Hello September LSATers!

I am very excited to be assisting @bjphillips5 in leading the September BR group, and as it is getting about that time, we’d like to reach out in order to get some feedback from the group on things like what days and times are best for people. We’ve got a diverse geographic spread, so we want to be able to accommodate everyone as well as possible.

So our first question is when to begin. The sooner we start, the more time we’ll have to schedule breaks for holidays and things. A later start will give those who need it a little more time to review curriculum. As a reminder here, everyone works at their own pace, and no one should feel any pressure to rush themselves to begin PTing before they are ready!

Secondly, I believe we’ll be able to follow Benjamin’s excellent tentative schedule with little change, we just need to figure out how best to structure our meetings throughout the week to best accommodate everyone. The scheduling must conform to the following rules:

The group may meet on Saturday or Sunday but not both.

If the group meets twice on weekdays, the group does not meet on Wednesdays.

The group does not meet on consecutive days.

If the group meets on Saturday, it does not meet on Monday or Thursday.

If the group meets on Sunday, it does not meet on Tuesday or Friday.

Last, what times work best for people? Weekdays will be more restricted, but on the weekends I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t meet at 4am. Just kidding, but weekends will be generally more flexible, so I’ll attach one poll for weekdays and another for weekends.

That’s all for now! I’m tagging everyone who has expressed even tentative interest, so do them polls y'all. Please tag anyone I missed or that you think might be interested.

@bjphillips5 @jennilynn89 @Skywalker @MrSamIam @Mitzyyyy @ericbarocio @nader.parham @Omed_OvO @learn2225 @lenelson2 @radsay @jessicalj @johanna.ea.greenberg @Mookittyy @kylereinhard @LostInLawLawLand @jimedgett @lois.s.ahn @jimenezja.jj @180pronto @CocoZhang @sweetsecret @"Keane Xavier” @"Purple Paris” @"Will Giron” @"Jonathan W.” @"Jeong P.”

Brace yourselves guys - we just got this email from the LSAC:

"In addition to the Logical Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, and Analytical Reasoning (LG) sections the LSAC is add a new section call Critical Analysis. This section tests students ability to read evidence, arguments, and declarations and critically analyze the credibility of the material. This move is partially in response to increasing complaints by law school professors who feel that law students fail to think critically about what they hear and read.

"98% of my students will believe anything I say without even thinking about it for one second. It makes me sick to my stomach!", laments Prof. Laura Norder, who teaches second year Evidence at Princeton Law School."

Ok, I’m new to this. What exactly is the LSDAS GPA? I just transferred my transcript into the 7Sage calculator and my LSDAS GPA is a full 0.1 higher than my UGPA. Is that typical? I’m cautiously excited about what that could mean, but don’t want to get ahead of myself. So how does this work? Which number do they care about?

Hi everyone,

I'm a recently graduated Canadian student and I was wondering if it is worth applying to the T14 law schools in the upcoming admission cycle. My stats are:158 (Oct) and 166 (Feb) LSAT, and 3.86 UGPA (according to LSDAS). I'm not too familiar with the law school admission system in the US but it seems like a lot of schools average the multiple LSAT scores, which works against me. If I do apply, do you think applying for scholarship as an international student diminish my chances? Also, do I even have a shot at T14? Should I apply for ED?

I'm pretty confused as to where to start and when to start applying... Any advice, general tips would be appreciated.

Thank you!!

I notice the list hasn't been updated for quite a few weeks, where can I find a full list of 7sage tutors?

Hi all,

I'm really interested in crowd sourcing some best practices for improving reading comp, especially from those of you who have seen significant gains in that section. It's a weak spot for many students and it seems perhaps to call for a more individualized approach depending on if you tend to over focus on details, or miss the tone of the passage, etc. As I work with more students to improve this section, I want to be able to give tailored advice that might not come from my own experience.

So, what has helped you improve? Does the memory method work for you? Have you tried any other methods with success? Have you picked up tips for pacing that made you a faster reader? How do you retain the passage? Do you use a notation strategy, and if so, how do you do it?

Go!!

Anyone else think it's just adorable when the 90's LSATs try to talk about anything involving computers? I almost ran into trouble on PT36 with the first RC Passage. I almost died laughing when the author starts trying to explain what an emoticon is LOL.

Can some of you awesome people weigh in on statistical reasoning as it's used in the LSAT? For example, PT 18 S2 Q4. Specifically, things like probability or likelihood trip me up. Any resources or explanations would be appreciated! Thanks!

So today, for what might be the first time, I could not even guess what the answer to a question was on BR. It's PT 60, S1, Q21. I've gone over the question every different way I can think of, diagramming and rediagramming the stimulus and all the answer choices. And. Still. Nothing. Is it acceptable for me to write this one off and just look at the explanation? I get that the whole point of blind review is to give yourself unlimited time to figure a question out, but I genuinely cannot envision how else I would attack this question if you gave me another year.

