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I wrote my first diagnostic today and surprised myself with a 154. Definitely not the score I want on test day, but happy to start in the 60th percentile. I've signed up for the powerscore two month in-person class, and im currently working through the 7sage curriculum. Is it overly ambitious to want to write the test in June? And is there any benefit to writing in June vs September ?

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I took the February LSAT and scored a few points above my average! But 7 points from my best score ever... I am planning to write again in September with the hope of being a little less nervous and having a much more solid grasp on the principles, rather than a sometimes-vague understanding that got me by but left some of the harder questions as a total guess. My goal is to increase my score by 5-7 points.

My study plan is this:

  • start from the beginning of the core curriculum, taking notes and reviewing learned principles (whizzed through the videos last time and assumed I understood because I got the sample questions mostly right - not the case)
  • be diligent in my blind review (got really lazy with it last time around) and try out the technique of writing an explanation for every answer (this sounds painfully slow for me but I guess it's necessary)
  • 2.5 months to get through the core curriculum while working full time. then a month off for a busy time at work (necessary but can maybe do some timed sections a couple times a week to stay warm). then 2 months for prep tests and (painfully thorough) blind reviews while working a little less than full time.
  • Any advice of what else to consider to gain a rock solid understanding? I struggle with the harder RC (especially the science topics) and the hardest level of LR. I mastered LGs so just need to maintain there and practice hard miscellaneous questions to avoid panicking in the face of the unknown.

    Gosh, even if there isn't any advice, this was so helpful to write out!!

    1

    Most beers in are cans. Most cans contain beer.

    Conclusion: The number of beers is not greater than double nor fewer than half the number of cans.

    B (---most---) C

    Conclusion: 1/2C < B < 2C

    Most cans contain beer. Most beers are in cans. Most beers contain alcohol.

    Conclusion: Some cans contain alchohol.

    C (---most---) B ---Most---> A

    Conclusion: C some A

    Let me know if you think this makes sense. Thanks!

    1

    Hi,

    Was wondering how big of an impact a 3.65 GPA is vs a 3.66 GPA is for Law schools. I'm debating if I should take an extra class to raise my GPA, but I also want to make sure that I can get straight A's, not stress out too much, and study a little for the LSATs when I dont have midterms or finals. I'm kind of wondering what you guys think if taking the extra class is worth the headache?

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    Im nervous that my past is going to haunt me while pursing law school and taking the bar. I had a minor consumption at 19 and public intox at 21. I had a driving suspended when I was 16 for some insurance problem that I had no idea about. Am I screwed? I am 28 now

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    Hey everyone. I hope your studies are going well and ya'll find some time to enjoy the Summer weather between BRing and pencil debates.

    I am nearing the end of the CC -- I've Point at Issue, Miscellaneous, and the bundle remaining. However, I also have ALL of the RC remaining as well : ) because I wasn't able to print anything until recently. My plan is to finish out the CC in the next 10 days and then take a month to Fool Proof as much of the LG as I can, develop an RC approach (experimenting with the various methods that are out there), Fool Proof as many early RC as I can, and continue LR drilling to stay fresh. The end of that fool-proofing month will have me begin PTing by the end of May and I would like to take the test by Sept/Dec.

    If anyone has feedback, advice, cautionary commentary, or words of support I would love to hear them! Here are some particular questions I have:

  • Should I fool-proof all bundle games before PTing?
  • Should I Start PTing as soon as I finish the CC so that I can participate in things like BR calls and @"Cant Get Right" "Oldies But Goodies" or hold off on these things until I get some fool-proofing under my belt?
  • Thanks for your help,

    J

    1

    Hey, guys. Has anyone noticed any funky games such as this one in recent PT? JY said don't worry but there seems to be a trend of the older style games coming back. How would I ever know to draw a freaking star?!! I'm sure it could be solved other ways. I just did a single layer sequencing game board but of course, JY's way was much easier to see. This game def took me more than 11 mins!

    https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-38-section-2-game-4/

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    Sadly, my score has plateaued in the mid-high 150s range. I was in the 160s so I'm pretty discouraged. I've been studying for 7 months and take the exam in June. Any advice about how to get out of a score slump? I've worked through power score books, fox's prep, and used manhattan prep to pull up my logic games score.

