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cverdugo698

Joined: Apr 2025
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Admissions · In at Northwestern!

cverdugo698

Thursday, Mar 24 2016

Congrats!

General · 7sage Branded Merchandise is here!

cverdugo698

Saturday, Mar 12 2016

We need 7sage rubber bracelets!

General

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Sunday, Feb 14 2016

cverdugo698

[Test Center Review] Arizona Summit Law School Phoenix, AZ

Proctors: The proctors were great! The main proctor was actually one of the admission counselors for the Law School. She gave a nice little icebreaking speech about the tests’ importance and why cheating could ruin all of our hard-work. I have heard horror stories where the proctors at schools will constantly try to recruit the people taking the test but there was none of that here; very professional. 5/5

Facilities: Arizona Summit is located in the heart of downtown Phoenix, but the unique thing about the school is that it located in the top half of the building it is in. So the room where we actually took the test was located on the 17th floor. You do have to go through a security guard to get into the building but he basically just waved me through. 5/5

What kind of room: The testing room was actually one of the classrooms. Spacious room will long rows of desks arched through it. The view was incredible but I can see someone who isn’t really fond of heights maybe being a little queasy. 4/5

How many in the room: Honestly I wasn’t really paying attention to the other people in the room but I would say there was approximately 40 people in there. I know the classroom next door was administering a test as well.

Desks: The desks were perfect for the amount of people we had. They were more like long tables than desks. They put a space between everybody so there was enough room to stretch and have twenty pencils around you. 5/5

Left-handed accommodation: This didn’t seem to be an issue. I am left-handed but I was seated in the middle of the long-table-desks so I was perfectly fine. 5/5

Noise levels: This was my biggest fear going into desk day and I was so relieved I didn’t have a noise problem. The proctors did not speak with each other or do anything distracting during the sections. Also since we were on the 17th floor street noise was non-existent. 5/5

Parking: The biggest negative of this test center. Being that it is located in downtown Phoenix finding parking was the worst. I actually e-mailed the school before test day asking the best place to park and they gave me directions to a parking garage. The morning of the test there was an event going on downtown and the parking garage was full (I was an hour and a half early.) -____- Downtown has so many streets where you can only go one way, so you have to go down extra streets to get to the spot you need to go to. I found a garage 2 streets away but had to pay 14 dollars to park. 1/5

Time elapsed from arrival to test: I arrived to the test pretty early but the good thing was they didn’t have you sitting around in some random lobby. They were prepared and checked everyone in as they came and led them to their testing room. I just soaked up the view and made small-talk with the other early students. 5/5

Irregularities or mishaps: One BIG SCARY problem almost occurred but it turned out not to be a problem at all. 30 minutes before the test was about to start a big helicopter flew into downtown and was just hovering like two blocks from our building. It was so loud. People began to get nervous because it didn’t leave until 5 minutes before the official time. N/A

Other comments: During break time they had a little lobby where they had a table full of snacks (chips, crackers, cookies) and water bottles. It was very thoughtful! 

Would you take the test here again?

YES! YES! YES! (Shout-out to the now retired Daniel Bryan.) Actually thinking about taking in June and will be picking this center. This was a re-take for me and this center was such a huge improvement from my first time (review to come soon).

General · HELP: Law school application process

cverdugo698

Friday, Jan 15 2016

Is there anyone in the company that could write a LOR for you? Even though it was 'uneventful' as you say, it sounds like maybe someone there could speak to your passion: even if they are just a co-worker, or the relationship was in some capacity other than supervisor. Someone who can speak to who you really are is better than nothing. And the good news is that LOR are not heavily weighted in your admissions as other factors. As long as the person writing it doesn't write something negative or their writing gives off a tone like they hardly know you. This brings me to my final piece of advice, STAY AWAY from people that have no direct experience working with you or those people who will write you a LOR as a favor. I don't know how many times someone I know tells me "I know so and so from non-profit company X that will write you!" Always tell them respectfully know. Admissions have spent years looking at LOR and can tell when something is written superficially, this would be more of a negative than anything.

I would say just find 2 or 3 of the people you know that have direct working experience with you. You don't want a disinterested Professor writing a LOR or having them never respond to the LSAC e-mail because they were so uninterested!

General · Would you still go to law schoo...

cverdugo698

Thursday, Jan 14 2016

Yes, but after 1 year of traveling the US in my newly bought RV with my family! Lol

General · Designating questions for BR

cverdugo698

Wednesday, Jan 13 2016

Maybe when you're going through the section timed, every time you eliminate a wrong answer choice cross it out. So when you are done with the section look at every question where you did not eliminate wrong answers and do the BR process for them. Since you are forgetting to circle the questions this might be a better method. I think so you are at the beginning of your prep I would hedge to BRing more questions. And most likely in about 7-10 PTs circling of questions for BR will become habit and during strict-timed conditions you will be way better at eliminating wrong answer choices so you will be more sure of your answers and won't feel as guilty if you don't BR them.

