Hi everyone, Just curious how everyone is doing the problem sets. I am reluctant to actually mark up the preptests used for the problem sets as I don't want to ruin them to use as preptests. How are you guys doing this? I can see that it is slowing me down by not writing on them (taking notes & marking the premise and conclusion) because I find myself having to go back and re-read and trying to memorize more instead. How are you guys doing this? Are you making notes on a separate piece of paper or something?

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33 comments

  • Tuesday, Oct 6, 2015

    @sheridickson10526 If so did you just eliminate all of those practice test sections from your actual pool of practice tests or the whole exams?

    Correct—however, if I could do it all over again, I would at least take those tests as timed sections to get in the extra timed skills training. So if I were you, I would take all of the sections of PT's used for drilling as timed sections before you drill from them. But just drilling/not taking as PT's is totally fine as well—it's just that once you basically run out of PT's like I did, you kinda wish you could get some of them back.

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  • Tuesday, Oct 6, 2015

    @sheridickson10526

    said:

    I am reluctant to actually mark up the preptests used for the problem sets as I don't want to ruin them to use as preptests.

    I have exactly the answer you're looking for.

    Seriously—for the first 9 months or so of my prep, it was just me, my 10 Actuals, and my pink eraser. I took and retook tests, took and retook drills, etc.

    Furthermore, I generally recommend taking PT's you want as actual tests before you drill from them. Nothing is less helpful early in prep than inflated scores, and drilling before PT'ing a test will inflate your score.

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    @2543.hopkins For drilling, yeah, like, do 4 RC passages in 35 minutes or whatever. You're incorporating timed practice into your drilling. Problem sets are the same thing as drills as far as I'm concerned.

    Two questions:

    Would you suggest I purchase the LG, LR & RC bundle packs for tests 1-38 from CambridgeLSAT so I can begin incorporating problem sets/drilling into my studying?

    Are there problem sets in the actual curriculum that we can download to also use for drilling, so far I'm not far into it (just enrolled yesterday) and haven't seen any

    Thanks.

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    @sheridickson10526 I might start pulling those apart to start using them as part of my experimental 5th section

    Sure!

    @sheridickson10526 I wish the Syllabus here on 7Sage was organized a little differently so that I could have completed those PTs before getting to the sections of the problem sets including those parts of the PTs. I didn't realize it in time.

    You haven't missed out on anything. I'm talking about a pie-in-the-sky ideal situation. I didn't do what I'm recommending and I've done just fine. Don't stress. There are many ways to (s)skin a cat(/s) (s)annoy @7sagestudentservices (/s) master the LSAT.

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    @sheridickson10526 I'm just trying to make sure I have new tests that I haven't worked on before so I can get an accurate PT score to know how much further I need to come on improving my score

    7sage doesn't use 36-75 for drilling. I really wouldn't worry about needing to take more tests than 36-75.

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  • Tuesday, Oct 6, 2015

    I don't know if this will help. But I continue to make photocopies. I have a binder. It has one clean version on the PT so I will also have one then I makes copies of the test when I time, when I BR, and when I review sections. I put those versions in the binder behind the clean version and then I make note to see which one I always get wrong and which one I improved on.

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  • Tuesday, Oct 6, 2015

    Forget that eraser! If I'm retaking I'll just go thru and circle all the answers so I don't know which one I initially selected. Or if I crossed out AC I'll just go through and cross them all out. When I'm doing my retake my new answers will usually be to the left of the letter. I'll just mark with a "." if I intend to come back to that AC and I'll cross out AC that I've eliminated. Those usually end up looking like "x" on the retake because I've already marked them all out in one direction on the first take. I've reused tests about 3-4 times this way. It may seem confusing but it works for me. I could always see my previous answers when trying to erase. Guess I write too hard??

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  • Tuesday, Oct 6, 2015

    Thanks Nicole, I agree I don't want inflated scores when I do practice tests. Did you do the problem sets that JY uses in the RC section? If so did you just eliminate all of those practice test sections from your actual pool of practice tests or the whole exams? If so just from the RC section alone it would eliminate about 14 possible exams or sections of exams to use when I start doing timed full practice tests.

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  • Thursday, Oct 8, 2015

    Y'all are crazy... PDFs FTW!

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  • Thursday, Oct 8, 2015

    Here you go @2543.hopkins. These were probably first taken over a year ago. Each has been taken 3x as indicated by the"_", "/", or "O". Sometimes I might even use an "." Thanks @7sagestudentservices.

    http://imgur.com/a/iDKub

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    @tanes25413 msg your email address. I don't know how to upload a pic o here

    http://imgur.com

    Copy the link to the image after to here.

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    @2543.hopkins msg your email address. I don't know how to upload a pic o here.

