Here's a TED talk that might change your perspective on the stress of studying for the LSAT, and even more importantly, the stress of writing the LSAT.

https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend?language=en

Guys I know we're all stressed out but can anyone lend some advice on whether or not taking practice tests this week and next is a good idea... I have been consistently taking them almost daily for a month now... I give myself rest days every 5 days or so.

But I keep reading about people doing only 2 a week now am I missing something... please help don't want to burn out this far out...

I know the forums always gets inundated with frantic, nervous posts around this time, and I hate to add to them, but I need some advice on how to spend the next two weeks.

Let me start off by saying that I'm not going to postpone, even though I know many of you will think that I should. I am taking advantage of an "early entry" program that my school (OU) offers to its undergraduates. I am pretty much already accepted unless I just completely blow it. The top 25 percent LSAT score at OU is a 159 and my current average is a 164. I would love to eventually get a 170 for scholarship reasons, but I've been told that if I retake in February, they will take that score into consideration as well. I just need an LSAT score now so that I can finish my application ASAP.

Last week, I took 3 recent PT and scored 166 on two and 167 on one. Then, I took a proctored test under test conditions and scored a 163 mostly due to freaking out during LG which continues to be my worst section. If I am able to get through 3 games, I should have no problem getting a 166-167 or higher because I'm getting -2 to -3 in the other sections. I have never been able to get through an entire LG section during a timed test and they are just the bane of my existence.

So, how do you guys think I should spend these last two weeks? Here are my current possible scenarios, but I'm open to other suggestions:

1. Take 3 timed PT/BR this week (72, 77, 79 on MWF) and then retake a test I've already done (78) on Monday but timed per section then focus on drilling LG T-TH the week of the test.

or

2. Take 2 timed PT/BR this week (77 and 79) and otherwise focus on drilling LG until the Friday before the test.

Maybe the differences are subtle but basically should I spend the majority of my time taking timed PT/BR or focusing on LG?

Does "A is always the Best Student" mean "A --> Best Student" or "Best Student --> A" ?

Does "A is the only Best Student" mean "A --> Best Student" or "Best Student --> A" ?

I get a bit confused when "is" or other referents are used in conjunction with Group 1 - 4 logical indicators. I know the convention is to follow the rule of the indicators, but when I think about what the sentence is saying instead of just blindly following the rule, I'm not always so sure.

It's a BR GROUP PICK this week.

@hazelnut13 nominated PT 78 for next week. Feel free to nominate anything below and then we'll have a poll on it!

Edit: Vote by midnight Tuesday! :)

What are some suggestion on being as accurate as you can be when it comes to LR & RC? Especially when you get down to 2 answer choices? I feel like I don't really know what I'm looking for when I I'm fumbling 2 answer choices in my head.

I'm guessing just read better? But how would you suggest to really get the information in front of you as clear as you can? Paraphrasing gets you the idea but towards the 15ish mark there are pieces of information that you miss when you paraphrase that are essential to the stimulus that are hard to keep in a paraphrase.

Any suggestion that you think could help or that helped for you would be greatly appreciated!

So I heard the rumor that applications are divided into batches submitted before thanksgiving and after.

Is it true?

I got my October score and was wondering if I should speed up the entire process to enhance my chances or wait a little more...

I keep seeing this expression about taking Preptest cold. What is that exactly? Because I think I may be doing that, since when I take a practice test the first section kinda just smacks me in the face and about halfway through the second section I begin to find my rhythm and get comfortable with the test. Is there any way to fix this?

I read somewhere (TLS I think) that it was suggested to put your LSAC# on your resume for applications - is this a good idea? Would I just include it in my header? I could just delete my phone number and include my LSAC # instead.

I know I need a header with name, LSAC#, and title of essay for all the application essays, but I hadn't even thought of putting it on my resume. I hope it's not too big of a deal considering I have already submitted quite a few.

Any ideas either way?

I am considering to upgrade to the ultimate admission pkg... how long does it usually take to get the apps done when you work with David? I am applying to all t14 schools... cause I am writing for both Dec and Feb test, I am trying to finish the app process as soon as possible

Hello everyone,

how do you draw out the logic for the following statement, and take the contrapositive.

