I scored a 173 on the September test, and 7Sage had a significant contribution to that happening. I just want to say thanks to the admins at 7Sage, as well as everyone in the community here. I started studying the LSAT last year, and my diagnostic was a 158. While I never actually purchased 7Sage due to my inability to afford it, I've benefited immensely from the free logic games explanations and the community writ large. It's simply amazing that these resources are free, and I truly believe 7Sage's mantra of making law school possible for low income students. You provide a space for individuals like me who otherwise cannot afford the costs of law school admission to even imagine that they could succeed if they work hard. That imagination is so unbelievably important because it mitigates the ideology deterministic poverty that so many individuals face. Thank you for your mere existence. I hope you know how important it is.
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Sure! Firstly, I can't recommend the LSAT Trainer enough. I think it's the main reason I was nearly perfect on LR. That's half the test. I printed off the LGs prior to pt 50 by type and went through all of them multiple times. I also had a cambridge packet of LRs organized by type, and used those a little bit if I started slipping on a LR type.
For PTs, I always used at least 5 sections. often I would do more though, and I think this helped me with endurance on test day. I did about 3 PTs a week, tried to do them in the morning at the time I'd be taking the actual test, and BR the same day. Often BR would stretch out over another day as well. I'd always redo all of the LG before grading it (that's basically how I BRd LG, since you can't BR in the same way you do LR or RC). I tried to BR to the point that I believed I got a 180 BR score, and then I graded it. Then I did a second round of BR if I missed any by marking the questions I got wrong and trying them again without knowing the correct answer (just knowing that my first choice was wrong). Then I typed up a review of the PT on the lsat subreddit. This included a few things: I had a brief background of what I ate that day, if I got enough sleep, etc.. Basically anything that could ostensibly causally impact my score. Any weird test conditions. Then I would type up explanations for the questions I missed, and attempt to categorize the mistake I made into at least one of three categories, which encompass all possible mistakes. Those are
1) reading mistakes, which are just that I misread an answer or a question. Often these are the "dumb mistakes" people talk about, and as such I tried to fit my mistakes into one of the two other categories.
2) failure to apply process. This will make more sense if you read the LSAT Trainer. I implemented a very strict process for each LR question that I had, with the help of the trainer, reasoned through was the best way to approach each question type. failure to adhere to this process often leads to mistakes, like picking an answer without confirming it against the question or the stimulus, etc.
3) failure of understanding. This is simply if I didn't know how to do a question. If I didn't know, for example, what a right answer to a sufficient assumption question was. These are actually great because they are the easiest things to fix. This is really the only mistakes that most prep books are designed to prevent, and the reason the LSAT trainer is great is that it focuses on the other two as well.
So after I break down the task, analyze the stimulus, explain why each wrong answer is wrong, and why the right answer is right, I tried to synthesize what I learned from the experience. You can actually find my old reviews on the LSAT subreddit if you want to see what those look like.
Lastly, I found it helpful to sometimes take a day off before a PT. Like literally just sit around my apartment doing nothing. I might read a bit or watch an interesting show, and I'll go running. I'd sleep in though and not worry about the LSAT. Often this would be a friday. That would recharge me for testing on Saturday.
I hope all of this helps; I realize it might be a bit longer than you were expecting. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions on my methods. As a side note, I'm also starting to do some LSAT tutoring via skype, so message me if you are interested in that.
Do you have any advice that you would like to impart onto your fellow 7sagers? :]
Congrats!!!! & good luck on your cycle!
Welcome back, @kraftphillip666.phillip :)
Good to see you again! Hope you're doing well.
Thanks for coming back!
Thanks, @kraftphillip666.phillip . This thread was hugely insightful. I plan on stealing all of it! :)
Hi everyone! This is quite an old post, but I wanted to give it a bump since I am back on 7Sage after taking about a 4 month hiatus. I'll be monitoring 7Sage from here on out to answer any questions you all might have.
