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Related Discussions
Any August Flex Takers Re-taking in October or November?
Hi guys, so I just took the August flex today. Don't feel particularly good or bad about it so I'm just going to assume that I will probably need to re-take in October or November. For those who took the August flex and are planning to re-take, what are your study schedules like before the next exam? I definitely want to take a short break since I just took the exam, but I also don't want to get too comfortable and not study for the next 3 weeks lol I'm thinking at max, a week off and then back to reviewing the CC, doing problem sets, and taking more PTs
Also, has anyone taken the flex and not the writing sample? I plan on taking the writing portion in a couple of days. Any tips on the writing sample? I know it's not scored, but I still want to write a decent essay since law schools will be reading them.
Comments
I will be re-taking in November.
I have about 25 PTs left but will focus on reading comprehension on my non-PT days. I always let the hardest passage suck up too much time so I am going to try some different strategies and see what works.
As for the writing sample, do not spend more than 5 minutes reading the prompt and formulating your ideas. That leaves 15 minutes for each side of the argument which is not a whole lot of time. I literally finished mine with 8 seconds left. Still managed to type up something decent. Don't stress over it. Just make sure you don't have any typos, there is a spell check function.
I'll probably be taking the November exam based on my August score. I'm same as you, I'm going to take it easy for the next couple of weeks (doing a handful of timed sections each week) and after that I'll be doing 2-3 full PTs plus a few timed sections each week. I'll be into repeating previously done tests.
I'm retaking in October and prepping for it as an insurance plan in case I didn't score what I wanted on the Aug Flex. I took 3 days off, today is my first day back and I'm not jumping back in full intensity-- just gonna do a few timed sections, and start doing PT's again next week.
October.. I am doing a hard reading passage a day. I am doing 1 new game set and proofing each day. I also just got The Loophole for LR, because I need something different. I will work through that before October. I am going to redo some PTs in the 80s on Saturdays.
I'm taking October and took the August Flex yesterday. Mostly as a "just in case" measure, I felt good about yesterday's test, but figure it can't hurt to try to bump up a few points in October. I plan on taking the rest of this week and weekend off, then mostly do PTs every few days and review questions I've missed in the past. Will likely throw in some logic games or hard RC as well.
Haven't taken the writing yet either so hoping to see some good tips!
@Brian12693 Thank you for the heads up about timing on the writing sample! That's definitely good to keep in mind.
Good luck on your next LSAT!
@DarthParallelReasoner that's sounds like a solid study plan! Did you save the newest PTs for last? I haven't done a ton of PTs so I have quite a few left, but I am unsure of whether the flex will be similar to the newer exams than the older ones. I heard it's a mix, but no clue. I've took the more recents ones when I got closer to the August flex and now I am unsure if I should stick with that strategy or do some PT's in the 50's-60's again
@Magnanimousse wow. good for you! I feel like I need at least a week off as a breather lol Do you do problem sets on questions stems that you struggle in or do you do random whole problem sets from various exams? I went through the CC, but saved a ton of the problem sets for the various questions stems that JY offered in the CC so I figured I would finish those and maybe do some LR problem sets from various exams I haven't taken or took in the flex format.
@snellla Honestly, the Loophole is very helpful! It helped me get down to -2/ -3 (rarely -0) in some sections for LR, but LR is probably the section I struggle the most in sometimes.. Ellen Cassidy's methods are definitely a fresh take from other courses and she makes it kinda fun haha When you re-do PT's, do you find that you remember some of the answers? That's mainly what's preventing me from re-doing the ones I've done.
Good luck on your next LSAT!
@meganday2121 Sounds like a solid plan! I am planning to take my writing sample tomorrow or on Monday just to get it out of the way and prevent any score release delays. I googled some tips for the writing sample and khan academy and magoosh? had some good tips!! Khan academy actually went through it step by step and provided an example so I think that is worth checking out if you're still looking for tips on the writing section. But overall, I think law schools just want to see that we're able to articulate arguments and defend a position so it should be fine
@karko2525 Because I pretty much only did Flex PT's since beginning to study in May, I have the second LR section from quite a few of those tests to drill before October. In terms of LG and RC, I drill sections from various test eras, which I think is most helpful with LG because increased exposure will limit confusion should you encounter a curveball game on test day.
I'm re-taking the test in October. I don't think I did particularly well in August since I choked and just couldn't focus on the rest of the test. I took a couple of days off but will get back to 2 tests per week and daily timed sections. I need to figure out how to deal with the nervousness that comes with the actual test - if anyone has any tips, I'd much appreciate it!
