Has anyone been put on hold by a law school after they finish their initial review? If so can you please share what your experience has been like & if you did anything to improve the chances of changing the hold to an accept? Thank you in advance.

Is anyone applying to a law school that allows you to add an optional essay in regards to certain fellowships they may offer? (Aka financial aid)

If so... Do you have any advice as to what to include in the essay? I'm not generally interested in the fellowship, but I am interested in the financial help.... At a crossroads!

Example of "fellowships" - working at the law library, special education advocacy clinic, public service admissions ambassadors etc.

Thanks for the help friends!

Hey guys after watching Nicole Hopkins' webinar on RC Methods and Jimmy Quicksilver's webinar on RC Question Types and Tips I thought it would be helpful to start sharing our notes/annotations for each passage because each of us reads a different way and we all see different things. I want to be clear that I’m no expert by any means and this is just the way I personally annotate that is a combination of Nicole Hopkins’s “Toolbox” method and JY’s Memory Method. Also note that I’m doing RC a slightly similar way to Pacifico’s Fool Proof method in that I’m doing the passage 2x one after the other and then once again the following day. While time consuming this definitely is allowing me to read more efficiently for structure and see the similarities in each passage which I know will help me in the long run. This is part two which includes my breakdown of all of the questions in a similar manner to which I did when I was tutored by Nicole Hopkins and how we broke everything down.

I hope it helps and I look forward to seeing what you guys come up with.

Questions:

1) What is the Main Point of the passage

MP Question: “Main Point of the passage”

What we’re looking for:

• We’re looking for something to basically re-phrase the entire first paragraph, something that says “authoritarian rulers are forced to undertake democratic reform, if they want to stay in power, due to various changes and mobilizations in society.

Answer Choices:

A) Wrong: Being this far in the curriculum when you see the word “only” you should remember from your logical indicators that it immediately makes whatever follows the necessary condition. So we can rephrase this answer choice to be read as “If authoritarian rulers undertake democratic reform then the national’s economic and social power bases will slow economic growth and disrupt social order until such reforms are instituted.” For this answer choice to be right there would have to be evidence in the passage of undertaking democratic reform to be a sufficient condition and the only thing that we could infer if authoritarian rulers undertook democratic reform would be that they would be able to hold onto some of their power. This answer choice plays the trap of reversing the sufficient and necessary conditions, if it were reversed then one could argue that if economic and social based slow economic growth and disrupt social order then we will undertake democratic reform.

Why You would accidentally choose this:

• This answer choice holds a lot of the same words that are used in the passage and if you didn’t see the logical indicator or interpreted it the wrong way then this answer choice could seem attractive. However don’t fall for this, know your logical indicators and read the answer choice carefully and you won’t fall into trouble.

B) Wrong: When reading this answer choice it sounds really good to start, because the author does state that these Authoritarian regimes do ensure their own destruction. However, it isn’t for the reason that is listed here, they don’t talk about opposition groups to build support among the wealthy to lead the support away. The reason is in lines (51-57), the more success and stability the authoritarian regime has, the more time it gives for citizens to reflect on the circumstances in which they live which brings about these changes.

Why You would accidentally choose this:

• You could fall for the trap if you assumed that the opposition group referred back to the “privileged people” talked about in the 3rd paragraph. From there you could make a connection that this was talking about the second change that contributed to making it impossible for authoritarian rulers to hold onto their power. However, that still doesn’t actually answer the question that we’re after and even though this seems logical we have to actually answer the question that is asked

C) Wrong: This is similar to “B” in that it sounds really good to start off however it misses the mark when it says “success at generating economic growth and stability will be short lived”. This completely factually inaccurate the only thing that is short lived is the authoritarian regime but none of the reasons given were because the economic growth and stability were going to be short lived. In lines (51-57) you can see that actually the more success the regime has the short lived it will be because it gives citizens more time to reflect on their current situation

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• You would think this is right if you didn’t pick up the distinction that when the answer choice refers to “short lived” it isn’t talking about the regime it’s talking about the economic growth and stability. If you didn’t pick up on that then you could piece together that economic polices did alienate the economic power base, based off of the information in paragraphs 3 and 4. However, you have to read carefully so you don’t fall for the traps that the test makers set for you

D) Wrong: This answer choice is wrong because it says untenable (otherwise known as unattainable) and that is factually inaccurate. The point of the passage is that authoritarian regimes are not SUSTAINABLE however they are attainable. There are lots of traps here in this answer choice. First you need to see that the answer choice talks about authoritarian principles whereas the passage talks about the regimes specifically so that should immediately raise your suspicion. Then we already pointed out that authoritarian regimes are actually attainable and the main point is that they are not sustainable. Then finally if you somehow made it that far there is nothing in the passage that says that the reason why they’re not sustainable is because they require a degree of social and economic stability that only a democratic institution can create. As we’ve seen in lines (51-57) an authoritarian regime can have success and that ultimately leads to its demise.

Why would accidentally choose this:

• If you immediately read sustainable instead of untenable and then circled and moved on. Time is definitely not on your side but make sure you read all of the answer choices and read the rest of the information because many answer choices will have pieces that are true but only one will be true in all aspects.

E) Correct: This is exactly what we’re looking for. Let’s break down this answer choice. “Authoritarian rulers who instituted democratic reforms” lets us know that we’re talking about the same subject matter. Then “are compelled to do so because authoritarian rule tends to bring about various changes in society” refers to the 3 changes that were talked about throughout the passage. Finally, “that eventually necessitate corresponding political changes” refers to undergoing democratic reform.