For those studying for the June test--best of luck!
thank you!
lsathopeful, I just realized I didn't answer the question about my PT average. So my all time PT average was 170. That included a lot of burning through materials. My 5 most recent PT average, which is typically the indicator of your real score, was actually 173 (I had to double check this because I thought it was higher). That said, If I had taken the test just a week or so prior, my 5 pt average going in would've been 175. I got a lot of great scores 4 or 3 weeks out, and my score actually started dropping off closer to the test. I tried not to let it bother me.
lsathopeful, here's the answer to your question on making the most of reviewing:
Blind review by circling the questions you aren't perfectly sure about as you go through the test and returning to them after the test is finished. Focus on the process you use to solve the questions. Categorize your mistakes into at least one of these three groups:
mistakes of understanding-If it's this, you need to brush up on how to approach the question. If you don't understand what necessary assumption questions are asking, for example, then you know that going forward requires you to review that chapter in whatever test prep you use.
mistakes of failing to apply the process of solving the particular question. This happens when you know how to solve, e.g., necessary assumption questions, but you failed to do a part of the process. Maybe you didn't identify the support/premise. Maybe you didn't prephrase an answer. Maybe you didn't eliminate answers first. Maybe you didn't check the answer against the stimulus to confirm. These mistakes often happen due to time pressure, but it is essential that you approach every question methodically if you are to see any increases in your score. How are you to guarantee your work will pay off if you apply your knowledge haphazardly and irregularly? Ensuring adherence to a tried and true process is necessary for improvement. If you find yourself making these mistakes, then slow down and do some drills that involve walking through, step by step, what you are doing. Write out the steps you take for each question type.
other mistakes, such as having misread an answer or the stimulus. These mistakes are the least instructive, but they do happen. They tell you two things; try to be more exacting as you read. Basically, pay attention more. Unfortunately, that's a difficult thing for one to control, which leads to the second thing: you likely are not exercising and maintaining a healthy diet, or you are testing in otherwise non-ideal conditions (conditions referring both to environmental and mental). These mistakes indicate you need to start taking care of yourself.
So that's mainly for LR.
For LG, I think you should redo all the games and questions prior to grading. That's how I blind reviewed for the games.
For RC, Blind review similar to LR-circle questions you aren't sure about, and go back to them prior to grading. After you grade, obviously review and figure out why you got the questions wrong. The only thing I would add is to spend some time leisurely reading through RC sections-both the passages and questions. Try to think about how the passage is structured, and where the questions refer to in the passage. You'll start to develop instincts of what is important when reading new passages because of this. Lastly, RC review should involve specific line references proving correct answers and disproving wrong ones. This is to teach you that everything is in the passage, and that you should be referring back to the passage often while you are taking the test.
I still have a couple tutoring slots open as well if you'd like me to spend some time helping you through these processes. Just PM me you skype name if you are interested.
Congrats on your awesome score buddy.
I have one question for you, if you don't mind answering: How did you minimize careless errors (i.e. misreading the stimulus/answer choices)?
One component of the Trainer is developing mental discipline (i.e. sticking to the technical process). When I first read it, I didn't really understand how important it is until I realized how mentally undisciplined I was - I don't adhere to the problem solving process as systematically as I should.
How do you think this could be rectified?
I'm definitely interested in any tutoring or help that I can get! Congratulations on an amazing score!
I want to join in on the compliments. Great job! You're an inspiration :D
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Congratulations!! I am really jealous!
Wow! Congrats!
wow that's amazing!! congrats!! this is really a testament to your hard work!
Wow, great job!
Awesome, congratulations!
Congrats! Well done.
Congrats
glad I could help! Best of luck, and don't be afraid to message me if you have any questions.
Diagnostic was 158. My 5 recent test average was a 173. my total, lifetime test average was a 170.
Hey, congrats! Great score. What were you scoring on your Practice exams? In particular, what did you score on the first one?
Thank you so much for all your insight. Seems like many high scorers tend to categorize their mistakes as well, so it's nice to see your breakdown of each category. Also, I appreciate the insight on how to approach BR.
Thanks for the tutoring offer, I'm OK for now, but I will keep it in mind! Congrats again on your awesome score!