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#help

I could really use some advice. I'm currently enrolled in the Blueprint LSAT classroom course originally meant for the upcoming January 2019 LSAT which I have since postponed to March 2019. I've been attending these classes religiously and have been studying full-time for the LSAT for the past 6 weeks. I've got two classes and two PTs with them left but my lack of improvement has got me desperately searching for answers on the best plan of attack from now until my new test date. My original diagnostic at the start of their course was 152 and my best PT is just a 3 point improvement of 155 which is far from my goal of 165+. With only two weeks left with them and only a little over two months until my test, I'm wondering if I should ditch them now and go for 7Sage or just commit to Blueprint's course, finish up and practice their methods until test date. I'm sure most of you are probably not familiar with their approach but I guess I'm more curious on whether two months of full-time studying with 7Sage would be enough to attain my goal of 165+, or whether that time would be better spent practicing what I've already learned from the other guys. I'm also curious if my time with Blueprint might help me get through 7Sage's curriculum faster or if I'd just be starting over from scratch. I just signed up for the trial course and from the get-go it's telling me that 3 months is not enough. Unfortunately, I intend on attending law school this Fall so the March 2019 test is my last shot, meaning I've only got a little over two months left to prepare. If 7Sage is still worth it in your opinion, which course should I aim for (I was thinking Starter or Premium since I have such little time left)? If there are any former Blueprint(ers?) who are now 7Sage converts, or past/current 7Sage students or even admins that could provide some insight, I'd very much appreciate it.

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I’m a slow starter and I found that if I don’t do some warm up questions before a PT I won’t be able to get to the last 5-6 questions of the first section. My warm up routine has been: one game (doesn’t have to be new), 10 LR questions (new), and 1 set of RC passage + questions (new). I time myself when I warm up. I found that except for LG, doing old questions just won’t warm me up the same way new questions do.

This routine is enough to warm me up but the whole thing can take me almost 40 minutes depending on how groggy I am in the morning and can eat up my energy during the actual test. I read some old threads and saw ppl doing just games and a few LR questions. But I want to be prepared if the first section happens to be RC(!!!).

I’m wondering what worked for you guys? Any info will be much appreciated!

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Last comment thursday, jan 17 2019

Where to go from here...

I recently took the November exam and got a 154, a one point decrease from my July take. My LSAC GPA is a 3.48. I have been on 7sage for about 3 years with multiple life interruptions mixing in. Its quite disappointing to have invested so much time and be on the outside looking in of where I wanted to be. I made many, many mistakes to say the least.

Anyway, I'm not sure where to go from here. I have a full time job now working for the local county government and I'm just not sure what I should do with my dreams of law. I would still love to be a lawyer! And I truly loved 7sage and how they taught everything. I just couldn't ever seem to make the mental leap necessary. I started at a 148, dipped down to the 130's, rebounded into the mid to high 150's, even got a 160 on a PT but couldn't quite get to where I needed to be.

I'm 26 years old and am starting to get weary of making too many crazy moves. Law school is a big deal and the money is a huge investment and I don't want to be some lawyer on a billboard chasing ambulances. I'm not T-14 or bust but I'm not going to go to a regional school and pile the debt on. I know this community has a good bit of wisdom so I'm humbling asking for your thoughts. Thanks.

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Last comment wednesday, jan 16 2019

Preparing for New Digital LSAT

Hi all. I am considering taking the July 2019 LSAT which will be my first go. Given that it is the first launch of the digital version of the exam, I have some reservations. Mainly, I am afraid of the fact that since the majority of my studying will be on paper, I feel less prepared for a paperless exam. I am aware of the benefits of the exam (e.g. no bubbles!), but I still like to simulate as realistic a testing environment as possible.

Does anyone know if any of the PTs will be made digital so we can simulate tests in a realistic way?

I believe that for the first digital exam, testers will be allowed to see their score prior to accepting it. Is this a worthwhile tradeoff?

I haven't checked out the LSAC tutorials yet, but I'm sure they will be somewhat helpful.

Anyone else have similar concerns? Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated!

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Last comment wednesday, jan 16 2019

Recommendation Letters

Hi Guys,

So I've been having a hard time getting over the awkwardness of reaching out to professors I haven't spoken to in 1-2 years to ask for law school recommendation letters. The professors I plan to ask, have written recommendation letters for me in the past and have also agreed to serve as job references for me. However, it's been a year and a half since I've kept in contact with them.

Since I do not know if they are currently still teaching at my old undergrad, I'll have to reach out to them via email. Do you guys have any suggestions, tips, advice for the best way to go about requesting letters from them? I am afraid they will just flat out say no or ignore the request, which would leave me VERY stuck.

To add, if they do agree, I would like them to address specific aspects of my applicant profile such as participation in Mock trial (which they are aware is something I participated in). Should I send them some of the work I did in their class in the initial email request? I did receive As in both classes, and although I may not have been a standout student, I did well in their classes and I would be someone they'd remember. Perhaps I am overthinking all of this.

Nevertheless, any input would be appreciated. Thank you.

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I took my full fresh PT for the first time in months and after taking it, I couldn't study anymore and had to call it a day. Exhaustion. I BR'd one game and compiled a list of LR questions that I should BR before grading them but I'm so doing them tomorrow.

Do most of you BR full PTs on the day of taking them? Unless I'm on advil like 3 times a day, which I don't think is a great idea though I am no doctor, I doubt I can do full PTs AND BR them on the same day. But that automatically reduces the number of hours I study daily on PT days. Kind of torn here.

Please share your experiences.

P.S_ I'm currently studying full time. On a non-PT day, I typically spend 6 hr-ish(Meal/bathroom/rest/daydreaming/Browing on the internet excluded) fully dedicated to the LSAT.

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Last comment tuesday, jan 15 2019

Saving Problem Sets

I've been saving a few problem sets from each lesson to do at a later time. My thinking behind this is that I'll be able to use them as practice. Is this this a good idea, or should I do all of the problem sets after each lesson?

I know it is ultimately my choice, but I'm curious about the opinions of others.

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:P Hey guys,

Wanted to start a thread regarding lsat score increase in the last 2-3 weeks before exam.

Saw a few posters that had pretty decent jumps 2-3 weeks before exam.

Example “ Richard Rorty wrote:

i did it. I had a couple 162-3's, and a 165 I think. Two weeks and two days to go I got a 167 and then exploded to 174, and continued to score there. 173 on the real thing.”

For those that have increased more than 2-3 points , or even if 1 point, what were your last 2-3 weeks left study methods. Did you continue to study the same way as you’ve been studying? If you did anything different , what did you change or start doing ? Any specific plans?

Also what kind of score increase did you achieve ?

Anyone break through from anywhere in 160s to anywhere in 170s in that time period ?

Would really appreciate your responses !!

So for me, I have a tutor now and his plan for me is to focus on my strong suits and perfect those (LR) by constantly drilling the LR question types I’m seeing a pattern in getting wrong and then don’t move on from that type until I could “tutor” him and explain why the correct answers are correct and the wrong aren’t correct.

Then keep drilling LG ( kinda same method as for LR). As for time (which is a huge issue of mine) DON’T RUSH. Just keep practicing the games over and over and the deductions will start to become more clear to you and you’ll spot them faster and be able to work through the game faster naturally. When you rush you put pressure on yourself and can miss key deductions- which I can attest has seriously ruined games for me that would have went well if I just spotted that one deduction.

Also a trick he taught me that has been working well is, look for the least restrive entity in the answer choices for “could be true/could be false” questions, esp if you’re pressed for time. Then for “must be true/must be false” questions, look for the most restrictive entities , cause that are USUALLY (not always) the ones the questions will be most focused on. Try and make as many deductions as you can in the beginning before going to the questions. At first I thought this would waste time but it’s helped me TREMENDOUSLY. Some questions I could answer in literally seconds just from a deduction made in my main game board in the beginning that made it possible for me to see the answer right away.

