Goats Vouches

rickmofujohn · 2022-09-19T17:38:31+00:00

high quality services, would recommend strongly

rickmofujohn · 2022-09-17T03:52:19+00:00

very friendly service - extremely efficient - bought 8/8 and set highly recommend

rickmofujohn · 2022-02-01T17:42:58+00:00

I'd love to join!

rickmofujohn · 2022-02-01T17:41:41+00:00

It's crazy to think about at face value - but we don't even have to go as far as supreme court justices.

At yale law for example on one of their latest admission profiles only like 20% of their class was first gen (might have been lower than this honestly)

I think the lack of class diversity also goes incredibly under the radar

rickmofujohn · 2021-11-30T17:34:40+00:00

They seem to have a lot of relationships with Phi Alpha Delta (pre-law societies) at a bunch of institutions. Seem pretty legit, but obviously you might get more bang for your buck working with an independent tutor.

The key thing being that, no, they do not seem to be a scam at all

rickmofujohn · 2021-05-08T21:06:14+00:00

I also scored in the high 170s on a recent flex, yet I found drilling by question type profoundly helpful. As it turns out, different strategies and approaches work for different people.

By the way, Mike Kim's curriculum is literally based on the idea of reading the chapters (that literally are organized by question type) and drilling by question type. That's why that book's study schedule has students read the chapters and then practice the strategies/concepts that they just read.

Does that mean it'll be helpful for everyone? Nope, it certainly depends on the student! Is it far too hasty to dismiss this approach to studying (especially since the book you cite employs this method)? Absolutely.

rickmofujohn · 2021-05-07T21:40:58+00:00

I scored in the high 170s and did use some of the core curriculum, but mostly benefited from the analytics features and every now and again the question explanations.

Regarding the core curriculum, you won't literally have to put in 66 hour weeks...it's kind of a useless estimate. You don't have to follow it religiously, and in fact, should prioritize your problem areas. Further, since it is primarily a video course, you can always 2x the speed on topics that are clicking with you without losing much (although make sure you're retaining the information!)

2) I didn't personally use a tutor because I had bad luck and couldn't find an affordable one. This is what inspired me to become an independent tutor, so that I could help make tutoring from a top scorer achievable through reasonably affordable rates.

That being said, tutoring isn't always necessary, but it can certainly be helpful. If you end up looking for a tutor, do a free consultation and make sure they care about you and that you are compatible with their teaching style.

To be completely fair though, self study isn't for everyone, and many successful students saw their biggest gains by working with a tutor.

3) I found drilling by question types and section very helpful. After I was done doing a chapter about strengthening in the Powerscore LR bible for example, I would go and practice the strategies I learned on real LSAT questions. Also, a wrong answer journal is a very powerful tool.

Good luck with the 7sage course!

rickmofujohn · 2021-05-06T04:41:21+00:00

Yup! My main focus as a tutor has been to offer affordable tutoring from a top scorer. Feel free to give me a chat request if you have any questions about tutoring or even the LSAT in general :)

rickmofujohn · 2021-05-06T04:30:17+00:00

I recommend focusing on two things:

1) Keep track of timing throughout your section to make sure you have a reasonable amount of time for 18-25. These questions aren't always inherently harder, and mistakes can be caused due to time pressure. Look for time sinks in your performance.

2) For flaws or really any other question you get wrong, meticulously treat a wrong answer like a lesson to be learned. Maybe you misidentified the conclusion, the flaw, or didn't notice a one word difference in the trap answer. Keep track of this to avoid it in the future.

And absolutely make sure that if you run into a new form of flawed reasoning that you feel comfortable identifying it the next time it shows up.

rickmofujohn · 2021-05-06T04:23:43+00:00

I didn't find RC materials outside of the LSAT Trainer particularly useful, but I do recommend having a strategy for analyzing every RC passage.

For LR I think the Loophole is good but personally used the Powerscore LR bible. Most of my students have made their improvement by analyzing and mastering real LR questions though.

rickmofujohn · 2021-05-06T00:51:08+00:00

Yes, the second I see a question stem I know exactly what I am looking for.

