@leahbeuk911 I somehow tricked Harvard to accept me last week, despite my 2(!) 162s on file (my January score was not released yet), and have been in shock ever since. Before then, I was pretty much set on Penn or UVA but need to wait hear back from schools regarding financial aid. I have been incredibly blessed this cycle and am so glad I shot my shot to reaches. What about you??
Good point @ninaleaoishi762 and thanks @leahbeuk911 !! I have had a cycle beyond my wildest expectations and am now freaking out about decisions/loans/imposter syndrome but I'm glad I can still turn to 7Sage for some support :)
My access will expire in six days and I will not be retaking the LSAT. However, I have some crazy law school decisions to make and was hoping to posit questions about deciding on schools to the 7Sage squad in the coming weeks and months. Can I post questions/reply to comments with an expired account?
Thank you all! @nikitamunjal950 i'm honored...you've been such an inspiration on this forum and an amazing advocate. Best of luck in law school!
Hi all,
Just wanted to tell you all thank you for the support. After starting at a 151 as a diagnostic, I hit a 166 on my third take in January. Despite it being several points below my last five tests average, I have decided to pull the trigger and complete my cycle after being admitted to my dream school. I started this journey a little over a year ago (see my last diatribe which I posted about a month ago) and, while exhausted, every minute I put into this test was worth it. I hope everyones' cycles this year and the forthcoming years are filled with acceptances and scholarships, and regardless of whether or not you end up practicing law, you will each make an impact in your communities and relationships. Bon voyage.
Yours,
Juan
@charitylehmann316 hahahaha i hope so too and I totally agree the friendships are a big part of it!!
This was my third time taking the LSAT. I have been studying for this beast for the last 12 months - eight of those months working a full-time job, three of them being an LSAT unemployed bum, and one month (the most recent) at a 30-35 hour gig. In that year, I moved across the country and back, had my heart broken and torn to pieces, reunited with my pooch, applied to law schools, learned how to cook and iron my own clothes, and read every possible Baldwin book I could get my hands own (dm me for Baldwin suggestions - that beautiful man deserves more attention and every prospective law student should read/see If Beale Street Could Tak).
Through all the volatility, the LSAT was the only constant. I fucking obsessed over that test. I never realized in high school what a high standardized score could do for someone like me, and I committed myself to not making the same mistake twice. I sat for September, after consistently averaging around 166 (my diagnostic was a 151/152), and scored a 162. Sat for November, consistently hitting over 168 on my PTs. I scored a 162. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. For someone who is consistently a positive person, I was so incredibly beyond bummed after that score. I felt like giving up and was definitely depressed. I had put so much time on that test, that it became part of me, and, becoming part of me, came to define my worth.
But somehow, miraculously, some law schools looked past my scores and admitted me. Through this process, and I realize my insane luck and blessings, I realized that a score does not signify self-worth. So many things go into an application and a life story, and although a high number is incredibly important, it is just one factor.
With that mindset, I sat for January, felt the same anxiety as always being bombarded with absurd conditionals, and nearly threw up when I read one of those rules in the last game. But after writing January and reflecting on these last twelve months, I realize that this test, this fucking test that has brought me to some really shitty lows, actually taught me a lot beyond differentiating between necessary and sufficient assumptions. I read more intently. I can sit people with some really peculiar needs in a circular table (“are you fucking kidding me Harriet? give me one good reason why you can’t sit next to Karl at this picnic table?!?!”)* which will probably come in handy when figuring out wedding arrangements for in-laws in the very very very distant future. I am more inclined to yell bullshit when I hear x political commentator talk nonsense about y issue.
So even though this test has cost me so much anxiety, and needless to say money, I am glad I spent the time I did and hope that silver linings, whether obvious or obscure, manifest before you all as they did for me. And may waves fall now and forever on my fellow 7Sagers. Thanks for the support y’all.
*PT41, Game 4 for reference
Bump apartments
@jhaldy10325 that's how I have been accessing the discussion board too. Unfortunately there's no way to access the other logic games in the app (I've been stuck seeing Image, Solide, and Truvest's names from PT 68 Game 3), which is no big deal, but the accessibility of having all the games in a neatly organized space on the app was nice. Regardless, it's an amazing resource for 7Sagers and much appreciated.
@studentservice I haven't found the proctoring to be glitchy, but the Discussion and Logic Games tabs in the app seem to be stuck on the first page I opened since the last update. I have tried to close and reopen the app but nothing seems to work (although I have not tried to delete and re-download the app yet). I use the newest iOS.
