Discussions

General

New post

68 posts in the last 30 days

My average preptest score is a 168 and I have scored a 169 on three separate tests. I am looking to break into the 170s and have read that teaching someone the test can be very helpful for achieving true mastery. So I'm looking to work with anyone -- preferably those just getting started or those having trouble breaking into the 150s or 160s -- who feels this could be a mutually beneficial exercise.

1

So two summers ago (May to August2017), I started my journey. I was scoring in 131, 133 range using the Self Trainer and Powerscore books. I cancelled my test day as I was not ready. My dream is to get into Harvard. I took a break and began studying again in December with 7sage.

In March 2018, I was scoring around 141, 142. In late July-August, I was scoring low 150s (152-153), my BR score was ranging 160-161.

My breakdown since November 2018 is -5/-4 on LR, -10/-12 on RC (I haven't studied for RC at all since I began studying), and for LR (-10/-9).

It is the last PT I took as so far, as I am still not improving in LR. So, I've been doing untimed sections of old tests and going back to the basics.

However, even untimed, I usually get -11/-12 totaled for both LR sections. In the meanwhile as I practice LR, I time myself in LG and typically go (-3).

Is this normal? I am feeling immensely discouraged as I thought by now, I would be ready to take the LSAT this June. With calculating my untimed LR sections, timed LG, and assuming I am still scoring (-10/-12) on RC, I am still scoring low 150s. If I keep studying how I've been studying, will I ever reach my target score (170-175)? Any tips?

Note: I work full-time, 40hrs a week. I try to study 2 hours before work, 1hr at lunch, and 10 hours on weekends (at least 15 hours a week).

0

Hey Guys!

I wondering if it would be to my benefit to upgrade my 7sage package from Starter to Ultimate. I am running out of practice material and money is pretty tight so i'm curious if anyone found upgrading as a cheaper option instead of purchasing more PT's online?

0

I sat in on a law school class two days ago. In the second half of the lecture, the class dissected and applied a lengthy statute to hypotheticals. The statute, as I recall, was basically a conditional statement in the form of

A → [B and (C or D)]

(where two or three of these four variables are "and" or "or" groups)

At least one student had a hard time dissecting the statute (shame (s)he didn't take 7Sage), so the professor had to highlight conditional terms to help the student.

So, just in case you didn't know, evidently one's LSAT skills don't become completely useless after entering law school. Hopefully you now have one more reason to master those conditional lessons.

3

Heyo 7Sagers,

It's been a while since I posted here. I return after the November 2018 LSAT with some good news: I got into my desired law school with a scholarship! A year ago, when I was contemplating whether to give up on the LSAT after my December 2017 write, I was convinced that I wouldn't even see a scholarship, let alone be admitted to any law school. I had hinged everything on the December LSAT and, because of my low score, I was not admitted to any of the law schools I applied to. This is around about the time I discovered 7Sage, which motivated me to study and rewrite in November 2018. This cycle, after improving my score by 18 points, I had offers with scholarships from each of the schools I applied to.

I am so grateful for the 7Sage community and for JY's sage wisdom. Without either, I would not have gotten to where I am today: stress free and looking forward to starting on my path come September. Let it be known: some elbow grease and a can-do attitude can get you far, but following the sage advice of JY and the 7Sage community will do you wonders.

In light of this, I wanted to pay forward the help I received here and give y'all my comprehensive study guide, which I compiled throughout my own LSAT journey. I'm very proud of it and believe that reviewing this on the daily helped me achieve my 18 point increase.

So, without further ado, I present to you my study guide: https://www.scribd.com/document/399013916/Tim-Horton-s-LSAT-Notes

Go get 'em, 7Sage fam.

Cheers,

Tims

EDIT

Apologies that the previous link was a dud. You can download the study guide here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pwW83WTTOdGDOR5gRDZAfyb32EyUf6Fy/view?usp=sharing

166

Hi there! Thanks to JY and the 7Sage community, I scored a 168 on the September 2018 LSAT (an 18 point improvement from my diagnostic score). While I wait for my law school decisions and such, I would love to help 1 or 2 7Sagers, ranging in the 150 - low 160s, with the LR section. Though not an expert, I went from missing 20+ to missing 4 on the official test for this section. During our sessions, we will focus on blind review and habit-building strategies. You’d have to have a flexible schedule or be available Saturdays 3pm - 5pm/Sundays 4pm - 6pm PST. If you’re interested, message me your current PT breakdown and how many months you’ve been studying.

Thanks and happy studying,

Ann

6

Hi All,

I have a quick question. Are we allowed to/am I able to sell the remainder of my course subscription to a fellow 7Sager if I don’t need it anymore? If it’s an option, how would it work?

Thank you in advance.

0

Hi everyone,

I know it's still early in the cycle and I have some schools decision still pending, but I sorta have that gut feeling I will attend one of these schools that have already accepted me.

I am still waiting on Texas A&M, SMU, UH and OU and got waitlisted at Texas Tech, but the two choices I'm really debating right now is U of Denver with a decent scholarship that puts COA at a little over 30k/year and Oklahoma City Law, which I understand is unranked but has given me the best scholarship offer and will put COA at only $15k/year.