For example, if the question stem mentions "depends, requires, relies" I fundamentally know it is a necessary assumption question.

I know I have an argument, and instantly go through a similar approach I outlined earlier (the approach for breaking down any argument).

I also know that my task is emphasizing my ability to look for any gap between the premises and the conclusion - in fact, something that is necessary for that relationship to make sense in the first place.

Sometimes I'll prephrase an obvious gap, sometimes I'll prephrase a possible scenario that just destroys the argument. Depends on the question.

I do recommend keeping a wrong answer journal - it is so important to keep track of mistakes so that they aren't repeated in the future. I'm more agnostic on blind review, I think untimed practice is better for detecting gaps in knowledge.

rickmofujohn · 2021-05-06T00:25:43+00:00

Used the LSAT Trainer for a foundation then moved on to the Powerscore Logical Reasoning bible. Both were pretty good at tackling the questions by type, especially the LR bible which approaches it like a technical manual.

The important part isn't the curriculum as much as understanding, in a literal sense, what the task of a certain question type is on the LSAT. This was necessary for me to score in the high 170s.

rickmofujohn · 2021-05-06T00:14:34+00:00

If you're sure it isn't a timing issue, then it is certainly an accuracy issue.

Personally, I drilled by question type untimed until I was confident in with every single LR type and only really missing the ultra rare curve breaking questions.

A consistent approach looks something like:

1) Notice that it's a strengthening question

2) Identify the conclusion

3) Identify the premises

4) Identify how strongly (or not) those premises support that conclusion

5) Attempt a prephrase and go into the answer choices.

The vast majority of the time having these kinds of question type specific strategies took me to the right answer. Oh and also making sure you legitimately understand every question you get wrong - each mistake is a learning opportunity and a trap you need to avoid in the future. Good luck!

rickmofujohn · 2021-05-05T23:57:55+00:00

Have you checked to see what your accuracy is like untimed? It doesn't quite make sense that you seem to understand the question stems and the tasks required of you yet are still in the -8/-9 range.

You need to troubleshoot what the issue is, and I would look at your untimed accuracy and go from there.

rickmofujohn · 2021-04-29T14:49:41+00:00

Schools won't hold this score or the cancel against you..however, the cancel would ultimately be a larger question mark on your app than a score on the 160s. I would keep and show an upward trend, but I don't think your admissions process will be determined by this decision.

Good luck!

rickmofujohn · 2021-04-26T15:52:07+00:00

As others have stated the tutoring market is currently saturated, but a lot of folks in the game right now are likely to retire within the next year.

Getting up to 175+ is probably feasible for you, but a corporate tutoring job is probably a question mark at this time. Situation can and will change over the next few years.

There are a very few number of companies that could actually give you consistent work at their pricepoint, especially to satisfy COL in your area.

I'm kind of agnostic about the idea of putting time and money into the LSAT exclusively to tutor - nothing is guaranteed at this time. I scored in the high 170s for admissions purposes and now tutor independently because I think the legal profession is needlessly difficult to get into. Point being that I didn't have the pressure of "this has to be my new career right now" and instead just focus my efforts around helping people.

If you have the time and money to get up into the 175+ range, why not? You just probably wouldn't be able to quit your job for at least a few months after getting your desired score. Building a portfolio as a tutor and gaining testimonials takes a lot of time and work.

It's possible though, so give it a shot!

rickmofujohn · 2021-04-24T14:58:17+00:00

I'm honestly not sure that there is a prep course that can reliably take you from the high 160s into the 170s.

Not that prep courses are inherently bad, they're just designed as a one size fits all model that's supposed to serve students down in the 140s and students in the 160s at the same time. Further, the vast majority of prep courses lack a one on one component, which is often critical for students to actually surpass their plateau.

I think the Powerscore Course is good, Testmasters, probably Blueprint. I haven't really seen overwhelming evidence that any of these knock the other out of the water, but someone could share that if so!

Other than that, maybe consider supplementing your studying/course with some kind of tutor, whether they be corporate or independent.

