December 2015 LSAT Discussion Thread

[Serena8395]

I had two logic game sections. The second of these sections had the "ranking of the offices" logic game. This was a tough section. I am trying to figure out if this second logic game section was the actual, i.e. non-experimental, logic game section of the test.

Did anyone have one logic game section, which included this "ranking of the offices" logic game? If so, can we safely conclude that this was the actual logic game section for the December '15 test?

I actually had 3 logic sections. One of them was my experimental. So if you had 2 I think it wasn't your experimental

[Dave Killoran]

I had two logic game sections. The second of these sections had the "ranking of the offices" logic game. This was a tough section. I am trying to figure out if this second logic game section was the actual, i.e. non-experimental, logic game section of the test.

Did anyone have one logic game section, which included this "ranking of the offices" logic game? If so, can we safely conclude that this was the actual logic game section for the December '15 test?

I actually had 3 logic sections. One of them was my experimental. So if you had 2 I think it wasn't your experimental

Hi Serena,

I think you mean you had 3 Logical Reasoning sections, right? Then one of them would be experimental. 3 Logic Game sections are impossible—the maximum you can have on an LSAT is 2, and then one of those would be experimental. He's referring to LG, so when he had 2 sections of it, one was for sure experimental.

Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

[sber]

Hi there - I had two logic games sections!

The experimental section I had (which is insane because I felt like it was a pretty fair / great Logic Game section) had the following topics:

- The order of the rooms in an apartment complex being built - simple order game

- Pets for sale at a pet store - cats / dogs, individual names, in 5 crates next to each other - based on specific criteria for cats/dogs AND specific cats / dogs.

- Students getting violin lessons - morning / afternoon Monday - Thursday.

- Designers in different clothing stores - three different clothing stores and I think 5 different designers (this game was definitely the hardest of the bunch).

I'm pretty sure this was the order but I'm not positive.

I had actually enjoyed this section (logic games are my favorite and I had been hoping to get 2 sections) and honestly assumed that it HAD to be the one that counted after I experienced the HORROR of games 3 and 4 in my second logic games section. The fact that a game that almost no one has ever seen before / from what I can tell had ANY idea how to do isn't the experimental is shocking. I assume this means there will be a giant curve (unless there's a whole slew of people who are mathematical probability geniuses and totally killed this game). I'm really curious what people thought about it!

[denaya_h]

I took the test yesterday and I knew the second RC that I had was a little too good to be true. Just when I thought I had my timing down and together (answering 26/27 questions...). The experimental RC had a reading about a Mexican Photographer, Species classification, a comparative piece about group brainstorming and another one that I can't really remember. And it was actually a pretty good section question wise, not too hard/not too easy, and I felt confident about it but it doesn't even matter

My order was RC(25 questions)-LR(25 questions)-RC (experimental; 27 questions)-LG(23 questions)-LR (26 questions I think).

The LG was kind of tricky, the office game through me for a loop because I was not used to seeing a problem like that. Kind of disappointed me because that's my favorite/best section. HATED that office game, it was by far the most horrible thing I've ever experienced in my life.

[Dave Killoran]

Hey Sber,

Thanks for the great overview! I did not take this test, but I've heard from a fair number of students, and overall I've heard mixed things about that LG experimental (which is normal). People definitely thought it was easier than the real section, though. I think this may be because there wasn't one game that stood out as unusual or difficult on the experimental. When that happens, people tend to think of the section as whole as generally ok. This is especially true because that third game on the real section was clearly challenging, and thus at-a-glance the comparison of the two sections doesn't look favorable. That's also a testament to how the 3rd game on the real section affected everyone's perceptions. One tough game has a deep impact on how the section and the test as a whole is viewed. It made that 4th game feel much more difficult, and it made this whole test feel harder. This distortion effect makes it really hard to get a clear picture of what this test was like, and we probably won't fully know until they release this exam (and also see the scale—that will tell us a lot as well).

