Hey 7Sagers!

I am reaching out through this forum to ask for some advice. I am a Canadian student and I wrote the LSAT-Flex in July 2020. I scored a 171, but now I am wondering if I should rewrite.

Here are some facts about my case:

So my question is essentially should I rewrite the LSAT to get a better score? Am I being unrealistic with my target schools with this score?

Thanks so much for any help you can provide!

For some reason, I'm having a lot of trouble with Main Point questions for RC. I read about a strategy that involved trying to identify how many paragraphs the AC for a Main Point question encompasses to help narrow down between several options.

However, I've just run into an issue with PT 74 RC Passage 2 Question 9, where the correct AC completely skipped a paragraph in which the author laid out several reservations regarding the effectiveness of a technique he discussed in the rest of the passage. I had eliminated that AC on my first passed using the passage structure technique, so I'm skeptical that it's a good approach.

I'm curious about I) how much a correct AC can overlook for main point questions? 2) any suggestions or techniques you might have for choosing between two answer choices for RC when stuck.

Thanks!

Hi guys. I am taking my LSAT tomorrow and honestly do not know what to expect. My score fluctuates so much every single test and I don't know what this means. For example, Monday I took a test and got a 157. Yesterday I took one and got a 165 (my highest ever)! But I am fluctuating between 157-165 now and I just don't know what to expect for tomorrow. I want to score at least a 160 but I am freaking out. Does anyone know why such big fluctuations may be happening?

English isn't my first language, and therefore I tend to read a bit slower than the average native speaker in order to fully comprehend what I'm reading. As a result, I usually find myself barely able to complete the RC section on time, and on average getting -4 to -6 from RC during PTs. This problem occasionally occurs during LR as well, but I find it most common for RC.

As a result, I've started to mix up the order in which I do the four RC passages, starting with the one with most questions, and (barely) ending with the one with the fewest questions. Does anyone know if this method is a good idea? And does anyone have any other good tips on pacing during RC? Thx

This was my second LSAT experience. I was supposed to take it yesterday, but I had a nightmare experience with internet connection and an unhelpful proctor so I took it this morning.

I deal with severe, diagnosed anxiety, thus I use accommodations. Yesterday I felt so calm and ready, and things going wrong really shook me. I practiced a lot of yoga, breathing, mindfulness, and self care to get just reset and try today.

My test order was LR-RC-LG

I am not sure what went wrong but halfway through the 1st LR section I had a panic attack. I managed to answer as much as I could, but had about 10-11 LR questions flagged. I usually miss 3-7 there in practice. I cried a little bit during the break, then I did my yoga, breathing, mindfulness again to regroup myself. I felt better after taking my time sitting down and doing the reading section. I saw a lot of people say it was very hard. It wasn't terrible as I expected, but one prompt was difficult for me (which is fine RC is usually my weakest). I had about 8 questions flagged there that I just was not sure about... (of course I may get other things wrong since Idk why RC is my toughest).

I took my other break and my LG felt pretty awesome. I feel confident about every answer I gave. I know sometimes people can get answers wrong due to over confidence, but it did feel easier than normal.

I think i easily missed 20-25 questions during this test. Unfortunately, score preview isnt an option for me, since I took my test the first time in May. I'm not sure if I should cancel?? My first score was a 151. I was trying to get a higher score (higher 150's - best case 160's). The calculators make it seem worst case it would be the same score? Idk what to do..

I am URM with a disability and low income. I felt a lot of pressure to get a higher score for scholarships, but never been the best standard test taker. I worked super hard for a year now and my practice tests improved from a 128 to my best PT 161. My average test scores from the past 9 practice tests have averaged about 155. All of my counselors say that my resume is very extraordinary and will help me stand out. My Undergrad GPA was a 3.58 from a top 20 school.

Sorry this is long I just wanted to give context. I am afraid to cancel it because what if it is slightly higher score than 151. I am also afraid if I don't cancel it, will a score lower than 151 hurt how I'm perceived by the schools?