DITTO. Would be interested to hear more if you feel like sharing. I locked up on the first challenging LR question (which was my 1st section) and then for the rest of LR I was just a nervous wreck. Couldn't even think straight. I had been trying to do regular exercise and meditation and all that jazz to help the nerves, but I'm thinking that the only solution might be just an insane amount of practice under pressure. Let me know what you're thinking!
For me what helped is just to do tons of PTs. I was really calm during the exam because it pretty much just felt like a PT to me. Also, I just kinda let all go, the pressure, expectations, and what if scenerios, and really relied on my faith in Jesus. Once all of that stop having an effect on me, im just cruising through PTs, and it became really fun! During the test, when I realized at the end that I messed up s rule for a game, I was still really calm because I know there was no point freaking out because I wouldn't be able to think straight so might as well stay calm and try to figure it out, and it worked out well.
Honestly I think it just gets to a point where you've done so much PT and you've pretty much seen it all, the patterns, you are just like yep, seen this before. Not gonna trick me this time. Lol
@Magnanimousse makes sense! I have been taking the flex format since June/ July as well so I'm glad I have those leftover LR sections to practice on. Do you plan on doing PTs from various eras? Before the August flex, I mainly took the PT's from the 70's to the 80's in the couple weeks before the exam... however, I know with the flex exams, they could easily take an undisclosed exam from the 50's-60's. I doubt they will take any from the 30's to 40's but who knows.
@"is.saber" @johnschengber I agree with @empocrates in that the nerves get less intense the more PT's you do. I am an extremely anxious person and literally show physical signs of stress when it comes to taking the exam (PT and real thing). When I first started doing full PT's, I could not think straight for the life of me. It wasn't until I started doing more and more exams that the amount of nerves decreased. Practicing even a section under timed pressure really helps your mind get used to the time restraints. I did too many untimed sections in the past only to realize that the timed sections were the ones that truly helped me gain speed/ confidence.
In my case, the nerves will never go away, but I cope with it through deep breathing which actually really helps me calm down right before the section or even during the exam sometimes. Daily meditation also helps, but I think it takes some time to work into your lifestyle for it to have lasting benefits. Prayer also helps me a lot, but that's just me. Overall, I think the best thing is to increase your exposure to timed testing conditions and also like @empocrates said, just let go or try to at some point. I've been lucky in the sense once the exam starts, I can generally go about it calmly. I definitely have experienced moments where I freaked out during a tough LR section in my PTs and it really just took reassuring thoughts and deep breathing to help me get back into the exam and finish the section. Either way, I hear you guys on the anxiety bit and I wish you guys the best of luck in tackling it!
@johnschengber My first section was LR too which is typically my worst and for some reason i was super thrown off by the phrasing in the answer choices. since I couldn't move quickly during the first few questions, i ended up almost running out of time on the section which made me freak out even more. running out of time hasn't happened in over two months so I was shocked at how much difficulty I was having. I think i was also refusing to pull the trigger on quite a few questions and kept telling myself i'd come back to them which also messed up timing for me. i was just so nervous to choose an answer and end up getting it wrong. i'm also consistently -0 on LG but changed my answer at the last second for a substitution question and i realized when time was up that i was right the first time around. i think second-guessing myself just generally hurt me on this test. i needed to be more confident that i knew what i was doing.
@empocrates @karko2525 I've been taking 2 practice tests every week for the past two months. Do you think I should increase to 3? I've done pretty much all of the recent practice tests and the extra LR sections in them. do you think it would be worth re-doing any of them? or should i move to older tests? i just don't know how many tests will get me to the point of thinking that the actual test is just another practice test.
How familiar do you think you are with the phrasing/understanding of answer choices and passages? Would you say you are able to predict an answer/even the direction of a passage? Quantity will help you to become familiar with the timing and everything, but I think really understanding the passages and answer choices is what helps you to improve your confidence. I usually spent a lot of time reviewing after initial blind review. I really tried to understand the flaw of the passages, as I got better, I was able to predict where a passage is going and what an accurate answer choice would look like. So this confidence definitely helped me with staying calm because I know I'm at the point that I really have a grasp on the passage and the answer choices.
I'm planning to take the November test. Shooting for 2 prep tests a week with 2 days of review in between.
I think I'm getting to the point where I can anticipate the correct answer for the most part but there's definitely room for me to improve on that and to get better at seeing through the LSAT's tricks. I can get very easily tripped up when i see unfamiliar phrasings. I honestly think I need to work on my confidence because for quite a few questions on the test I thought I knew the answer but I refused to choose anything yet and moved on out of fear that I was somehow not seeing something. I think i'll up my tests to 3-4 per week - do you think that's reasonable? I don't really need to spend as much time blind reviewing as i used to since I don't flag very many questions anymore so there's less that I'm unsure of and need to spend time on.