Reading this was actually super helpful! I got C, and all I could think was R-->PE could still be a conclusion. So thanks!
The way I found was the easiest to identify it quickly, is in Strengthening it will mention the conclusion or the argument in the question stem. Whereas MSS seem to refer to the statements above, or the information above. This may not hold true for every single one of them, but I think all I've encountered thus far are like this.
MSS - "Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the statements above?"
Strengthening - "Which one of the following most strongly supports the conclusion?"
Thanks for this explanation! All i could come up with for why it was wrong was because a poem is any work of art blah blah, and a limerick is not 'strictly speaking' art - and so even if we called it a nonartistic poem, the two definitions were in conflict. But that seemed like weak reasoning.
Our lives will never be the same...
Here's a TED talk that might change your perspective on the stress of studying for the LSAT, and even more importantly, the stress of writing the LSAT.
https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend?language=en
My advice is try to simulate test conditions as best and as much as possible. I wrote exams at my test centre, at test time, for 3 weeks prior to the exam. Writing it with others right next to you is surprisingly a HUGE deal. At least it was for me. I dropped 5 points the first time I did this. Even with my practice I had a mini freak out in the exam on the RC section. Luckily my sharpened intuition, as YJ would say, saved me and many of what felt like complete guesses ended up being correct. Also I only wrote exams at 9am and woke up at 6:45, ate the same breakfast, did the same format of practice problems and even listened to music loud for 30 min to simulate the drive to my exam centre. Not sure if this answers why people drop points but its how I partially overcame this issue. Looking back I could probably rewrite and get 2-4 points higher but who wants to do that all over again. Cheers.
I took several exams at various locations at test time. Taking it with people is key imo. I dropped 6 points my first time taking it with a friend. After doing this several times I was able to perform at -2 of my prep test average on exam day. So moral of the story simulate exam day as best as you can several times!
In those percentile ranges you probably have a good shot. Hopefully some of the more admissions savvy members take a look at this thread and can give you some more concrete advice
I think there is a serious flaw in how you are preparing for the exam. You can do it. I believe in you.
Hey @riotnoob236 !
Okay so I bought the course 1 year before the lsat. Got about 1/4 through the curriculum and then took a 8 month break to finish two important semesters. I started seriously studying hard 2 months before again while doing three tough finance courses over the summer. Needless to say that sucked. My semester ended mid August and I studies about 6-10 hours per day, every day until a few days before the exam date. I took off the first three weeks of university due to "medical reasons" to have time to do this. I was doing about 5 prep tests a week which was a grind. My diagnostic was 151 I believe and I slowly progressed up the 160's and in my final 5 preptests got 171-173. I supplemented the curriculum with Mike Kim's LSAT Trainer. I HIGHLY recommend getting that book. I felt like everything came together once I combined the two curriculums. I honestly felt terrible about the exam. I know I didn't do as well as I could but luckily 170 is sufficient to get into the school of my choice. Any more questions let me know.
My sincerest thanks to YJ, the mentors and the general 7 Sage community. I hit my target score of 170 and hope that everyone else did as well or better than they had hoped. Goodbye forever!
Definitely! I plateaued at around 164 a month ago and now I'm bouncing around 167-173
I've done one every day for 7 days straight. Luckily I'm used to this kind of pace but I really don't recommend it if you haven't pushed yourself like that before. If you are planning on pushing yourself the biggest key imo is routine. Here's my daily LSAT routine.
Wake up: 6:40
30 Minute Jog
Shower & Breakfast
Warm up Exercises (1 LG, 5 Flaw Questions, 1RC): 7:40
Morning Meditation (Helps a lot with focus)
Write at 9
Finish at 12:15
Leisure (Driving range for me)
Blind review
Dinner
Study
Sleep
I'd say try for 3-4 per week starting somewhere around PT 60!
*slow clap*
@476 Thanks! I wasn't tactical enough on PT37's RC section so I ended up missing a game
@7821 I wrote PT 36 on July 1st, PT 37 on July 3rd and PT 38 on July 5th.
Just as a follow up for anyone who is interested, here are my scores for PT 37 & 38
PT:37
LR: -6 LR: -4 LG: -10 RC: -6
Raw Score: 75/101
Actual Score: 159
Blind Review: 173
PT:38
LR: -4 LR: -3 LG: -3 RC: -8
Raw Score: 82/100
Actual Score: 165
Blind Review: 178
@cgracia12433 Thank you! I completed the course over a year period but I took a 8 month break due to university. I completed the last 70% of the course over the past month. As for improvements during the course, it's hard to say. Every time you begin to feel like you're improving theres a new question/game type that makes you feel completely green again. I hope that answers your question.
@jhaldy10325 Thanks! Yeah I'm drilling as we speak. I made a lot of mistakes on Lawgic heavy questions like MSS, MBT and SA. Most likely since I haven't done them in a while. I'm actually glad thats where my mistakes are since refreshing on Lawgic is relatively easy.
@jhaldy10325 I got the same way, mind racing, can't think, read something and don't understanding it at all etc. etc. I tried the breathing technique YJ suggested and it might of helped a bit. The main thing I did was think about how much time I was waisting re-reading because I was panicked. I kind of reprimanded myself in my head "stop freaking out dummy" and then made a conscious effort to understand instead of flying through the question stem. As for the low hanging fruit method. IMO it can be over done. I just skip a question when I'm stumped, NOT when I know how to do it but it might take a bit longer to translate the answers or something. I also scored 170 in the BR so we have similar knowledge. Keep practicing you'll get the hang of it. Feel free to add me as a study buddy.
Hi 7Sagers. Wanted to post my improvement stats and also see how others faired on their first LSAT after completing the course. For reference, I purchased the LSAT Ultimate package. Anyways my results:
June 2007
LR -7 LR -9 LG -9 RC -12
Raw Score: 63/100
Actual Score: 152
PT:36
LR -10 LR -3 LG -3 RC -7
Raw Score: 78/100
Actual Score: 162
Raw Improvement: +15
Actual Improvement: +10
Over all I'm pleased with this progress. In my first LR section I got destroyed but that was more due to being nervous and not being strategic enough with the harder questions. Once I settled in things went much smoother. Anyways, feel free to post your improvement if you'd like.
I'd love this if you're still looking for people! i'll be relentless ;)