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New post72 posts in the last 30 days
"Downtown petropolis boasted over 100 large buildings 5 years ago".
By poe I kind of am able to get to the answer E , bUT I don't understand why that is the answer.
Why "significantly fewer than 60"?? Is 100 the staple number of buildings for a healthy economy?
This question is the only one I do not understand...and I have seen it before!
I know it might have been asked a billion times before in a billion different ways. Here goes a billion and one.
Can someone give me some insight on the logistics of test day? It's the only aspect I'm nervous about. I feel like something I expect won't be present on test day, or something I didn't expect will be present, and it will throw me way off. Here's a few specific concerns?
A) can I drink during the test?
B) can I pee in a bottle if necessary, as to not waste time traveling to the bathroom?
C) can I chew a small piece of rubber, makes no noise?
D) is scrap paper at all permissible? I tend to need lots of space for LG questions.
E) how much space does the test booklet give for each LG set up to allow me to diagram and what not?
F) how will the proctor indicate time intervals?
G) can I track my own time?
H) can I track my own time with my cellphone? A watch?
I) can I stretch, stand up, or otherwise do other body movements to get the blood flowing, while taking the test?
J) can I make loud noises, and exercise, during the short breaks?
K) can I bring food, or a snack?
L) can I bring an extra source of light, such as a small lamp?
I have other paranoias (what if the room is stuffy? what if it smells horrible? what if there's someone I know in the room with me?), but these here listed are my primary ones.
Is the font just as large on the actual exam as it is when you print out PDFs?
Just wondering how valuable a retake score is. I took some later PTs (60s) back in March/April long before I discovered 7sage. If I thoroughly erase any writing on those tests, would I be able to get a decently accurate score? Should I give myself 30 mins per section instead of 35 to account for maybe remembering a question?
Thanks
So I've been at this LSAT thing for a while. One aspect of test-taking I am really struggling with is consistency. On my last round of testing leading up to June 2015 my PTs regularly fluctuated between 162 and 171. This round of prep honestly hasn't been much better, with scores ranging between 165 and 178. I've controlled for repeated content as well as testing conditions like location, noise level, etc.
What I am coming down to is that most of my issues are around focus and consistency. I'm trying a few new things to address this, and I was wondering if anyone with similar problems with test taking can weigh in here - what have you done to "get in the zone" and perform consistently on your PTs?
What I'm doing:
-Big Picture: Trying to be aware of how my week is going at work and in life in general, and proactively preventing any issues or concerns from creeping into my prep by getting really proactive about keeping work and life separate from test prep
-Routine: For my weekly practice tests, making sure I get a good night's rest on Friday night, wake up on saturday and go biking, then eating and get ready in my workspace for test. Usually start testing around 11am each time I test.
-Mindset: try to do a mini-meditation where I completely clear my mind before I actually start the test - this is usually only a 2-3 "quick meditation" exercise where I try to get absolutely clear in my head, then snap into test-taking mode
-Logic Games: Creating a template for how I will lay out every game, its game pieces, rules, etc. and stick to that setup for every game
-Logical Reasoning: Forcing myself to focus and spend adequate time on every question by instituting a mandatory "1 free skip" rule
-Critical Reading: Focusing more on text and less on marking my passages, although working on how to make this a consistency thing I can bring to my test taking
-Also crushing my flashcards to make sure I don't slack on fundamentals
7sagers - what are you doing to get in the zone and ready for your tests? How do you deal with, uh, absurd fluctuations in your score that you are pretty sure are not due to repeated content or bad test taking conditions?
Hey 7Sage,
When I was practicing some of the logic games, I found that a few of the video explanations had additional videos attached. When I watched those videos, I saw that JY was narrating them as the people in the videos were doing the questions in real time. I found this to be super helpful. One distinction that I struggle with are the techniques that I will actually be using when working through questions, versus the techniques shown in most explanation videos which are sometimes (for the purposes of teaching) drawn out and include way too many things being written to the side. I would love it if there were clear instructions as to what I will actually underline and actually note to the side when taking the real test. Also, seeing someone working the questions in real time and seeing how they do them is an awesome and very helpful perspective. I would love if every one of these problems sets that contained those videos was identified somehow on the syllabus, and I would love it even more if those videos existed for every problem set. Any chance that some of these are coming soon????
Hi,
Every time I try to watch an explanation video (excluding LG ones hosted on YouTube), I get an error message about the video player being unable to load, and that the file can't be found. So I try the flash player too but that also says the video can't be found.
