Politics aside, this is a fun read to warm up for logical flaw description questions. "A CONSERVATIVE GUIDE TO RHETORIC" http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/shouts/2013/10/conservative-guide-to-rhetoric-republican-quotations.html

Hey people,

Wanted to get some advice on whether or not it's helpful to re-do the PTs that you have already done once...?

It obv cannot accurately measure what you are scoring, but it must be helpful in some way?

Any advice / feedback would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Sujin

I feel like I spend too much time on a section when I'm reviewing and just wanted to know what the high scorers are doing.Please help :(

I need a bit of help on this one, I am currently working on my MBA and studying for the December LSAT (a bit obvious but I thought I would just make it clear). I am enrolled in the Basic class and considering the Ultimate one, however given that I have less than two months would this make sense? I do not work AT ALL, I am just preparing for the LSAT and working on my MBA. I can devote the full 40+ hours per week to the LSAT if necessary. I could take the Premium but I really want to be as prepared as possible. This is my second and (better be) last attempt. I don't want to waste the money if I won't see enough of a return, however that being said even a few points of difference can make or break an application. Thoughts?

edit

Thanks in advance and I hope this helps other people as well. (I watched J.Y.'s video, but I would like to see more strategies that work).

While allowing extra space for the Games sections clearly has a ton of benefits, I have encountered one big difficulty. I almost always map out my master game board and any potential splits on the first page where the rules are listed, and then have to constantly flip back and forth between pages in order to remember what is being asked/the answer choices and look at my boards. This takes a ton of time and potentially leads to mistakes. Alternatively I could copy over all of my boards on the other pages, but I can't see this being any quicker.

Has anyone come up with a practical way to deal with this?

I just did my recon and found out that the desk I will be using is the type that is attached to the chair and it's extremely small...duh..I took my June test in China so we were taking the test on a big flat regular desk..unlike the one we are using in the US..small desktop area doesn't really allow any room for you to lay out the two page booklet and put your answer sheet next to it...it's gonna cause some trouble for me but I guess I'll just have to suck it up..

Any thoughts?

So, I stumbled upon 7Sage just but two weeks ago. Up until that point I was feeling confident with my self-study approach and had been scoring consistently in the 160-166 range with an absolute abysmal showing in the LG sections. When I read all the different approaches and the time spent preparing from users on here I felt ashamed and underprepared for the upcoming exam. My hope was to eventually to get above a 170 but I have not scored that once on any practice test. I feel that with an additional three months of studying and incorporating the approaches that I discovered on here I can reach my goal. With that being said, I am eager for next weeks test. Would it be terrible if I took the test and if necessary take it again in December? Will I be looked down upon if I do this? Just wanted to know what people thought. Thanks in advance.

Ok, on weaken questions the correct answer does NOT weaken a premise, right?

From PT30, 4, 24

The conclusion is that since voice mail is more (1) flexible (2) convenient (3) cheaper -> answering machines will become obsolete.

The correct answer choice is D. Answering machines have a feature that voice mail does not.

But does D not attack the a premise and D seems to attack the premise that voice mail is more convenient and flexible?

I watched the 7Sage video for this particular game but fail to understand a particular rule.

The rule was O1-R1-R2, which made O only possible on wednesday OR thursday. However, why isn't O1-O2-R1-R2 possible, that is, having O on both wednesday and thursday before R1 and R2?

http://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-57-section-1-game-2/

As is well know, and is often characterized humorously, adults who spend considerable hours working with small children may then speak to other adults in the same language structure and vocabulary as they used speaking with children. Therefore, co-workers who usually communicate with each other with different language structure and vocabulary will sometimes adopt the some of the other person's language structure and vocabulary.

Which of the following statement is most parallel to the above premise's INFORMAL logic:

a) When speaking to other adults, a person studying for the LSAT communicates to others in the same language structure and vocabulary as LSAT stimuli.

b) Humans who effectively communicate with each other sometimes adopt the other person's language structure and vocabulary.

c) I like turtles.

d) When being spoken to by other adults, a person studying for the LSAT is communicated to in the same language structure and vocabulary as LSAT stimuli.

e) Therefore, people who speak to other adults in the same language structure and vocabulary as they used speaking with children should receive extra mental breaks.

_________________________________

Blind Review summary

a) correct answer, even though the LSAT does not test for parallel premises informal logic parallel.

b)Nope, but could be a great answer if the stimuli was for a sufficient assumption.

c)Off topic (in case you don't get the reference )

d) a trap response by reversing answer choice (a)

e) Nope, but could be a conclusion to an inference question.

http://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-43-section-3-question-10/

Can anyone help me about the PT43-S3-Q1?

I understand A can fill the gap but it seems more like a sufficient assumption because of the word "only". So if I negate A and financial reward is not the only incentive, the conclusion seems to be ok. Because, you know, what if financial reward is the primary incentive?

and I chose c because when I negate c, I ask myself what if the cost is more significant than the future profit? the conclusion seems to fall apart.

Many Thanks.

I always have a difficult time answering these kinds of questions because

A: I'm not sure how to graph these kinds of questions, and

B: The clock is ticking down, so I wouldn't have time to graph anyway.

The assumption is obvious in both questions, it's just that when I get to eliminating all but 2 answer choices, I often pick the falsely negated AC. Is there a way I can improve my ability to spot the incorrect answer in this situation without spending 3+ minutes graphing? Any helpful tips/techniques? Thank you very much!

Hey LSAT Geeks~My test in 10 days and one of my lingering concerns is about the type of in/out game questions that asks "what's the maximum/minimum number of blablabla that can be in or out", or "Which one of following must be in for maximum number of blablabla in/out". It generally involves a huge cluster of in/out chains and can be intimidating. Is there any rules of thumb? Sorry I can't find any specific games right away, but this type is not uncommon.

Question asks us to identity how the argument's REASONING is most vulnerable.

I understand why (E) is a flaw; it's an obvious correlation/causation problem.

However, I don't understand why (A) isn't also a flaw.

Looking at the last two sentences of the stimulus, I see a jump from "shedding tears" to "crying." The author seems to be assuming that shedding tears implies crying, but this need not be the case and (A) brings this up. It's a subtle scope shift, but it's still a shift. Any thoughts?

http://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-68-section-2-question-24/

Hey guys, I just wanted to share my thoughts and also receive feedback on the issue of LSAT burnout.

I am currently preparing for the October exam taking place in about 2 weeks time.. and after cranking up my studies for the past 2 weeks (10 hrs per day), I hit a brick wall of mental fatigue that I have never experienced before. I have heard of this mental phenomenon before, but did not believe in it until I actually experienced it for myself. I took a PT yesterday (it was the Lunar Moon festival season in Korea) and wow, I was blanking out on most RC passages, had no idea what was going on with the last 2 games even with 25 minutes remaining, and for 1 LR section I ran out of time with FIVE questions TOTALLY UNTOUCHED!!! Timing was always my weakness in LR, but I did improve a lot after a chat with JY.. so seeing myself a-bomb it so badly was a real shocker to me.

After a dismal performance, I just sat down and interrogated myself. Are you studying hard enough? Hmm... well for the past 5 months all I did was eat sleep LSAT. Are you not understanding your material? Well.. I do well on BR.. Are you just dumb? .. I hope not.. well I did get a 3.8 at a good uni..

After a brutal session of beating myself up, I wandered around soullessly online and read an article that James of our forum put up: http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/signs-lsat-burnout-avoid-recover.html

And yea, it seems to indicate that I am burnt out and I am really beginning to appreciate the complexity of LSAT. This exam tests you on much more than your ability to reason. Since this is not a knowledge-based test, crunching does't actually work very well as it may lead to mental fatigue. Even though you understand the fundamentals of RC, LR and LG, it is of no use if your mind is wandering off to the distant galaxies and Sirius 67293 when it should be on planet Earth and more importantly, on the god damn paper itself.

The whole point of this exam is to apply your skills effectively and efficiently, which absolutely requires a clear and rested mind. And from my experience, burnout is pretty real and it WILL prevent you from performing well on the test day. After all, what it really boils down to is those split seconds on the test day that your brain makes decisions. You really don't have the luxury of understanding everything and making sure that your answers are correct. So make sure to keep your brain happy and rested so that it does make the right decisions on the actual test day!!

Is anyone else studying for the October LSAT?

I'm practicing, and I am having trouble with this particular question.

The correct answer is (B), however, the stimulus does not state (or imply) that more or less molecular motion is produced in "hot" climates as opposed to "cold" climates; the stimulus only states that "...molecular motion is directly proportional to the temperature..."

I could use a bit of help with attacking answer choices that expect me to make assumptions of this nature.

Thanks

http://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-60-section-3-question-24/

Really unclear as to why (B) is the correct answer.

The conclusion of the stimulus is about "marks of success."

Answer choice (B) talks about whether a rock group is successful/unsuccessful. This seems to be beside the point as we are discuss METRICS that determine success not about WHETHER something is successful/unsuccessful.

I really liked (E) because it sticks with the conclusion's scope - "marks of success." I know a potential problem with (E) is that it discusses COMPETENCE whereas the stimulus mentions only the group's incompetence. But why can't we interpret competence in (E) as a concept that encompasses both the presence and lack of it?

So I have been studying since the beginning of August in hopes of taking the October LSAT. I work full time in a law firm and have a 2 hour commute. After taking numerous LSAT's and blind reviewing them I have only been able to score up to a 155. My goal is to get up into the 165-170 area. SO I am now rescheduling for december.

Does anyone have any advice for me? J.Y. told me to switch my studying to the morning instead of the afternoon, however I can only really get in an hour before work. Any earlier and I am looking at waking up at 4 am.

I have the powerscore bibles, kaplan drill books, powerscore class books, this resource. I am willing to put in the time and have made up a "plan" with my buddy to meet 3 times a week. However, I really want to start seeing some results and I feel kind of lost starting over again. I want to apply this cycle, but I also don't want to half-a** it.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I've been scoring at around 166/167, but because of my not-so-excellent GPA (3.4) I will need a minimum of 170 for my desired school to even consider me. With less than 3 weeks left, do you think this is an achievable goal? Should I wait until Dec? I've already put aside 90% of obligations so I have as much as 6 hours to study everyday before test day.

For those of you who think this can be achieved, what are some recommendations/useful tactics? I've been getting around -5 RC, -0 LG, and -3/-7 LR. It seems to me that the more recent tests always have one easier and one obviously more difficult LR section, so I've been scoring very unevenly in LR.

I hope others who have the same problem will find this thread useful too.

Thank you!

Do you guys scan the answers or just jump right in and try out games?

I realize this is very game dependent. I usually scan the answers choices quickly, but if nothing jumps out I force myself to jump right into trying out all the answers. I found myself wasting time on open ended game boards trying to think about why an answer choice could be correct, and coming up with nothing for all my "thinking" time. So know I try to just jump right into testing the answers.

Today I came across a game, LSAT 10, Game 4 http://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-10-section-2-game-4/, that has me rethinking my strategy. I didn't make the inference at the start that Y must be in, though I DID make the difference that at least one of X/Z must be out. When I got to question 23, I quickly looked at my master game board didn't come up with any that must be in, so just jumped right in to trying out the possibilities. I got through A and B, before scanning the remainder of the choices and quickly realized that Y must be in.

The game took way too long in general, not just because of this question, but still interested in how you guys handle "thinking" about correct answer choices, or just jumping in and trying possibilities.

I took the June and decided to retake it again this October. Over the first part of my studying after the June test I was feeling really good about my progress. Recently however, my LR scores have been tanking.

I have been Blind Reviewing everything and taking a lot of time to really dig into the questions I get wrong. I also seem to understand most of the arguments and answer choices; on Blind Review usually end up with -1 or -2 and that process had seemed to be really helping me for a while (especially on LG and RC). I am also not pressed for time when taking sections or PT's... I have been getting 6 or 7 wrong regardless of whether I slow down and take almost the whole 35 min or go at a faster pace of around 27 min (or anywhere in-between)

Right now my plan is to go back and redo the LR lessons from the course, as my best scores came right when I had finished all the lessons. I feeling like I have such a good understanding of the test which is why I am kind of at a loss. Any advice or strategies that people have found useful is more than welcomed, thanks (... am I sleeping, eating and at least going outside now and then)

What does this flaw look like? Can someone point me to a certain PT or example?