Something I've noticed about my PTs: I perform better when I'm feeling better. Not like.... physically (although that helps) but mentally. I mean when I wake up and put my contacts in, get dressed, and brush my teeth just to sit in my room to take a PT. Hell, even putting on shoes helps.

We talk a lot about mindset in these forums, but other things contribute to mindset besides meditation and repetition. Not only does waking up and "getting ready" help your outlook, it gets you prepped for test day. If you only ever take PTs in boxers, you're not replicating test day conditions!

This is all to say, keep in mind other things that might give you a little confidence boost. Two weeks out (exactly)--we can do this!

d

Hi all,

Hope everyone is doing well :3

I seem to have developed this habit while I was in university where I don't really 'take in' what I read on the first try, and usually have to read something 3 or 4 times before attributing meaning to a sentence.

This method clearly isn't flying during timed questions lol. I end up spending more time reading the stimulus than the ACs. I'm stuck in the habit of reading two or three full sentences, going "wait, what did I just read?" and then re-reading it again and again. I want to be able to just read a sentence from a stimulus and immediately compartmentalize it somewhere in my brain so that I know it's there & I don't have to go back and re-read it.

Has anyone experienced this? Is it just mental burnout or is this something that you conquer with time? How do you mentally prepare yourself to take in words on the first try?

Course progresses as Logical Reasoning --> Logic Games --> Reading Comp.

Thinking of doing Logic Games --> Reading Comp --> Logical Reasoning.

Biggest reason: Taking the December 2017 LSAT, and want to achieve as best gains as possible. Think that I could make the most gains with Logic Games over these two weeks.

Disclaimer: This is but my first take, with the "real" takes (as in...I aim to be done with the materials by then) being June & September (if need be).

Would I be damaging myself by doing this? The gist I get is that the progression is intentional - Logical Reasoning introduces understanding of particular things that are then "built upon" in Logic Games and Reading Comprehension.

Hey all,

Recently saw a post in the forum about how to make sure you absorb the information from each question. Although that was more along the lines of doing so while studying, I'm wondering what everyone uses as a technique to do so on test day?

December will be my third and final write. Now that I'm used to what to expect on test day, I'm well aware of the anxiety that it brings for me (and I would assume, many other people). This usually translates into having trouble fully absorbing info for the first few questions. Once I'm a few questions in, I'm usually ok.

I personally will be warming up before the real test to make sure my brain is warmed up. That seems to help.

Was wondering if anyone had any other helpful tips?

Thanks for sharing! :)

I know that some sections of the same type are tougher than others.

Does 7Sage or anyone else publish data about the relative difficulty of different sections?

Trying to figure out if my relative difficulty with a given LR section was due to lots of questions of a question type that Im weaker in or if the overall section was more difficult.

Im sure 7sage has the capability to calculate this, but wasn't sure if they'd made it public.

On my lsat ticket I have a photo where I don’t have a beard. I have a beard now. Should I shave? (I think I should) Do you think I’m gonna have problems being let in the testing room? I’ve been studying like crazy so I would be traumatized if my beard got in the way (it’s not even that long!) (this post was comic relief. Kind of but not really) Happy Studying!

I am not really trying to start much of a discussion here. But, I have a general thought I wanted to share. Words have power. If you say something enough, you end up believing it. If you continue to say you’re stuck, you eventually really do become stuck. I’ve noticed a lot of people use the word “grinding”, which I know a lot of us are essentially doing. I want to bring up the potential that words such as “grinding” could be negatively affecting our mindset. Grinding is something that is tedious and seemingly without end. Is this truly the mindset in which we want to approach the LSAT?

I think the LSAT is a fantastic opportunity for me to prepare myself to think like a future lawyer. I am a musician, and I see many parallels. Practicing etudes, although boring at times, helps my techniques, which ultimately helps me perform my concertos much better. I think the LSAT is a very fair test, and I believe this test will help develop some of the logical thinking skills I will need as a lawyer.

~ just a friendly thought. Study on!

Redacted

Hi everyone,

I am wondering whether there are any general/broad question strategies for LR (i.e., any tricks that can help you in eliminating answers).

Thank you!

Did you know that you are capable of achieving success? I hope so, because it's true. Each day is a grind but you need to keep the end goal in mind. Stumped by a hard problem? Disappointed with a PT score? Find yourself wishing it were all over? Take a minute and step back. Picture your dream, your goals, and your future. Suddenly the obstacle that is standing in your way will start to look more like a learning opportunity than a barrier. You can motivate yourself by seeing the bigger picture, which will allow you to continue working hard. Motivation may be a fleeting feeling, but when you use it to spark determination and grit, the effects will be longer lasting.

Picture motivation as a match. You strike it, and it stays light for a short while. But what is the true purpose of a match? It is used to ignite a much larger fire. One that lasts longer and does not burn out as easily. In this sense motivation is useful because it can ignite your passion, the real source of success.

https://i.imgur.com/8imJNrB.gif

When you take that moment to step back from a challenge, it allows you to gain perspective. A small break allows the feelings of anger, frustration and agitation to subside. Once those strong emotions have passed, you can come back at your issue with a level head. Then you can ask yourself, what went wrong. You can see each hurtle as a learning opportunity.

So when you miss a problem on the LSAT - step back and think about your goals. Then realize that the problem you missed is now an opportunity to grow. It's a chance to address an issue in your understanding of the test. It's in our weaknesses and short comings that improvement can be made. So we should celebrate our failures, because they will give us the ultimate gift, a chance to improve. Use the things that trip you up as a tool to motivate your passions. If you start to approach the LSAT in this way, you'll start to enjoy the test. You will constantly be moving forward and patching up holes in your understanding.

Don't let negative emotions dominate you! Remember, you are doing this for a reason. You have dreams and goals. Will you let one bad PT or one hard problem stop you?

You got this.

Guys! I just want to celebrate a bit. I'm still not where I ultimately want to be yet, but I can really tell that I'm on the road to getting there. Last night I got my first 180 BR and tied my PT score record (167). But I'm happier about the fact that I can really see the progress in my last several PTs. (Also, the 7sage analytics are almost worth the price of the course itself!) After the CC, I had improved for the most part but was wildly inconsistent. Post-CC I was scoring any where between 156 and 167 and was all over the map. Now my last 6 PTs are: 164, 165, 164, 166, 166, 167. Both the consistency and that slow but sure upward trajectory are so encouraging.

I think I'm not going to be quite where I want by December 2, but I'm feeling positive that I can even probably improve a bit before then. I'm also registered for February and think I might be closer to my goal score by then.

Dance party time? I think yes.

https://media.giphy.com/media/dIZoOighpAS7C/giphy.gif

UPDATE:

Since this post, I added a couple more 167 PTs and a 169. Official score in December: 168.

The upward trend continued as did consistency, and it really came through. Started at a 155 diagnostic, so +13 overall. I’m ecstatic with the score. I’m registered for February and will probably still sit for that to see if I can inch up at all and use it for scholarship negotiations.

But a huuuuuge thank you is owed to @"J.Y. Ping", @"Dillon A. Wright", and everyone on the boards for encouragement! I’m now more excited than ever to get apps in.

Happy holidays to all!

I've hit a plateau in the high 160s where it seems I keep falling for dumb answer choices and when I review I don't have a hard time noticing what I did wrong. Should I make notes of things I fall for and try to correct that now? In LR the closest thing to a pattern is which of the following most weakens or which of the following is a flaw except. I'm going to review that, but honestly it's not like I miss many of those in the section or very often. I tend to get the questions wrong more for misreading the question or stimulus rather than not understanding the flaw, especially later in the test where I feel the time encroach on me. If I could correct this in the next two weeks I would be in a pretty decent position to take the December test.

In RC I notice a lot of pacing issues where I will finish but clearly make mistakes or make less mistakes but feel very pressured because I spent too much time verifying my answer choices. I don't know if slowing down helps. It doesn't seem to make much of a change and I'm not sure what to do to correct that either. I'm not even sure what BR is really like for this section. I started off doing the best here. I just take my sweet time during BR to find the answer in the text, and it isn't exactly helping me get less wrong in the next test as I usually have only circled about 2 or 3 out of the potential six I get wrong in RC. My accuracy isn't bad to overthrown my whole system either. I've changed what I do a lot on this section back and forth and I'm not sure any change is improving the consistency. I'm kind of at a loss of how you progress here into the 170s when understanding isn't your main issue. When I took the test officially once I actually did better in RC than before implementing a system although I don't attribute the extra miss or so to the system but rather to the lucky passages I got on the test and don't want to have to rely on luck on my next one. I think it is more accurate than it was before and I feel more confident going about it this way but I've improved about zero in RC. The only pattern is that humanities passages have the worst scores for me. Usually -3 in a Art history passage and -0 to -1 in Law or Science. Should I drill just a bunch of humanity passages I find and train myself to maintain focus(I find them very dull)? I'm not sure that's the way and that's exactly what is so nerve wracking about being stuck here and hoping I can take the Dec. test, not knowing how to improve.