Now RC, this is my ok section. I say this because untimed I don’t perform badly. Around -4 or -5 (although my goal is -2/-3) but timed I’m getting around -8 or even -12 because I barely get around to the last passage and if I do I only have time to answer the 1st or maybe 2nd question if I’m lucky :cry: . I think the best I did timed was -6 or -7 and not sure how lol.

He said this would be the most diff to increase a lot in in the next two weeks but keep practicing and work on not reading the passage fast but reading the passage in a way in which you grasp the idea of what is being written properly.

Also read in a way that you are paying attention to how it’s structured and make sure you can clearly identify the conclusion. For main point questions that’s what you look for. And for the summary questions you look for the answer that the majority of the passage speaks about, usually a topic that 2 or 3 of the pharagraphs all speak about.

Are any of these tips helpful to any of you?

I have some more but not sure if people would actually even care to read them lol.

However, if anyone has any other tips please share !

So to get back to the original topic, if anyone can answer that has

  • Taken the lsat already and had a jump in score within the last 2-3 weeks before test.
  • Also anyone that has seen jumps in 2-3 weeks in score.
  • Please share and also say what scores you went from and what you did to get there !

    Best of luck to everyone, keep pushing !!

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    So I pulled up the first practice question through Kira and it’s “how would you estimate the revenue generated from ticket sales at the London 2012 Olympics”

    Is this for real? I don’t even understand the question?? I would hope that in 2012 there would be a computer system that just scans the tickets and does the math for you? Maybe use Quickbooks? Did my Kira interview practice questions get switched with a business school interview??

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    Last comment tuesday, jan 15 2019

    To postpone or not to postone

    Hey guys,

    Caught between a rock and a hard place on what to do given my current situation. Over the past month, I've consistently been reaching ~170 on PTs, however, over the weekend I had back-to-back performances in the low-mid 160s; my first time regressing since I began studying. I've consistently been putting in around 5 to 6 hours per day and have not been susceptible to any "burnout" thus far, but this weekend felt myself having a bit of a breakdown as I could tell I was under performing whilst I took the exams, creating a snowball effect, if you will. In general, I was missing questions that I normally do not and on BR they were just bad choices by not reasoning my way through the answers (I'm talking going around -10 on both LRs inc. "easy" questions early on like #2 and #3 when I usually go -2 or -3) I spoke to my tutor and he says it happens all the time and more than likely burnout, so I've decided to take a few days off to clear my head, but it does leave me concerned with the possibility that there's a more fundamental problem of consistency that needs to be addressed and solved before I sit down for the official administration.

    Ideally, I would like to apply for this cycle and I have my sights on T14, but also will be applying T30. My applications are about ready to go but I do not have any official scores on the record and, in general, have this worry that I may be trying to force it given I'm already applying quite late in the cycle. After what took place over the weekend, I'm concerned about allowing the risk of a low 160 on my official record when I know I can do better; as I really do have my hopes set on T14. However, that decision to postpone is at the expense of not going to school for more than another year and a half, which in itself is a very hard pill to swallow given I am already in my late 20's and am itching to get this show on the road.

    Really appreciate y'alls insight here.

    -MG

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    Last comment tuesday, jan 15 2019

    Cookie Cutters?

    Alright, so I've heard this term a few times now and I'd really like some advice on what it specifically is. E.g. am I looking for patterns in the reasoning structure? Patterns in the type of argument that is used? How do I go about looking for and charting these patterns?

    Any help is appreciated!

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    Proctors: 2 per room. They were fine

    Facilities: Bathroom was close, multiple rooms

    What kind of room: Computer room w/o computers

    How many in the room: 20-30

    Desks: Plenty of desk room

    Left-handed accommodation: N/A

    Noise levels: Not too Bad. I don't remember hearing much

    Parking: Limited parking. Come early

    Time elapsed from arrival to test: Can't remember exactly. Didn't have phone inside

    Irregularities or mishaps: None

    Other comments: I would recommend if its the closest to you

    Would you take the test here again? Yes, I liked it enough to retake there in Jan

    Date[s] of Exam[s]: Nov 2018

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    Hey gang!