Why you would accidentally NOT choose this:

• This answer choice isn’t a “sexy” answer choice. It leaves something to be desired because you have to connect the dots on the “various changes in society” referring to the changes talked about in the passage, along with “necessitating corresponding political changes” referring to undergoing democratic reform. This is how a lot of the correct answer choices are going to be written in RC, so don’t not choose an answer choice just because it doesn’t immediately come out and say exactly what you want, you’re going to have to work for it on some of the questions.

2) The author’s attitude toward authoritarian regimes is most accurately described as which of the following:

“Author attitude question”

What we’re looking for:

• The answer choices could go a multitude of ways; we could either say something along the lines as sympathetic because their success brings their own demise (51-57) or something along the lines of confident that authoritarian regimes will undergo democratic reform (56-60).

Answer Choices:

A) Wrong: This is really never talked about in the passage but it doesn’t seem correct when compared to our anticipated answer choices. The author seems to have 2 polar opposite attitudes regarding authoritarian regimes and “uncertain” doesn’t qualify as one of them.

Why would you accidentally choose this:

• If you weren’t looking for the author’s attitude then you could justify this answer choice by bringing in outside information because the author does seem to be neutral towards whether this is progress or not but you have to actually answer the question that is given, and this answer choice doesn’t do that.

B) Wrong: This hints at what we where going after because it does have the elements that authoritarian rulers do bring about their own demise. However, the author doesn’t address the motives of the rulers, he doesn’t explicitly say something like “Based on the past authoritarian regimes success, rulers should reconsider their views”

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• If you just saw “tendency to bring about their own demise” then this answer choice would be extremely attractive. You have to read all of the answer choice and not just parts because parts could be right but if the entirety of the answer choice isn’t right then the answer choice isn’t right.

C) Correct: This is exactly what we’re looking for and it matches out anticipated answer choice. We know that the author is confident that democratic forms of government will replace authoritarian regimes because he says so in the last sentence of the passage. “The more astute authoritarian rulers recognize that their only hope of maintaining some power in the future is with democratic political changes”

Why you would accidentally NOT choose this answer choice:

• If you fell for the trap of answer choice “B” then you wouldn’t have read this answer choice and you could get the question wrong. Also if you didn’t pick up what the last sentence of the passage was saying then you also would miss this answer choice. Read all of the answer choices and read carefully when reading the passage.

D) Wrong: Nowhere in the passage does the author say that authoritarian rule constitutes an “unjust form of government”, and if it’s not in the passage then it can’t be a correct answer choice.

Why you would accidentally choose this answer choice:

• This is one of the oldest tricks in the book for test makers, they want to play with your emotions and make put you in the position to draw off of your outside knowledge and insert your opinion on this information. Based off of the passage it very well could be that you believe that authoritarian rules are an unjust form of government but nothing in the passage states that THE AUTHOR believes that.

E) Wrong: This is extremely factually inaccurate, the author seems to believe that there is no way that authoritarian rulers can retain power without instituting democratic reform. That is the basis of his argument and the main point of the passage.

Why you would accidentally choose this answer choice:

• If you didn’t read this answer choice carefully and read that authoritarian rulers WONT discover ways to retain their power without instituting democratic reforms then you could logically work your way to choose this answer choice. The problem is even if the answer choice were written in that manner I still don’t believe that the author has any “concern” towards the authoritarian rulers I believe he is simply stating an argument but leaves out his personal feelings towards the predicament the authoritarian rulers are in

3) Which of the following titles most completely summarizes the content of the passage?

Title Question: Very similar to MP or a structure question

• Look at how the passage is written and choose the best title that matches the flow of the passage

A) Wrong: The first part of this answer choice is right however the author doesn’t make a dissent against authoritarian regimes. He never uses a paragraph to say that their principles are bad or that they’re crazy because the more success they have the more they dig their own grave, nothing.

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• This would combine a couple traps that you would have when taking the test. Either you didn’t read all of the answer choice because you were trying to save time so you didn’t read, “dissent against” or you did read, “dissent against” and brought in personal information and chose the answer choice. Don’t do either, and don’t fall for the trap.

B) Wrong: Nothing in the passage talks about human rights being abused or anything like that, this one should be an immediate deletion. Also when it says case study I interpret that as an example that is fleshed out throughout multiple paragraphs, the author used multiple different examples but he didn’t have one single overarching example that everything fit under.

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• Again if you brought in outside information that you personally felt towards the authoritarian regimes then you could realistically get to this answer choice but it still doesn’t make it right. Also if you saw authoritarian regimes and just circled it and moved on then you also could choose this, don’t fall for the traps!

C) Wrong: This is a TRAP ANSWER CHOICE because it has all of the right elements. However you have to think about what this is actually saying, this title would be right if the passage was referring to exactly how the democratic reforms were going to be laid out. There would be specific examples of what reforms would be done, maybe examples of democratic reforms in the past. Our passage however is simply saying that democratic reforms are going to happen and why, not exactly what the reforms are going to be.

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• If you fell for the trap of thinking that this was exactly what we were looking for because it had all of the right elements then you’d choose this answer choice. Read all of the answer choice and then ask yourself were their specific strategies/solutions that the passage laid out regarding democratic reform?

D) Correct: This is exactly what we’re looking for. “Why authoritarian regimes compromise” refers to the 3 changes/causes that makes it occur. While “examination of social forces” refers to each paragraph going into detail about each of the changes that are actually causing the reform to occur.

Why you would accidentally NOT choose this:

• If you fell for the trap answer choice “C” then you wouldn’t have gotten this, also if you didn’t feel like this was “strong enough” so you were looking for another answer that was “better” then you might have overlooked this. The answer choices you choose don’t have to jump out right away they just have to be the right answer choice.