General · Rolling the dice on a new method to combat the more recent LR/RC.. Input greatly appreciated!

cverdugo698

Sunday, Jan 10 2016

If you have access to PTs 51-69, I'm sure you can find created lists on the internet describing the questions that are 4 star and 5 star difficulty and maybe those might be more useful because they are more recent. You can still learn a lot from re-taking material. But the LR in the Cambridge packets will definitely help you!

But I think a mistake people make (not saying you are) is that they try to bog themselves down in trying to get better at the 4 and 5 star questions and they neglect the 'easy' questions at the beginning of the section. I think a skill of higher scorers is too quickly go through the 'easy' questions which gives you more time to tackle the more difficult questions. So when it comes to doing your timed PTs this skill will make you feel more comfortable with the more difficult questions because you know you have more time.

I think your study approach is solid though, and good review on those earlier questions/passages will make you a more critical reader if you practice the correct skills and techniques.

General · LSAT Addendum

cverdugo698

Saturday, Jan 09 2016

I think if you had a previous LSAT score on record in the 170s then maybe I would mention it (although I don't think it would matter). But like you said you have two other scores on file that are well below that so from their point of view it would be really hard to for lack of a better tem, prove, that 170+ is your true ability. UNLESS you made an official complaint after your test to LSAC and there is some kind of written record where you can prove that you were disturbed by the whispers, I don't think you should mention it.

I don't even think you need to write an addendum for your three takes. I think your score increase speaks for itself. You are a non-traditional applicant out of school for 10 years and you increased you score by 8 points (presumably while working, or dealing with other life stresses that someone fresh outta college doesn't have to deal with)! I think the Adcom will read between the lines no need to expalin, you are in a good position! Good luck with your apps!

General · Would anyone be willing to critique my personal statement?

cverdugo698

Friday, Jan 08 2016

Not an expert, but I wouldn't mind! PM me!

General · Deferring/Declining an Acceptance to a School and Reapplying for the Following Year

cverdugo698

Friday, Jan 08 2016

It really does depend on the school but I believe some schools will tell you it's an option but there is no guarantee that your scholarship will be available the next year (assuming you were awarded one).

Also if you tell them you decided not to attend Law School this year, some schools will offer you an option to defer and even say your deposit will be good for the next year (again probably depends on the schools.

I don't think it would hurt you at all in re-applying, as long as you handle it in a mature and professional manner. I wouldn't duck the calls or e-mails that they might send about second deposits or school visits. Just make a professional call when you make your decision and be honest with them. Admissions people are humans and are understanding (plus they want someone who is completely ready for law school). Just speculating, but it could be a sign of maturity that someone took a step back realized now wasn't the right time and waited a year! Good luck, hope the info helps!

General · Classic Dilemma: To apply or not to apply?

cverdugo698

Thursday, Jan 07 2016

If you think your numbers are good enough to get in now, go ahead and apply. If you get in you can use your FEB LSAT as a negotiation chip if you significantly improve.

@matthewaqeel196 it isn't about finding a Law Schools' rival when negotiating scholarship but rather finding out what school are similar in rank and tier. You can't call up Michigan and say "Michigan Stated offered a full-ride, what can you do for me?"

General · To those who took their third retake and hit the 170s this December...

cverdugo698

Wednesday, Jan 06 2016

@974 T

So simple, yet so profound! Lol

General · To those who took their third retake and hit the 170s this December...

cverdugo698

Wednesday, Jan 06 2016

What would you guys recommend for someone who has 1 newer clean PT left, but is close to 170? I haven't decided if I want to re-take but I wonder if anyone has any idea of a game-plan to get to that next level with so much recent material used! Particularly in LR!

General · Reading Comprehension crushing my soul

cverdugo698

Wednesday, Jan 06 2016

I think an important thing to realize with RC is that results will not come right away but after much practice with the correct techniques and approach. Here's a basketball analogy for you; when teaching someone how to become a better shooter, makes and misses do not matter, it's all about having the correct form! Now remember this when trying to improve on RC. Do not worry about the misses: the -10 or 14, (on the same token don't worry about the makes: -5, -0) for now just make sure you're getting down the approach. What's a good approach? Read for the reasoning structure, find how each paragraph relates to each other within a passage, always ask yourself "Why the hell is the author telling me this information?" This may sound like a lot of things to do but after a month or two of practice this approach becomes instinct.

