I’ve signed up for the January exam but I’m plateauing in the high 150s to lower 160s (one 166). I’ve been at this plateau for months now.
I have a full time job and additionally volunteer, plus therapy and living on my own other things/chores/errands I need to do. Also, I have trouble sleeping so I need to give myself more time to fall asleep, which detracts from my studying. Yes, I know that without sleep, I cannot do anything, which is why I prioritize sleep.
Currently, I’m taking one practice test a week. I often feel like I spend the week doing blind review then I take another practice test. Should I:
A. Take one practice test every two weeks to give me more time to review and drill?
B. How to more efficiently study with the time I got while maintaining one exam a week?
Maybe I’m burning out. I feel tired and a bit depressed at the results. I don’t want to give up though. Due to valid reasons, I have a lower GPA, so the pressure for an amazing LSAT score is much higher.
Please ask any questions to help determine the best plan for me.
I am scared if I do practice tests every other week, I may not be doing enough to practice stamina. I am running out of fresh practice tests(am using PTs from the 90s??)
12 comments
I like to think of practice tests like preseason games:
Even if you score below where you want to, it's not the real score
It'll identify where your strengths are and where you need to improve on
After you've done the core curriculum and any other supplemental learning material you've got, PTs will start to give you a good measurement of where you'll be at come test day
What I've done that's helped me gain a lot of improvement (in my opinion) was:
One practice test every two weeks (and then once a week like two months before my registered test day)
Save the review until the day after your PT. Don't worry about doing more questions or passages - just focus on analyzing PT and really think to yourself how you felt on each question and dissecting the stimulus/answer choices.
More time spent studying/more questions drilled doesn't necessarily mean more points.
It comes from being able to figure out why even one question you got wrong is wrong and absorbing a better understanding of an LR stimulus or an RC passage.
I really like Ellen Cassidy's Loophole and how she talks about translating the stimulus so that you can go into the question with a much better understanding of it.
And it's perfectly understandable to be frustrated when the results aren't there yet, but rest assured that success isn't guaranteed to a few great people - it's for those who are able to wake up every day and put in the work even when the results aren't there yet. So my ultimate advice is to just take it easy on yourself and continue to show up unless you're burned out (can't hoop on a sprained ankle).
Thank you so much!! Really helpful! I’ve been doing half days off(PT then off) but imma start doing one day off(PT on another day, untimed work before that PT).
Also your right, deep blind review is what gets the gains 💯🙌🏼
Question, how many days off a week do you take?
Congrats on your progress btw!
I used to take weekends off but I've found myself studying every day of the week since August (signed up for October). But I'm not doing anything crazy - just reviewing as much as I can on top of some drilling. Imo it's necessary to not impose a time goal; I never really wanted to pressure myself to studying a certain amount of time per day since it doesn't mean it'll be quality time. Instead I like to make sure that even if I'm studying only for one hour, it's a productive hour with a clear goal of what I want to learn/what I want to get out of it.
Def right quality over quantity, good luck this October!
Your chart shows steady continual progress that places you well ahead of the curve. You’ve already passed the 50% threshold.
What do you expect to get from prep tests? When is your official test?
While you think that 1 prep test every couple weeks is not enough, I think it is too much.
Given your personal schedule and current development you need to reassess and personalize a plan that is flexible to abrupt changes day to day, and recognizes your outside commitments.
Suffering through burnout sucks, but pushing further into it during LSAT prep can be deadly. We want to avoid reinforcing bad habits, to break that cycle we need to depart from what is bringing us down and focus on what lifts us to the BR potential. Quality over quantity, less is more.. and more can be worse than nothing at all.
Depending on your job, it can be next to impossible to get quality reps after work, in those situations I recommend adjusting sleep schedule to allow for brief study sessions before work. 5-10LR, or 1-2passages, it doesn’t have to be long, just consistent, focused, and engaged. A problem is forcing past those peak moments causes us to lose our fundamental foundational form.
We want to remain in control, focused, anticipate fully. Whenever you feel that slipping, like you are reacting to the test and letting it command you is a good sign that you’ve gone past diminishing returns.
You only need to worry about prep tests when you are in the last final stage before official test to build the stamina endurance required for the marathon, any prep test in between are purely for vanity to check your current skill range, which can be pulled pretty accurate from projected scores. You don’t need to do anymore than section stacking LR:RC, anything more is the type of exercise towards stamina not the actual skill testing.
Thanks 🙏🏼 ur real for this 💯
I don't think one practice test a week is bad, but are you doing drilling in addition to the blind review during the other days of the week or just blind reviewing the previous week's practice test only? Drilling sections and my hardest question types has helped me so much, maybe will do the same for you!
No, I don’t have time to drill. How do you make time to drill?
Discuss CBT techniques during therapy for anxiety and settling down to sleep.
Do you ever do the revenge bedtime procrastination?
Would it be possible to wake up earlier to study before everything else in the day, could that help?
I work full-time also so often it means getting up earlier (6am to study) or finding time in the evening after I finish work (6pm onwards). I tell myself it’s just a temporary period of life where I need to be giving up my free time for this greater goal. If you’re struggling to fit in studying around everything else, could your volunteer schedule be flexible so that it’s not everyday and leaves you time to study in mornings or evenings?
@NoNamed92 What’s the revenge bedtime procrastination? If it is me studying hard before bed instead of unwinding a bit before bed because I didn’t focus as much earlier, then yes that is me lol. 💀😩
@Dagny my roommate has a new job that makes me wake up earlier than before, so I try to study a bit on the way to work and before work. The walls are paper thin, and the quietness means sometimes the supervising attorney or the janitor hears me lol. Working on doing me no matter how awkward the dead silence can be.