E) Wrong: This isn’t the main part of the paragraph because it doesn’t talk about economic instability as the main reason why, as we’ve established throughout the prior questions the more stable the economy and the better the regime is doing, the more likely the regime will fall.

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• If you were running out of time and said that I know the author believes that most of these countries are going to undergo democratic reform, so that makes this subject matter correct. And there were some talks of economics in the passage so this is right. Just because the elements are there doesn’t mean that they’re talked about in the right way. Don’t fall for traps like this because it’s just a mashed potato answer choice.

4) Which of the following most accurately describes the organization of the passage?

Structure Question: “Describes the organization”

What we’re looking for:

• We want an answer choice that states the author states an issue (authoritarian rulers can’t maintain their power unless democratic reform occurs), and then lists the causes of that issue while providing examples, (values and norms shift, economic interests shift, expanding resources, autonomy and self confidence), and then the author reaffirms his position at the end.

Answer Choices:

A) Wrong: Everything in the beginning of this answer choice is right but when it gets to “relative importance” that’s when it’s done. Also afterwards the answer states, “possibility of alternate causes is considered and rejected” which also doesn’t occur.

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• If you didn’t read carefully and just breezed through this. These types of questions, the answer choices are usually extremely similar to one another and so one minor detail is how they differentiate from each other. Read carefully and read the entire answer choice.

B) Correct: This is exactly what we’re looking for. A political phenomenon (authoritarian rulers can’t maintain their power unless democratic reform occurs) is linked to a general set of causes (values and norms shift, economic interests shift, expanding resources, autonomy and self confidence), an explanation of each is given, then the causal relationship is elaborated and confirmed (author reaffirms his position at the end).

Why you would accidentally NOT choose this:

• If you didn’t label the passage for structure then when you get to the answer choices they all will sound similar. So you could miss this because you marked it as a maybe and then fell for another answer choice when you were looking at all of the answer choices. Take the time beforehand to do good annotations and the questions will be a lot easier

C) Wrong: Everything in the beginning of this answer choice is right but when it gets to “one possible cause is preferred over the others” it’s wrong. The first sentence of the last paragraph (line 50) says that all 3 changes are created and nowhere else in the passage does it say one is preferred over the other

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• If you didn’t read carefully and just breezed through this. These types of questions, the answer choices are usually extremely similar to one another and so one minor detail is how they differentiate from each other. Read carefully and read the entire answer choice.

D) Wrong: Everything in the beginning of this answer choice is right but when it gets to “3 similar phenomena” it’s wrong. Nowhere in the passage does it present similar phenomena nor does it discuss the similarities between the 2. Because of this the answer choice is wrong.

Why you would accidentally choose this:

• If you didn’t read carefully and just breezed through this. These types of questions, the answer choices are usually extremely similar to one another and so one minor detail is how they differentiate from each other. Read carefully and read the entire answer choice

E) Wrong: Everything in the beginning of this answer choice is right but when it gets to “3 similar phenomena” it’s wrong. Nowhere in the passage does it present similar phenomena nor does it discuss the differences between the 2. This answer choice is saying almost the same thing that “D” is saying but instead of talking about the similarities it says differences. Nowhere in here was there any other comparison so both of these answer choices are wrong.

Question 5:

It can be most reasonably inferred from the passage that

MBT Question: Inferred

What we’re looking for: Something that can be proven from the passage, there are many different directions this could go so it’s difficult to pre-phrase but the passage MUST be able to prove out the answer choice we choose

Answer Choices:

A) Wrong: We don’t know this the only thing the author claims is that authoritarian rulers are pressured to institute democratic reforms. This is outside the scope and therefore we can’t make any statements about it.

Why you might accidentally choose this:

• If you didn’t understand that the answer choice is referring to a specific situation that the passage doesn’t include. If you read it as “many authoritarian rulers will eventually institute democratic reforms” then yes that would be right, but with the qualifier “even if not pressured to do so” that renders this outside of the scope.

B) Wrong: We don’t know when citizen dissatisfaction is highest, so we can’t conclude anything about this either.

Why you might accidentally choose this:

• If you bring in outside information to answer this question then it could be reasonable to assume that citizen dissatisfaction is highest when it would be first imposed. However, this isn’t our world that we’re talking about, we’re concerned about this fake world so we can’t bring in outside information.

C) Wrong: This is similar to “B” in that we can’t conclude anything about when the support is highest for authoritarian regimes. The only thing we know is that the more success the regime has the more likely the regime is to fail, i.e. popular support is lowest when conditions are high.

Why you might accidentally choose this:

• If you mistake logical opposites with real world opposites. If you try to take the contrapositive of what we know from above you would get “popular support is not lowest when conditions are not high”. Note that this is not saying that popular support is highest when conditions are low. Not low could mean high, medium, average or any other part of the spectrum while not high could mean average, semi-low, or zero it’s just everything that isn’t high. Don’t fall for this TRAP ANSWER CHOICE

D) Correct: This is what we’re looking for because that’s the basis of our author’s argument. The last 2 sentences of the passage hint at this (51-60). It talks about people having more time to reflect on the circumstances in which they live and it causes the regime to end up failing because people realize that they want democratic reforms. So if the society doesn’t want the authoritarian regime then they have the power to change and therefore cause the ruler’s to have to change to maintain their power.

Why you might accidentally NOT chose this:

• This is another answer in which it doesn’t jump out at you because it’s very subtle and if you didn’t read and annotate correctly you wouldn’t have picked up on what it was saying. Read carefully and comprehend not understand what you’re reading and you’ll be fine.

