Hey! Did you see this resource: https://classic.7sage.com/gpa-calculator/ ?

Does your school use percentages or letter grades? I went to a school that's on a 4.33 scale and as far as I know, my CGPA is considered as is (no conversions necessary).

Hey! I've definitely been in the same boat before. I've been pushing off LSAT studying for a good 2 years prior because of work. Honestly, I wanted to do the June LSAT this year, but started part time studying in mid-April. So then I pushed it to September. Making myself take this exam very seriously, I took 2 months off unpaid leave from work from August to Sept to study full time. That helped LOADS. But it was only 2 months. So I finally postponed to December...and changed my hours to part time to accommodate for studying.

If you're planning on shooting for next cycle, make yourself study to the best of your abilities for the June LSAT. That way, you can gauge if you're ready prior to registering for the exam. If you still dont feel ready, prepare for the Sept LSAT. The earlier the better so you at least you have 4 shots for 2018-2019 cycle (June 18, Sept 18, Dec 18, Feb 19).

Oh I remember this question! The key to this question is the gap between the evidence and the conclusion. The evidence talks about "people who react to problems by refusing to think about them", but the conclusion talks about those who are "stressed". Answer A can be eliminated because pain is not mentioned in the stimulus, Answer C is wrong because the argument says the opposite, and Answer D is too far of an inference because nothing further is said about those who address problems quickly, so we certainly can't deduce they will seek dental care quickly.

That leaves B and E. The answer choice bridge the ideas of "stressed" people and "people who refuse to think about problems". I'm not too sure if this helps but you can break it down to the formal logic.

1)People who address problems --> less likely to have GD

People who refuse to think -> more likely to have GD

2)STRESS = [negative effect on immune system]

3)GD ->(some) caused by [negative effect on immune system]

GD ->(some) STRESS

Inference: People who refuse to think -> more likely to have GD ->(some) STRESS, which is answer choice B.

E is wrong because its reversed. Stress makes people refuse to think about their problems. Its basically going backwards on the the inference, if that makes any sense.

I hope thats right.

Timed pressure is a majority of this exam. Though I have to say, untimed practice is very important in the beginning, during the learning stages. I'm sure theres alot more qualified people to give advice than me, but from my perspective, it seems like you are still learning the exam.

Once you feel like you've gotten a good grasp of the strategies - I would say then simulate test-like conditions. I actually did a gradual entry into timed tests. First I did untimed problems, then I began to time individual questions (with the timer counting up, not down), then I did whole timed sections and finally timed tests.

@bsemb001223 Also, you're such a good writer! This post is awesome.

Good work!! I just took PT 70 a couple of days ago and it was brutal. Worst score Ive gotten in a year. Needless to say, I needed alot of emotional support after that exam. I haven't taken PT 68, but just know you are not alone in the struggle! Congratulations on your improvement!

interested

I will be there! I would've made RC if I didnt have prior plans (PT78 RC was really hard).

Will make it to the next one for sure! On vacation that week (last one before full on LSAT studying for december).

Interested!

Hi Apawalter! I recently been able to finish all 4 passages, when in the past, I would only finish the 3rd passage at the 35 min mark. I started off with getting -12 on RC, now I get -6 or -3. A friend told me to start pleasure reading to rebuild reading skills. I found this helpful - but mainly I think you need to find the right reading pace. I read the passage once through, focusing on understanding all the main concepts and not going to wrapped up on the little details (like names of bacteria etc).

Try practicing just the reading part. I used the Powerscore RC bible and it was great! Try those passages and time yourself to see how long it takes you to read a passage. Ideally, you should finish reading a passage once through with understanding within 2 minutes. Keep practicing reading passages this way, and you will get a good idea of what kind of reading pace you need to be at to finish all 4 passages!

Another thing I found helpful, was the Compare and Contrast (CC) explanation in Powerscore. Basically it outlines that alot of RC passages use an technique of writing where it rapidly compares two/three concepts sentence by sentence. For example, in PT 10 which I did today, three difference social theories are compared sentence after sentence (Rising expectations theory, Relative Deprivation Theory and the J curve theory). When it comes to these, I quickly note on the side RE, RD and J respectively as I'm reading. It takes a glimmer of a second, but it really helps when you look back and have to quickly pinpoint where a certain perspective is. I hope this helps! It is possible to improve in RC!

Hey Sarah! I am in a very similar situation to you - I'm feeling the burn out, the stress and I'm watching my test scores drop! My diagnostic was 153 and I peaked at 165, but I've been crashing ever since. I highly recommend taking a few days off (not too many or you'll forget) and read some books. I found it really helpful to engage my mind in other pursuits (like reading). As much as tv, exercise and other things can get your mind off the LSAT - I found it more helpful to apply my mind intellectually in ways OTHER than the LSAT rather than completely turning my brain off!

Wellness/self care are so important! Even after you've had a really hard exam (like the one I took today), take some time to cool down, and come back at it with a fresh perspective and renewed motivation. Recently, I noticed improvement on LG and RC and big drops in LR! When I started, I was getting 80% on LR before even starting any study material. Now I'm getting 50% or so, which is pretty discouraging. I realize its because I'm using a new method of thinking, and just like anything, it takes time for your brain to adjust. I log my exams after Blind Review meaning that I fill out the PT #, the Section #, the Question #, Question Type and "What went wrong?". I find this is helping me key into patterns of my thought process that lead to mistakes. Lastly, something I discovered today, was that before I knew about question types, I focused mainly on understanding the stimulus. That means I treated it like mini RC. I would underline main parts of the argument and key concepts, and read it passionately in my head so that what was being said would seem very interesting. This is something I lost along the way as I methodically read through stimulus and mechanically associated question types! I realized, I couldn't improve because I was approaching the test too robotically - trying to apply all the methodology and associate everything I had learnt. Maybe it would be good practice to read to understand, and to read passionately as to be engaged in the stimulus! I'm going to try this in the PT tomorrow. You can do this!