This happens for every video I try - I'm running on a Macbook Pro all up-to-date, and this error occurs in both Safari and Chrome. Tried it on a different laptop to double check it wasn't just mine and got the same results. Please help, this is so frustrating and I need to learn! :(
I notice that I tend to get a bunch of easier LR questions wrong, which is incredibly frustrating. A lot of the time, the question type/category varies, so it's hard to pinpoint exactly. According to the analytic feature, though, my weaknesses are weaken and flaw questions mainly. I've already done the Cambridge drilling packets for those and I have improved but not as much as I was hoping I would. What else can I do, not only for these specific types, but for my LR performance overall? I know I can get -2/-3 with enough practice and focus but the question is how do I get there?
My average passage read time is 3:15.
My average passage question time is 5:15.
So, roughly 40% read time and 60% question time.
My average RC scores run from 17-21 correct answers.
I feel like I need to slow down a little on the read, because I find myself looking back for the "author would likely agree" and "what can we infer about author's attitude" type questions.
Is it reasonable to think that by slowing down on the read I can answer questions more quickly?
I'm just trying to figure out what conclusions I can draw with the info above to help me in my preparation.
Any help is appreciated.
So with about 6 weeks left until test day, it's time to start cracking down.
Now I am happy with my current PT average. However, it seems like a waste of time to just hammer preptest after preptest for the next 6 weeks, especially if I have no problems with timing and stamina. So I've been taking more time with Blind Reviews to try to bring my score up a couple of points.
But I think that I'm doing it wrong.
So, I'll write my preptest, and circle any questions that I hesitated on. I'll then use a clean PT and go through the questions thoroughly, writing down "A is wrong because ____, B is right because _____, C is wrong because ______". Im consistently BR'ing in the 170s (I don't BR my Reading Comprehension, because I don't really see a point as there is no consistency to the types of questions I get wrong. Perhaps this is a problem too).
If my BR is wrong, I'll watch an explanation on it. If I change my answer, I'll also explain to myself what I was thinking at first, and why it was wrong.
...but then once it's done, I don't really feel like I'm getting much out of it. I've done a BR like this for the last 4 tests now, and my scores have stayed relatively the same (165).
Should I save the questions and come back to them again on another day? Perhaps should I only save the questions I still got wrong after a BR (as it's probably not the best way to spend my time going through all of them over again)?
I just keep getting around the same score every time for every test. LG: usually 0 or -1, LR: average of -5/section, RC: average of -7.
I think I've hit a window with RC, but I'd really like to bring my LR up 2 points/section. Am I BRing right? Should I add something else to what I'm currently doing?
Thanks :)
http://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-40-section-3-question-18/
Between Answer Choice A and B. I am having some issues.
I am looking at this question thinking ok, Historians do not take the playwrights serious because they exaggerate how bad their own socieities are compared to other societies. So Shakespeare will say English society is evil and french society is meh or good.
This makes A look attractive but B too.
A is a good answer because if playwrights are more critical of their own society than others then they are being inaccurate of their portrayls and it would explain why Historians do not want to use them.
B is good because he is saying playwrights exaggerate the bad for dramatic reasons. The reason I eliminated B was because we do not really know that they exaggerate the "Weakness" of a society or that it is even viewed as a weakness. It does resolve the discrpenancy kind of but I felt A was way way stronger answer.
A says explicitly why historians don't take it serious and it resolves both issues. Historians don't take it serious because the playwrights are just more critical and the playwrights want you to empathisize so they are more critical of their own society.
For anyone who has ever had a huge jump in reading comp...what changed? I am struggling a lot with this section. I get like -12 in the section :((
Quick Question. I bought the starter coarse and it is set to expire let's say October 20th. If I upgrade to the next level to get more practice set's will it also extend my membership time past October 20th? And if it does add time onto my membership how much time is added?
Hello All,
My name is Erik Jimenez. I signed up for a free account just now. I’ve taken advantage of the YouTube material 7Sage provides for students seeking explanations for logic games and have found them extremely useful. Instead of reading the explanations from textbooks, I enjoy seeing the actual explanations.
I am writing this post because I am hoping someone out there will provide me some advise/recommendations for my LSAT Prep.
I started on this journey about 5 years ago. I was just finished with my junior year of undergrad and took a Blueprint summer LSAT course. Following Blueprint, I took a fall Kaplan LSAT course. I ended up not taking the LSAT and instead went to graduate school. Why you may ask? For one, I did not feel ready. Second, a great opportunity to teach while going to graduate school came up so I took it.
