I was skeptical about the simplicity of E first, but rushed to it right away after seeing how long answer choices A, B, and C were. I think seeing how general and "safe" E was really helped me in being more critical and less obsessed with trying to prove the others. A starts with an incredibly strong statement, B goes after the 50x claim which actually seems to destroy the reasoning, and C is a mess whose contrapositive cannot do anything to prove the argument.

Wow, this question was the hardest for me out of the entire set because I misunderstood "prolific" as meaning "prodigious". If I realized it only meant plentiful, it would have made complete sense for A to be the right answer choice. If you can find an example of something not conforming to the given hypothesis, it absolutely weakens the argument and will likely be your correct answer.

After beating myself up over Q05, the answers for which are some of the most vague I've ever seen, I think I realized a shortcut that would've made it far easier. The last paragraph of Passage A talks specifically to the reader, stating that "the first time YOU lifted...". Already this indicates we're dealing with an athlete of some kind, so B and E are immediately eliminated. C and A are just awfully suspicious and incredibly specific, so they can be eliminated as well. Though D is right by process of elimination, I just find it to be a very unfair answer choice. The way these articles were presented, they could have been addressed to almost anyone - besides the subtle changes in tone, there was no reason to believe that Passage A was not trying to convince people that muscle memory was indeed a real phenomenon.

This was actually a really remarkable flaw. I put A down because it seemed the most reasonable and moved on, but when I started reading question 15 the flaw suddenly struck me. A does a really good job at making this clearer if you didn't see it immediately; as long as you assume that Sada and Brown are the only two candidates, it's silly to imagine that neither one of them will win the election.

#help Was struggling between C and D, but went with D because I assumed the conclusion was stating that meteorites MAY have brought life to Earth. If D claims that the premise establishes the truth of the conclusion, wouldn't the conclusion's truth only be that it COULD have been possible for the meteorite to bring life?

If the truth is supposed to be that life definitely did come in this way I understand why D is wrong, but I really don't see how you can say the truth of a 'may' statement is incorrect.

Nothing can justify the mess that is this LR section. 26 questions and half of them are hard/hardest difficulties? I don't even care if the corresponding RC/LG sections spoon feed you answers, this is just beyond unfair and I feel bad for the students that took and inevitably failed PrepTest 71.

Definitely going to stop studying for now before the frustration increases...

mistaken comment

Is it not also correct that B's concluding statement is logically correct? I'm not sure if this was mentioned in the CC, but "as" does seem to be a necessary indicator because it can be replaced with "since" or "because". Because there was high snowfall, the river will overflow. This is in contrast to E, where there is no indicator at the beginning of the sentence, and we see the "so" necessary indicator follow the statement that "an unusually high infection rate was detected". The difference is incredibly subtle, but it seems like that's what this question boils down to.

#help How does C in any way help explain the overall moose population increasing? Sure, wolves could often kill the diseased moose (and the logic that stems from there is fine), but couldn't they often kill the healthy moose, as well? Can two things not happen often? If killing the diseased was often and the healthy rare C would absolutely explain the discrepancy, but without that, we're just stating another factor that leaves a lot to still be desired. #help

#help I still feel like B has the argument somewhat backwards, though the more I read it the more clarity I seem to get. The stimulus tells us that the larger size of the stickleback is a better defense against predators than armor, so to weaken this, I'd presume the correct answer choice would have to show that this was a faulty assumption. B goes after a reason why the stickleback has the armor. How does eliminating this actually impact the strength of the argument? Sure, it may help the stickleback survive the cold, but it doesn't also mean that it can't provide adequate defense from predators. I feel as if B doesn't get at the necessary part of the argument.

@ said:

It looks like we need to complete it 8 days before our test. This means you can take it anytime before you test starting today. If you log in, go the LSAT Writing on your dashboard and read the instructions and get acquainted with the software.

I do not believe this is correct. The prompts will open to us 8 days before the test, which as the FLEX is defaulted to start on the 29th, the first day to take the writing is today. LSAC is telling us to take it early because they plan to release our scores on September 18th, but without a writing sample verified and on file, they cannot release the LSAT score to us (or to law schools themselves).

From watching videos online about the writing (I, too, was nervous getting the email), it appears we actually have a year after the test date to take the section. Of course this is entirely unfeasible for nearly everyone applying to law school, so it's better to take it no later than a week after your test date. I'll probably plan on doing mine the following day, or if I feel ready, sometime early next week.

#help How does C address the issue about the way the instructions are written? To me, it seems like C just denies that instructions are even needed, which doesn't really touch on what the argument is all about. If the typical product is indeed easy enough to fit together without instructions, then either the instructions need to be incredibly dumbed down (completely valid, if it does indeed make it easier) or just nonexistent. This also leaves open the possibility that the atypical product will need instructions that should still be written in a simplifying manner.

What about C is supposed to make it attractive?

Can't believe I missed the "musical" qualifier in Q12...

I still don't agree with #4 being C.

The author NOWHERE states that he is certain that the Cold War is an important example of bipolarities fostering peace. In fact, in the last paragraph, he repeats several times that this idea is only a conjecture and that it "may" change our understanding of how they work. I switched between B and C for the longest time (and found it even the hardest question of the whole section!), but really think that "convinced" should invalidate it as an answer choice. There is an equal difficulty in assuming that he is "surprised" about anything (in fact, if he truly believes bipolar systems are sometimes peaceful, this shouldn't be a problem for him), but nowhere is he actually convinced of anything.

Perhaps it is inarguably true that there was peace during a bipolar system, but nowhere is there evidence that the bipolarity was responsible for "maintaining" that peace. Really, really strange question. #help

@ said:

Does anyone know if we have to set up a ProctorU account prior to getting the link/code/whatever it is to sign up for a time/date?

If this is your first time, LSAT should have the account set up for you. When the email comes around in the next week or so for the sign-ups, it'll contain your username and temporary password for ProctorU (you can use this temporary one forever, but it's better to change it to something more memorable right away). Entering these in on ProctorU's website will immediately grant you access to the system.

Ack, this really does count on you realizing the educator isn't the one speaking. I guess it should've been obvious based on the stem asking for the "educators'(<)" reasoning... I knew something was up when I didn't see "Educator:" at the beginning of the stimulus!

This was the hardest LR section I've ever taken because, from Q18, half the questions were 5 star difficulty and the others were incredibly time consuming. I'm upset I didn't skip questions like this one that I would've gotten wrong timed anyway, because I was forced to guess on ones I would've gotten otherwise. I completely shut down on this question.

I have absolutely no idea how this is possible to do under time constraints.

Oof, glossed over the fact that 12 was asking for something the passage offered. I put B at first because I realized it was good support, but then saw D and for some reason thought it, if true, would've provided even more support. Too tired to address that last contention at the moment, but at least I can easily eliminate D for the former reason now lol

Almost exact same situation happened to me. When the proctor first introduced himself, I SWORE that he told me the incorrect time for the test. I asked him to review it, he seemed to agree (saying that's what he said in the first place), and we moved on. Fast forward to LG, the last section, and lo and behold I get disconnected from him. I'm doing whatever I can to get his attention but he's clearly not there, so I go to contact ProctorU support. They 'attempt to get in touch with him', at which point his voice comes through and he fixes the problem, logging me back into the test. I pick up right where I left off, beyond stressed out.

After I finish the section, it's time to shut down the test. Except guess what - my original proctor is gone - replaced by someone completely different. She came in, presumably, right when the first guy fixed the problem.

I can only assume that he was trying to leave when the connection mysteriously disconnected (gee, I wonder why?). I can't say anything bad about ProctorU's support as I was shocked at how quick and courteous they were, but the system itself is absolutely awful. This happened to so many people, though oddly it was by far the most common during (a) LG and (b) the last section. Wonder if that's meaningful in any way?

I tried my best not to let it get to me as I rounded out LG, and I think anyone that takes the FLEX online needs to understand technical problems are likely to happen but you have to get through it. After studying so hard, I was of course disappointed when I thought my entire test had disappeared, but I realized that I had put my best effort into the test thus far and wasn't going to give up now. I did lose time because of it, but I would say that unless you lost so much time it would be impossible for you to finish, you should still give it your all. After all, if the technical issues were that destabilizing, LSAC would offer you a retake later in the week.

#help How is the logic that destroys B not apply to C? Sure, Kelly's grocery could have labels on most products to indicate there's no pesticides. But what if Jason purposely doesn't choose any of these? I thought we weren't allowed to make assumptions like this, even if it is a weaken question (an especially weak one, at that).

@ said:

HELP: I pressed the simulate flex option on PT 80 after completing the first 3 sections. It says I got a 155 but my raw score was (65 out of 75) is this correct?? Seems very wrong because I never score below a 169 on 4 section PTs (my first time taking a flex)

This sounds very clearly like a 169; I usually get twelve wrong and that's always 167+. Seems like the feature added the second LR section and gave you a zero for it, likely because you simulated Flex after starting. I've pressed the simulate button before launching the first section and have always had reliable results.

If in doubt, 7Sage has a Flex predictor on another part of the website, here: https://classic.7sage.com/lsat-flex-score-converter/. I entered in 10 questions wrong for PrepTest 80 and it returned a 168. This is likely the real score.

I sent my transcript to LSAC a few days ago and I got a confirmation from my university it was delivered, but LSAC's portal still says a transcript wasn't received. Are you guys implying it takes approximately 3 weeks for it to indicate it's been received, or to process entirely? Thanks

#help Can someone PLEASE help me with Main Point questions? I am ALWAYS getting them wrong, getting confused on question 1 of this section killed my mood and made me perform awfully on every passage. The author clearly does both A and D in my mind and I couldn't discern the difference in the 3+ minutes I wasted on this question... #help#help

I was interrupted during the LG section, was two-three minutes in when the system crashed and told me my exam was gone. I utterly freaked out, and hope I didn't disappoint myself as a result. I don't remember much about the games besides a sense of constant fear that this time handicap was going to ruin me. Luckily LG was my last section; I feel bad for people who experienced this at the very beginning.

I think it has something to do with ProctorU switching your proctor during the test. I noticed that when I finished, I had a different one than when I started, though my first proctor helped me through the problem. It seems like this occurred right when he was about to leave. Really, really upset that we still have to experience these problems in August.

I don't agree with JY's explanation for Question 2. Perhaps it's because this passage absolutely destroyed me and I'm looking for a bone to pick, but the last paragraph pretty explicitly states that the authors ARE aware of Mexico's importance and recognize that it's diminishing, because the complexities of cultural transition are threatening to absorb them into US culture entirely. The only thing I find somewhat wrong about E is the last part about it having an adverse affect on Mexican-American literature. However, the passage doesn't even mention "narrative structure", which is crucial to B, let alone give us a good point of comparison. I honestly still feel like all of these are astoundingly awful answer choices. #help