I got better at RC because I began treating it like LG. I would do a section timed and then do a full BR of that section untimed. Forcing myself to understand the reasoning structure in each paragraph before I moved to the next one. I am not saying write out full-length notes next to each paragraph rather write out a few key points that will let you internalize this approach. For example in a passage I would write next to Paragraph 1 something simple like 'introduce topic, hypothesis about topic,' next paragraph I would write something how it relates 'argument against topic,' or 'different hypothesis'. This in my opinion is where you will make the most gains. Because when it comes time to do a timed section this stuff becomes second-nature. Do not get discouraged, there is a lot of misinformation out there that RC can't be improved but it totally can be done! Good luck!

General · Admissions Question

cverdugo698

Tuesday, Jan 05 2016

From what I know, and feel free to correct me anyone, is that you once your accepted schools will start to throw seat deposit deadlines at you. For example you get in to a school they will say by April please send us a check for $500 (could range higher or lower), and then there will be a 2nd seat deposit in the mid-summer. So theoretically you can do what your saying but you might lose out on $1,000 because of deposit fees. But if a significantly higher score is possible I would say that $1,000 is nothing in the long run!

General · June v. October

cverdugo698

Tuesday, Jan 05 2016

I see, I say go with whatever makes you more comfortable but for the sake of argument I think June could be an appealing scenario. Get the LSATrainer and get on one of the study schedules he provides. Focus on learning from your mistakes, it's not about how MANY PTs you take but how you LEARN from each one you take! I'd recommend doing the schedule with the PTs in the 50s and if you are worried about running out of fresh material, when it comes time in your prep to take full PTs take several from the 40s (maybe 6-7) at least 5 from the 60s and a few from the 70s (maybe the 3 most recent and take PT 72 because of it's weirdness). The key thing would be to review every PT you do so it is not 'wasted'. I'd recommended after doing a PT timed, do the regular BR for LR, but re-do every question for LG and RC!

This way you would take approximately 15 full timed PTs, and then drilling from the 50s would probably be about 4 or 5 more PTs you would have seen, that is enough to learn from and get a great score. This way if you don't get the score you like in June, you would still have ~15 'recent PTs' to work with.

There is no reason you shouldn't get the score you want on the first take!

General · June v. October

cverdugo698

Tuesday, Jan 05 2016

Is there a certain family or work obligation that is keeping you from studying for June? If not I'd say give it a shot with October as your back-up date. 5 months to study for June is enough amount of time to get a great score! The benefit would be that you have your apps submitted by November.

But I don't think it would hurt you if you were to submit in January. The only thing that sucks about having December as a back-up is the wait for the score. It really put a damper on the holidays but from a applicant position stand point you should have no worries!

General · WTF happened.....

cverdugo698

Tuesday, Jan 05 2016

When you say "All of your PTs," how much do you mean? The good news is if it is a small sample size you still have many PTs too learn from! Also were they taken in strict test-day timed conditions?

Also realize it is not about the length of time you study but HOW you study! Were you BRing all of your PTs after taking them timed? After that did you take the time to further review your misses and your Confidence Errors (questions you didn't mark for BR but still missed)? You're going to need to do a lot of honest reflecting in order to get better (I promise if you put in the effort you will see results, this test can be cracked).

I say your best bet is to wait until the June exam and just to reset yourself back to the beginning of your prep. Wipe your slate clean, what I mean is you want to build your foundation from the ground up. Don't worry about your PT scores (for now) just make sure you're grasping the concepts. I'm telling you from personal experience, you can do better on this test. I initially struggled with this exam as well, my first take I scored a 150, and I just got my December score and it is a 168! If you want a more detailed study-guide method feel free to PM me! Just take a deep breath and realize it's not the end of the world, you can do this!

General · 76.lr2.21

cverdugo698

Wednesday, Dec 02 2015

Pretty tough question, here's my take.

We need too weaken the argument. Before we go into the answer choices and let them trip us up, let's figure out what exactly the core of this argument is. It says that reasoning power and spatial intuition exercised in Chess playing contributes to achievement in other areas. This is what we need to attack and be skeptical about.

B is wrong because it tells us about the people who did not successfully complete the chess program. This was a well-laid trap because it has ideas that seem to fit in with our argument. But taker a deeper look, what do we know about these people who did not complete the program from choice B? Simply that they had lower preprogram levels of achievement, it tells us nothing about their chess playing. Just because they didn't complete this experimental program doesn't mean they didn't play chess still and have these chess skills.

C is correct because its going to attack their reasoning. Argument says is the spatial intuition but the answer choice says this motivation to join this chess club was the cause.

General · Sleeping Soundly

cverdugo698

Tuesday, Dec 01 2015

@julesters701 sorry you missed my JK! Of course I won't do that, took my last PT today! Feeling pretty confident about this test.