I am drawn to U of Denver's better ranking and am fascinated at the idea of moving and working in Colorado, but the debt scares me. Fortunately, I have never had student debt. I am not too excited about possibly attending OCU Law considering that it is not a great school anywhere outside Oklahoma or OKC, but financially I think that will be my best offer and I wouldn't mind working in OKC for a couple years. I wish I knew where I wanted to work after 3 years, so I guess i'm also drawn to Denver because of the relative flexibility and mobility of a Denver Law degree?

Everyone on here has been completely honest and supportive with me, so I have no issue being transparent about my financial situation in order to help me with a decision. After my last year of work this year, I will have close to $55k in savings which I plan to use for law school, but obviously try and keep as much as I can. My parents have said they will help me with some of my expenses, but I am not willing to ask for help with tuition money.

Between Denver Law and OCU Law, what do you guys think would be better given my situation? I have close to or less than a 50% chance at the other schools I mentioned, which is why I'm not too hopeful that I will be accepted at this point. Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much!

0

Hi Everyone!

I plan on taking the LSAT in either September or October. I want to purchase the Ultimate+ package that gives me access for 18 months. Does it make sense to purchase it if I only need roughly 6/7 months of studying?

[Admin note: Ultimate+ includes 12 months now]

0

So as you all know The July LSAT is basically a free shot since everyone will be able to cancel their scores after seeing them. I am on the Strengthening lesson on the CC so I am far away from finishing it. Should I register for the July test now or should i wait and see how will I progress?

On a side note I am going to school full time and my goal is 160-165. Can you guys give me advice on what to do here?

0

Can someone please explain the new format of question analysis at the bottom of each video? Why would a LR question has a Passage/Game difficulty associated with it? If I remember correctly, it used to be blank or Non applicable. Is it to indicate the difficulty level of that section or the whole test? I’m confused.

0

I had an interview at WashU almost a month ago and still havent heard back. At the time I had just gradauted in December and didnt really have plan for what I was going to do until law school in the Fall. Being that I havent heard back yet, should I send a little update as well as my continued interest or just let it ride and wait it out?

0

I have noticed that with my last few PrepTests, my Blind Review scores have been within the range of my goal score. Whenever I Blind Review, I notice that I made little mistakes with my actual score that I would not have made if I had had more time to decipher what the question was asking. Should I start spending more time studying individual sections with proper time constraints? Or if I focus on gaining an even stronger mastery of the concepts (different LR question types, etc.), will adaptation to time constraints eventually follow?

2

I'm finding that a lot of the time, I have to read the stimulus twice before I fully comprehend what has been written, no matter how slowly I read the first time. It's adding at least another 30 seconds to my answering time. Does anyone have any tips on how to improve my comprehension?

0

So i've been studying for the lsat on and off for almost a year now.

I've taken the lsat 3 times already, and I'm scheduled to take it again in June. This one will be my absolute last try!

My question is, what study method will work best for my situation?

I am familiar with all the core concepts and i've been through the CC while studying for my previous lsat.

I have the books with all the previous lsats and the powerscore booka as well.

Should i purchase 7sage membership again? Should i learn my core concepts again? Or just do a lot of practice and BR until June?

0

Hi all, just want to thank this community for all the tips and tricks and the positive environment you all provided. I started studying in January 2019, took the Feb 2019 LSAT, began studying again in May 2019, and then took the July LSAT and sent in applications in October. For study materials, I only used the free 7Sage offerings, which made a HUGE difference, and got hold of the PTs. Now my cycle is (almost) over--- I scored a 172 and got into my top school. I spent SO much time trawling this site for tips and advice, and I'm hoping to give back by sharing everything that worked for me in one post. (Also, I got the idea from @terrynicholasj and his great post!)

  • My master spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yK-ux9iLzRF8c4zfJieZC7cXNuzPaAWEJtwT6BWVzxA/edit#gid=0 was based off of @Pacifico Foolproof LG attack strategy. I would highlight games to remind me to return to them on set dates and used the far right tracker to black out games I'd worked on. Also, I foolproofed every game I encountered that I could not get -0 or within time on, including those during PTs. I'd squeeze in a game or two whenever I had the time, and they eventually added up to serious improvement.

  • Writing out RC & LR explanations: There's sheets in my tracker for this. I would write out detailed explanations for every single RC and LR question I got wrong, both explaining why the correct answer was correct but also ruling out all the wrong answers. Happy to give sample explanations if needed. This helped me to clarify the logic/thought process and provided excellent reading the night before the exam.

  • LR tips: Reading the stimulus (i.e. question prompt first) did MIRACLES for my score. The more I did this, the more I found myself able to even anticipate the correct answer before I'd read the multiple choice options. I also took photos of LR questions that stumped me, put them on my phone, categorized by type, and browsed them to practice the logic in my spare time. I also kept count of which types of LR questions were my kryptonite and grew to recognize them. When I encountered them on the test, I would write the question type there on the page (i.e. "Weak") signaling to my brain to pay extra attention to this question. When I did that, I all of a sudden would stop getting that question type wrong. In LR, I also aimed for the 20-for-20 rule (roughly), which is to get through 20 questions in the first 20 minutes.