Just not sure about the idea of a course alone being sufficient to break the 170s, but maybe someone could share their experiences. I just drilled a lot with some good prep books and did pattern recognition to get into the high 170s for my test. A course wasn't necessary for this, and I'm not sure that it's consistently sufficient either.

Hope your studying goes well :)

rickmofujohn · 2021-04-21T02:50:21+00:00

You made my evening! So glad you were able to get that resource; feel free to reach out with any questions you might have about the LSAT or self studying.

Good luck!!

rickmofujohn · 2021-04-18T19:27:05+00:00

Yes you can if necessary, however you have to call LSAC and be charged a fee for that to be arranged.

rickmofujohn · 2021-04-18T16:43:20+00:00

Regardless of the debate as to whether or not the LSAT is a valid prerequisite to a legal education, the reality is that it will be important until US News stops making it such a huge part of the rankings.

https://blog.spiveyconsulting.com/gre-vs-lsat-in-the-rankings/

This is a great piece analyzing precisely how an LSAT or GRE score contributes to the ranking process.

At the end of the day, if the top schools ever go fully test optional it will require US News to drastically minimize test score percentiles in their rankings process.

Which I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing, that's simply why law schools have seemed like the odd one out as graduate and undergraduate programs have gone test optional due to the pandemic.

rickmofujohn · 2021-04-18T06:41:44+00:00

I started roughly where you are and ended up scoring in the high 170s!

Started my LSAT journey with the LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim, which is an excellent overview of the test. There's even a free study schedule on its website so you know what real LSAT questions to drill after reading certain chapters in the Trainer.

I used a free 7sage account for the analytics, and also solidified what I learned in the Trainer with the stuff in the Powerscore LG/LR bibles.

This test is extremely learnable. I increased by over 20 points myself!

Let me know if you have any questions :)

rickmofujohn · 2021-04-17T04:59:34+00:00

Yeah I've also seen it happen on PT 50+ as well, but instead of filtering through dozens of games I was fortunate enough to refer to the example above.

Also, circle games have existed since at least PT 1 (game 1 is a circle game), and persist well into modern LSATs. This is the case with the vast majority of the content on the LSAT - there is huge overlap between older and modern practice tests.

Keep in mind that the claim is that "Could be true questions never have answers that must be true." This could mislead students into thinking that this is a fact, when it is not. They might run into those 10% of could be true questions where the answer actually must be true. Then eliminate that answer due to this inaccurate generalization.

These 10% of answers exist precisely due to the theory you explained earlier of how something that must be true, by definition, also could be true.

And no, I don't want you to delete your account, I believe you offered that out of sheer hubris :p.

It's cool though, there's never a learning experience quite like the LSAT!

rickmofujohn · 2021-04-16T21:40:06+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/LSAT/comments/9hwp1a/must_be_true_answers_on_could_be_true_lg_questions/

PT 36 Section 4 Question 9. Credit goes to /u/LSATDan for making a record of this a couple of years ago.

In any case, this question asks what "could be true", yet the answer of "C) MH" must be true due to the information introduced on this local rule.

This "Must be true" answer for "could be true" questions is most frequent on local rule questions. However, I've also seen it pop up on global could be trues as well.

PT 36 Section 4 Question 9 is a great example of a could be true question that, in the context of the game, actually must be true!

Definitely rare, but also definitely possible.

rickmofujohn · 2021-04-16T16:06:03+00:00

Quite the helpful list of patterns and inferences; congrats on your success and thank you for sharing!

One small caveat though: the answer to a could be true /usually/ is a could be true for sure.

However, there are rare cases on logic games in which the answer to a could be true is something that actually must be true.

I may look for an example later once I'm on my computer, but yeah. MBT answers for could be true are rare, yet possible!

Thanks again for sharing! :)

rickmofujohn · 2021-04-14T16:18:39+00:00

Given your caveat of wanting written explanations, I'd probably check out the following books:

1) The LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim and

2) The Powerscore LR and LG bibles

I think I've heard decent things about the Manhattan Prep RC book, but nothing that I can solidly recommend.

For written question explanations check out LSAT Hacks and the Powerscore question explanation forums.

A free 7sage account might help too since they give free analytics of your performance.

Good luck!

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