#HELP

So I didn't purchase a score preview for the August test. I want to purchase it now if its still possible, but I cannot find where on LSAC the option to purchase it is. Does anyone know if I can still buy the score preview, and if so where on LSAC? I went through the whole website.

Thanks

I can't distinguish between A and E- I originally chose A and then overthought it in BR and chose E. #help

Admin Note: Edited title. For RC questions, please use the format: "PT#.S#.Q# (P#) - brief description of stimulus."

I don't understand how B is wrong; I understand how D is the correct answer and I went back and forth, but ultimately thought that the argument had no basis if they couldn't use recycled materials in the first place?? I get why D is the best choice, but I can't articulate or figure out why B is wrong #help

Hey 7Sagers,

Here's the official August 2020 LSAT-Flex Discussion Thread.

**Please keep all discussions of the August 2020 LSAT-Flex here!**(/red)

Rules:

❌ You can't discuss specific questions. 🙅‍♂️

You CANNOT say things such as the following:

I picked C for both during the timed run and blind review.

I read from another post that C is wrong because it's mixing up the sufficiency and necessity condition but I'm still not seeing that this is the case.

In the last sentence of the stimulus it says, "Clearly then to maintain military deterrence, a nation would have to be believed to have retaliatory power so great..."

I translated this sentence to MD --> Belief and I thought it was bi-conditional.

Belief --> Military deterrence

Military deterrence --> Belief.

Is this the wrong way to translate that sentence? I can see how D is correct but I'm not able to eliminate C because of this confusion.

Could someone clarify this little bit more?? Thank you!

In a sufficient assumption question (and also, I could imagine the scenario w/ "which of the following would justify" questions or strengthen questions), if the stimulus contains a set of statistics, can the answer be "the stated statistics are correct"? It seems like this can never be the answer. I know that premises can't be directly attacked in a weaken question. So it seems that directly affirming a premise (and adding no other info) wouldn't be something that the testmakers would do on the reverse side.

In other words, does a necessary assumption of an argument strengthens the argument? For example, if a stimulus argue that environmental factors caused X instead of genetics, would an answer choice like “environmental factors can sometimes cause X,” which I think is a NA, be strengthening the argument? I honestly think it does, though not much, since it shows that the argument is possible. And if it does, do all NA strengthen it’s pertaining arguments?

Would anyone be available/willing to help me diagnose what I need to work on in RC? I'm stuck at around -6 and trying to bring the average down in the last month before the October test.

Thanks!

Hey all, I was wondering how people are going about writing notes or low resolution summaries for RC on a flex format. It's not possible to type any notes alongside the passage, is it? I've only seen the highlight ability, which I do find useful. I also don't have a stylus or stylus-friendly laptop.

I've been scoring increasingly high on my practice tests lately, driven mostly by the fact that I've managed to get my Logic Games errors down to zero. However, looking at my analytics, I've realized that many of the tests I've taken recently have had LG sections rated only one or two stars out of five for difficulty. I'd like to practice on more difficult LG sections so I know that I'm not just taking easy sections, but I can't seem to find any (unless I'm mistaken, you cannot view the difficulty rating of a section until after you've taken it).

Does anyone have any recommendations for which tests have the hardest Logic Games sections? It seems as though the vast majority of these tests have very easy games, and I don't think that this is due 100% to my skills increasing. Are there LG sections rated 4 or 5 on the difficulty scale? Is there a way to see difficulty ratings before taking the test? Thank you very much for any help you can give me.

Fairly new to 7Sage and still trying to figure everything out so bear with me. I just finished a LR (main point/main conclusion) problem set I created on my own and was looking for video explanation of the ones I got wrong after BR. Can I find that anywhere? Thanks!!

Specifically looking for PT1 S3 Q13.

I have written the August LSAT and am on the fence on how I feel. I’ve read up on cancelling your score, but I’m wondering if anyone has perspective on cancelling a score and doing the test again vs keeping your score and taking the test again.

If one takes it again and improves, does it matter if the first time shows a lower score versus a cancelled score?

Can someone please share an example of using the logical indicator "or" from the negate sufficient group? Thanks!