I started with the same exact score nearly a year ago (-7 on RC as well). Over the course of the year, I have managed to get that score down to an average of -2,-3 by just drilling sections. That said, some RC passages are simply more brutal than others, and I think the tip to overcome these passages is to stay engaged with the material no matter how abstract and boring it might seem. I think a lot of people recommend reading The Economist and other-jargon heavy materials, outside of the LSAT, and I would take that advice to heart except add that one should read critically as much as possible. Some more detailed advice is to read question stems extremely carefully. LR's MSS questions types are similar to RC's MSS question types and answer choices with "extreme language" should therefore be treated with the same degree of caution. Good luck, hope this rant helps!
Thanks for the s/o 7Sage :)
@beyondsudi482 this is my first time explaining a question so sorry ahead of time if my explanation is convoluted.
This is a principle question with a somewhat unique form.
Our problem is stated in conditional language: If S congratulates D ---> S is insincere (A--->B). If S does not congratulate D ----> S hurts D's feelings (~A--->C). Terms match so our conditional chain is: S does not hurt's D's feelings ----> S congratulates D -----> S insincere (~C--->A--->B).
Our principle states that one should never be insincere about one's feelings (except where one believes that the person with whom one is speaking would prefer kindness to honesty). Therefore, we are looking for an answer choice that must have something to do with Shayna's sincerity/insincerity and be aware of the exception of Shayna believing that Daniel prefers kindness to honesty.
Answer choice B is tempting since it matches our conditional terms but it talks about how Daniel might feel but not at all how Shayna would feel/if she's truly is being insincere. (D is wrong for the same reason)
That leaves us with A, C, and E.
A is wrong since it affirms the sufficient condition (~C) which would mean Shayna is being insincere (B) which flies against the principle.
C is wrong since it talks in very vague terms about Shayna preferring kindness to honesty (we only care about Daniel's preference and about Shayna being honest/dishonest with her feelings).
E is correct since it goes hand-in-hand with our principle. Shayna has no opinion about Daniel preference's between kindness and honesty (so our exception to the principle is overcome), and by not congratulating him she is not being insincere (by negating the sufficient the conditional relationship just falls away).
thanks for the feedback and discussion link @8835! i've noticed that nuanced trend myself, but unfortunately i've burnt up everything that is 50+ for my november take (except for a random 8x PT). i'll probably just redo individual sections of LR from newer sections leading up to the test date and carry on from there.
Hi everyone,
I have a bunch of untouched older material (PT 1-18, 29-35) that I planned to utilize for my January retake. Am I shooting myself in the foot for studying from these older PTs/would I be better off retaking newer PTs?
Would love any advice y'all can provide. Thanks!
jmpm
Interested :)
Thank you so much for you kind message @ohnoeshalpme804. I really appreciate it and you're absolutely right - I am so thankful for having reached the percentile from where I originally started. I will take your advice to heart and start thinking about working on my test-day rituals and mindfulness. My weakest section was traditionally LG but after drilling nearly every game out there it has become my strongest section. What kills me is LR but it fluctuates to an absurd degree (normally -5 but -12 on both September and November!).
Once again, thank you so much for the kind words, here's to January!
Hey Everyone,
I have depended on this community for nearly a year now, and I need some advice/good mojo. After hitting my target score consistently, I retook the November LSAT and scored six points below my PT average again (162 September, 162 November). I was floored. Honestly expected to reach my average when I opened up my LSAT email, or at the very least done better than September. It is hard not to give in to feelings of inadequacy, but I'm trying my best to stay positive and focus on January. I do not have to attend law school this coming cycle, but I have already dedicated so much time on this test, moved back home/turned down a job to study, and have submitted applications (and paid fees) to apply for this cycle.
How should I approach January? I have 40-50 hours a week available to study for this test, but want to be very cognizant of burn-out. My apps are all submitted, however, so luckily I do not have to juggle admissions essays, addendums, etc.
Thanks ahead of time for any suggestions/advice y'all provide. I'm so lucky to have found this community a year ago.
-jmpm
Amazing, thanks!
retweet (and add PT 85, S2, Q9)
edit: and PT 85, S3, Q24
Thank everyone!! I hope this helps at least one person out there to make sure they have everything with them before getting to the test center/make sure to get there early in case the unexpected happens.
