I've read that the August LSAT will be back to four sections, but one of them will be experimental and therefore your score won't count. Forgive me if this is a dumb question, but will the experimental section definitely be another LR like it is on all LSAC PTs, or could it also be RC or LG?
Got an email about the LSAT writing sample and was a bit confused so I hope someone can help. They repeatedly say the writing sample will be available to complete 8 days before testing day, so Oct 1. But HOW LONG is it available to complete after testing day?
I'm definitely not wasting precious time and energy on the writing sample before test day, but will be much less stressed after, so was hoping to complete it in the week after testing. But nowhere does it say how long you can do this! Anyone have any idea for me?
Thanks!
I was told that if you cancel it, it isn't as if you never even took it at all, because under your LSATs scores the schools see "canceled score" and this could mean any number of things. (They might think it's worse than it is, for example.)
I did four days after the test (I only started doing a few practice prompts for the first time a day after the test) and it was fine; got my score on time today. Definitely don't waste precious energy doing it before the test, although they will certainly badger you with emails about how you simply MUST complete it early.
One clarification: when you were taking PTs were they flex PTs/simulated flex? If that's the case, I might expect a score drop on the real (4-section LSAT) just due to that extra section! If you think about it, it's basically an extra 35 minutes worth of brain-drain when you have to get through it but can't pick up any points (because it's an experimental section) so I would expect your score to be a bit lower.
I was doing 3-part flex PTs for months until about a month before the October LSAT, then realized that to train myself for the 4-section one I need to switch back to four section tests. I thought of it as practice and didn't concentrate on the score I got so much; I just needed to train myself for that level of sustained thinking.
7sage for LR and LG learning, Powerscore for getting my RC reading time and score up, but I definitely used the problem sets from 7sage for all three sections!
I had the exact same experience with 45 minutes of "technical difficulties" and just found out I got a 166. I'd been PTing at 168 for several weeks and had hoped to make 170 on the actual test. Oh well; thank the gods I signed up for November so I have an option to try again.
And yes, ProctorU can go f%*& itself.
Well I got a 166 on that terrible, horrible, no good, very bad LSAT. I had hoped if I could hold firm at 168 (my top PT score) I might have a chance of 170 in November. But with everything they threw at me technical-wise, I'm also...kind of okay with my score?
Onward to the November test and good luck everybody.
I took the Oct LSAT (getting scores today - woooo) and I feel like I bombed the LG section because it was my first section after struggling through 45 minutes of technical difficulties just to access the test, which really threw me off.
Here is what I did and what I'm doing: In/Out games are my worst for some reason, so I redid all those problem sets and watched some of JYs explanation videos. Sometimes if I got a couple of questions wrong I'd make a fresh copy and redo the set while watching the video at the same time, or sometimes for a hint I'd see how he set up the boards and then redo the set. I also did all the Miscellaneous games not to LEARN them per se but to get more comfortable when being faced with weird games (there was one on the Oct LSAT and it threw me).
With the last 2.5 weeks before November I am going to redo LG sections from PTs 80-90. Then I'm going to do PTs 91/92 (the newest ones) on the LSAC platform and not on 7sage to get used to that platform (which I also felt I wasn't on test day).
Don't give up! Even just postponing and taking a few months off may give you new perspective.
@ You can double-click on words to highlight them, and I find the forcefulness of the action does to my brain the same thing that a definitive underline would do on paper. Helps me remember that word or point in the passage. If you see highlighting as a way to break up the passage and alert you to where key changes happen, instead of as a way to mark up all the important bits (which can seem like a lot when you first read) then you won't overmark and it will help you remember.
I second what everyone says above but also: just go through the curriculum. A lot of the conclusions/tips/tricks outlined above will become apparent if you take time for each question type.
I actually gave myself a couple of months just to learn each question type, write a page of notes about the question stem, typical traps, what you're really doing in each, and it helped immensely. I don't really go back to my notes but writing things down on paper helps me internalize them. Also SKIPPING SKIPPING SKIPPING. I now get to the last question on LR with around 8-10 minutes to spare to go back to hard questions, and once those are done I usually have 2-3 minutes to review questions I've flagged. I tend to go -3 these days which is not perfect but a tremendous improvement over what I was going (-10/12).
Echoing this - Sara you're a star!
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@ said:
Keeping this post alive as it is probably the most comprehensive foundational RC advice around.
https://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/26560/my-guide-to-reading-comprehension-part-1-long-ish-post
I have found literally so many of your comments on these forums extremely helpful, thank you!!
Thanks so much everyone! I just did the old game and it was super easy, which shows me I just let nerves (and rage from technical issues) get the best of me on LSAT day.
