June 2011 Study Group Forum

[tehrocstar]

Hey Soj - thanks for that review of MLSAT2 book! I think I might pick it up. I read through Atlas LR and now I'm seriously considering buying MLSAT2 LR. I've only skimmed, and delved into certain chapters in PS LRB, I'll read that first.

[coldshoulder]

I'm only up to about prep test 24, with about 6 weeks left should I jump forward to more recent tests? Or plan to do a huge number of recent test right before the real exam?

[jim-green]

Don't know how long you've been studying...if you're not comfortable with your timed scores. I guess you don't have to push it. Keep doing the untimed ones until you get somewhat better. Since you're taking it in June. What about giving yourself another half a month to figure out what's wrong and start timing from May 1st for a month....Just saying.

Thanks, that relieves me. I'll do tomorrow's PT untimed and see. I am comfortable with my timing. I did each of the 3 sections in 32 minutes yesterday, but many ans were incorrect. So, it's my accuracy I am not comfortable with, not my speed. Thanks, again.

[99.9luft]

I'm only up to about prep test 24, with about 6 weeks left should I jump forward to more recent tests? Or plan to do a huge number of recent test right before the real exam?

Yes, you should be in the 40s or at least 30s now, so that in May you can focus on trickier, 50s.

Tests in the 20s are pretty easy, IMO.

[coldshoulder]

I'm only up to about prep test 24, with about 6 weeks left should I jump forward to more recent tests? Or plan to do a huge number of recent test right before the real exam?

Yes, you should be in the 40s or at least 30s now, so that in May you can focus on trickier, 50s.

Tests in the 20s are pretty easy, IMO.

Thanks, I think I'll jump to the mid-30's, that way I hit the fifties at the end of May, right before the test.

[Eichörnchen]

How many PTs/week are you all planning on doing throughout May? What do you have planned for the week before the LSAT?

[coldshoulder]

I'm planning on doing 1 PT every three days in May (with lots of review), then the two weeks before 1 PT every day up until the day before the test, or if I feel too much burnout. Definitely take a break day before test.

[OhOkay]

Some people were asking/discussing RC review strategies earlier. So I don't have a strategy for reviewing per se (I mean, I just do the section again without knowing what specific questions I got wrong), but here's what I've realized works for me regarding timed RCs. I've realized that I do much worse on RC when I try to mark up the passage. It leads to me focusing WAY too much on absorbing the details, trying to categorize (and therefore actually anticipate, often inaccurately) "point-of-views" and "criticisms" etc. I end up losing the big picture in the process, and waste too much time.

(I think this is part of a pattern I am trying to undo. I tend to forget sometimes that acing this test is not about solving a logic game completely, or proving an answer correct, or memorizing a passage or stimulus. It is simply about answering the limited questions posed with as little work as possible. Anything more that I do is useless.)

Next few PTs I'm not going to mark up my RCs other than what comes completely naturally (underlining a tricky word, or just underlining cuz it feels good haha). I'll aim to skim the passage in 2 mins, get a sense of the overall structure, and then let myself only look up details once I get to a question that is about details. Let's see how it goes.

Best of luck to all of you.

[99.9luft]

Some people were asking/discussing RC review strategies earlier. So I don't have a strategy for reviewing per se (I mean, I just do the section again without knowing what specific questions I got wrong), but here's what I've realized works for me regarding timed RCs. I've realized that I do much worse on RC when I try to mark up the passage. It leads to me focusing WAY too much on absorbing the details, trying to categorize (and therefore actually anticipate, often inaccurately) "point-of-views" and "criticisms" etc. I end up losing the big picture in the process, and waste too much time.

(I think this is part of a pattern I am trying to undo. I tend to forget sometimes that acing this test is not about solving a logic game completely, or proving an answer correct, or memorizing a passage or stimulus. It is simply about answering the limited questions posed with as little work as possible. Anything more that I do is useless.)

Next few PTs I'm not going to mark up my RCs other than what comes completely naturally (underlining a tricky word, or just underlining cuz it feels good haha). I'll aim to skim the passage in 2 mins, get a sense of the overall structure, and then let myself only look up details once I get to a question that is about details. Let's see how it goes.

Best of luck to all of you.

yes and no.

i relate to the over-marking part making you run out of time and lose the bigger picture. Glad to have veered away from that bad habit.

However, skimming in 2 mins and jumping into questions is also dangerous because there are parts and twists of the overall flow you must absorb by reading everything, instead of just skimming. This is esp. true on the comparative passages, where the info is more tightly packed.

So ideally, i'd say, one must read the passage slow enough to understand the passage, but fast enough not to dwell on the irrelevant details and to see the bigger picture.

[geverett]

Crap it is 2:45 PM. Man the day has gone by fast.

[99.9luft]

Crap it is 2:45 PM. Man the day has gone by fast.

are you PTing or reviewing?

[Eichörnchen]

I'm planning on doing 1 PT every three days in May (with lots of review), then the two weeks before 1 PT every day up until the day before the test, or if I feel too much burnout. Definitely take a break day before test.