E) Wrong: There is nothing in the passage that talk about human rights abuses being the only objectionable aspect of authoritarian regimes. You can’t add anything to the passage you simply have to use what the passage gave you to push out an answer. This isn’t supported by the passage and therefore it is wrong.

Why you might accidentally choose this answer choice:

• Anytime you get to answer choice E you need to be very careful. Testmakers understand the psychology of test takers and how when they’ve gotten to E they’ve already invested time into the question so don’t think that just because there are some elements of things that you remember that you need to choose that answer choice. Invest your time early on and you won’t waste it later on when you get to answer choice time sinks.

Question 6:

Given the information in the passage, authoritarian rulers who institute democratic reforms decide to do so on the basis of which one of the following principles?

What we’re looking for:

• We want an answer choice that says that rulers are going to do whatever they can to maintain as much power for the longest amount of time.

A) Wrong: The article talks about them wanting to maintain their power and nowhere does it mention that they should make an exception “if the health of the nation requires it”.

Why you might accidentally choose this answer choice:

• This is a “feel good answer”, it’s what we wish the world were like and if you bring that information/mentality to the test you’re going to get burned. Don’t bring in any outside information because you’ll be exploited.

B) Wrong: Nowhere in the passage does it mention rulers really caring about the amount of personal freedom their citizens have. If it’s not in the passage then it’s not a principle that is supported.

Why you might accidentally choose this answer choice:

• This is a “feel good answer”, similar to “A” it’s what we wish the world were like and if you bring that information/mentality to the test you’re going to get burned. Don’t bring in any outside information because you’ll be exploited.

C) Wrong: Nowhere in the passage does it mention the rulers wanting to neither transition to democracy nor does it mention that want to transition quickly or efficiently. They are only doing it to keep as much power for themselves as possible.

Why you might accidentally choose this answer:

• This is a “feel good answer”, similar to “A” and “B” it’s what we wish the world were like and if you bring that information/mentality to the test you’re going to get burned. Don’t bring in any outside information because you’ll be exploited.

D) The ruler’s in this passage aren’t concerned about the long-term health of the nation’s economy only maintaining their power for as long as possible. And even if they were concerned about ensuring the long-term health of the nation’s economy the passage doesn’t leave out the possibility of this regime having economic success. The irony is that in lines (50-60) it elaborates that the more success the authoritarian regime has, the more likely it will fall.

Why you might accidentally choose this answer:

• This is a “feel good answer”, similar to “A”, “B”, and “C”I t’s what we wish the world were like and if you bring that information/mentality to the test you’re going to get burned. Don’t bring in any outside information because you’ll be exploited.

E) Correct: This is exactly what we’re looking for; we wanted an answer choice that allows for the rulers to maintain their power for as long as possible. That is why they’re conceding to undergo democratic reform because at least they maintain as much power as long as possible.

Why you might accidentally NOT choose this answer choice:

• Like we’ve said anytime you get to answer choice “E” you should be fully aware of any traps but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t the right answer. If you fell for one of the “feel good answers above” and didn’t read any other answer choices to try and save time then you would have missed this. Make sure you read all of the answer choices and you’ll be fine.

Most Authoritarian Rulers passage:

Hey guys after watching Nicole Hopkins' webinar on RC Methods and Jimmy Quicksilver's webinar on RC Question Types and Tips I thought it would be helpful to start sharing our notes/annotations for each passage because each of us reads a different way and we all see different things. I want to be clear that I’m no expert by any means and this is just the way I personally annotate that is a combination of Nicole Hopkins’s “Toolbox” method and JY’s Memory Method. Also note that I’m doing RC a slightly similar way to Pacifico’s Fool Proof method in that I’m doing the passage 2x one after the other and then once again the following day. While time consuming this definitely is allowing me to read more efficiently for structure and see the similarities in each passage which I know will help me in the long run. This is part one which will just include my annotations for the passage (Most Authoritarian Rulers) and I'll post one that has analysis of the questions immediately afterwards.

I hope this helps you guys and I look forward to seeing what you guys see in each passage!

Notation Breakdown:

Who: Important Nouns

• Box it along with the quantifier

What: Term or phrase that’s defined or has relevant information afterwards

• Box with a tail

When: Date or time

• Circle it

Where: In what context

• Put brackets around it

Pivots: Switching between viewpoints

• Marked with >

• Also may help if you distinguish which opinions each are

Questions: Questions someone raised that could be answered in the passage

• Mark with a Q or a ? In the margins

Time Breakdown of reading/annotating before going to the questions

• 4:05

Paragraph 1:

I boxed with tail “Most authoritarian rulers” who undertook democratic reforms (The quantifier “most” was important because an answer choice could have said “all authoritarian rulers and would have been out of the scope of the stimulus”)

Underlined “they” for referential phrasing

I put a pivot after the “but” to show that annotate that the real reason why the author believes that many authoritarian rulers undertake democratic reform is because they see that they can’t hold onto their power unless they do so

Boxed changes and mobilizations because I anticipated that was where the passage was going from here

What is the function of this paragraph:

This paragraph is introducing the author’s main point: “Due to the various changes and mobilizations in civil society it makes it impossible for authoritarian rulers to hold onto their power indefinitely so they undertake democratic reform.”

Where do we think the passage is heading from here?

Well the first paragraph mentions “changes and mobilizations but we don’t exactly know what exactly they’re referring to so that might be an indicator of where we’re heading from here

Paragraph 2:

Immediately Box “Three types of changes” because this lets you know that more than likely the author is going to talk about what the 3 changes are.

• Also note that these “Changes” are the changes and mobilizations in civil society that we annotated earlier

Box with a tail “values and norms in the society alter over time” until the end of that sentence. I wanted to box this with a tail because I wanted to get the first type of change along with showing how it changed civil society.

