All posts

New post

249 posts in the last 30 days

I have been diagnosed with PTSD and a neurological disorder. I thought these conditions are overcomable, but I am starting to think otherwise.

My br scores are either in 180 or very high170s. However, my pt scores fluctuate hugely. I can go from -0 on a timed section and take a same section of similar difficulty and land a -10. This happens to me with all 3 section types.

My pt score can fluctuate 15-20 points dependingg on how the ptsd and the neurological condition affect me that day.

My problem is that I run out of time. I've watched a video of myself, have practiced answering questions efficiently, and have done everything within reason to fix any remaining bad habits.

I noticed that the key factor btw -0 and -10 is attention. When im in a bad neurological condition, it also triggers ptsd, and nothing on the page makes sense. I have to reread the same word (not even a difficult word) multiple times to even understand. And then i run out of time because im reading and re-reading words.

Im starting to feel that its beyond my control to overcome my conditions. Does anyone have any advice? Should i start looking into lsac testing accommodations?

And i also cant take any medications because of my neurological condition.

0
User Avatar

Last comment monday, aug 21 2017

September or December?

** Edit: This test was not blind reviewed before I graded.

Ok guys, so today was the big day.

I took my first timed PT as vowed to do to determine if I would going to test in September or December. To give an idea of my place in the CC I finished LR and LG and had just started RC. I wanted to be done with the CC but essentially life happened. Hospital, car problems, family, you name it - it happened.

So my final score is: 158

Lg - 4

LR - 8

RC - 11

LR - 5

The first LR I knew was going to be worst because I was all flustere. I also knew RC was going to be exactly that lol.

I wanted to crack 160 but that was with the idea that I would've been done with the RC CC. I have NO idea what to do. Should I post pone?

0

I am currently signed up for the September LSAT but I am considering postponing to December or February. I am a full-time student, so I would prefer to take it in Feb rather than Dec (because the February sitting will be right after a long break in January, and the December sitting will be during finals). However, I would rather take it in Sept than Feb because then I won't have to balance school and LSAT at all.

I am aiming for a 175+. My PTs have been steadily increasing from 159, 163, 168, and most recently, a 169.

I regularly go -0 on LG. RC and LR are less consistent. I range anywhere from -1 to -5 on each LR section, and -1 to -5 on RC. Oftentimes my mistakes on LR are very apparent to me once I see that I got the question wrong, and it is usually an answer that I was unable to eliminate, but still didn't like. RC usually depends on the passages and how quickly I can get through them. I usually never finish with extra time on any section except LG.

I am looking for suggestions on ways I can improve (like strategies for drilling, taking PTs, taking timed sections, etc) by Sept 16th so that I can hit my goal, OR I am wondering if people think this jump won't be possible in a few weeks and that I should postpone until Dec/Feb.

0

I have been PTing for a while now, and I got my best score of 166 about 2 weeks ago. I was feeling really encouraged, and I thought I had rounded a corner, and would maybe be able to hit 170 by test day in September. After I got the 166, I took 3 more practice tests- and I bombed. I couldn't figure out why, but all of the sudden I didn't have enough time to finish the sections, and I was left scrambling to guess on lots of problems. Long story short, after 3 tests following my 166, where I scored low (158, 157, 154) I noticed my timer on the proctor of the app was off. Instead of being set for 35 mins a section, it was set to 30 mins a section, which means I was getting the 5 minute warning after only 25 mins. I felt deeply relieved to have a partial-reason for my lower score. But even still, now when I'm taking a test with the correct timer, Im not performing as well as I was- my entire perception of time is OFF. I feel rushed even when I don't need to be, and I'm frantic and panicky pretty much the entire test. When I try to slow down, and work through problems, I slow down TOO much. I'm hoping that as I readjust to the correct time, I'll be able to bring my score back to where I'm consistently scoring in the mid to high 160's, but I'm feeling super frustrated. Does anybody have any good timing tips, or has anybody had something similar happen?

0
User Avatar

Last comment sunday, aug 20 2017

167 with -8 RC, Save Me

I've tried a whole range of RC strats, from intense annotating to virtually none at all. RC score just hasn't seen any consistent improvement. Score fluctuates between -3 to -9. I also notice that I spend way too much time on the first passages, not because they're more difficult, but because I try to maximize the # of questions I get on easier passages. I'm also poop soup at inference questions. For testers PTing with PT70+, what RC strats have been most effective for you?

Rest of breakdown is:

1-3 per LR,

0-1 LG,

3-9 RC

0

What are some simple/fundamental stuff that someone can work on to improve their chances of getting a good score (or a better one than usual)? I've been thinking of going back and simply identifying the structure of a bunch of LR questions, like premise SC, MC, etc. to help me better analyze questions, especially MOR.

Also, I know this is really stupid, but I recently figured out that the first question after an RC passage asks for the main conclusion of a passage... for some reason I always looked for the AC that seemed to best summarize the whole passage. Is this new understanding of the main point RC question a correct one?