I noticed that JY sometimes chains certain "some" "most" and "all" statements for MBT LR questions. Does anyone know where he explains the logic? It mostly makes sense but i want a better explanation than just winging it.

Hey, whats up.

I am taking the LSAT in October and reading comprehension is by far my worst section. I could use any tips that has helped you so I could try and see if it helps me. I am generally getting -10 to -13 per section. I would love to get that down before I actually take the exam.

Thanks

Hi everyone,

I am feeling really discouraged. My diagnostic was a 145 and did not change substantially until I did 7sage. Last week, I got a 156, which was AMAZING to me, and I couldn't believe it. Now my score has only gotten worse: I got a 154, then a 149, and today I got a 147. This has all been in the span of a week or so. I'm very sad and I was planning on taking all of Friday off to relax, and do some drills today in my problem areas. Saturday is August LSAT Day.

What do you guys think? Is this a good idea? Any words of advice or encouragement? It's hard to not feel hopeless. I'm really hoping to get into the 150s so I don't have to go through this again, and I think that is what is making me so anxious.

EDIT: Would like to note that I have essentially cherrypicked my needs in the CC, because I definitely did not have time to do all of it, as much as I would have loved to. I started using the LSAT Trainer and studied very inconsistently, but it wasn't until July that I started really picking up on concepts and stuff. I know that my situation is less than ideal, but I think it's important for the full context to be here too. Please don't be harsh, as I know what I should have done.

I've been going over correlation causation and it's closely related cousin phenomenon hypothesis arguments and I realized a very important distinction. Phenomenon hypothesis (hereafter known as PH) deals with cause and effect whereas correlation causation deals with cause and effect over time. Here's why this is important:

Nicole Hopkins has a great webinar in the 7sage archives about weakening and strengthening arguments. She says we can strengthen arguments by showing more data that A->B, block an alternate explanation C->A&B, or block no relation between A and B. I'd like to additionally state that chronology can impact an argument as well. If we say A->B, staying that A did indeed come before B strengthens the argument. If B came before A how could A->B?

The important concept I realized was that in many PH questions the above methods don't cut it. In 70.1.6, 70.1.12, and 80LR1.23, we need to use a different approach: if cause, we want to see the effect. If no cause, no effect.

The arguments say "here's a phenomenon, here's my hypothesis." This is implying a casual relationship between A and B. But if I show the effect with no cause, what happens to the hypothesis? It's weakened. If I show your cause with it's effect, this strengths. Too, "no cause no effect" is a very subtle way of strengthening an argument.

Hi there,

This will be my 3rd time writing the LSAT, I switched to 7sage in the middle of studying for my second exam and love it, it has been way more descriptive/helpful. I have a question; visually writing down the SA + Pseudo questions does not help me (translating it into lawgic). In fact, I find it takes me more time and confuses me way more. I usually can get about 50-80% of the questions right (depending on the day) by just working it out in my head and eliminating answer choices. Is this bad? Should I re-do the whole translations portion of the course to better understand it going forward? I know some people have their reservations on this...Any suggestions would help! PS. I am aiming for the November exam as I was waitlisted at 4 schools (now 3 as one school emailed me and advised they are full).

Regardless of the overall difficulty of an LR section, I seem to always miss exactly 2 or exactly 3 questions. Easiest, hardest, doesn't matter. Even more frustrating is that one of them is usually a level 3 difficulty, and something I get immediately on BR and wonder "why the hell did I choose X over (correct) Y?"

In general, these incorrect choices are usually the result of me reading a convincing (but incorrect) answer choice wrong. I usually know in the moment that something is off, but I don't figure out the "why" in time.

How can I eliminate these fringe misreads that are keeping me from a higher score? What internal monologues can help me read answer choices correctly when I'm doubtful of my first interpretation?

I didn't realize it at the time, but what I considered to be my proactive, go-get-em study technique of making my own problem sets of Logic games to practice has now spoiled almost ALL of the practice tests I have access to! Doing the games in the test, I keep coming across ones that I have done before. Beating myself up right now, I wish I had thought to check if they were the games from the Ptests I was going to take in the future. It's still good practice, but I don't think my scores are genuine. Not sure what to do :(