Statement: The only way to stop the baby from crying is to give her some cold medication or a nip of wiskey, but not both.

And feel like not ready, can we move it to other dates? such as June 2017...

Thank you David for sharing your BR strategy in your Webinar and Office Hours!!

JY's Blind Review has been an invaluable part of all of our studies. At least for me, I would take a clean copy of the PT and BR the questions that I circled in each section and then score the entire PT at the end. Learning from confidence errors and double misses on questions has helped guide my focus on drilling and weaknesses before the next PT.

For your BR process: as you are going through the LR section, for each question that you circled, you would BR that question and write out your own breakdown of the question down with full analysis of stimulus and answer choices (whether within 7Sage comments or on your own Word type document).

As I hopefully understood the next stage of your process = The NEW aspect is that you would actually pull up JY's explanation immediately following each flagged BR question and evaluate your thought process in contrast to JY's. I really appreciated what you said - having that immediate feedback while your thought processes were dedicated to that specific question made more of an impact than watching the videos later for all of the questions you flagged or missed.

As I learn more about how to utilize the Question Bank, your process has to be one of the greatest opportunities to use this feature. When BRing LR tonight, I had the Question Bank open. For every question that I circled, I would watch the video after I BR'd it. Immediate feedback on my reasoning process has been a "game changer" in how I will approach my future PT BR process.

@"Accounts Playable" If I missed anything or you have more to share about how to implement your strategies, I would gratefully appreciate your advice:)

Hope this helps!!

Dear all,

LSAT has become my new drug now. And what JY had said, RC has become especially addictive. As such, I am more desperate to score high on this section. So here are my learning lessons for the 2nd week of learning. And please feel free to share your opinions.

1) Concentration. You must concentrate when you are reading the passage. The number of questions that you answer correctly will be a direct reflection of your concentration. Likewise, this concentration extends all the way to answer questions.

2) Interest. I find that most of the times, you don't have to be interest in the topic but the way that the author is composing his/her point. I have found a way for myself to generate interest by playing what I call a "game of inspectors", meaning that I am always trying to find MP, connections, strong terms, reference, examples....And in general, I believe that every passage is a carefully designed maze and it is game that I have to get good at.

3) Structure. When reading, always ask the question, why the author puts this here and now. There is always a reason. And rarely I find them do it because they intended to be confusing.

4) Reading notes. Don't write like crazy next to the passage. A word or two. I find the fact that you are pushing the brain to process the information actually does a better job for later paragraph recall.

5) But do put in arrows or numbers (link to pt 4). Often times, there is some logical relationship, like the one that I just did, of something that relates with serotine and carb craving. That passage is crazy about A cause B cause C cause D that sort of stuff and when this happens, draw the arrow on the passage and not write a reading note.

6) Track referential phrasing. When the author uses "it", "that"...you have to be able to mark it and track it back. This a fraction of a second thing helps to do 2 things: 1) keeps the structure in constant check, 2) more recall and brain processing

7) Answering. If it is a easier question and you can smell it, just circle it. Or else, do process and elimination. And when it comes the time when you are 2/5 and tries to make a final decision, just believe your gut feeling.

8) Keep learning the passage in the answer choice. I find this especially helpful when doing harder passages. The answer choices do helps you make a double check on your understandings. So you can revise your initial map. So let's say you are doing question 4 and now you find the map is wrong and the question 1 answer needs to be revised, then do it. The questions are just another more targeted "tool" for you.

9) Enjoy the process. Feel the process and actually enjoy. Once you are able to break all the things down, then you are able to feel how sophisticated that the writer is. And often times, these writings are highly sophisticated. This attitude will snowball and get you to the next passage and the next and the next. And then you get addicted like me and just want to do another RC.

While I am only 2nd week into RC, I am constantly meditating on this as RC is not about reading.

Please share with me of your learnings. I be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Panda

Help?!?! Who do I contact in regards to a refund? I find that I learn better in a classroom environment.

Hi everyone,

Anecdotally I have heard that the LSAT standards for law school have already, or are currently slightly declining. My understanding is that this has something to do with fewer applicants, and thus colleges having a harder time keeping high LSAT numbers.

Does anyone know if this is supported by any data?