I started working through the LG bundle concurrently with LSAT Trainer 20 days ago, I manged to finish PT 1 to PT 11 logic games using Pacifico attack strategy, while trying to push down the time one minute under target time recommended for each game. The problem is that despite the fact I took every logic game from PT 1-35 at least once (nearly four months ago) my first attempt time always is at least 2-3 minutes higher than target time and for some wired games it is much higher.

Any idea how can I solve this problem? I am afraid that I am burning the Bundle without getting much out of it.

Thinking about applying with my current scores however I am 99% sure I want to take a year off and re-apply with better numbers. How is it looked upon if I do apply now and don't get in or get an offer I would accept and re-apply the next year?

I am trying to decide which LSAT to take, June 2016 or September 2016. I know these types of questions have been asked over and over again but responses to my specific concern would be very appreciated.

I started studying at the beginning of February and I anticipate most who respond (if any do) will recommend waiting until September if I am not confident in my scores (which at this point I am not but am optimistic I will improve over the next two months). My concern with waiting until the September LSAT is that I may get through all the PT's and then only be able to redo old ones. I am also worried I will lose ambition for studying for such a long period of time. If there is anyone out there who has studied for 6-8months straight and could over some words of wisdom? It would be much appreciated.

Are there any videos of students actually doing any RC passages?

I have watched videos of students doing games, and they were very helpful.

Typically, it takes me 5/6 minutes to read an entire passage without ignoring anything.

How in the world can one read some of these lengthy and boring passages in 3 minutes or less without skipping any of the information?

I really need some help with this!

Hey folks,

For which question types in LR am I supposed to write out a logical equations (translating the stimulus)? And, for those question types, when am I to employ intuition vs. writing out logical equations?

I'm really struggling with translating convoluted/complex stimulus into logical equations and then back into English again to find the answer choice. Any help would greatly be appreciated!

When you skip questions do you still circle an answer choice and come back to it, or leave it blank untill you come back to it at the end?

And are there different skipping strategies for LR/LG/RC?

Just set up a schedule and would appreciate some feedback. Made sure to take 2-3 tests per week, and on the weeks I take 3 to include one retake to help with burnout:

April 3- PT 70

April 6- PT 40

April 10- PT 55

April 12- PT 71(retake)

April 14- PT 45

April 17- PT 73

April 20- PT 41

April 25- PT 50

April 27- PT 68

May 1- PT 60

May 3- PT 57

May 5- PT 72 (retake)

May 8- PT 62

May 10- PT 65

May 12- PT 61 (retake)

May 15- PT 76

May 17- SPB

May 22- PT 77

May 24- PT 63 (retake)

May 29- SPC

May 31- PT 47 (retake)

I plan to review all questions I had trouble with from the 70s the week before the exam. 3 days before test day I will take PT 56 (a retake) to stay sharp and hopefully remain confident.

Hoping also that some people use this schedule so that we can BR some tests together. Please PM me if you'd be interested. I think this schedule is pretty good since it mixes up the PTs while also giving you enough time to get acclimated to the most recent (70s) exams.

Lastly, I also left 8 fresh practice tests from 38+ to save for a potential retake. I know some may disagree but I find fresh tests to be so important, and I don't want to be in the position of having seen every test if I am forced to retake.

Hi,

I started studying in October with the hopes of taking the February test. My initial plan was to go through my books (MLR, MRC, PSLG, PSLR, and LSAT Trainer), drill untimed all of the Cambridge LG packets (1-38), drill untimed some of the Cambridge LR (1-38), practice full sections RC timed and blind review, then move on to timed sections with BR, starting with tests 39-44, and then full PTs with BR for the rest of my study period. I took too long, however, going through my books, which pushed back my Cambridge LG packets, which pushed back everything else, etc. I decided mid-way through December to take a break and start up at the beginning of January in hopes of taking the June test.

It is now the end of March and I have gone through each LG type in the Cambridge packets (I left a game or two in each type for later practice) and a good chunk of the Cambridge LR packets (I didn't want to go through it all in order to save some for later practice). For the LG Cambridge packets I timed myself using a count up timer just to take note of my progress. I definitely feel more confident with LGs but not where I would like to be. Some games take me from 5min on the first try to 20min on the first try. Some games I go through quickly and get (-0) or (-1) , some take longer with worse results. I have not timed myself for the LR Cambridge packets, as I was going for accuracy and not time, but I did take the two LR sections of PT 39 untimed the other day and got a (-2), so I feel confident transitioning to timed sections.