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    Hello- Hoping for some insight on question 18.

    When I first began my LSAT studying journey, I found flaw questions to be very straight forward. They have unfortunately turned into a question where I often find myself second guessing on my AC.

    I'd say flaw questions that ask what the author fails to consider are more challenging for me than one that says "what's the flaw".

    Anyway- I am having a hard time seeing where AC B is right in this question. I'm formulating my error in choosing A was the fact that the stimulus accounts for longer than 3 years with the words "can eventually make a conformable living".

    Help would be greatly appreciated :)

    https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-53-section-1-question-18/

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    Hello, all! I've been agonizing over this decision the past few weeks and would like some help deciding which school to attend. My narrowed-down options are:

  • Half-tution at Vanderbilt
  • 1/3 tuition at Cornell
  • Columbia, likely with only a little need-based aid
  • My family is unable to make any contribution, I don't have a spouse, and my savings are minimal (only a few years out of undergrad). I'll be financing law school on my own. I'm a Texan, but I'm not set on practicing law in the south. I see myself working in the private sector. I haven't explored PI much, but I would like to have that as an option as well.

    My heart is set on Columbia, but is it truly worth the crippling debt? I attended their ASD, and it seems the most common path is big law for 2-5 years to pay the loans down.

    4

    LR Tutoring with Sage Josh

    https://media.giphy.com/media/qKltgF7Aw515K/giphy.gif

    So what will be going down in these meetings and what do you need to do to prepare?

    These classes are a live, Sage guided forum to help address whatever it is you're studying within LR. We'll use older tests to work through questions, discuss question types, break down argument structures, and analyze answer choices. We'll also talk general LR strategy and pacing. To prepare, just use whatever portion of the week's homework that is relevant to your current studies.

    This week's homework: PT 35 Logical Reasoning

    LR Tutoring with Sage Josh - PT 35

    Monday, August 21, 7:30 PM EDT

    Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.

    https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/853312053

    You can also dial in using your phone.

    United States: +1 (872) 240-3212

    Access Code: 853-312-053

    First GoToMeeting? Try a test session: http://help.citrix.com/getready

    31

    Hi!

    I am planning to apply to law schools this upcoming cycle and was wondering if anyone could give me advice. I know that I primarily want to practice Environmental Law and have been doing a lot of research on which schools would be best. The top environmental law programs according to the US News rankings are not always T14 schools. I have been reading that to get a good Environmental Law job (working for EarthJustice, NRDC etc.) they often hire from T14 schools. Does anyone have any advice on if I should focus on only T14 schools or schools that rank highest in my area of interest?

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    Couldn't we make the inference that only R and Z can be in slot 1? I was going to split the board on those but realized I didn't have enough info. I quickly eliminated A on question 1 without second thought because I scanned to eliminate any AC that didn't start with R or Z. JY didn't mention it and no one mentioned it in the comments. Am I missing something?

    https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-38-section-2-game-1/

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    Just curious. I would like to take the September LSAT, so I don't intend on needing it more than 4.5 - 5 months. However the two most expensive courses list extra levels of difficulty in the "problem sets." Do you all think the extra money is worth it for those problem sets, or will the fundamental teachings and practice tests be enough?

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    Hi!

    I noticed that if I miss a Q in RC, then the Q missed is an Infer Perspective type Q - Inferring either Author's opinion/attitude or that of others. This is kinda odd, because I do well with LR MSS type questions.

    I must be doing something wrong with these RC inferring questions. Does anyone have a good strategy/methodology in approaching inferring perspectives type Qs?

    Much appreciated!

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    This is a really unusual question and took a long time to come up with this reasoning. Any feedback on my reasoning would be appreciated.

    Context: There is a new law which will take effect soon and gives the patients legal rights to see their medical records. Doctor’s opines as the following:

    Doctor’s Conclusion: patients should not have a legal right to see their medical records.

    Reason 1: it will significantly reduce the amount of time that staff can spend on more important duties thus it is time wasting.

    Reason 2: No patients will ask for it anyway, based on his experience so far.

    Now, reason 1 is not even necessary to mention because reason 2 cancels out; if no patient will ask for it, whether it takes time to retrieve and return files doesn’t matter. They will not be time spent on that task anyway. Now the task is to find one answer choice that will make reason 2 not cancel out the reason 1. In other words, find a scenario in which even if no one asks for the files, it will still be a waste of time as a result of the new law.