After I finished graduate school I took a repeat course through Kaplan. Again, I did not take the LSAT. I had just graduated with a master’s degree and was in dire need of a job. I finally landed my first real job out of college, and once again, I passed on the LSAT.
That same year I learned that I had been admitted to a fellowship, which provided an LSAT prep course, so once I finished the fellowship, I took TestMasters. Finally, I took the LSAT last October, but I cancelled my score. I paid a TestMasters tutor $500 for a few video chat tutorial sessions and prepared for the December exam. I took the December exam and scored a 145.
I applied to law school with that LSAT score. I was accepted to several law schools, which I would probably not have been accepted to if it weren’t for my GPA, personal statement, and extracurricular activities. Here is why I decided not to start law school this fall: I have a 3.93 undergrad GPA, 3.97 graduate GPA, I am an undocumented individual with a compelling personal narrative, and I really believe that despite the adversity I have gone through, which includes failing time and time again in my LSAT prep, I believe I can improve on the LSAT. I know I can.
I just scored an exam, which I took this evening and I am right where I left off in December. I scored a 146. It was my first exam since December. You might be asking, “What have you been doing this entire time and why did you just take your first practice test a month before the October LSAT?” Truth is, up until May of this year, I was still considering law school and had been applying for scholarships aggressively. Moreover, I work full-time and also mentor youth in my community so I am always busy. Also, my now ex-girlfriend who I broke up with less than a month ago is in graduate school so I spent most of this year helping her with graduate school, which included proof reading her papers, formatting papers according APA guidelines, and many other things.
I am hoping someone out there can help with the LSAT. Even if I could get up to the mid 150s, I would have better scholarship opportunities. As an undocumented student, I do not qualify for federal financial assistance, so it comes down to the LSAT if I want to receive merit scholarship awards. Please let me know if there is anything you can do to help me. That can be a package offered through 7Sage or some advise. I am determined, committed, and driven. I could have given up but will never give up on my dream of becoming an attorney. I also could have given up on the LSAT but I know I can do this. That is why I didn’t start law school this year. I wanted to give it one more try.
I will end this with the following quote: Be strong enough to stand alone, smart enough to know when you need help, and brave enough to ask for it. This quote speaks to me because I am know I need help and now have to courage to admit it and hopefully someone will relate to what I am experiencing and provide me with some help. Thank you all for your time.
Sincerely,
Erik
http://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-58-section-4-question-05/
OK. So I have a problem with this question. Sorry if this is a destructive mindset!
The conclusion states that because they are only interviewing people for the management consulting position from the top 1 percent of firms worldwide, then they can rest assured that their ultimate selection would be ONE OF THE BEST available.
To me that doesn't presume that ONLY THE BEST work at these firms. You can acknowledge that people who work at other firms are some of the best and even better that the ones who work at the firms in the top 1 percent but still rest assured that the ones who work at the top are one of the best at their job.
To me the flaw rested in the fact that they didn't specify what type of job the person had at one of the top firms. Maybe he could have been the janitor or something else completely unrelated to management consulting so that's why it can't be said that they are one of the best at that.
Any thoughts?
Hi All, I took my first lsat in December 2013 after 4 months of studying. I have a bad case of test anxiety and during the LSAT in December 2013 I freaked out and decided to cancel my score. To my horror, I received an email from LSAC three weeks later with a 145 test score. I thought it was a joke, but turns out my proctor didn't properly explain how we should fill in the cancellation bubbles and since it wasn't properly filled in LSAC counted the score. I took a year break since I had to plan my wedding and move overseas and now I am back in full swing on LSAT studying so I can retake the LSAT in October 2015. I think I have been able to suppress my anxiety, but I have been studying about 6-10 hours a day for the last month and a half (following 7sage and PTing religiously) and my highest PT score was only 153. I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and bummed with the reality of my scores and want to know if anyone has any suggestions on how to deal with this or if anyone has had similar experiences? With a month and a half to go before the exam I'm already thinking I need to take it in December -_-
Quick question:
I've taken some PTs since finishing the curriculum and consistently score at 164 but BR in the low 170s. How do I translate this discrepancy into appropriate adjustments to my study habits?
I'm pretty good with LR, often getting only -2 or -3 and having time at the end of sections to look over tough questions. LG is my worst section.. usually score -7 but get between -3 and -0 on BR.
Basically, does my BR score indicate decent fundamentals but a need to focus on timing and staying cool under pressure- especially during LG? Want to be consistently around 170 timed before I sit for the exam.
Thanks!