• Also I put a 1 in the margin so that I could quickly see where the values were when I needed to refer back to the passage

In the next sentence I put a bracket along with “Ex” in the margins so that if it asked about that specific example I could find it

• Also I circled 1970’s and 1980’s so if they had other dates as an answer choice I could quickly eliminate it

I underlined the last sentence in the paragraph because it shows another way that the changing of values and norms in society impact an authoritarian rulers’ power

What is the purpose of this paragraph:

This paragraph gives us the first type of changes in civil society that make it impossible for rulers to hold onto their power

• A change in norms and values

How does the change in norms and values contribute?

• Reduces people’s tolerance and stimulates concentration of power thus stimulating their demands for freedom (11-13)

• As people place more value on political freedom and civil liberties they become more inclined to speak out, protest, and organize for democracy, frequently beginning with the denunciation of human rights abuses (17-22)

Do you have an example of either of these points:

• Latin America in the 1970’s, 1980’s (13-17)

Where are we going from here:

We talked about the first value that contributes to society’s no longer condoning the continuation of authoritarian rule so my anticipation would be that the next paragraph would talk about the second change

Paragraph 3:

Box alignment of economic interests in society can shift: This is the second change the author gives

Box scholar: Let’s us know who is saying this

Box with tail and brackets from privileged people to long-term interests:

• We want to box privileged people so we know who we’re talking about and you want to make sure that you read with and without the internal context of who the privileged people were

• All of this is important information because it gives us a way how the economic interests shifting could impact the regime

Box “such a large-scale shift”: This is just so you can remember what type of shift we’re talking about the shifting of changing norms and values

Bracketed and put “Ex” in the margin for the Philippines example, for the exact same reason we did the Latin America example, if we’re asked about it we can easily find it

What is the purpose of this paragraph:

This paragraph gives us the second change that can contribute to a society no longer condoning the continuation of authoritarian rule

• Economic interests in a society can shift

How do the shifting of economic interests in a society contribute to the author’s main point

• A turning point is created when privileged people in society come to the conclusion that the authoritarian regime is dispensable and that its continuation might damage their long-term interests.

• (26-31)

Is there an example of this:

• Transition to democracy in the Philippines

Paragraph 4:

Box “expanding resources, autonomy, and self-confidence of various segments of society and of newly formed organizations both formal and informal”

• This is showing the 3rd and final change that contributes to the author’s main point

Bracket the next 2 sentences and put Ex in the margins

• This gives you visually a clearer point to see two examples of this change

Box this profound development: Referential phrasing to the example above

What is the purpose of this paragraph:

This paragraph gives us the 3rd change that contributes to the shifting from authoritarian society to a democracy

• Expanding resources, autonomy, and self-confidence of various segments of society and of newly formed organizations both formal and informal

Are there any examples of this:

• Students marching in the streets demanding change

• Workers paralyze key industries

• Lawyers refuse to cooperate any longer

• Alternative sources of information pierce and shatter the veil of secrecy

Paragraph 5:

Box “authoritarian rule tends in the long run to generate all 3 types of change

• This helps us understand that we have to deal with all of these problems not just 1 or 2

Box with tail “Ironically” until the end of that sentence: Could be asked about the author’s attitude towards this situation and this gives a glimpse into their tone

Bracket the last sentence of the passage

• Gives lasting thoughts to what the author believes (If you don’t convert to a democratic society then you won’t be able to retain any of your power)

What is the purpose of this paragraph:

This paragraph brings together all of the ideas and hints at the authors tone throughout the passage along with his thoughts moving forward regarding this issue

Overall Analysis:

This passage is pretty straight forward it introduces the issue (Authoritarian rulers are unable hold on to their power indefinitely unless the switch to a democratic society), then uses the following 3 paragraphs to go into detail about each change that contributes to this issue, then the author brings everything together and leaves you with his lasting thought.

Hey gang,

I’ve been working through the Sufficient Assumption question bank, trying to turn my Level 3 and 2 questions into Level 1 questions (for terminology check this out this webinar: https://classic.7sage.com/webinar/timing-and-levels-of-certainty -- props to @c.janson35 and his brilliant Timing Webinar).

This question bothers the you-know-what out of me because the answer doesn’t seem to justify the conclusion. It just seems like it’s like it’s blocking other potential explanations, which would make it a good necessary assumption or strengthening answer. I’d love people’s input on this.

My fellow June Test-takers!

Please take a look at this tentative schedule below and comment your thoughts/revisions. I also have a TON of “notes” that I’d like you to consider. Please leave any thoughts about them in the comments below. You should also add me on Skype. My username is dmlevine76 .

NOTE: We’re trying to organize some 2-3-Hour interactive workshops with 7Sage tutors during the month of December. They’ll be on specific fundamental topics like Blind Review, Finding Assumptions/Flaws, and Active Reading. Be on the lookout for another discussion within the next week as we try to organize this. However, if you are interested in attending, please say so in the comments below. Also, if you’d like to suggest a topic, leave that info in the comments section. It’s all new, so we’re trying to make sure we’re matching up supply with demand. If they’re successful, I’d like to continue them into January.

NOTE: We’re starting at PT 29 because we have so many extra weeks. It’s true that many of the questions from the problem sets will be in these tests, so we really need to take those scores with a grain of salt. That being said, it’s still good practice.

NOTE: I front-loaded the PT 70s for Fridays because I believe that people need to get eyes on 70s sooner rather than later. We’ll still have PT 77 available to PT in May. Trust me when I say it is worth it to do these tests twice.