I had a quick look at UVA for an example, and a year or two ago their median LSAT did dip by 1 point, but then it went back up again the year after. UChicago's has stayed the same in the last few years as far as I could tell. I'm wondering if this 'declining standards' idea is just an urban myth? Maybe it's only true of some schools? Just curious if anyone has read anything in detail about this topic.

This is probably a dumb question - but I've been studying logic games by buying the LSAT preptests (usually in the 10 tests book form), photocopying them and doing the questions on the photo copied version. But I feel like there isn't a lot of space because I've seen some old 7Sage printouts (from the live commentary videos) that seem to have a ton of workspace. Is there a difference between how the 10 New Preptests books look compared to how the test looks day-of?

Holy smokes, did I get rekt on this RC. I normally average between -1 to -4 on RC sections, but this one was -7 and by far my worst PT in over a month. I did fine on blind review for the other sections, but I really struggled with time on this last passage and would love some help on the last question in particular.

27: Which one of the following is most analogous to the process, described in the last paragraph, by which the spread of thistles can be curtailed?

On the actual run-through, I was scrambling for time and guessed E - I eliminated C fairly quickly because none of the methods for combating thistle growth in the passage seemed remotely analogous to voter suppression. I eliminated D because similarly, I didn't see any part of the restoration method as similar to attacking the things supporting thistle growth (which I interpreted as, for example, heavy use of fertilizers). I didn't have time to work through the other choices, so I went with E because the two factions sounded somewhat similar to the two kinds of organisms mentioned in the last paragraph.

On blind review, I figured that while the researchers did conclude a diversity of both kinds of organisms was effective in restoring the native species (and thereby curtailing the spread of thistles), a diversity of disease organisms and beneficial organisms did not necessarily indicate an antagonistic relationship - in fact, it seemed to be the opposite upon closer examination of the text. I eliminated E as well.

At this point, I was trying to decide between A and B, and went with A because thought the last sentence of the passage, specifically "...if beneficial microorganisms are "sown" systematically into the soil along with a wide variety of native plant seeds" was somewhat analogous to tipping the balance of organisms from mostly "bad" to a perhaps more even balance of "good" organisms.

Obviously, this was still incorrect. I think I'm probably misinterpreting which specific parts of the last paragraph are analogous to the voter scenarios mentioned, but I'm having a hard time reasoning out what the "candidates" are supposed to be vs. the "journalists."

All in all, this just seemed like a really strange question, and I couldn't really remember seeing one like it in any prior PTs.

As a side note, I think this might be my inaugural post, but I've been lurking on these forums for a bit over a month and a half (I'm taking the December exam) and have found everyone to be tremendously helpful and kind. Cheers!

https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-65-section-3-passage-4-passage/

https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-65-section-3-passage-4-questions/

Hey guys, so I'm going to take the December LSAT and maybe retake in FEB if i need to but I'm just wondering what i should do the final week before the test? Im planning on taking PT 79 on Tuesday and attending the BR session that JY is going to have but then I'm not sure what to do for the final week to stay sharp. Should i just keep doing separate sections of LG,RC, LR, and just BR them afterwards just to stay sharp? What do you guys suggest? I was thinking about having PT 79 be the last practice test i take so i can take it semi easy the final week leading up to the test.

Can someone diagram the logic of this question? I don't see where the latter part of answer choice A can be inferred from the stimulus?.

https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-54-section-4-question-09/

I heard 72 and 76 are brutal...Which prep test in 70s is your personal best?

Hey guys been MIA, trying to get ready to move out of the country & all... but my question is... what websites do you know of that can help with reading comprehension? I can't really get a subscription to anything as I will not be here... but I was wondering if you knew of any websites I could possibly read daily? My reading comprehension is strong, but until I am not missing a single question every time I always have room for improvement :) Thanks guys!

For some reason...I miss a lot on this question.

What some strategy worked for you?

I tried to find whether they agree, disagree, no opinion strategy but it did not really work for me...the part I thought they disagree turned out one of them does not have opinion and something like that.

How do you tackle this type of question?

I'm trying, really trying to have interests in the passages but sometimes its really hard to keep concentrate on what it says.

How do you stay focused and have interests in the passages?

What is active reader anyway?

Hey, could someone help explain in detail why A is the correct answer choice? I am still lost. Thank you.