But, was it impossible? No, it doesn't appear to have been impossible. It looks like it was a Pattern game, and Pattern games—when they appear—always cause issues because most people aren't thinking about them prior to the test, and thus they get stuck if they encounter one. And that's exactly what happened here to a lot of people The thing about the LSAT is that they test all this stuff before hand, and it's also based on logic, which is essentially unchanging. Thus, there's very little that's new on the test; what's different is how they mix the elements, and also how it looks when the clock is racing and you are under pressure. I'll be really interested to see that one when it comes out, and we'll do a full and immediate recap of it when we get that test.

I can say that at this moment I'm not predicting a tight scale (so nothing like a -9 or anything crazy), not only because of the LG section, but also because of some of the difficulty in RC and in one of the LR sections. -12 or-13 wouldn't surprise me at all.

If I hear anything else about the LG, I'll post it back here, and perhaps someone else with the LG Exp will weigh in.

I hope that helps and thanks very much for the comments!

[Jon Denning]

Hey ddion - hope you're still checking this thread! To access your course archives, simply log in to Blackboard using your username/password (just like you would to access the class sessions) at https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/login/user and once in click My Recordings at the top. Then you'll be able to set a date range to include whatever class sessions you'd like to view, and when you click View the Recordings you'll see a list of all the classes within that range. Click Play on whichever one(s) you'd like to see and you're all set!

Let me know if you have any trouble!

[Sherry001]

I am super super upset !
The proctors were whispering and shuffling papers the whole time. And my desk was right n txt to them. I had to tell them to shut up. But it was too late . I had lost my momentum and started freaking out.
I approached them during the break, they apologized but it was too late ! I had already finished a good Bulk of the test.
Omg I am re writing in February and defiantly will die if this happens to me again.
I was hesitant to complain to them as well.. Because they have my picture in front of them.. They can easily screw me over . ! Like change or earase my answers. I cannot believe that they would be so inconsiderate!
Is there anything I can do to ensure this doesn't happen in February.?


And the real logic games were very very hard. The experimental LG was a joke. I never finish all 4 games yet I had time to spare.

[Dave Killoran]

I am super super upset !
The proctors were whispering and shuffling papers the whole time. And my desk was right n txt to them. I had to tell them to shut up. But it was too late . I had lost my momentum and started freaking out.
I approached them during the break, they apologized but it was too late ! I had already finished a good Bulk of the test.
Omg I am re writing in February and defiantly will die if this happens to me again.
I was hesitant to complain to them as well.. Because they have my picture in front of them.. They can easily screw me over . ! Like change or earase my answers. I cannot believe that they would be so inconsiderate!
Is there anything I can do to ensure this doesn't happen in February.?


And the real logic games were very very hard. The experimental LG was a joke. I never finish all 4 games yet I had time to spare.

Hey Sherry,

I'm so sorry to hear that this happened to you Unfortunately, after every test you hear about things like this, and it's one of those situations where you have very little control. Your only course of action here is to make a formal complaint to LSAC. The outcome of that, at best, is that they will allow you to take the February LSAT for free, and, if you keep your December score, they might place a note in your file that you took the test under adverse conditions. That doesn't' always occur, though, and it depends on what other reports they receive. However, there's no harm in making that complaint, so I'd recommend you do it.

I know that's not much, but I hope it helps. Please let me know!

[jplutchok]

Hi Dave,

Since that 3rd LG gave what seems to have given almost everyone a hard time, what would a -12 or -13 scale exactly mean for our scores? i'm always a little confused when it comes to the scale for these tests.

[Dave Killoran]

Hi J,

Generally, the larger that number, the better it is for test takers because it means the scale is looser. So, if all else was equal, you want a scale at -13 or -14 instead of -8 or -9. Why? Because to get a 170 on the -14 test, you are allowed to miss 14 questions. On the -9 exam, you can only miss 9 questions.

But, all other things aren't equal, because the scaling is used to offset difficulty. So, that -14 exam was logically harder than the -9 exam, which was logically easier. What's best? It really depends on the person. Perennial high scorers often want to see a looser scale since that gives them a bit more latitude for error. Students struggling with the exam often like the logically easier tests (but these are both very broad generalizations).

Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!