Would love to hear what basic/fundamental stuff you've worked on that helped you see improvement.

0

It's the problem about sales representatives. I've read several explanations about this one on the Manhattan/PowerScore boards and sort of understand them, but am still really struggling because I just don't get how B is the correct answer. I can see how the other four might be wrong, but I'd at least like to know why this one is RIGHT as opposed to the other four being wrong.

https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-69-section-1-question-22/

0

Do you answer every question by the 25 minute mark? Or do you skip some?

How do you pick which questions to re-do in your extra time (obviously if you haven't skipped any questions)? How do you know which ones you made mistakes in? Do you gauge importance based on your confidence level?

4

I need some clarification on this because I'm applying demorgan's law and it's not making sense to me how this works.

So, the final rule in the game states: "If it is not the case that the park contains both laurels and oaks, then it contains firs and spruces"

I translated this as: /(L and O) --> F and S

The contrapositive I got was, /F or /S --> L or O

But, apparently the correct understanding of the contrapositive is /F or /S --> L AND O. Can someone explain where I'm making an error, because I thought flipping and negating "and" means it becomes an OR, not remain in its "and" form.

0

I am SUPER concerned about getting a weird game on the sep LSAT. I have the "miscellaneous" cambridge packet with all of the weird games but each is so freakishly different I feel like they can throw in whatever. I get so frozen I literally go -7 on a weird game but then when I watch the explanation and re-do it I get it all right.

I'm just worried on test day there will be a weird game I won't be able to make a game board for .. how is everyone approaching this since weird games are becoming more and more common?

here is my list so far in case it helps anyone -

pt 1/2/1

pt 2/3/3

pt 4/3/4

pt 6/4/3

pt 6/4/4

pt 8/2/2

pt 9/3/4

pt 10/2/3

pt 11/1/4

pt 12/2/4

pt 13/1/4

pt 15/4/2

pt 16/1/4

pt 18/1/3

pt 18/1/4

pt 20/3/3

pt 21/1/2

pt 30/1/1

0

I wanted to get some more clarification on a misdirected thought that I had about the words 'if true' in the question stem of certain questions. I had previously thought that this phrase was placed like some of the other words on the LSAT to confuse. This comes from the idea that you are not supposed to bring in outside info to try and bridge the gaps between a right and wrong answer choice. However, I was driving and listening to the MSS webinar by Corey and he stated that the 'if true' is saying even though this is not information found in the stimulus if it were true it could lead to a right answer. So, my question: is it true that when I see the 'if true' that it is a hard fast rule that the LSAT is allowing this (outside) information to be relevant to the task of choosing the correct answer. If you want to listen to where I heard this go to the MSS webinar by Corey and go to minute 23:00.

0
User Avatar

Last comment saturday, aug 19 2017

Getting progressively worse on RC

I've been really hitting RC hard. I'm averaging -4 all other sections, but RC I've been doing worse and worse the more I practice.

I got a 10 out of 27 on PT 72.

and a 14 out of 27 on PT 63.

I'm not sure what Im doing wrong. I'm getting super discouraged.

Any RC tips?

0

So I'm finding that during the middle of an LR section 15-20ish my mind goes numb. I miss blocks of questions 4 in a row. It doesn't help that this is typically the "harder" portion of the section.

So what are the thoughts about going right to the middle of the section first, with a less tired brain, and then working my way out from there? What are the harms? I can see bubbling being an issue, but are there any other major harms that can befall me?

I've really tried other skipping strategies, but I'm just not comfertable with them. I'm wondering if this might be a possible answer for me.

0

G'day, 7sagers!

I have a hard time diagramming the logic in these questions but seem to be doing OK without diagramming and just going by the English alone. Will this ever come back and bite me in the arse? Should I work on getting better at mapping out the formal logic? I feel like my main issue is determining what to use as symbols in translating the English to lawgic. I tend to do better on LR than any other section, but still have room to improve. I also have difficulty with LG and feel that this may be an issue in that case. Any suggestions/ideas are appreciated!

-Brett.

0

I am having a very difficult time coming up with low resolution summaries during timed tests, I usually only do them for the first one or two paragraphs and then am pressed for time. I really appreciate the change in core curriculum with JY emphasizing this however it would be very helpful if the summaries were also included in the explanations! I have nothing to compare my summaries to.

Is anybody else struggling with this? For those of you whom have mastered this your input is appreciated!

Thanks,

Stephanie

0

Hi guys,

This is such a stupid question but as the title says, how do you translate: "Jack must wear every colour Fred wears" into Lawgic

Is it F-->J ?

My confusion stems from the fact that there are 2 lawgic indicators (must and every) here. I actually missed "every" initially and thought it was only must so I diagrammed it as J-->F.

Should I interpret it as: "Every colour Fred wears must be worn by Jack" ?

