Hi everyone,
I felt I benefited from the last group Skype BR, and would like to do this more. Saturdays don't always work for me, though. Would anyone be interested in BRing a PT over Skype on another day, during the week? I'm flexible as to which PT, since there are lot I haven't seen and am also fine with retaking. Let me know!
I strongly agree with @.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-interleaving-effect-mixing-it-up-boosts-learning/
So sad I'm going to miss this..."See" you guys next Saturday for PT 58?
I so wish I'd found this website a few months ago! I've been studying since September, taking practice tests and going through the exercises in the LSAT Trainer. My score fluctuates a lot more than I'd like due to timing issues, 179 one day and 166 the next. I've signed up for the December LSAT (less than two weeks to go!) and have started panicking. I feel I'd benefit from pushing the test back to February and going through all the lessons on this site and following the recommended exercise/coffee/steady bedtime schedule. It's too late to change the date but I could withdraw and sign up again. Or, I could do my best on the December test, see how it goes and cancel score or retake if necessary in February. I don't want multiple tests to look bad on my record or to underperform for the real test, but there is also the chance of getting my desired score or just having a another full length test under my belt before February. Any advice much appreciated!
Oops. Did not do what I had set out to accomplish last week. I blame the flu. I did take and BR preptests 54 and 55. Luckily now there's a new week to make progress! This week I must:
1. Finish fool proofing games from 54 and 55
2. Watch video explanations from 55
3. Seriously finish MSS and Weakening drills
4. BR 4 RC science passages
5. 1 game a day
6. Preptest 57 for Monday Group BR
Thanks, David!
I understand you must answer truthfully. I was not asking if you recommend lying, but rather whether you thought getting professional editing help with essays can have a negative impact, specifically for Yale. My question was prompted by this blog post: http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/09/getting_into_an_elite_school_forget_the_consultants_don_t_write_about_naked.html. It says, "Getting outside help isn’t automatic grounds for rejection..." but that doesn't sound all that promising. I wanted another perspective from someone who has likely worked with candidates applying to that school.
Will try to make it for the 3rd or 4th section!
@.busis I understand Yale has a question on their application about whether you had any help with the essays or application. In your experience, does answering "yes" have a significant negative impact? Thanks!
Has anybody applying to law school completed a master's degree outside the US or Canada? I see on the LSAC website that undergraduate transcripts must be sent from the degree granting international institution, but I'm not clear on the protocol for graduate work. I did a master's in Spain...anyone know if I have to have the diploma and transcripts translated into English and forwarded directly from the university to LSAC? In case anyone has experience with this, words of wisdom much appreciated!
This week I will:
-Review videos on validity and some/most relationships
-Fool proof games from PT 62
-Take and BR PTs 1, 50 and 63
-Drill one RC science and one older LG each day
@ interesting! Do you usually get your 6 questions wrong in the same section, or same type of questions?
I think you're right that the scale can matter for people who have really solid fundamentals. We were talking about this on the BR group last night. If you are great at games, to the point where no game can throw you off, getting a killer game will help you. You'll benefit from those extra points that others failed to get. It's also what those "curve breaker" questions in LR are about.
Because of the scaling, there should not be much variation test to test. As Nicole said, PT 62 was especially challenging for many people, but had a generous curve. For example, I got 9 questions wrong, which would often be a 171. With the unusually high number of questions (102) and factored in difficulty, it ended up as a 174.
Of course, in reality there certainly can be days where one test taker does much worse or much better than their average. I think it depends on what your particular strengths and weaknesses are and how the test played to them. As you practice more, you will see less and less wild variation in score. This is a reflection of a deeper and more solid understanding of the fundamentals. It will become less likely that one day you do exceptionally well (maybe an RC section spoke kindly to background knowledge) and then you do much worse than usual the next day, perhaps for the opposite reason. Things like this can happen even with lots of practice, but scores tend to fluctuate to a smaller degree for seasoned LSAT preppers.
The LSAT analytics tool is invaluable. It shows which question types give you the most trouble, of course. But it also led me to notice today that I no longer have a strongest or weakest section. I used to be best in LR and worst in RC, with games in the middle, varying greatly test to test. Now, after being at this for several months, my averages in the three sections are nearly identical.
I don't think it's a particularly useful exercise to try to determine which PTs are the "hardest" or "easiest," as test makers factor in difficulty when scaling, and some determinants will be idiosyncratic. What is more helpful is to thoroughly blind review and examine the analytics after every test, so that you know more broadly where your weaknesses lie. Then continue studying fundamentals, giving particular attention to the Achilles heels you've identified.
Oh...never mind...I see the "old problem sets" toward the end there...thanks!
I'm confused about this. Is the order and content of the problems sets different now? I had completed most of them before, but had a few outstanding. Now I can't see which I've finished and which remain to be done. Is there a way to go back to (or at least temporarily view) the old format?
This is great. I think I'll go with the banana and cliff bar. :-D
This week I will:
-take and BR PTs 60 and 61
-re-do games from 58
-finish weakening drills
-1 game and 1 RC science passage per day
@.hopkins I, on the other hand, recently woke up and will be starting PT 60 (that's what we're on, right?) in about an hour. #thisneedswork
And that reminds me...important question:
What is everyone's preferred LSAT snack?? (besides bacon...) hehe
Same snacks during break...I like it @
One thing I want to start doing is taking PTs at the same time the LSAT is offered. I haven't been diligent about this at all so far, but I think it'll be good to make a habit of it.
Nice! That's a huge improvement. Very encouraging :)
@ I recommend a Coursera course on formal logic from University of Melbourne. https://www.coursera.org/course/logic1. It goes into more depth than you will need for the LSAT, but I think it provides a helpful foundation in logic that can help on the LR section.
Congrats! Thanks for the inspiration :)
I agree with @ and I feel very similarly @. I know I underperformed how I'd been PTing, but I don't think I'll cancel. I'm going to sign up for December and retake unless I miraculously did much better than my post-test assessment. I don't think having one less than stellar score will hurt, and there is always the chance you met your target.
Yes to Saturday and Wednesday!
Yes to starting at 45! (although I'm also fine with going back to 36)
Hmmm...actually. This is tough. How much will we remember? I've retaken some tests myself and haven't had much recall (just a couple LR questions per section ringing bells and vague recollection of RC). But I wonder about redoing the tests we've gone through at length. Will we remember a lot more? Is that even bad?
For those of us taking in October, would anyone be interested in group BRing early tests (pre 36)? Especially because there are no 7sage videos for many of the LR and RC questions, I think being able to talk through the questions would be helpful.
174 and a top 14