Essentially I feel confident starting timed sections with LR and will start using PT 40-44 for timed sections. For LG games, however, I plan to hold off using the sections of the tests I have not seen (39-77) and just going through LG sections of PT 1-38 timed in order to keep practicing, but now with time added. Yes, I know I have seen them and my score won't be representative of my actual ability, but I need to keep drilling LG as I am not where I would like to be. I am doing it less for seeing my score and more for practice.

As for RC, I plan to start going through PTs 1-38 RC sections timed and then BR-ing.

Does this sound like a good plan? Should I have approached my studying differently? I'm debating delaying to September. Should I delay? What should I change in my approach? I typically study 2-3 hours a day with 4 hours on Saturday.

Thank you.

P.S.: If it's of any help, I scored a 152 on my first and only PT way back in October.

-11 RC

-14 LR

-18 LG (I only attempted the first game in this section, as I only knew how to do basic linear games at the time. I Christmas treed the rest.)

With roughly 10 weeks until the June test, I would like to take a prep test every week leading up to the test itself. I want to take LSAT 77 the week before, 76 2 weeks before etc. I would like to take the tests as true to test day as possible, so I want hard copies and to fill in the bubble sheets etc. Does anyone have any recommendations for obtaining these tests other than buying them off Amazon? I know the pdf's were recently taken down :( Thanks!

Anticipating Answer Choices with Sage Jimmy Dahroug

Thursday 3/31 at 5pm ET

Sage Jimmy (173) will be conducting an intensive on how, when, and why to anticipate answer choices—and what that really means. Appropriate for all levels of prep!

To join the webinar, please do the following:

Anticipating Answer Choices with Sage Jimmy Dahroug

Thu, Mar 31, 2016 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM CDT

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

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/453435877

You can also dial in using your phone.

United States +1 (408) 650-3123

Access Code: 453-435-877

Note on all webinars: Only the live webinars are free and open to the public. No recordings will be made publicly available, but we do make webinar recordings available to 7sage's students as part of the paid course. So if you want to get some great webinar content for free, be sure to attend the live version. Furthermore, any recording or broadcasting of webinars is strictly prohibited (Periscope, screencapture, etc.) and constitutes a violation of LSAC's copyright. Copyright infringement is not a good way to start a legal career.

Admin edit: Please don't post full course questions! Instead, link to the question:

https://classic.7sage.com/lesson/quiz-on-drawing-valid-conclusions-with-translations-4-answers

But what if I change the question into: Geniuses do not date lazy people. Vesper is smart. (skip this useless sentence) Derek is extremely attractive and lazy.

Isn't it incorrect to conclude that Vesper will not date Derek because unlike the original question, you can't automatically equate Vesper being smart as being a genius? In the original question, being genius must mean one is smart, but being smart doesn't guarantee you are genius smart.

I'm trying to flip things around and see how different conclusions can be made and so on. Feedback would be much appreciated! :)

Hi there,

So I know the core says the important thing about "few," as opposed to "some," is what you can conclude about what few is not.

Few X have polka dots, so most X's don't have polka dots.

But I've heard on a couple other courses that you can't conclude the "most aren't...."

Thoughts?

Specifically, I recall some question (which I wrote it down) that talked about lightbulbs dying b4 the warmth expired and it said something like "few die b4 warranty expires" and the answer choice explanation contained something about how you can't conclude that most "don't die b4 warranty expires."

Does anyone have a rule of thumb for this?

Hello all, I was wondering what type of questions we’ll see that require us to pick an answer choice where we are negating the conditional idea or where negating a conditional idea (vice versa with existential) is blended with the existential idea? Weakening maybe? How does negating a conditional idea tie into the type of question we’d expect to see on the LSAT? Does that make sense or am I’m confusing myself? 7SAGE did a great job explaining how negating existential / conditional ideas was accomplished, but having trouble understanding where either apply in Logical Reasoning. Thanks!

I know lots of us joke about the LSAT turning us into dorks who are obsessed with the minutiae of pencils, but I'd like to stress a seriously important lesson I learned recently: don't use mechanical pencils to take your practice tests. As you might know, mechanical pencils aren't allowed when you take the real thing, and regular wooden pencils do behave differently in an important sense. Specifically, they get more dull more quickly than mechanical pencils do.

This is actually extremely important for logic games, which require you to write and diagram clearly and precisely. I found that my pencils were getting dull by the end of my LG sections, resulting in lighter and thicker marks that actually took appreciably more effort to read and understand. Whereas I could quickly tap a mechanical pencil on the table to draw more lead, I either had to make due with my wooden pencil or switch to another one. This would have been a real, although obviously surmountable, problem had I only started using wooden pencils on test day.

So, as neurotic as this may sound, do yourself a favor and get a feel for the performance of your pencil of choice. The last thing you want to be worrying about are your writing instruments.

Once the webinars are completed, where do members find them?