    (A) Correct. If the new law will require the doctors to be ready to produce records immediately each time they see patients, then reason 1 matters, even if no one asks for it. So with this new law, the reason 2 does not cancel out reason 1.

    (B) Wrong. Even if the task of retrieving and returning files fall to the lowest-paid member of the office, if no one will be asking for it, it doesn’t matter how much time it takes to handle the files. Reason 1 is cancelled out by reason 2.

    (C) Wrong. Even if this is true that patients will require more time for explanation of their records, reason 1 is still not a good reason if no one will ask for the records. Thus reason 1 is cancelled out by reason 2.

    (D) Wrong. If they can get extra payment for the staff to handle the records, it will not be a waste of time so in this scenario, reason 1 is cancelled out even more so.

    (E) Wrong. This is no different from what stimulus suggests. If no one asks for the records, reason 1 doesn’t matter. Reason 1 is cancelled out by reason 2.

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    Monday, Apr 10, 2017

    RC advice?

    Hey everyone. So I've been going at it with this test for more than a year now. I used to solely rely on the memory method and no notations, but now for the past few months I've been doing Nicole's notation strategy with a small kick of just writing like 1 or 2 words next to each paragraph (e.g. background info, evidence, and so on).

    I haven't seen improvement the way I would like to, and RC is the only section holding me back from getting into the 170's. I'm like a machine on LR and LG, but RC just doesn't seem to want to work with me. I miss mostly detail and inference questions, and I usually can always get the bigger picture questions right such as MP and function of a paragraph ones.

    I'm starting to get frustrated as even when I do passage untimed, I still cannot go perfect on them and sometimes miss an embarrassing amount. I read for structure, tone, etc. and all of that good stuff but nothing!

    Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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    I wanted to share a strategy that's been working for me.

    When I do BR, my question isn't "am I comfortable with this question?". My question is rather, "did I tackle this question in the most efficient way possible?" Because in a lot of cases, I might be comfortable with a question, have gotten it right, but have spent way more time than needed. Also, there's usually a reason why I spent more time than needed: I might be lacking some crucial skills.

    I time myself not just the overall time spent on a section, but the time I took for each question. If I thought a question was easy, but spent over 1:25+, I didn't solve that question as efficiently as possible. If the reason, for example, is because I didn't identify the conclusion in the most precise way and had to go back to the stimulus, that tells me that I still need to work on identifying the conclusion precisely. I need to improve on that skill.

    So here's what I do.

  • Did I tackle this question in the most efficient way possible?
  • Why didn't I ? Where did I spend too much time?
  • What does that mean? What skill might I need to improve on? (be specific with the skill: need to pay more attention to the logical indicators, need to identify the conclusion correctly...etc)
  • After writing down the skill needed to solve the question more efficiently, compile them and try to find a general trend. What skill do I need to work on in general?
  • Before starting the next PT, write down on the section: pay special attention to this skill as I am tackling this PT.
  • Repeat

    I think this helps me to

  • Identify and consciously focus on the skills that I need to work on
  • Care more about building the right habits and skills than getting the questions right or wrong
  • minimize gap btw the actual score and the BR score, because I am mastering the techniques to be efficient during the actual exam.
  • GRANTED, there are still some questions that I have absolutely NO IDEA about even after BR.

    Those require the most analysis.

    But usually my actual and BR scores are pretty similar.

    FYI tho, this strategy takes A LONG TIME in the beginning. Sometimes I take 3~4 hours BRing a single section. But I think it's worth it.

    34

    I've heard a lot of people recommend the Manhattan RC book to supplement your RC curriculum. Has anyone gone through the Blueprint RC book? I already have a copy of that laying around so it would be easy to go through it, but I am curious if it would be more beneficial to skip it and go straight to Manhattan's book instead.

    Any feedback is welcome. FWIW, I definitely struggle the most on RC. I just want to make sure I spend my time learning it in the most efficient manor, and not having to test 3/4 different methods before finding one that sticks.

    I also plan on using @TheoryandPractice 's RC summary s/he posted a few days back; I just would like to get a better baseline before jumping into the application of their methodology.

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