@2396 I don't think I could ever repay my roommate for being such a rockstar that morning, but I made sure to get him a ticket to a concert for our favorite band. Also, I moved back home to Pennsylvania so I won't have to retake the test at USF (although my test center is now and hour away because the local colleges were all filled up beforehand...I'm stuffing my car and pants with admission tickets this time around).
juanpalaciomoreno914
Hi everyone,
I've been meaning to post about my September administration for some time but I've been too busy studying/traumatized. With November's test coming up, however, I figured I would share my story a) as a distraction from stress studying and b) to make sure no one else does what I did in September.
I took my September test at USF in San Francisco. My roommate, the protagonist in this story, agreed to drive me to the test center in the early morning. I lived in the Mission District of San Francisco, which is a solid 15-17 minute drive away from the test center, and so I decided to get to the test center about forty-five minutes early. I solidly packed my ziplock bag, printed my admissions ticket, and got to USF about forty minutes before the test started. My roommate Bryan drove off with my iPhone (I wrote down his number on a piece of paper and planned to call him on a friendly stranger's phone after I got out of the test), and I decided to calm my nerves across the law school at the cathedral that loomed over the campus on an enormous hill. As my Catholic concentration began to break during my third Hail Mary, I glanced at my ziplock bag and mentally went down the checklist of the things I wanted to have with me in the test center. Beef jerky - check. Water bottle - check. Apple - check. NYT article to read before the test - check. Admission ticket - ...fuck.
I had forgotten my admission ticket in my roommate's car. By the time I realized, there was only twenty minutes left before the test center closed its doors. I began to panic. I ran out of the cathedral and hysterically began asking undergraduates around campus for their phones to call my roommate. In my crazed paranoia, I didn't even think about asking someone to use a printer at USF's library. I needed that admission ticket - it was the only way in. Finally, a Good Samaritan (who I must have terrified by my hysteria) lent me her phone, and I was able to reach my friend. He was home, in the Mission, fifteen minutes away from campus. It was 8:17. I asked him to do whatever he could to get to me, but at that point I was resigned to sit for November.
My friend drove a silver Acura and the law school was situated at an intersection at the top of a massive hill, where one could clearly see each car driving up from its base. Every silver car I saw for those excruciating minutes made my heart rise to my throat only to feel crushing disappointment when it turned out to be yet another San Francisco Prius/Tesla. 8:27. 8:28. 8:29. Those last sixty seconds between 8:29 and 8:30 were the most draining sixty seconds I ever felt between eight months of studying. 8:30. 8:31. It was over. Then, suddenly, I saw a silver car gunning up the hill. I sprinted in its direction, and like a quarterback handing off the football to a running back in the end zone, I grabbed my admission ticket and ran back up the hill to the front of the law school. 8:32. I was the last person in line, and by some miracle, was let into my test room. I had forgotten all my meditation techniques, my negation techniques, my focus on looking for the word "any," etc. All I cared about was that I had gotten into the test center, and although I bombed my first section (my heart rate was through the roof), I was glad I had the opportunity to sit for September.
My September test was about six points below my average and therefore I plan on retaking for November. I attribute the lower score to some personal relationship problems that arose a week before the test and also my self-inflicted meltdown before September. What would I do differently? Probably focus less on making sure my jerky is packed and make sure I secured my admissions ticket.
TLDR: 1) Show up early to your test center. 2) Print more than one admission ticket and staple one on your body.
I resonate with this post. Except your Borges is my Marcuse. And your June 2018 RC is my September 2014 RC. I'll always be haunted by the LSAC's author's criticism of Marcuse's dismal view on humanity's capacity to free itself from the alienation and inescapability of advertisements (it's like they've never seen Mad Men!!!!).
Hi Monica,
I didn't start at 145 but my diagnostic was 151. After 8+ months of studying with six of those months coinciding with FT employment, I am averaging 168 (wrote in September and scored a 162 thanks in part to a brain meltdown in games which is historically my worst section). Could not have done it without this amazing, supportive community. Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!
Juan
@leahbeuk911 Thank you so much! I am definitely still processing through the shock but am also enjoying being blessed with having these choices.
UCI is an amazing school in an amazing area (my partner lives a couple minutes south from the school - the beach is like ten minutes away!!) and I'm confident you'll hear back good news from the schools you are waiting on. I'm confident you will make an amazing classmate and attorney wherever you end up!