailed questions, don't both getting those in advance. If they mention something technical, revisit those lines when the particular question calls for it.

fwiw, I got a 165 after underperforming on LRs (was overconfident I think) and doing my average on RC and LG.

good luck

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