Sorry for the silly question haha just want to be sure.

2
User Avatar

Last comment saturday, aug 19 2017

Am I experiencing Burnout?

Hey guys,

I think I need some advice. I've seen huge improvements on the LSAT this last month. Namely my LG going from -6 to -1/-2, understood parallel flaw, scored in the 170s for the first, second and third time. But something is amiss.

Last PT I took I got a 165 (my lowest score since I started prepping again in early July). It was my first 5 section test. But I don't know if that's the issue.

I sat down to take another PT today and I just couldn't understand anything I was reading. I thought I had mastered PF yet I was tremendously confused. I couldn't get a simple disagreement question. It's funny because the warmup I did i breezed through easily (about 5 questions). So idk if I'm experiencing burnout, or I'm just psyching myself out.

What do you guys think about taking today, tomorrow and sunday off. Then trying to retake this PT I gave up after the first section. I'll be honest I haven't been getting enough sleep as I should and only 3 questions deep today i started getting that 'post-lsat brain fuzz'. We have exactly 30 days left before Sept 16th and as much as I don't want to take time off...

So should I take time off - and do you think its detrimental that I use this time off to write my PS?

Thanks,

LSAT-hopefullynotburnout-2

0

https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-65-section-1-question-19/

Help. That's all I can say. I do not see how answer choice C does anything to the argument even slightly.

Birds didn't eat at the feeders, so they got ate less and now their population is larger because of the mild winter?

Best I can do. I hate this question....

How does that do better than answer A.

Increases in bird populations sometimes occur following unusual weather patterns.

Mild winter means the winter is not as harsh as it usually is, this means that weather is unusual, and the bird population increased.

^ seems way better to me.

0
User Avatar

Last comment friday, aug 18 2017

In search of #MajorKeys

Hey 7Sagers! Im curious how you all as JY puts it "get the most" out of every PT. I understand that it is foolish to burn through PTs without gaining as much LSAT juice as possible from each. I'm wondering what you all do after every PT to review?

This is the system that I have been using recently:

For LR, I blind review and type out a doc that outlines my thinking for all missed questions, confidence errors, or overall difficult questions. Currently seeing most improvement on LR (going -5), although I know I can improve more... looking at you PM/ PF/ SA/ MBT.

For LG, I have been fool proofing all games where I missed a question or if I didn't get through the game as fast as I thought I should. I have only started doing this from PT 59 and up so tbh haven't full proofed games before that (PT 52-58). I had been doing well for my target score (-6) up to the last couple PTs I took where I have not done as well.

For RC, I have not found a review strategy that has helped me increase my points. RC was honestly natural to me when I first started taking PTs last December, would score -6 while my other sections were trash lol. But my score has gone down which is super frustrating to me (avg -8 rn). I know the reason is that I switched to focusing to 3 passages because time was an issue, but I have not been able to go perfect on three passages for this method to be beneficial. So I'm pretty lost on this end of it. I want to go back to completing four passages but its becoming hard for me to think that speeding through passages more quickly while risking misunderstanding is going to be the solution.

September was my goal, have been studying 30+ hrs since June, but I feel like I have so much to work on that it's feeling like pushing back my test date is the right choice... Going to keep grinding for the next couple weeks to see where I'm at then.

Any insight would be great, I'm all ears!

0

So I've been chugging along with my PTs and suddenly hit a wall in terms of LG in tests in the upper 60s. I've never been great at LG, but up until now I've gotten it down to -3/4 per section. In my last 3 PTs I've gotten -7 on 66, -8 on 67, -9 on 68, and -8 on 69. Kind of freaking out - I've worked so hard to improve the LG over the past 4 months and suddenly it seems with the newer tests I'm back to square one

I'm not sure if they're actually harder but it seems like they have many more "weird" unpredictable games that don't fit any convention. In the past there would usually be a standard sequencing game to start, and in/out game, and some grouping game. Now the recent games either have some twist or some thing that throws me off

Not trying to make any excuses! I know that if I really was proficient at LG I would be able to adapt to the weirdness of the rules and games but I had been doing pretty well up until this point! Disappointed

0
User Avatar

Last comment friday, aug 18 2017

Argument structure practice

Hi,

So I understand basic argument structures, but when it comes to complex arguments and intense language, I ended up missing the questions. When I look at it with no time pressure, I am able to strip arguments down to their basic structures, but under time, I do not do that. Are there any drills out there for this? Has anyone else run into this problem? Thanks in advance! :)

0

Im in the middle of BRing and i like AC E bc how does the author know that having so much artwork that can satisfy every taste imaginable will affect someones aesthetic fulfilment.

But AC D... does the author have to assume there is such a scenario? That some people have access to the contemporarys work and not others? Is it the word "many" that disqualifies it? Thoughts?

https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-72-section-2-question-16/

0

Confirm action

Are you sure?