I'm going to redrill all the games in the 80s AND do all the miscellaneous games to prep for November ;)
I only started to get better at RC when I STOPPED taking notes. Instead I highlight certain words/phrases on screen that indicate:
a) a change in viewpoint
b) introduction of a new argument
c) a question asked
d) a list of factors
This comes straight from Powerscore which was very helpful. I realized that taking notes on paper was slowing me down, not contributing to my retention, AND I never looked back at them.
I don't know how I did overall on the October LSAT but I do know I had 2 RC sections and finished both with several minutes to look back and review flagged/tough questions.
Hi October test-takers,
We all took it, and hopefully some of you have a good memory: Can anyone point me towards similar games to that last one, the one with the duets and violin and piano(?) or was it guitar(?) players.
I'm pretty sure I bombed that section as it was my first after 45 minutes of ProctorU technical difficulties, but all the while on the other three games I was aware I was making dumb mistakes. On this one I was just lost. I'd like to tackle other games that are similar just to prep more and up my confidence for the November exam.
Can anyone help point me to them? Even #admin
I'm so sorry! I had terrible technical issues and the agents they had me on with were RUDE. Pretty sure I bombed the first section and was almost in tears on break too. All I can do is thank past-me for scheduling the November test "just in case".
I feel you! We will both recover, take it again, and do much better! Also sorry but F&%$ ProctorU I hate them with such a burning passion.
I'm probably biased because I love the test and have enjoyed studying for it (no misery here!) but I don't find the PTs in the 80s to be impossible. In fact, I intentionally left several of them for the weeks leading up to October and got my highest scores consistently (168; BRing in the 170s). I don't want to make the LR question flaw of inferring from too small a sample, but my experience tells me the PTs in the 80s test the same skills and are just as conquerable.
Hi all,
So I've been studying since January, and have been getting in the mid-160s on PTs before I even began the 7sage CC. I really want to hit that 170 so I took several months of just reviewing the CC with a focus on LR, my weakest section. Well, I've now started doing whole sections based on my months of drilling/studying, and while I've gotten LG down to -1 and RC down to -2, I still seem stuck on LR. Whether untimed or timed, I always seem to get -5.
Now finally, my question: I'm taking the October LSAT, which means I have limited time left. What would you do in my situation? Keep grinding away at extra LR sections to try to improve my score, or decide it's a wash and go for practicing even more LG/RC to cement the good scores I already have? I know with the scores I'm getting on these sections I could probably reach my 170 goal, but there is always the (very great) possibility I will choke on test day and score lower on all three.
What would you do? Thanks in advance!
Giulia
In my opinion, this is really not a productive argument. So 100 out of how many thousands of students figure out a way to cheat technologically? I can't imagine that truly shifting the percentile and they have to live with what they did even if they don't get caught.
Just focus on you.
Thanks for that insight! Have you had ice cream at their creamery yet? (from vet school dairy cows!) The botanical garden is also great.
@ said:
I hear you, same thing happened to me for the Aug. take - mine was pushed back 60 minutes after multiple disconnection and change of proctor 2 times... it was my 1st take and really bothered me. Although I do not completely blame this tech glitch for my failing the Aug take, but it did leave me in total numbness (and by the time the test started at 3pm, i was very hungry...). Shit happens, all we can do is to make a lemonade :)
Let's kill the Nov take!
The being hungry part would kill me. As it is, I only had a headache and had to pee the entire time hahaaa.
Thanks all, for your reinforcement.
I'm still beating myself up but I do know I'm capable of so much better. Oh well, at least I have another month to drill before November.
The good news is that even though I'm pretty sure I bombed LG (seriously, I normally finish with time to spare and get -1/2 and this time I was actually aware of my brain not working properly and making stupid mistakes, but was powerless to stop it in the moment), the rest of the test felt relatively easy (finished every section with time to spare, didn't have a single WTF question I got stuck on, etc).
Wait so, people don't get the same bonus section??
I'm shook.
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I had the fattest sigh of relief when I saw my bonus section was another thing of logic games lol
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AM Times went super fast so hurry! I thought the earliest we could take the test was the 21st, but apparently the 14-17 is available Whooo hooo!
This may be a dumb question so apologies; but I assume this will be a retake of the same Oct test, so you can only reschedule if you could not complete the test due to technical issues?
In a word, no. I went into it after trying other study methods that hadn't worked, but I already had a solid foundation in all three section types. I definitely did very in-depth LR studying since I wanted to get better at identifying question stems, knowing what to look for, predicting answers, and it really helped (I went from getting -10 per section to getting 2-3). With LG/RC I found the problem sets invaluable, but also used PowerScore to firm up some concepts and found that helped me increase my score more.
I don't know whether to be super sad or super angry right now, so I'll settle on both. My test ended up starting 45 minutes late because of "technical difficulties." NOT ON MY END; I checked everything the night before. On THEIR end, and they were just really unfriendly and unhelpful about it. I could not possibly hate ProctorU more if you paid me.