NOTE: Friday’s attendance has been hit-or-miss. I’ve been considering I AM changing Group BR days to Tuesday-Thurssday-Saturday. Tuesday and LSATurday would be the regularly scheduled tests and Thursday will be the “wildcard” day. Please leave your thoughts in the comments.

Note:

(

JUNE TEST GROUP.

We’ll now use GoToMeeting for all of our Group BR needs. Simply click this link to join the scheduled BR: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/239503069.(/h1)

All times are PST

Very Tentative Schedule

Wed Dec 16, 2015 5 pm June LSAT BR Group PT 29

Sat Dec 19, 2015 1 p m June LSAT BR Group RC question types

Sat Dec 19, 2015 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 30

Tues Dec 22, 2015 5 p m June LSAT BR Group - Principle Questions (@c.janson35 & @nicole.hopkins) -

Wed Dec 23, 2015 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 31

Fri Dec 25, 2015 - CHRISTMAS

Sat Dec 26, 2015 1 p m June LSAT BR Group Assumption/Flaw (@blah170blah)

Sat Dec 26, 2015 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 32

Tues Dec 29, 2015 - 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 33

Fri Jan 1, 2016 All day New Year's Day

Sat Jan 2, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group PT 34

Tues, Jan 5, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 35

Thurs Jan 7, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group TBA

Sat Jan 9, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group PT 36

Tues Jan 12, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 37

Thurs Jan 14, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group TBA

Sat Jan 16, 2016 June LSAT BR Group PT 38

Tues Jan 19, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 39

Fri Jan 22, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group 70

Sat Jan 23, 2016 June LSAT BR Group PT 40

Tues Jan 26, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 41

Thurs Jan 28, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group 71

Sat Jan 30, 2016 June LSAT BR Group PT 42

Tues Feb 2, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 43

Thurs Feb 4, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 44

Sat Feb 6, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group PT 72

Tues Feb 9, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 45

Thurs Feb 11, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 46

Sat Feb 13, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group PT 73

Tues Feb 16, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 47

Thurs, Feb 18, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 48

Sat Feb 20, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 74

Tues Feb 23, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 49

Thurs Feb 25, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 50

Sat Feb 27, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group PT 70

Tues Mar 1, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 51

Thurs Mar 3, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT52

Sat Mar 5, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group PT 71

Tues Mar 8, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT53

Thurs Mar 10, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT54

Sat Mar 12, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group 72

Tues Mar 15 , 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT55

Thurs Mar 17, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT56

Sat Mar 19, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group 73

Tues Mar 22, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group PT57

Thurs Mar 24, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT58

Sat Mar 26, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group 74

Tues Mar 29, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 59

Thurs Mar 31, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 60

Sat Apr 2, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group 75

Tues Apr 5, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 61

Thurs Apr 7, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT62

Sat Apr 9, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group 76

Tues Apr 12, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT63

Thurs Apr 14, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR GroupPT64

Sat Apr 16, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group 77

Tues Apr 19, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT65

Thurs Apr 21, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT66

Sat Apr 23, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group TBA

Tues Apr 26, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 67

Thurs Apr 28, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 68

Sat Apr 30, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group TBA

Tues May 3, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 69

Thurs May 5, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 70

Sat May 7, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group TBA

Tues May 10, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 71

Thurs May 12, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 72

Sat May 14, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group TBA

Tues May 17, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 73

Thurs May 19, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT 74

Sat May 21, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group TBA

Tues May 24, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group PT 75

Thurs May 26, 2016 5pm June LSAT BR Group PT76

Sat May 28, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group TBA

Tues May 31, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group PT 77

Thurs Jun 2, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group TBA

Sat Jun 4, 2016 5 p m June LSAT BR Group PEP RALLY

MON JUNE 6, 2016 1:00 LSAT Actual

BR Group!!!!

This is the secret handshake. :) (just kidding!)

Wednesday,Feb 23rd at 8PM ET: PT 49

Click here to join this conversation: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/219480381

You can also dial in to the BR call by using your phone.

United States +1 (571) 317-3112

Access Code: 219-480-381

EVERYBODY GETS A GOTOMEETING! YAY!!!

June BR Group Schedule: http://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/6171/june-test-takers-group-br-schedule-updated

Please click the link and comment if you plan on participating.

Note:

Hey guys

I am registered for the Feb LSAT, it is taking place on 28th Feb in Asia. I have been studying for the test on and off for the past 6 months while I somehow juggled my seven day workweek of over 80 hours, it wasn't really "preparation". One month ago I took leave from work to study for the LSAT full time, I had completed the curriculum earlier so just went through some lessons again as a refresher. I have taken 6 prep tests (mix of pts in 40s, 50s and one from 70s) and I am averaging at 160 actual and a br score between 170-175(br-ing only the circled ones as recommended on 7sage) . I want to ideally score around 168 plus to have a chance at getting some scholarship at a decent law school and I am willing to put in the work and time, however, I was wondering if I should still take the LSAT to get a feel of it. I know I will not score in my target range if I take the test in Feb. In my limited knowledge most law schools consider only the highest LSAT score and having an experience of taking the test could only benefit. Or should I aim at nailing the June LSAT and take it when I am atleast feeling ready. Right now it is like I know I am not ready but I am registered so may be I should get the experience of writing the real exam but at the same time I am wondering if it will be waste of a take. This community has been super helpful and I will appreciate any thoughts and advice on this.