  • Read widely to prepare for RC: I hated science passages, so I made a point of seeking out science longform articles all over the web, all the time, to read in my spare time. It reduced the fear I felt upon opening the test to a science passage and increased my familiarity with the lingo. But you can also do this with all kinds of articles! If you hate the literature articles, read literary criticism, etc. Reading the Atlantic, Longform.org, Longreads.com, and the New Yorker, etc regularly all kept my brain in constant reading mode and made attacking long passages less terrifying. Plus, sometimes passages would even crop up in the LSAT that I had already read about! Another good mindset is to try and enjoy the passages. I'd force myself to think, "Wow, this is really interesting," and in my free time I'd reminisce about my favorites. OK, I'm a nerd, but changing my mindset about RC actually allowed me to perform better in them.

  • Other RC tips: Also, when doing RC passages, I also added high level summaries on the side--literally one-word summaries next to each paragraph that read things like "hypothesis," "example 1," "conclusion." (You can also do this in your fun-time reading outlined in #4, since it's good to practice engaged reading!)

  • Practice anywhere and everywhere: On a train, on a plane, in a park... I did PTs and sections everywhere. Inuring myself to distractions was vital. And while I also practiced in a quiet, locked room, when distractions cropped up during the real thing, my prep was essential to giving me the psychological boost to ignore it. This also allowed me to get in as much time studying as I could, giving me 2 hours each day on the train to and from my full-time job.

  • BR'ing is real: I BR'd every LR and RC section I took, even when I did sections individually. I would return to every question I'd "starred" during the timed taking and try to think out the right answer without the time constraints. I logged the BR'd scores on my sheet as well. I swear this helped!

  • Avoid burnout and don't beat yourself up: There will be days when you're off, and your score drops on your PT/section/whatever. It happens. TO EVERYONE. Don't obsess. Whenever that happened to me, especially when I bombed a section, the next time I did that kind of section I would do it untimed, giving myself all the time in the world to look it over and relax, taking breaks and sometimes even doing only a page at a time. And usually, my score would bump back up to where it needed to be after that. I also learned that burnout is real, and a week off won't hurt you, but will do wonders for your mind.

  • Application process: Try to avoid too much forum-reading, as it can lead to insanity. Remember, you run your own race. For essays, I recommend include On Writing the College Application Essay by Harry Bauld. But I also truly believe that reading great non-application essays helped me with mine, and I would recommend anything in the yearly Best American Essays anthology, and essay collections from authors like E.B. White, Joan Didion, Jonathan Franzen, Zadie Smith, and other masters of the form who are brilliant at taking personal topics and spinning them into something profound and interesting. I'm no E.B. White, but reading their works gave me something to aspire to. I didn't use a consultant (although I hear they're great!) but I did have many trusted folks read my essays over and over and over again. And don't forget to back all your stuff up.

  • I love the quote, "Comparison is the thief of joy." Enjoy your success. Enjoy your progress. Take breaks. The LSAT takes dedication, but don't neglect your life in pursuit of a number. You're gonna do great.

    • Anyway, thank you again for your support and great tips. II really believe that 7sage, your tips, and practice helped me to improve and that I couldn't have done it without it. Take and use what you like, discard the rest. Anyway, you guys are great, your journey is your own, and I believe in you all! Happy to answer further questions.

    178

    Just finished the CC and currently I am studying full time. I've watched the post CC seminar and found it useful. I plan on Fps 4-5 LGs a day but not sure what to do with LR/RC. Should I be doing sections or drilling by types? If so how much is enough but not overdoing it? Thanks

    0

    So I finished the core curriculum and started taking practice tests a few months ago. I take a practice test every other day and review the test I took on my off days. I was told that the best way is just to practice by taking as many tests as possible and learning from them. I really want to complete at least 70 tests by the time I hit June (im at around 20) and so I feel very pressured to keep this routine. However i do see a downside of this method because I feel like I don't have much time to practice drills or foolproof logic games. When reviewing my PTs on my off days, I look at every question(even the ones I got right) which is why it takes me around 6-7 hrs. My scores fluctuate but its mostly been around 168 on PTs(14-32). I was just wondering if you guys think its more important to lay off taking tests and spend more time drilling games and certain question types or to keep on with this method?

    0

    Ben Mauk wrote an incredible cover story for the New York Times Magazine about a small town in Eurasian steppe that China wants to turn into a hub of the global economy. Really the article is about the BRI—China's trillion-dollar bid to build a new Silk Road—and the cost of connecting the world. It touches on everything from the history of Central Asia to the detention camps in Xinjaing. I've never read anything that does such a good job of helping me visualize and concretize the notion of globalization.

    Oh, also, there's an athlete who plays a horseback sport where you fight over a headless goat carcass and a man who sharpens a sickle next to Ben's head.

    https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/01/29/magazine/china-globalization-kazakhstan.html

    6

    Confirm action

    Are you sure?