Sounds good. I was planning on taking PTs all the way up until Fri/Sat but I didn't know if it would be bad to do it too close, cause I don't want my PT review to bleed over into Sunday, cause I was planning on taking the day before the test off. I know some people say they plan to, or did, take the whole week before the test off because they think you get a bump after having a long relaxation period, but I think I'm too nervous to do that. It might feel really weird to relax for too long when I know the race isn't over yet.

[geverett]

I'm reviewing today. Doing a bunch of individual sections. Anybody care to explain in PT 57 RC passage 4 why D is wrong in 25 and why E is wrong in 27. This was a difficult passage.

[geverett]

Would love to hear everyone throw out their votes for most difficult LG and LR sections in PT 1 - 40. I will be doing 5 individual sections of each today after I finish up doing the same in RC.

[soj]

I haven't done 21-28 or 38-40, but the hardest LGs that I've done in that range are probably 20, 30, 31, and 35. As for LR, I don't remember individual PTs or sections, but I did the worst in 7, 8, and 29.

And for RC, 18, 19, and 20 were bad for me. I also had trouble with the multicultural education passage in 32, nonexclusion in 33, lamarckian evolution in 34, and vasopressin in 36.

[soj]

Hey Soj - thanks for that review of MLSAT2 book! I think I might pick it up. I read through Atlas LR and now I'm seriously considering buying MLSAT2 LR. I've only skimmed, and delved into certain chapters in PS LRB, I'll read that first.

Hey, no problem I think you'll find it as useful as I did. Definitely go over all of PS, too. It's the gold standard for a reason.

[geverett]

Just went -0 on my first section ever. PT 18 RC section 3. I am going to go over the things that could have easily gone the other way.

[Yassig]

Just went -0 on my first section ever. PT 18 RC section 3. I am going to go over the things that could have easily gone the other way.

Woohoo, go you!

[Kurst]

Hey Soj - thanks for that review of MLSAT2 book! I think I might pick it up. I read through Atlas LR and now I'm seriously considering buying MLSAT2 LR. I've only skimmed, and delved into certain chapters in PS LRB, I'll read that first.

If you bought the older Atlas LR book, Noah will send you the updated Manhattan one for free:

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 5#p4248707

Anyone who bought an Atlas copy before we released our 2nd edition is welcome to send us their receipt and we'll replace their book with a fatter one as a gesture of good will in these dark and stormy times (and we're now called Manhattan LSAT, though nobody seems to want to use that name).

[FloridaCoastalorbust]

Sounds good. I was planning on taking PTs all the way up until Fri/Sat but I didn't know if it would be bad to do it too close, cause I don't want my PT review to bleed over into Sunday, cause I was planning on taking the day before the test off. I know some people say they plan to, or did, take the whole week before the test off because they think you get a bump after having a long relaxation period, but I think I'm too nervous to do that. It might feel really weird to relax for too long when I know the race isn't over yet.

My plan is to take 15-20 PTs from May 1 to June 5. I plan on taking a PT or a couple drills either the day before or two days before but not grading anything. That way I get comfortable with it one last time and don't freak out due to a low score. I'll probably stay off TLS completely for the last 2-3 wks as well. Don't want high scorers (I'm looking at you soj ) to destroy my confidence.

[pkpop]

Hey everyone. Don't forget that there is a lesson tonight at 8PM EST with Matt. He will be going over RC questions and the incorrect answer characteristics. Hopefully this will help some of us spot those trick answers on the LSAT. Afterwards, we we either go over a couple RC passages to re-enforce the lesson or we will work on a few "Principle" LR questions from the homework set.

Seeya tonight.

[soj]

On break after doing two sections (LR1, LG) of 38 and S4 (LR2) of 30. Dayum, that was HARD. This could get ugly come scoring time.

[FloridaCoastalorbust]

Man some of these earlier tests have such forgiving curves. I.e. 87 Raw = 172 scaled on 23

[geverett]

I haven't done 21-28 or 38-40, but the hardest LGs that I've done in that range are probably 20, 30, 31, and 35. As for LR, I don't remember individual PTs or sections, but I did the worst in 7, 8, and 29.

And for RC, 18, 19, and 20 were bad for me. I also had trouble with the multicultural education passage in 32, nonexclusion in 33, lamarckian evolution in 34, and vasopressin in 36.

Cant believe this, but I just went - 1 on PT 36 RC. However, I believe I got somewhat lucky. Vasopressin was a bitch, but I felt worst about the 2nd passage regarding Latin influence on Renaissance England. That is where I went -1. Seriously at the end of reading it I considered cutting my losses, and moving onto the 3rd passage. I will thoroughly review this after a 10 minute break.

[soj]

That was brutal.

PT38

LR1 -2
LG -1
LRe (PT30 S4) -2
RC -6
LR2 -1
Raw -10
Scaled 172

Complete shitshow. Everything fell apart, though at first glance it looks like only RC was a disaster. LG was one of the toughest I've faced, LRe felt really hard, RC was an unmitigated disaster (2/6 on historical sociology LOL), and while LR2 felt like a breeze, that was probably because I'd encountered most of the questions yesterday in the MLSAT book. This is a PT I'm strongly considering redoing down the line.

2/6 on a passage? Really?!?