The connection kept on "dropping," according to them. I went through multiple technical agents. They told me to change my privacy settings, reboot my computer, and on and on and on.
By the time I actually got into the test, I was so flustered it didn't even matter that I'd studied for 9 months, felt 100% ready, and was eerily calm in the days leading up to the test. I already knew I wasn't going to do well, and I'm pretty sure I bombed the first half.
Now, luckily I was smart enough to sign up for November, so in another month I get to do this all again (joy!). I just feel like such a tremendous failure right now; like I wasted 9 months of my life, like it was stupid of me to dare hope I could do something as challenging as go to law school.
Commiserate with me, please.
Hi all,
I'm new to 7sage. I've been looking at the section on Blind Review and I can't seem to find an answer to this (in the forum either) but maybe it's just because I haven't yet taken a PT via 7sage, only through the LSAC Lawhub.
With LSAC, once you complete a PT your score and right/wrong answers show up automatically. If you go back through to circle (or in this case "flag") your unsure answers, it will show the correct answer in a box. I gather from the videos that this will bias me towards those answer and will therefore be unhelpful.
When you take PTs via the 7sage interface, is here an extra step between finishing your test and actually revealing all the answers? Is this built in so you can do that blind review step?
Thanks in advance!
Giulia
Hi all,
This is a weird question, I'll admit, for a weird subset of people. I'm a second-career law-school hopeful (36 years old). While it's still months away, I was musing with a friend the other day that I'd need to get back in touch with my college professors and ask them for recommendations. She seemed absolutely SHOCKED by this and said I shouldn't bother, because college is too far behind me. I should only get recent professional recommendations.
My impression was that a mix is best, and really I should have at least one college rec, even if I graduated 13 years ago. This may be easier for me then most because I actually had three professors write me letters back then (for a grad program I ended up not doing). Getting recs from them would just involve checking in, saying hi, asking if they want to update it in any way, and having them resend it.
But IS THIS WEIRD? Will law schools be like "what the heck is she doing getting a recommendation from 13 years ago she could have become a serial killer in the meantime"? I would of course supplement with a couple of more recent recommendations from people I've worked with/for.
Any and all insight appreciated. Thanks!
Giulia
The most important thing you can do is SKIP IT and come back. I didn't trust in this method for the longest time, but somehow it's really like your brain is still mulling it over in the background while you do other questions (aka accumulate MORE POINTS) and then come back to it. I've had several stimuli suddenly make sense to me on the second or third go-around. If the clock is ticking and you know you have a low chance of getting it right, eliminate obviously wrong answers and guess.
Thinking of postponing the June LSAT to Aug, which will be my second time doing so (I was signed up for April and didn't take it), but I honestly don't know which will be worse. I'm in such a spiral of self-doubt and self-hatred I feel like I need a second opinion.
I wasted the two months leading up to the April LSAT with a tutor who didn't help, and what's worse, wasted many of the newer PTs because I was told to take 2-3 a week before I had even grasped the concepts. I had a mild freakout a week before the test in April and postponed to June, thinking I could take a couple of weeks off and go back to studying with refreshed eyes and brain.
Well, it's two months later, I've slept, ate, and breathed the LSAT, I actually dream about it, and yet my PT scores haven't increased one single point, and I'm beginning to think I'm regressing on sections like LG that I thought I had down pretty well, having panic attacks and making dumb mistakes. My LG score hovers around the same, and my RC score is only better when I give myself unlimited time.
Worse still, whether I take the June LSAT or not, it will be the last Flex. My score definitely suffers when have four sections to deal with instead of three (I know this from taking LawHub tests vs. 7Sage simulated flexes). I could take the June LSAT, think of it as practice, get a bad score, and cancel it as it's my first and I have that option. But then what if I take August LSAT and the jump from 3-4 sections completely ruins me, and either way I don't get the score I want?
I'm 36 years old and I really don't have the benefit of spending years studying for this and applying. I've made so many mistakes in my life I just want to do something right, get a good LSAT score, and move on. But now I'm thinking that, like everything else I've tried, this just isn't in the cards for me and I should give up. Basically, I know there is no way I'll get the score I want on the upcoming June LSAT, but I'm frozen with fear and doubt about what else to do.
Please help!
This is exactly my question so thanks for asking! Just today I was pondering whether to push back my retake from November to January.
For context, my GPA and LSAT score are much higher than the median for 4 out of the 8 schools I want to apply to, but slightly lower than the median for the other 4. Although I'd be happy with acceptances to the first 4, I really think I didn't reach my full potential on the October test (technical difficulties, first take nerves, etc) and I feel like I owe it to myself to try again.
But will taking it in mid-January (assume I'll get the score early Feb) tank my chances of getting in ANYWHERE this cycle?
You're not alone. That game was the absolute worst and definitely what sunk my score single-handedly by a couple of points.