So I'm on my 15th PT now (just took PT50) and I've been noticing that the Logic Games section in the last like 8 tests I've taken PT43 - PT50 have all been listed on 7sage's score tracker as a difficulty of only 1/5. Is it typical for LSATs in later years also to consistently have easier logic games sections and more difficult LR and RC sections? Or is it pretty random and this has just been a crazy fluke streak of really easy logic games sections?
I'm just wondering because I used to do pretty spotty on logic games and would have a lot of variability in how many I missed in that section, but by the time I fixed it and was able to get much more consistent (I've thankfully gone -0 on the games for like 7 tests in a row now) I started to notice that the game sections themselves were actually easier too. Hoping that my skills haven't only been honed for the easier games or at least that what I've been practicing so far is representative of the typical relative difficulty of the section as a whole
I just redid the logic games for preptests 75 that I took live and panicked over causing me to cancel my test. I scored a 20/23 and 2 of the misses came on the ridiculous last game. Things I thought were difficult on test day were likely just missed inferences and overthinking. Good luck to everyone in October.
http://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-67-section-2-question-13/
I've no idea where to begin on this. Twas the only question I missed in the section.
Hi everyone,
I've been a 7Sager for quite sometime but just the quiet type. I've been studying on an off for this test for over 18 months now, juggling work and study just as many of you are. During this last stretch I've been performing my best: BRs in high 170s and timed PTs in the high 160s. but, I have a huge problem that i can't seem to control. During the course of preparing for this test I've noticed that as i pick up the pace with studying, i start to develop a situation where, I could read the same sentence ten times and not understand a word. It's almost as if someone turns of a switch in my brain and i go dark. when this happens, everything suffers: RC, LR, LG. I'm still able to BR pretty high but my timed PTs are horrible. I've tried reading hobby related material or something not LSAT involved but the trend follows.
This test surely brings out the best and worst of me.
If anyone out there could offer some advice i would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks.
PM
Hi 7Sagers,
It's David, the editor who's writing 7Sage's new personal statement bundle. I'm still looking for a couple "Why X School?" and addenda essays. Send them to info (at) davidbusis (dot) com. If I choose your essay, I'll edit it for free so long as I can use an anonymous version in the course.
Happy studying.
Hey guys,
I came across a main point question from preptest June 2004 Section 3 #23 "Each of many different human hormones can by itself raise the concentration of glucose in the blood"
I can't understand why the first sentence isn't the main point. I'm having a difficult time understanding why the second sentence, the sentence explaining the phenomena is the main point. This argument structure was very confusing to me..
Thanks so much in advance
Just thought I'd share some great news. Took preptest 38 yesterday and scored 166 and a 170 after BR, which is my highest score ever with 7sage or PS. I barely broke 160 with PS and I scored a 165 on 7sage on Preptest 36. Not that I had doubts, but this really just reinforces my love for 7sage and their techniques. For anyone having trouble or stressing out, just know that you will get better as long as you put in some effort. Just for reference, I scored a 156 on the June LSAT using PS after having studied for 3 months. I work full-time and was concussed in April playing hockey so the concussion symptoms and post-concussion symptoms made it tough to focus (which I didn't realize until just recently, I guess I now know what to sat to schools when I explain my one LSAT is higher, hopefully, than the other). Again, the reason I am sharing is just to encourage others, even if you have a lot of obstacles, a job, injury, etc., you can still score well, just work hard. Good luck!
Hello,
I had a few questions about my current prep and figured the answers might be helpful for some of the other retakers out there. Long story short I have been "flirting" with the LSAT for about a year now. I took a prep course last fall, bought the LSAT Trainer, took the 7sage course, canceled my feb score, and then grossly underperformed in June (164). That leaves me studying for October with my 3rd and final LSAT try with the high hopes of getting into a top 5 law school. I have taken pretty much every recent LSAT (2000 and up) and score on my PTS generally range anywhere from 171-177. With 6 weeks left I was wondering if you guys have any suggestions on what to do to be in peak performance for October 3rd. I also am curious what sort of time you think I should be putting in on a daily or weekly basis to avoid burnout but still improve my skills and stay fresh. My current plan was to review the 7sage course and the LSAT Trainer, train flash cards, do a couple of sections with BR every day, and take a PT on Saturdays. I was also thinking about taking sections and tests with a 30 or 32 minutes time frame in order to challenge myself. I also have considered taking 2PTs back to back to build stamina. Sorry for the long winded post, I am looking forward to hearing your responses. Thanks!
Jake