u/simplysmh

Title. (Critique/Debate, Phen-Hypo, Spotlight, etc)
Wondering if I should skip the RC unit on 7Sage, or just to skim it and move on to drilling.

What study strats worked for you guys? What didn’t work? Are there any mistakes you made while studying or anything you wish you did differently?

My diagnostic (took it in June) was a 131. My most recent PT was a 150. My goal is to reach at least a 160 for October’s exam. I’m currently subscribed to 7Sage, and I’m pretty happy with the upward trend I’ve seen so far.

Literally anything would be appreciated… this exam is a nightmare come true… I feel like a dodo trying to understand these questions and concepts 🥲

As I work through drills and problem sets, I’ve noticed that I perform noticeably worse on the hardest questions (4–5 difficulty). Since I’ve only taken one practice test and haven’t taken the LSAT before, I’m not sure how common these types of questions are on the actual exam.

For those who have taken the LSAT, how is the difficulty typically distributed? Is the test mostly made up of easier to moderate questions (1–3 difficulty) with a handful of very challenging ones, or are 4–5 difficulty questions fairly common throughout the exam?

This is a lot to read so... long story short: I have been friends with a girl since 3rd grade, and we were part of a close group. In high school, I got busy with a different school and a job, and they started resenting me for not spending as much time with them—but never told me. Instead, they excluded me, made a separate group chat, and talked about me behind my back while acting normal in person. I only found out after graduation. We talked it out and partially fixed things, but the friendship was never the same. They later reconnected with the friend who caused a lot of the tension, and since then I’ve felt distant. One of them still tries to maintain the friendship, but I’ve realized I’m emotionally checked out and only staying out of guilt, and I don’t know whether to end it or let it fade.

Okay now for the actual version,

I (F20) have been friends with a girl (let’s call her Frog) since 3rd grade. We grew up really close through middle school and shared a lot of good memories together. In 7th grade, we joined a friend group with two other people (let’s call them Toad and Tadpole). 

However, things started changing in high school. I went to a high school about an hour away from where I live, while they stayed in our hometown (we all went to different schools though). I also started working a job, so I had way less free time. They were all unemployed at the time. I would suggest meeting up for dinner or going to a movie, but they would often say that it wasn’t worth meeting unless it was a full-day plan (9AM - 11PM). Because of that, I ended up spending more time with my high school friends, since they were more flexible and valued shorter hangouts or a few hours together, because they also had other commitments and jobs. 

Over time, that created resentment from their side. They saw it as me replacing them with my high school friends and not caring about them anymore. I would also get ignored at times in our group chat. When I asked if everything was okay or if my messages were being seen, they would say everything was fine and that they just hadn’t noticed my messages, and they’d apologize.

Eventually, they started hanging out without me, made a separate group chat, and created a narrative that I didn’t care about them. They would hangout with me like regular though on days I was completely free, which further led me to believe that we were fine.

I didn’t find out they were upset with me until the summer after I graduated high school. I had even invited them to my graduation dinner and other celebrations, fully believing we were okay. Then, about two months later, within the span of an hour, I received messages from all three of them saying they felt like I didn’t care about them and had been upset with me throughout all of high school.

So essentially, they had been talking badly about me all four years of high school while acting normal in person and still occasionally hanging out as a group when possible. I had no idea any of this was going on. I genuinely thought everything was fine.

I responded by explaining that, because I had a job and other responsibilities, I couldn’t do full-day hangouts, but that never changed how I felt about them or how much I cared. I told them that as we get older and start “adulting,” we’re naturally going to have less free time, but that I still made effort when I could. I also pointed out that I didn’t do full-day hangouts with my high school friends either, because they also had jobs.

Frog and Toad were understanding of my response. They admitted they regretted not communicating their feelings to me sooner and told me everything that had been going on (the separate group chat, ignoring messages in the main chat, and talking about me behind my back). They also said Tadpole was the main influence behind a lot of the tension and misunderstandings. They eventually realized they had been heavily influenced by him and cut him off for a while (blocked him).

However, about a year later, Tadpole sent letters to their houses (except mine) saying he regretted losing their friendship and wanted to reconnect. Toad took him back without much hesitation. Frog, on the other hand, was more conflicted. Since I had known Frog the longest, she was worried that if she reconnected with Tadpole, she might lose me as a friend. I told her to do whatever she wanted and that I wasn’t going to tell her who she could or couldn’t be friends with. I don’t own her.  They hang out very frequently (several times a week), while I see Frog has still been trying her best to maintain the friendship with me, but it has never really been the same. We went from being very close friends to seeing each other maybe once every 1–2 months.

About a year later, Tadpole sent letters to their houses—except mine—saying he regretted losing their friendship and wanted to reconnect. Toad welcomed him back pretty quickly, and eventually faded out of the picture completely after reconnecting with Tadpole. We don’t talk.

Frog was more hesitant. Since she and I had known each other the longest, she was worried that reconnecting with him might cost her our friendship. I told her to do what felt right to her and made it clear I wasn’t going to dictate who she could or couldn’t be friends with. Since then, she, frog, and Tadpole have been hanging out frequently, several times a week. 

Frog has still made an effort to stay in touch with me. Even so, things haven’t felt the same. We went from being very close to only seeing each other once every month or two. However, since then, I’ve emotionally checked out of my friendship with her. 

Frog has still been trying her best to maintain the friendship with me, but it has never really been the same. We went from being very close friends to seeing each other maybe once every 1–2 months.

About a year and a half ago, I had a very emotional conversation with Frog and told her that it hurt me that she was friends with Tadpole again. She said she didn’t know it would affect me that much and that I should have told her sooner, otherwise she wouldn’t have agreed to it. I reiterated that I wasn’t going to tell her who she could be friends with. She said that if she lost our friendship, she would regret it for the rest of her life. After that, we kind of just continued with low-frequency hangouts.

At this point, I don’t initiate plans. I don’t feel very connected, and I mostly go out of guilt or habit. She still reaches out to meet up, and I respond politely and sometimes see her, but I honestly don’t feel like continuing the friendship in an active way. She still considers us a “low-maintenance friendship,” but I feel like I’ve already emotionally checked out.

I’m stuck because I don’t want to be cruel after so many years of history, but continuing to meet up occasionally feels like I’m maintaining something I don’t actually want anymore. I am emotionally checked out of this friendship. It feels like a dead weight. Additionally, I want to remove Frog and Toad of my socials because I don’t want them having access to me. (Tadpole has been removed for years) 

Is this too much? What do I do? Should I slowly fade out, be direct, or try to redefine the friendship?