Hi,

I was wondering if "provided that" is a necessary or sufficient assumption indicator? (Please see below)

You will appreciate cultural differences "provided" that you reflect on your own civilization.

How about "contingent on", "assuming that", "as long as"?

Thanks

Can you solve this or is this invalid

A - (some) - B

B - (all) - c

I've missed nearly every single Evaluate question I've come across. How are we supposed to approach these? Is there a list of all the evaluate questions anyone can share for drilling?

Format Edited by Admin #HELP My goal for the LSAT is to score in the 160 range. Honestly just anything above 160. Currently I have not seen much improvement on my practice exams. I am worried that my self-studying has not been effective thus far as I was only using the powerscore bibles up until this point. With less than a month left until the September test date (that I am currently registered for) I am wondering if I should postpone my exam until November. What would everyone suggest? I AM FREAKING OUT!

Admin note: Please refrain from using "#" at the beginning. The character "#" indicates a subheading: Markdown

Hey all,

i've been realizing I get around 2-3 wrong per section in LR that are due to overconfidence errors.

i usually kinda go through these questions quite fast/think they're relatively easier.

When I see I got them wrong during review, I realize that it's often a common trap AC that I've just been easily duped for. This may happen because there's an attractive trap AC that is right in all areas except the scope is wrong.

Or if it's a NA question, I'd pick the SA answer rather than the NA answer.

Overall, I can kinda live with getting 5 star curve breaker questions wrong.

But getting these relatively easier/medium difficulty questions as overconfidence errors is a real pain in the butt.

Any advice on overcoming and preventing overconfidence errors in LR?

I've seen a lot of advice on ppl addressing under confidence errors -- by being more reckless, aggressive, etc. But I haven't seen too much on addressing overconfidence errors.

Most of the time when I review JY's videos for the LR questions I get wrong I completely understand the right answer. Its like I get smacked in the head - I mean, duh, the right answer is so obvious. Rarely do I review a wrong answer that I don't understand and it makes me wonder why I can't see it when I'm first doing the question. My guess is that I'm at fault with these:

Is there anything else that I'm missing?

hey all,

so i've been struggling with overconfidence errors in RC. I average about -5/-6 timed RC, and -2 for BR.

Of the -5/-6 timed, 3 of them are overconfidence errors

those errors are usually where i pick one answer choice, and am pretty sure, and sometimes don't read the other answer choices.

other times it's that i get tricked by a trap AC.

any one have any advice??

it's always tough to balance timing with accuracy with RC, as well as to find that sweet spot of not being overconfident but also not being under confident. should i more intentional in trying to eliminate wrong AC's for more questions?

any advice or suggestions would be appreciated. thank you!

Alright guys so I used to be good at flaw questions and now I have realized after taking my last PT I lost my edge. Does anyone have suggestions? I am planning on review the different flaw types but does anyone have something that matches the different flaw types with the answers that have actually show up on the LSAT? This really killed my score on the last PT...

RC seems easy on many passages, but when Science comes up and all these crazy words are thrown around, I get lost and frustrated. Any keys or tips to overcome this? I can never seem to wrap my head around whatever I am reading.

hey all,

so i see JY implement a strategy for comparative RC. I think I get the gist of it, but just wanted to confirm, and would love for any correction/advice/input.

So it seems when JY sees a comparative passage, he first looks at the questions to see which questions only address that ONE SPECIFIC passage (A or B). If he sees like 3 questions that solely ask about B, he'll read passage B first.

He'll then answer those 3 specific questions that are only about Passage B. He'll then go to the other questions and try to eliminate certain answer choices if he can. For some questions, he can't eliminate any

After this, he reads passage A, and then goes back to the remainder of the questions and finishes them.

Is this the correct strategy for comparative RC?

Thanks everyone.

I am absolutely terrible at RC. I can't finish all 4 passages and even without finishing all 4, I still get quite a lot of questions incorrect. Any RC tips? I'd appreciate any tips. I tried notations but I found that it slowed me down because I was spending too much time trying to figure out what was important enough to circle or put into brackets.

In explaining why the AC was correct for a particular Necessary Assumption question, JY said: "This answer choice is great because it states the assumption in a weak way. For Necessary Assumption questions, the LSAT writer's are weary of using language that is too strong... because if they write something that is too strong, it's not necessary."

I can just accept the italicized statement as true and move on but does anyone care to expand on this and explain why it is so?

For reference, the correct answer choice said "can be" (as opposed to, perhaps, "must be").

I understand why conditional language is an indicator of a Sufficient Assumption correct AC (because it bridges premise A to conclusion B ) but I am not fully grasping why, as JY mentioned, we should steer clear from conditional language or language that is "too strong" within Necessary Assumption answer choices.

Lately I've been noticing that when practicing LR, I'll almost always find the correct answer while doing BR but I still get 2-4 wrong a section while under timed conditions. Most of the time it won't even take too long to notice my mistake. Am I supposed to assume that this is a timing issue rather than a misunderstanding of the material? Should I be focusing on my timing and test strategy? If anyone has an insight into this please let me know. Thank you.

Hello. Whew, first post. It’s been awesome ghosting everyone because I’ve learned so much.

In April I took a 4-part diagnostic and got a 150. I’ve since enrolled in the 7Sage prep course and have scheduled for September. Realistically, how much improvement can I expect before the test?

As the September test date is fast approaching I find myself feeling more and more anxious. I wrote the June sitting and did better than I usually do on the LG section (-3), while scoring average on the LR and RC, ending up with a 159.

Now that I am back to studying and PT-ing I am feeling more anxious that my September score will not improve, or may go down compared to June due to my better than expected score in the LG section. I really want 165+ and am super tense/anxious thinking about it all the time!

Any tips other than to just blind review and practice as much as I can?

Hi Everyone! I hope you all are enjoying this beautiful summer!!

I want to maximize my chance of getting in Columbia law, but I'm having trouble deciding on the two options I have here. I hope you guys can kindly offer me some advice! And many thanks in advance!!!!

I am considering either apply early, say in October, or bet on a boost on my LSAT score. (I'm probably not going to consider ED because the stats in 2015 shows that Columbia doesn't favor ED applicants, according to http://admissionsbythenumbers.blogspot.com/2015/05/to-ed-or-not-to-ed-2015-edition.html)

I was quiet surprised when I received a score of 170 from my July LSAT. It was my first time taking the LSAT, and my average prep-test score was around 168 before my actual exam. Because of that I still have around 20 clean/fresh prep test saved for my second test, which I was planning to take in November. I guess there is a chance for me to get a couple points of increase, but this will also mean that I will have to apply late, presumably in early December. So I'm not quiet sure what to do here.

My GPA is 3.84, which is above Columbia's 75th percentile, but my 170 LSAT is below Columbia's median, which is 171. Also, as an international student, my chance of getting in columbia is a bit lower than the domestic students.

What do you guys think I should do?

For PT 7 S1 Q 16 I don’t see how if more mass equals more light that if the comet is 60 times smaller how the previous estimates would be too small? that’s less mass, so how would answer choice B make any sense if it’s saying the exact opposite? I’m convinced the LSAT writers messed this question up. I’ve looked at this over and over and can’t possibly see how B could ever possibly be right.

hey all,

so i'm having a real tough time bridging this gap btw my BR score and timed score. i'm BRing 175ish (granted, I BR/review every question but pay the most attention/effort to the questions I circle) but my timed score is in the low 160s.

One trouble I have in particular is executing timed LR sections.

For LR, it often happens that questions don't "click" under timed conditions. For example, in one timed LR section I did today, I skipped a SA question because I couldn't find the gap/didn't know how to map out the logic of the question due to the convoluted grammar.

I skipped it, and even when I went back to it, I still couldn't get it.

Then after I finished the test, I went back to the question for BR, and after thinking about that question for like 4 minutes, I finally saw the gap and successfully map out the logic.

agh so frustrating that i wasn't able to do this under timed conditions.

any advice or suggestions? many thanks.

Hello!

I am about 90% done with my CC. I took the July LSAT and had only studied for 10 weeks prior. I scored a 144. My diagnostic was a 139.I feel gutted. I have hit 153-154 at least 3 times each. (Target school has a median of 155) I guess the main problem I had was 1. I did not take FULL practice tests like back to back sections. I would take a two timed sections, then have a 5-10 min break and do the other so the exam just felt LONG and I was TIRED by the third section 2. I rushed through my CC and really need to understand conditional logic more. 3. I did NOT have my games down.

I guess i'm just worried I won't do much better when I retake November. I know a lot of members here have had higher diagnostics than my LSAT score so I am feeling really discouraged although I know where I messed up completely. Lack of studying and blind review. Has anyone else experienced a terrible first exam score but able to pull a 18 point improvement?

I am retaking in November.

I'm looking for an excel document that outlines LG Fool Proofing with the following pattern type: full LG section from PT 1 today, revisit tomorrow, revisit next week; full LG section from PT 2 today, revisit tomorrow, revisit next week; repeat. The excel document I am using now doesn't help me clearly organize the PT's that I'm doing for the day. Any old excel docs folks used for fool proofing games would be greatly appreciated too!

Does anyone have any tips for attacking rule substitution questions on logic games without fully sketching out the implications of each new rule? That method works, but I simply don't have the time for it so I usually end up skipping those questions. It seems to me like there might be some sort of structure/trick to it (i.e. in a sequencing game, these types of substitutions are most common etc.), but I haven't been able to wrap my head around it.

What's worked for you? What hasn't worked for you?

Thanks!

I'm writing in September and was struggling to get PT scores that I was happy with. I was consistently getting in the mid 160's on my PT's but my BR would always be above 170. I was missing most of my points from LR and RC. I skipped PT 50-59 so I could use the LR drills and they made the world of difference. On top of drilling at least one LG section every day of the week, I've been doing 4-6 LR drills a week on days that I don't take PT's (I do 3 PT's a week). Now I'm getting in the 170's. To other people in the same boat, I would say focus on keeping your LG above -2 and try to scoop as many of the LR points up as you can. I usually go -3 to -8 in RC, so I'm still trying to stabilize that and get it down by a few points, but by far the easiest points to rake up are the LG and LR.

Another big thing for me is the mental game. I've picked up guided meditation every morning using the app Headspace and regularly practice breathing and body awareness exercises throughout the day. They help me block distracting thoughts and focus on the task at hand. Taking 30 second breathing breaks during a section is really helpful for me if I start to feel overwhelmed/rushed. Before I write a PT, I sit at my desk and do nothing from 8:30-9 (check in for me is 8:30 and reports of my test center say the test doesn't usually start until at least half an hour after that). During that time I try to make myself feel as anxious/nervous as possible, and then spend the last 10 minutes mediating it away. Picking up a habit before writing the tests can be a really good thing. Something that you can do before writing each PT to get you in the right mood. I do the meditation thing. A good friend of mine who got into the 170's last year would go for a walk around the block every time before writing. Just a quick thing you can do to remind your brain that an LSAT is coming up and it's time to get serious. Almost like Pavlovian training for your head.

Anyway, hope that helps! Keep grinding and putting in the time. Anyone can succeed.

Hey, guys, I just found out my results from the July LSAT, and wouldn't you know? I am back once again on this journey called the LSAT. I was PTing in the low 160s, and shit hit the fan with the first LG section (usually score -2) and it dropped to a 153 (I am sure with help of the residual shock that hurt the next section). Anyways, hoping to see if anyone can point me in the right direction. Was averaging -15 LR; -8 RC; -2 LG, so if any has an idea of how I can analyze this trend, feel free to comment. Thinking of running through the CC on weaker question types, drill, and start PTing again in mid to late SEP. Thanks, and lets crush it!

I studied philosophy in undergrad so I never expected to struggle with RC. Hundreds of pages every night were common but RC has nonetheless kicked my ass. I've been studying for over 8 months and nothing really ever "clicked"... until today.

I decided to switch it up a bit today and completed an RC section while sitting comfortably on my sofa (much like I would while reading a novel). A few things happened. Because I was incredibly relaxed I accidentally spent more time reading and understanding the passage (probably about 4 minutes). I also found eliminating answer choices to be a lot easier because I remembered what I read more clearly. In the end, I was pressed for time on the last passage but I imagine that is because I was moving at such a different pace. I only missed one question. This is significant for me because my average falls around -7 and my best RC score was previously -4. So this is obviously a huge outlier and I'm still not sure how it will work out for me in the long run. For now I'm just excited to try something new that might work!

Has anyone else experienced a significant jump after calming down and reading the passage a bit more naturally? I know spending more time up front on the passage leaves little room for error but maybe that's a better method for some people. I still had plenty of time to revisit each passage for the questions that called for it.

Does anyone else have a hard time remembering what they were thinking when they got a logic game question wrong? I can always remember my (wrong) thinking on LR and RC, so it's easier to learn from my mistakes. But when I do a logic game a second time through and get it right, I draw a blank. I don't know what I was thinking. I got it right this time. Geez. Anyway, it makes it harder to correct errors of thought. Anyone else in this situation?