Before signing up with 7Sage, I took the LSAT twice and fell short. I began studying last July with a lesser study program and I just didn’t effectively prepare myself. While the LR and CR part of my prep wasn’t bad, the Games prep was totally insufficient. Worst of all though, I took a lot of PTs without Blind Reviewing. I wasted those PTs, and I wasted those LSATs. Now, with 7Sage in my corner, I realize just how badly I hurt myself. With only one more shot at it, I feel like there’s a higher threshold of confidence I need to clear before taking it than if it were my first or second attempt. My dilemma is this: I think I’m going to be just shy of 100% confidence for the June LSAT, but I don’t have enough PTs left to hold out for October. I think June is my better prospect. So, to accelerate my schedule to try and hit my 100% confidence level in time for June, I’m considering skipping some of the basic and intermediate LR and RC core curriculum. I really don’t want to, but I’ve spent a lot of time on it already; and even though it wasn’t quite to par with 7Sage, it was decent prep material and I perform well and consistently on those sections. I did the BR on the diagnostic, and I can really tell that that’s where the magic is going to happen for me; so if I’m going to compress my time on anything, I don’t want it to my on my BRs. I’m a little afraid I’ll miss some revolutionary insight that could radically improve my approach, but at this point I think I would benefit more by advancing my schedule so I’ll have more time for PT and BR. What y’all think?

Anyone else experiencing a 504 error? I’ve been locked out for about 30 minutes. Really threw my groove off. Anything I can do to avoid this in the future or was that a 7Sage thing?

Hi! Just wondering if anyone knows where that great list of 19 logical fallacies went? It was really good and comprehensive. Cheers.

Please commend below or Inbox if interested!

Here’s the schedule this week:

BR GROUPS

Tuesday, Feb 23rd at 8PM ET: PT 49

Click here to join this conversation: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/219480381

Thursday, Feb 25th at 1PM ET: PT 70

Click here to join this conversation: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/219480381

LSATurday, Feb 27th at 8PM ET: PT50

Click here to join this conversation: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/219480381

June BR Group Schedule: http://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/6171/june-test-takers-group-br-schedule-updated

You can also dial in to the BR call by using your phone.

United States +1 (571) 317-3112

Access Code: 219-480-381

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

Be sure to announce in the comments which group(s) you’re planning on attending.

Fine Print (NOTE: you all want to be lawyers; reading fine print is what lawyers do, so READ IT!)

BR GROUP NOTES:

Special Event! Using 7sage's Study Buddy Finder

Thursday, February 25th | 9pm ET

Many of you may be familiar with 7sage's unique Study Buddy Finder tool—but did you know you can use it to find study buddies both in person and virtually? That you can find more advanced users (we call them Sherpas) who can help guide you through the course—or that you can volunteer to be a Sherpa? Or that you can use it to set up special in-person studying opportunities (like taking proctored PT's with a group)? JY and I will be guiding a demonstration and discussion regarding the ways in which you can use this tool and also sharing some ideas about how working with others can really take your LSAT study experience to the next level.

To join this special event, please do the following:

Using 7sage's Study Buddy Finder Tool

Thu, Feb 25, 2016 8:00 PM - 9:00 PM CST

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

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/953478661

You can also dial in using your phone.

United States +1 (312) 757-3121

Access Code: 953-478-661

Back by popular demand!

Strategies for 170+ Prep with Allison Gill Sanford

Tuesday, February 23rd | 9pm ET

Allison (173) has prepared an exciting webinar dedicated to strategies for 170+ prep. Even if your goal score falls outside this range, every LSAT taker will benefit from this webinar. Learn what it REALLY takes to get a 99th percentile score from someone who's done it!

To join the webinar, please do the following:

Strategies for 170+ Prep with Allison Gill Sanford

Tue, Feb 23, 2016 8:00 PM - 9:30 PM CST

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

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/982129109

You can also dial in using your phone.

United States +1 (224) 501-3312

Access Code: 982-129-109

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 past webinar videos available to anyone with a paid course at 7sage.com/webinar . 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.

I find myself having a very hard time understanding the causation strategy and i had a few questions about its use. first off, is this strategy for strengthening and weakening questions only or is it useful for other question types throughout the test? I do very well on the strengthening and weakening questions without the causation strategy and i find myself both struggling with the strategy and taking much longer than i would if i didnt use the method. Im basically unsure if i need to use this strategy for these types of questions but i need to know if they are useful in other parts of the test as well Thanks

BR Group!!!! PT 48!

Talk to your heart’s content at Group BR

Saturday, Feb 20th at 8PM ET: PT48

Click here to join this conversation: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/219480381

June BR Group Schedule: http://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/6171/june-test-takers-group-br-schedule-updated

Please click the link and comment if you plan on participating.

You can also dial in to the BR call by using your phone.

United States +1 (571) 317-3112

Access Code: 219-480-381

Note:

Anyone else's section performance analytics look like this? Kind of all over the place? I consistently get around my average score, but what I miss in each section kind of feels up for grabs... Every score minus 3 (174, 165, 165) is between 168-170. Guess I need to keep working on individual question types...? It's just that as is, this really doesn't tell me shit other than they are slowly tightening towards the end.

EDIT: Corrected image link.

I'm redoing some questions that I marked when I first went through the ciriculum, and I came across this tricky one. I fully see why answer D is correct, but I can't figure out what makes B incorrect. Doesn't answer B deny an alternate cause?

Link: https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-33-section-3-question-20

This is a strengthen question.

G is a protein in the brain. In an experiment, rats that preferred fatty foods over lean foods had a lot more G in the brain than did the rats that preferred lean foods over fatty foods. Therefore, G causes rats to crave fatty foods.

What I am looking for: This is a cookie cutter causal flaw. In my mind, a plausible weakener would be that eating fatty foods might cause an increase in G. We need to deny this.