TLDR; I don't know how to improve after this point where I'm sure my foundation and basics are solid. I tend to fall for a lot of answers or to fail to maintain focus on certain passages. Not knowing how to proceed on fixing these issues is anxiety inducing.

Do law schools receive your school's official transcripts, or just the LSAC transcript, or both?

Hey guys! I was granted accommodations last week and I was curious if I would be administered the same version of the test. As in, would all the sections be the same as nonaccomadated test takers?

Hi everyone,

I have been at the stage where I have consistently been going -1 to -3 on untimed LR and RC for a while. Now, I have decided to start transitioning myself into timing; however, I am not sure what the best approach is from here.

I am wondering about what the general consensus is regarding PTs vs. timed individual sections. Should you be doing more of the latter and less of the former? I am considering making a schedule of doing mostly timed individual sections (i.e., 1 LR and 1 RC one day and 1 LR and 1 LG another day) throughout the week with BR? And then, at the end of the week doing a PT? I have read on this forum and several others that constantly taking PTs is not the best way to improve your score; PTs are much better for building stamina. Taking many individual timed sections and thoroughly reviewing them, on the other hand, is much better. Lastly, I think it is worth mentioning that I am fortunate enough to have a lot of time to dedicate to studying.

What are your thoughts? Thank you so much!

Not sure where to look to find it. Not in my downloads folder

Hey everyone,

I just finished my final round of edits for my personal statement. I got edits from one particular professor who I trust very much, and he only listed one change.

I used the word "Cognizant" in my paper. As in, "Cognizant of this fact, I decided to do X."

My professor told me to simplify the word "Cognizant," but I honestly don't think it is a complicated word. Additionally, only 1 other person told me it was too complicated of a word (out of ~16 people who read my PS).

What do y'all think? I could easily just replace "Cognizant of this fact" with "Conscious of this fact."

Hey guys,

I write the December LSAT so i am doing as many PTs as i can now until then. I had the beginner course bought, and i did the PTs until 44, and today i did PT 60. I want to do more recent tests before the LSAT, but would you recommend me upgrading for 170 and do just the rest of the PTs up to 58 (I think that comes with the upgrade), or doing more recent ones and buying them separately? (since i obviously wont have time to do all the PTs if i upgrade by paying 370).

I just want an opinion on whether its fine for me to continue doing older PTs, or if i should just do the new ones instead.

Anyone notice a difference in difficulty between PT 70 and PT 71? I scored 6 points higher on PT 70 than 71. I know no test is objectively harder then than the other but man 71 kicked my ass.

Started by taking notes in a notebook. Title each section of my notes with the name of that stop on the course. But it is starting to feel tedious/think there is a better way of doing this.

I just found out that one of my schools wanted an app. "submitted and deemed complete" by tomorrow. I'm going to have everything submitted on my end today but I think two of my rec. letters will come in tomorrow. Should I be worried?

For those with families and jobs, when do you take the practice tests? I'm finding it hard to find time to take the full test without interruption. I'm planning on taking the February '18 test, and I have yet to take a full test.

Does anyone have any tips for increasing your score BESIDES doing BR and fool proofing logic games? I haven't been able to change my score at all and it's starting to get frustrating, considering the fact that the test is in about two/three weeks.

I wrote out flashcards and I plan on trying to at least memorize/recognize question stems, but otherwise I've hit a wall. What has worked for you for LR, RC, and LG? Trying to brainstorm a new game plan for the next few weeks. Help!

For those of you PTing at 165+, how many PTs are you planning on taking before your first (or only) exam? I have Ultimate+, so I believe I have access to 82 old exams. That seems like a crazy amount to do, but I will totally do it if that will be significantly more helpful than 50-60ish.