well im taking the october exam and i am enrolled in the kaplan class for the second time. i'd say it takes much more than 2 months till exam day to get ready.

key is to find the pattern in the exam. the number one thing is that the exam is predictable. if you do enough of these questions and practice exams you realize that its all the same crape different flavors.

regarding the reading section. the kaplan recommended stratosphere method is to read and predict.
read the first paragraph and summerize it in a couple words and then predict where the auther is going (doesnt matter whether you are right or wrong).
for instance in paragraph one the auther says so there are two methods to solving the societal problems of japan: blah blah and blah blah.
ok stop and predict, next paragraph the author is proabably going to talk about at least one of these methods.

dont bother memorizing the content either.

Games are the best. Getting 'em right makes me feel smart. :D

you can do em one game at a time, no need to do all 4 at once...

It takes sooo long to do those damn games.

Lol...thanks for the tips leftpinky, I guess that's what the authors of Kaplan meant when they said to read actively, you have to keep in mind those types of questions when reading the passages.

But again, gotta emphsize that you need to do what works for you. What works for one Paki doesnt necc work for a Pali...

For the games, its all about the setup, just work on that and familarize yourself with all the different types, that's about 75-85% of the games. As for the reading section, do what works for you. When I first started, I was missing something like 6-10 problems, and I just couldnt get it. But then I started focusing more on getting the main purpose of the passage and what side the author supports: those are usually 2 of the 6-8 questions on the passage. And the thing with those is you just cant go back and look up the main point or which side the author supports. the detials you can always look up, so it's debatable if you want to spend time highlighting, marking down notes, because youre going to almost have to go back and read the passages anyway to find answers for most of the questions, so dont waste too much time looking at details. Just look at the main point, which is, as UP said, the first paragraph, and the first line of each subsequent paragraph. Also, figure out where the author changes sides (e.g. para 1-2 he gives the pros to one side, para 3 and gives the cons, and then para 4 will be which side he supprts, the cons or the pros) so basically, first time read for argument, then as youre doing each question, then look at the details.

Yup, perfect scores. Well, twice anyway. But I usually don't get more than 1 or 2 questions wrong in the games section. I just follow Kaplan's strategies and I've polished my formal logic and deduction skills that make it much easier. Most of the games fall in predefined categories, which helps in figuring out which strategies to employ. I think the most useful secret that I can disclose (besides telling you to enroll in a prep course) is - slow down and pay attention to deductions. Most of the time, if you have your rule deductions down perfectly then you can fly through the answer choices very quickly and get all the questions right.

Hope this helps. Do let me know if you need more tips. :)

Perfect scores? Care to share your secrets ;)

I think Prep courses are priceless. I was a little skeptical about Kaplan's online course but it turned out to be great. Besides coaching you on how to master the sections they also get you motivated to work on the LSAT with a lot more persistence. I'm definitely seeing improvements in my score.

Personally, the reading section is kinda intimidating due to the daunting task of going through 500 word passages. My fav. section is definitely logic games - the only section I've been able to get perfect scores in.

Thanks for commenting uppercut, in the kaplan book that i'm reading to prep me for the LSATs says to focus on the third paragraph. I always thought that was pretty strange because I always felt like the thesis statement or the main idea was in the first paragraph. What types of notes should I be writing in the margins though?

Hey Nazook, are you taking any prep classes like Kaplan or Princeton? I'm taking it in October too, and I'm no where near the score I want either. I read in a previous JE that you wanted to go to Fordham. I think I'm going to be applying there as well.

Thanks for the tips Nazook, I was reading in previous journal entries that you were having the pre LSAT jitters as well. Did you already take it? If so did you do as well as you wanted to?