General · Sleeping Soundly

cverdugo698

Tuesday, Dec 01 2015

Taking back-to-back PTS Friday morning and then taking back-to-back PTs Friday night.......... Lol

Just kidding! I've been planning this Friday for three months now, going to wake up, get a good breakfast, go for a walk, hit up the gym. Do some Christmas shopping, and then go to the movies with my girlfriend at night.

@julesters701 when you say light review, what do you mean? A section?

General · Anyone testing at the 156 level

cverdugo698

Sunday, Nov 29 2015

Good luck in your studies!

Some tips I think will help you, especially if you are just beginning, is to create a study schedule. This will help keep you organized. There are some pretty good ones on TLS but if you want something more 'official' then get the LSATtrainer and download the corresponding study schedule, and buy as much official PTs as you can on PDF (soon they will be gone) in order to re-take old questions. The good news is you can do it, it just takes a lot of hard work. The key to improvements are learning the fundamentals, taking PTs, BR, reviewing, and fixing underlying issues in weak areas. I do not have the 7sage curriculum but based off the people on this board and the free LG explanations, I'm sure they're a great. But if money is tight then you can't go wrong with LSATtrainer, PTs, and the Powerscore LG and LR. Probably run you about $300ish.

I think you could even shoot for February if your getting 156 without much of the theory behind the test under your belt. It just depends on what you have done so far? How many tests have you taken? Also be weary of people who say you can't improve on the test there is a lot of misinformation out there about the LSAT. Back during my Senior year I took a cold diagnostic of the June 2007 test and scored a very, very sad 138. Well I had told my friend who was already going through the Admissions process and he basically said I was doomed. He told me the only section someone can improve on is LG. I was pretty much crushed but I bought the LG bible and worked diligently and on the June 2014 I scored a 150. At the time I didn't know better and I was happy to score a 150, happy to never look at an LSAT question again, and I thought my GPA would make up for my low score. After applying last cycle, I applied to some "lower-ranked," schools and was accepted but facing over $100,000 dollars in debt. I was also wait-listed at my top choice. At the time I was so happy to be wait-listed because my LSAT was 13 points under there median and I tried everything to get accepted off their wait-list (official visit, LOCI, M&G). Luckily (I say this in hindsight, because I would have went if they accepted me) they kept me on there WL and even had me on it up until August of this year. I was disgruntled but that's when I discovered TLS and started reading their threads about LSAT prep. I told the school to take me off the wait-list, bought some prep materials and here I am three months later my average PT score is 165, feeling pretty confident about kicking this December tests' ass! Sorry didn't mean to go into all that just wanted to hammer the point home that it is possible, it will take a lot of hard work, but you can do it!

Keep a positive attitude throughout your prep and realize there are going to be times when you might not understand something (but this doesn't mean you won't be capable of understanding it). It takes time to really get a feel for what the LSAT writers are looking for in correct answers, and it's hard to explain but you will get too a point where things just click, especially in LR and LG. Make sure you REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW your mistakes! Good luck!

Study Groups · December Test BR Groups, Week of Nov 23rd: Weds (PT74), Fri (Superprep 2), Sat (PT75), Mon (???)

cverdugo698

Wednesday, Nov 25 2015

Is there anywhere that sells the Superprep 2 on pdf?

General · Reading Comp HELP

cverdugo698

Monday, Nov 23 2015

I would say make sure when you BR the passage that you are developing good habits that will hopefully translate on test day. For example when selecting answers during BR write out the specific lines that made you choose that answer. And as everyone mentioned the key is to read for reasoning structure! What helped me develop these skills is on my BR I would write little sentences next to each paragraph about how it relates to the whole passage. For example I wouldn't write "This paragraph is about black holes and how scientists say they are the key to space travel," instead I would simple write "introduces a subject and theory about it." Next paragraph I would write "Evidence for theory," or "historical info about subject," whatever pertained. This just trained my mind to read for structure and how everything relates. Try not to get bogged down in notating things if you haven't gotten comfortable with seeing how the paragraphs relate, (but of course if notating helps keep you engaged then scribble all over that damn thing).

As you do more and more timed sections of RC and review you will start to see the many patterns LSAT writers have for the structure of a passage like; introduce theory, refute theory, new evidence for theory, qualify support for theory. But don't get caught up in trying to memorize these many different structures, just get comfortable with recognizing how things relate to one another within the passage. And if you haven't done it already read the RC chapters from the LSATrainer, if you haven't bought the book don't worry there's not many chapters on RC, you could go to Barnes and Noble and read the chapters there.

General · Do I have to use the PTs specified in the Trainer Schedule?

cverdugo698

Wednesday, Nov 04 2015

If you go to the Trainer website, he has a few other guides that coincide with earlier sets of tests!