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    Does anyone mind answering my question in this thread:

    http://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/4650/question-regarding-memory-method

    It went unnoticed and I'd like to fully understand the technique :)

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    @harrismegan369 At this point, before the December exam, I was thinking of doing 1 timed, 4 passage RC section a day with a BR. In the BR, really identifying where the right answer was in the passage and what tripped me up about picking the incorrect answer. Not only that, but going over the passage to look at the structure/similarities with other passages.

    This seems like a good plan to try. Might I also advise a nice 15-minute guided meditation before each timed section to get centered. I have found that my biggest problem is that my mind is so worried about the next thing I’m about to read that I’m not really present to what I’m actually reading in the moment.

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    @7sagestudentservices the strike made it look like "skin a eat annoy Dillon A. Wright" and I was just sitting there like... I am probably not tasty.

    LOL LOL

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    @2543.hopkins

    skin a cat

    annoy

    @7sagestudentservices

    the strike made it look like "skin a eat annoy Dillon A. Wright" and I was just sitting there like... I am probably not tasty.

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    I have a question with respect to improving RC ability.....

    At this point, before the December exam, I was thinking of doing 1 timed, 4 passage RC section a day with a BR. In the BR, really identifying where the right answer was in the passage and what tripped me up about picking the incorrect answer. Not only that, but going over the passage to look at the structure/similarities with other passages.

    Is this a good strategy? I once read someone write that they just did drilling of RC passages over and over again.

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    @2543.hopkins My preferred method of finding the Q's I used to drill/PS was to get a nice stack of post-its and mark in my 10 Actuals book the Q's for that assignment/set of PS's.

    Can you expand on this? Are you saying you would post a sticky on whatever pages in your books had questions of the same type and then would go back to work through them once you've accumulated multiple questions?

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    @leoa1994687 Are there problem sets in the actual curriculum that we can download to also use for drilling, so far I'm not far into it (just enrolled yesterday) and haven't seen any

    Check out your question table under Resources. Probably not for downloading but at least for on-screen access.

    And, again, 10 Actuals books are your friend.

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    @leoa1994687 Are there problem sets in the actual curriculum that we can download to also use for drilling, so far I'm not far into it (just enrolled yesterday) and haven't seen any

    There are. You're just not to that point in the curriculum yet. You can't miss em!

    @leoa1994687 Would you suggest I purchase the LG, LR & RC bundle packs for tests 1-38 from CambridgeLSAT

    I'm not personally a fan of these as they're EXTREMELY expensive. I advocate purchasing the 10 Actual books and a nice eraser because I finance this whole LSAT study process myself. But if you've got money to burn, by all means, spend it on whatever your heart desires. Cambridge packets are FAR from necessary and, as I said, I personally have no reason to recommend them.

    My preferred method of finding the Q's I used to drill/PS was to get a nice stack of post-its and mark in my 10 Actuals book the Q's for that assignment/set of PS's. I did that for about 7-9 months of study. And I even re-used the Post-its. I went through Mike Kim's drilling schedules for 2 versions of his 16-week study schedules (that's a damn lot of Q's, at least as many as 7sage U+).

    And don't forget to take your diagnostic :D

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    Thanks everyone those are great tips & Nicole it's great to know that 36-75 should be safe without having to skip around the syllabus guess I will go back and do my BR on the RC section now then from the problem sets. Also can someone please explain the difference between drilling and doing the problem sets. I'm not sure if I have actually done what you consider drilling yet? I've worked through the syllabus to the end of RC just have to do my BR on that section.

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    @tanes25413 Will you post a pic of one of these tests in which you've used this method for "3-4" retakes? Just curious how this looks having retaken it so many times with no erasing.

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    Thanks Nicole, I was trying to understand what the difference is between drilling and problem sets. I noticed in the game sections JY seems to be using some of the earlier games that I haven't purchased, so I'm thinking going through that section (unless that changes) should be fine. I haven't used 19-28 except for the RC problem sets & the same with 29-38, I think I still have most of the 50s, and 60s. Holding onto the 70s I have until the last couple of weeks before the LSAT. Since some the 20s & 30s are kind of wasted as I started going the problem sets first I might start pulling those apart to start using them as part of my experimental 5th section. I wish the Syllabus here on 7Sage was organized a little differently so that I could have completed those PTs before getting to the sections of the problem sets including those parts of the PTs. I didn't realize it in time.

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    @tanes25413 If I'm retaking I'll just go thru and circle all the answers so I don't know which one I initially selected.

    @tanes25413 It's def not as complicated as it sounds.

    ... Sure ...

    You do you, I guess.

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  • Wednesday, Oct 7, 2015

    @leoa1994687 problem sets/drilling/PT

    These are different things.

    Do NOT take PT's 36-75 until you have finished the curriculum.

    For drilling, yeah, like, do 4 RC passages in 35 minutes or whatever. You're incorporating timed practice into your drilling. Problem sets are the same thing as drills as far as I'm concerned.

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