    When I took the November LSAT, I bubbled all of my answers at once, at the very end when 5 minutes was called. I'm trying out a new bubbling method. I'm liking giving myself micro breaks now, and bubbling as I go along. My issue is with questions I've circled---skipped questions that I don't want to turn back to until the very end. Typically I circle them on the test booklet, but now with the bubbling method, I'd like to bubble the other answers in and leave that one blank. My fear is that I'll forget that blank space later on. Can I circle or dash or mark in some way the number for that question on the actual scantron? Does anybody do this? Thanks for any input!

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    Last comment sunday, jan 13 2019

    6 months good idea?

    I posted this a day ago but got no response so i thought i'd try it again.

    So i want to start on January 10 and take the premium package which is 6 months. Now i go to university full time but i think with the study schedule i can manage my time and do both the LSAT and my uni courses. Do you guys think I can manage to pull this off with the premium pack?

    My target score is 160-164 and I got 149 on my diagnostic test and i am kind of familiar with the test (i studied for a month and have basic knowledge of the test)

    Thanks in advance people :)

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    Last comment sunday, jan 13 2019

    7Sage Tutor?

    Hi you all,

    I listened to the latest 7sage podcast episode and the young man sharing his testimony mentioned that he got a tutor from the community. I have always been interested in this. Can anyone point in the right direction to make that happen for myself?

    Best,

    Aristotle

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    Last comment sunday, jan 13 2019

    June & July open

    Hello, fellow 7Sagers. The June & July tests are now open for registration. More good news: The essay will no longer be handwritten or necessarily take place on the same day as the rest of the test. Hooray!

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    Last comment saturday, jan 12 2019

    Just Broke 170!

    Got a 172 on a practice test this morning! I'm taking the LSAT the 26th of this month so I feel pretty great about that, hopefully I repeat that a few times before and on the day.

    I was worried that my entire endeavor might be foolhardy as I was ignoring one of the curriculum's first pieces of advice, which was that three months is not enough time. I've actually only had like two and a half and one entire week was taken up by my entire home flooding and another by the liturgical season of Christmas and it's been like, damn.

    But the same article that recommends that is basically warning against lousy and expensive prep courses and unrealistic expectations about your own behavior. Since I'm a bit older and I've already worked jobs where I worked at least 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, I already knew it wasn't unrealistic to assume I could study for 10 or more hours a day and in fact I have done just that since I began.

    I just did the core curriculum in order and followed all of the advice precisely, save for the 3 month thing and the recommendation only to do 30 hours a week if you study full time, and the recommendation of diminishing returns on doing consecutive practice tests each day and close together. Since I can work a 10 hour day without any particular mental fatigue I just do the practice test in the morning and the blind review in the afternoon til night and I feel no worse for wear or over saturated with the LSAT the next morning. This morning was the third practice test I took since doing the core curriculum and drilling all LG from PT 1-35 repeatedly, and fourth overall, so I went 163-166-172 over the last three days.

    Blind review really is an incredible process. One can feel themselves gaining greater mastery of the test's form while they do it.

    If anyone would be interested in any advice from me I guess the one thing I'd say is a piece of advice they gave me in the theater. The context of this advice is that actors new to the trade tend to speak too quickly to be understood from the audience but also tend to pause too much in between lines because they don't know how to evaluate how much weight each moment needs and so they're in the paradoxical predicament of being told they really need to speed the hell up because the play is taking 2 hours and forty-five minutes and some members of the audience live in Brooklyn but also slow the hell down because no one can understand what you're saying.

    The obvious piece of advice from outside of their perspective is, "don't speak faster, speak sooner." Similarly while taking a timed LSAT do not think faster, or fall to the trap of having a general impulse to rush that just feels like the subconscious thought process yelling an electrical impulse in the back of your head. Take as much time as you need to think precisely and according to 7sage's methods, just do it sooner. This is also related to the concept of mindfulness which is something I've benefited from a great deal recently. Listen to 7sage's methods and you will understand the fundamentals. After that the test taking experience really is psychological. There's no question you can't get right.

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