Answer A: OK, so sometimes the rats choose lean foods. So what? Our facts say that the rats "consistently" choose fatty foods. Is this answer choice just sort of restatement of one of our facts? I think it is.

Answer B: This is hard to eliminate, and I think it's wrong because it just isn't relevant. We don't care about the fat in the brain, but rather, a protein in the brain. Part of me still thinks this denies an alternate cause though: the rats didn't prefer the fatty foods due to a fatty brain.

Answer C: So what? We only care about G in the brain, not the food. For this to work, I think you need to assume that the G in the food then goes up to the brain, but that's a weird assumption.

Answer D: This is perfect since it tells us that the rats that like fatty food had higher amounts of G in their brain before they ate the food. This denies that reverse cause scenario that I anticipated.

Answer E: So what? We don't know anything about the efficiency of metabolizing fat.

Hey gang,

Any 7sagers going to this tomorrow? Here’s the PDF flyer: http://files.ctctcdn.com/92037273401/c984fd3a-a0bd-427e-8f0e-3e52efe1eff2.pdf

I’ll be there at 10am. Let me know if you want to meet up.

Damn, PT52 has some pretty tough LR sections, and even after a retake, I missed many of the same question again (like this one). I don't see how answer A weakens the argument nor how B doesn't.

Link: https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-52-section-3-question-19

One theory that explains dinosaur extinction is that the dinos OD'd. Angiosperms have psychoactive agents in them. Most plant-eating mammals avoid them since they taste bitter. Mammals also have livers that detoxify the drugs. On the other hand, dinos couldn't taste the bitterness nor detoxify the plant. Lastly, this theory explains why so many dinosaurs were found in weird positions in the fossils.

What I am looking for: Did the dinosaurs actually eat the plants? What if some other theory (like an asteroid) explains the sudden extinction better? Also, we don't even know if the plants were bad for the dinosaurs; we know that angiosperms are bad for some mammals, but what if they were net healthy for dinosaurs? Sure, dinosaurs couldn't detoxify the psychoactive agent (which is bad), but what if the angiosperms provided such large amount of nutrients and other good stuff, that it was worth eating still? Also, we have no evidence that the comparison between the mammals and dinosaurs is even a good comparison; what if the two are so different physiologically any comparison doesn't hold? There is so much wrong with this argument.

Answer A: I just don't see how this weakens the argument. First, it's incredibly weak: we found 1 fossil of a large mammal in a contorted position. But so what? What does this have to do with dinosaurs? Even if you take this to the other extreme: 1 million large mammals were found in contorted positions, you still have the same issue. It doesn't shed any light on what happened to the dinosaurs. Second, the passage never even talks about "large mammals," and the comparison to the mammals in the passage is dubious already, so I don't see how adding this potential third group of mammals to the argument weakens anything.

Answer B: This is what I picked (and I chose this during both my takes of this exam, and kept it both times during BR). Doesn't this point out one of the things I anticipated? If angiosperms provide nutrition, then doesn't this mean they may have actually been GOOD for dinosaurs? In my mind, this not only weakens the argument, but it strongly does so.

Answer C: I think this strengthens the theory. This shows that not only vegetarian dinosaurs ate the angiosperms, but also the meat eating dinosaurs indirectly did as well (which could account for the fact that theory explains the extinction of ALL dinosaurs).

Answer D: OK, but we are talking about angiosperms only. So what if poison ivy doesn't have this stuff in it? This is entirely irrelevant.

Answer E: I think this also strengthens the argument. This shows us that it's possible that animals can actually die from eating angiosperms, so it strengthens the idea that maybe the dinosaurs died from the plant as well. This is a pretty weak strengthener, but it strengthens nonetheless.

Plain and simple, should I write thank you emails upon receiving scholarship offers from schools? Would it be bad form if I did not? Any insight is appreciated.

Anyone ever use this book? Thoughts?

For games do you think supplementing a book with the 7sage course is detrimental or do you think it'll be helpful? I know many here use some books for LR and RC, but haven't seen many use a prep book for games.

Hey everyone,

Want to get some thoughts on how to build up confidence and efficiency during RC. My recent PT scores are trending upwards from the low 160s to the 165/167 range. I think this spike is the result of embracing the skip on LR (the webinars have been enormously helpful). Recently, I've been averaging -2/-0 on LG, -6/-8 LR total but I'm stuck getting around -5/-8 on RC.

The best way I can describe how I feel during RC is anxious. Not sure how many football people are here, but think of it as a quarterback who feels under pressure in the pocket. Basically I try to put in a 3/3.5 minute read to get a good grasp on the passage, I can knock out the easy question fairly quickly, but panic on many of the more difficult ones. I basically read the ACs and have trouble eliminating noncontenders. I start to second guess myself and stumble through the passage, eventually just kind of guessing on an answer because I know that I need to avoid time sinks. I have tried implementing a new notation strategy, but I'm worried that it may cause me to drain more time on irrelevant steps.

June will be my second take. I have limited fresh material left, so should I just focus on drilling hard with old material to establish some better consistency? RC is the only section I feel like this during, so I'm fairly certain I lack confidence with it in particular. Really want that 170 in June, but I know I'll have to improve in RC to get there

BR Group!!!!

This is the secret handshake. :) (just kidding!)

Wednesday,Feb 17th at 8PM ET: PT 47

Click here to join this conversation: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/219480381

You can also dial in to the BR call by using your phone.

United States +1 (571) 317-3112

Access Code: 219-480-381

EVERYBODY GETS A GOTOMEETING! YAY!!!

June BR Group Schedule: http://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/6171/june-test-takers-group-br-schedule-updated

Please click the link and comment if you plan on participating.

Note: