I have found that listening to soundtracks really helps boost my concentration at times, but I don't want to develop a habit of being able to concentrate only when music is playing. This is only for studying and reviewing concept, not during my PTs, but should I still stay away from listening to anything at all?

Thanks.

http://24.media.tumblr.com/0b7fcf711831f70eb0c97d0a2d78ab2e/tumblr_mp8pumfkel1qh5bybo1_500.gif

In the Blind Review topic, J.Y. talks about cutting out certain questions that you get wrong. Is there a summary anywhere of when to do this? He talks about doing this a lot, but I don't think I'd be able to remember when to actually do it.

I am currently registered for a prep course with Manhattan Prep. (My folks paid for the course. I would've stopped going a long time ago.) Now, I've completed about 85% of the 7Sage CC. In terms of LR, I'm pretty good at paraphrasing, brainstorming what the answers should entail, narrowing the answer choices down to two, but I tend to fall for the trap answer (I started studying full-time on May 21, 2018). My LSAT prep class is very small, and I find it helpful because I can use it as a way to express lawgic and assure that I am understanding the material. However, I find that after every other class, my instructor is always making a comment about 7Sage (I revealed to him early on that I started studying with 7Sage three weeks prior to the first class). For instance, in our most recent class we learned about In/Out games. Manhattan Prep has their own method to solving In/Out games that I had to just completely disregard because... what the fuck. Why anyone would choose to not chain the rules, then do the same for the contrapositives (leaving you with two diagrams) is beyond me. Once I reverted to using the method that I know (and love!) I felt significant pressure from my instructor. And when one of my classmates got to an answer before me (which doesn't phase me at all), I even heard and saw my instructor giggling in a mocking way. I guess I am writing this because I am in need of some encouragement... Any and all advice/criticism is welcomed. I am definitely someone who can take it. Thank you! :-)

I am searching for some advice on handling doubt.

I am doing very well on PT's, average anywhere from 7-12 wrong per test. However, of the 100ish questions, I feel very confident about 80 of them, leaving 20% of the test I am not 100% sure of. And of those 20 questions I am unsure of, I get 50+% right.

So what I'm asking for is, is that just normal? Because most times I grade a test I am expecting the worst and mostly end up with 170+ PT's. It's just such a weird feeling to be doing well and yet not feeling as confident as I should be.

Hey - I know the writing sample doesn’t get as much attention as the rest of the lsat , but how did everyone prepare for that section ? Did you only prep for it while taking the pt

What do you guys use? The sites I found like US news make you pay to see a lot...

I messed up RC on the June exam. Walked away thinking I did pretty good but ended up getting 5 wrong on the last passage alone and -8 for the entire RC. I was PTing -2/-4 on the recent PT’s

That is exactly where I started when I first did a RC section almost two years ago and after many long hours of studying it didn’t do me any good on that exam.

In the process of studying I have completed every single PT except for PT 83.

What do you guys think is the best strategy for now until the July exam?

Thanks!

Hi everyone!

I hope you are all doing well.

I have been meaning to write this for a while now; however, I got very busy with exams. Now that I am all done, I really want to write a detailed post about my LSAT journey in hopes of inspiring someone else on here. There is a lot I want to say and I will try to organize everything in chronological order and in as much detail as I can.

To start off, the entire LSAT process and law school application process was very isolating for me. I did not know anyone that was applying or taking the LSAT. I had to be proactive throughout the process. Yes, mistakes were made, but I am glad I went through it no matter how difficult it got at times. I hope those reading and still going through the application/LSAT process will learn from my mistakes. And please do. Don't make this any harder than it has to be!

My very first post on here was some time last summer 2017, when I asked for help regarding improvements in my score. I did not seem to be making any improvements. I wasted so many tests studying the wrong way (no proper review following an exam and taking an LSAT every single day). By the time I realized this, I had already gone through tests 50-65~

Another big mistake I made was I took the September test without being ready. I went in thinking I'll be fine and maybe I'll end up with a really high score. Let's just say man... was I wrong, lol.

About 3 weeks after the September test, I decided to start from scratch and signed up for the February test. I started visiting many forums like the one on here, Reddit, and even TLS (to some degree) to get an idea on how people prepare. After reading a bunch of guides/advice, I started with LG and fool proofed games 52-80. I decided to stick with the newer tests and did no tests before PT 52. I am not sure whether that was a mistake or a good thing, but it turned out fine.

After semi-figuring things out, here was my plan, and yes, mistakes were STILL made (lol).

I fool proofed the games from PT 52 to 81. I did all of this in about one month. Yes, you read that right. One month. I was waking up at 5 am every day and doing nothing but the LSAT/school work all day until about 7-8 pm. I was literally fool proofing an entire LG section per day. And once I finished fool proofing tests 52 - 81, I did some games I found difficult again, which took more time.

After I was done fool proofing the games for the day, which would take approximately 3-4 hours depending on how easy I felt they were, I was alternating between an LR or RC section as my second section for that day AND blind reviewing it that same day... (I know, some of you may think that this already sounds like a bad idea).

After the BR, I would look up explanations for the answers I got wrong. I created a document which I organized by question types for LR and wrote down the conclusion, premise(s), wrong answer choice explanation and the correct answer explanation ALL IN MY OWN WORDS, followed by a "takeaway" I had learned from this question -- something to look out for the next time I see a question/idea like this.

I was taking classes during this time too. I am in my final year and I was also completing applications, which were due November 1st (Canadian deadlines). AFTER my LSAT work, depending on whether an essay was due soon or whether I had an exam or not, I would do schoolwork. I did not want to ruin my GPA that I worked so hard for over the past 3 years so I know I had to suck it up. And when I was not doing school work, I did a little bit of my law school applications.

I really enjoy playing video games and going to the gym; however, because of how stressed I was with the LSAT and how much of my day it was consuming, I sacrificed playing video game until I was done with the LSAT for good. But, I kept up with the gym as I knew how much it helped me to concentrate while studying. Sadly, I also did not have much of a social life. Based on the schedule I was working with (whichI know is bad), I pretty much did not see my friends until the LSAT was done either... another mistake.

Around mid December, I was legitimately starting to get frustrated with this schedule. I felt I was burning out, but there was only a month left and I pushed through. I tried to do whatever I could to help with the burnout... relax, take frequent breaks during the prep, listen to motivational talks from one of the best motivational speakers IMO (Greg Plitt), etc...

Fast forward to the February LSAT, I went in feeling VERY confident with the material but also feeling kind of burnt out. The week before the Feb LSAT, I literally stopped everything except LG and going over that long document of wrong answers I had created from LR sections I'd done in the past few months. The Feb LSAT went GREAT. I finished every section before the 35 minutes and I felt great. In particular, the LG also seemed very easy as I did not find one of those "misc" games on it, so that helped. After the Feb LSAT, I can't tell you how relieved I was; however, over the course of this LSAT journey, I was beginning to feel more and more stressed out at the fact that it was getting late in the cycle. Clearly my September score was not going to help me no matter how good my GPA was. I was getting worried that regardless of how strong my LSAT score is, I may not even get in as classes may have gotten filled up. I was also worried about not doing well. What if I had to do the LSAT again? I really don't think I would have had it in me to prepare AGAIN. I stopped thinking about things that I did not have to worry about though.

Fast forward a little bit more to when we finally got the scores, I was SO happy. I got a 169. The past several months of excruciatingly difficult prep and balancing school work were finally over. This score was good enough for every school in Canada and I was SO relieved.

And you must be wondering: what about the schools you applied to? Did you hear back? Yes, I did! I heard back from all the schools I applied to. You may consider this another mistake but I only applied to two of the top schools here, and yes, I know that is a risk, but it was a risk I was willing to take. I did not want to leave where I lived and I was happy going to either. I got the call from U of T one afternoon at the end of March and the next morning, I got an email from the other school, Osgoode. It was by far one of the happiest moments of my life. The journey was very difficult and I know I still made many, many mistakes and I hope whoever is reading this can really learn from it. There were many times I felt I was going to quit and just apply the next cycle, but I kept pushing. If I had to do it all over again, there are SO many things I would have changed.

Along this LSAT journey, there are many, many of you whom I messaged for help on LR or LG or RC and I cannot thank you all enough. I know I asked so many questions and it may have gotten annoying at times (I don't blame you). There are too many of you to list but you know who you are if you're reading this. Thank you, thank you, thank you. The community on here has been so supportive of me throughout the journey. No one turned me down when I asked for help. Everyone always made me feel welcomed. This was very important to me because despite not knowing anyone applying or taking the LSAT personally, I knew that I had an entire awesome community in 7Sage that is full of supportive individuals. And for those of you reading this who are also alone on this long journey: reach out to others. Dealing with this alone may only do you harm. Others WILL help you. I wish everyone here the best of luck on their LSAT/law school/life journey. We will all make it. DO NOT QUIT. I am strong believer in not thinking "what if" later in life because I know at that point, there is nothing I can do. I would have wondered "what if I pushed through that adversity? Would things have been different?" - regardless of the answer to that question, the outcome won't change anymore and that is something I really could not live with if it had happened. Be honest with yourself and keep working. Improvements are slow and what works for someone else may not work for you. Do things in the manner that they work for YOU. You know yourself best. And with that said, I think that ends my LSAT journey. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask! Also, sorry if this was a long post!

THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN TO THE MOST SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY I HAVE KNOWN.

-LP

Hey guys! I hope you're all doing well! I just wanted to ask if any of you guys take anti depressants and if so, if it affects your studying at all? Or if anyone has suffered from depression and anxiety and how that fared with preparing for this test. I'm asking because although I have been taking an antidepressant (wellbutrin/dopamine reuptake inhibitor) now for over a year, my doctor has recently prescribed to me an SSRI, serotonin medication. This actually isn't for my depression as I've been pretty content and not depressed for a while now, thankfully. But this new medicine is to help me treat my OCD. I ask because SSRIs are typically used to treat depression.

I've had my prescription filled for my new medicine and haven't taken it yet. I wanted to hear if any of ya'll have prepared for a big test like this while taking antidepressants and battling mental health issues since they affect concentration, sleep quality, appetite, etc. Also, I know this is a sensitive topic so I am sorry if anything said in this thread is offensive! xx

So guys, what were your verdicts? I'm curious to hear the stories/vents... has anyone taken a step back, and has perhaps consider the GRE as an alternative? Or are you guys more motivated than ever to show the next test that you're going to destroy it? Regardless. I'd love to hear from anyone who is willing to express their experience from today!

I started studying for the LSAT in early March and just recently took the international June LSAT. In the weeks leading up to the test, I consistently PTed around 168-171 (worst at 167, best at 176). During the real test, however, I panicked on the reading section and ended up completely guessing about 8 questions. Reading is already my worst section, so, if I take into consideration my usual scores in each section, I think I would get around 162-165 for this exam.

If I am considering only the T14 schools, would it be better for me to cancel this score and attempt 170+ on the next exam or just accept a low/mid-160s score and then attempt a 170+?

It's an undisclosed test, so I really wouldn't learn anything new about my performance by keeping the score. Canceling, on the other hand, already seems like an admission of failure. I'm not sure what the law schools would think. What do you guys think?

Hi everyone. This is my first time posting a discussion.. and I'm a little nervous. But anyways, here goes nothing. Does having a graduate degree make you stand out when applying to law school? I can go to a local university, be done in 2 years, and with my mom being a Professor I wouldn't pay. I am already taking this year off to study for the LSAT and I'm looking to take it in November.

I took the June 2018 LSAT and scored right at the low end of where I want to be. I plan on retaking in September. Any advice on how best to prep in the next couple of months? I feel like I set myself up really well for the test in June and I am out of fresh PTs to use. Thoughts?

Hey Sagers,

I currently have the starter pack and I am about 1/2 through the games portion of the CC. I am pretty solid on games. The section where I think I stand the most to gain is LR. RC is not that strong however I have made some big improvements. So I am not too concerned with RC. Also, I think RC comes a little easier when you are proficient in LR. The dilemma is whether or not to upgrade. I have two copies of PT 7- 50s. So it really comes down to the drill packs, PTs 60-80s, and the explanations. The extra PTs will cost somewhere around $70. The upgrade is $570. So I'd be paying $500 for the explanations and the drill packs. JY's explantations have been very helpful more so than the Manhattan and Powerscore forums. I am taking the September Test.

Has anyone been in a similar situation and upgraded? Was it worth it?

Also are the RC explanations of the same quality as the LR?

Thanks!

I could not leave my reply under lessons or comments, and I don't know why. I use 3 different kinds of browsers, and clear the cookies in every browsers, but it doesn't work. Every time that I click reply, it shows EDIT remaining time until 0:00, then when I check it again, it shows nothing. I don't know how to deal with that. Could anyone help me with that?

According to the LSAT Analytics for LR, the question types with the highest priority for me are question types with a higher accuracy rate than the average. (They are higher priority because they are more frequent.) I then have question types with lower than average accuracy with lower priority (because they are less frequent).

I'm trying to decide which of these two kinds of question types to really focus on. On one hand the "higher priority" questions would afford me more points if I corrected the problem, but on the other hand I would move up the curve more easily by addressing types of questions that are less frequent but nevertheless being answered more accurately by other test takers. I'm thinking that while there may be more opportunities to fix the "higher priority" questions because of the greater frequency, those missed questions might be the top tier of difficulty if I'm already answering them with above average accuracy.

For perspective, my high priority questions show me losing 1-1.5 points a test on that question type with 10-20% higher accuracy than average. The lower priority questions might be several question types that each show me losing .4 points a test with 10-20% lower accuracy than average. The latter seems to be lower hanging fruit, despite being less frequent.

Proctors: There was a main proctor who spoke, and multiple volunteers to make signing in, handing out and handing in materials go very smooth.

Facilities: The college is nice. It's huge and modern. We had some issues with people getting in without a key card, however, so those of us who found a way in early had to keep opening the doors for everyone else coming to test, until security showed up and fixed the door. Bathrooms were just down from the testing room, and there was some seating while we waited (although not enough once everyone arrived).

What kind of room: It's a very large classroom or presentation room with tables set end to end in rows. Sound didn't echo, so that was nice. It was extremely quiet.

How many in the room: 100+

Desks: They were tables set up end to end in long rows. The seats were like padded folding chairs and fairly comfortable. There were number placeholders, and you went to your randomly assigned seat based on what number you received.

Left-handed accommodation: Yes. They moved left handed testers to accommodate them.

Noise levels: Super quiet.

Parking: There was free parking available on site.

Time elapsed from arrival to test: I got there very early, so I'll just say what the actual testing experience seemed to take. About 5 ½ hours.

Irregularities or mishaps: They let some people in with hoodies, which I thought was not allowed? A student had to leave (emergency?), but then tried to come back after we had started filling out the paperwork portion. They handled it appropriately and did not let him come back in, as once you leave like that, you aren't allowed back. I think some of the volunteers walked the aisles at some point, so that was a little weird.

Other comments: Overall, it was great conditions for testing. Very quiet, comfortable enough, and there was enough room. Once we were all seated and settled, we were allowed to space out or move if there were empty spaces in our rows. That helped significantly.

Would you take the test here again? Yes

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

For those of you who are planning to take the LSAT this September and want to apply early this cycle (I'm thinking early/mid October), how are you balancing prepping your materials (particularly your PS/addendums/diversity statements/Why school x? etc. and your study time? I'm planning on dedicating the majority of my time to the LSAT but also don't want to end up freaking out when Sept. 9th comes around if I don't have any solid drafts prepped.

Does anyone know how soon PT 84 (June 2018) will be available on 7sage?

hey all,

so i hear a lot of ppl say the benefits of REDOING practice tests. Given that one still has like 20-30 fresh PT's and a limited amount of study, how does one balance between doing PT retakes and doing new practice tests? Or should you just not do any PT retakes and just wait till you finish all your fresh PTs?

This is leads to my second question. I've heard a lot of good things about confidence drills. How often should you do confidence drills? Once a week? Twice a week? Are confidence drills just 1 LR section of extremely reckless and fast -- or do you do multiple sections of confidence drills back to back? Do ppl do confidence drills in RC?

Thanks!

I start off the test performing well with a clear mind, and usually go -0 to -3 on the 1st and 2nd section. Yet when I get to the 3rd section, I feel like I'm not as focused, my mind isn't as clear. And this reflects itself in my score on that section, this usually effects me more on LR because the tricky questions do require a bit more concentration. When I'm fatigued I tend to go -7 on LR, it's like I can't concentrate on the questions deeply like I could during the 1st and 2nd sections. When I go to BR I bring it from -7 to at least -2, I really do think it's an issue of concentration and not boredom/distracted.

I plan to take 8 sections of LR with 15min after the 4th one. Do you guys think this will help? Or should I just take two four section PTs back to back with 15min in between instead? I'm trying to use my time more efficiently, and right now my core issue is being clear headed/not fatigued right at the 3rd section. I've read @"Seeking Perfection" recommend taking two PTs with 15min in between them. I don't have a problem with burn out at all, only loss of concentration/fatigue.

I’m beginning to think that law school is not for me and I will never be able to reach my goal of a 170.

I work full time so I cannot dedicate a huge amount of time to studying during the week. However, I began learning the test material last July but have only switched to using 7Sage this January. Initially I was just using it as a supplement to my study material from another company but soon realized that 7Sage is superior and fits my style of learning a lot better. So I have been using it exclusively ever since. I have to be honest that I skipped sections of the CC (certain question types and LG) because I have taken a full length LSAT course and have done a decent amount of drills before switching to 7Sage.

I took a five section test (from more recent years) this past Saturday and scored the same as when I did in January. -2 LG, -10 RC, and -17 LR. I have narrowed RC to -4 to -6 and LR to -7 to -10 on PTs 35-45 before. Even though I’m not sure what happened but I don’t think this is an anomaly because I have had similar disastrous performance on the more recent PTs. How can the PTs be this different?

What should I do? I don’t even know what to focus on anymore. I refuse to believe that I have hit my own ceiling, but have I? All the comfort and confidence I built up from previous PTs are all of a sudden go.

I do a mixture of timed and untimed sections, primarily LRs and RCs throughout the week, along with additional drills from CC if necessary; and a full length PT on the weekend. I take my time to BR and watch video explanations. What am I doing wrong? How is it possible that I have not made significant progress since January? Please help me. I feel disappointed and mostly, so lost. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hello All,

I recently just finished my first preparation test yesterday evening. Now I am preparing to do the blind review method on the questions. However, I have a question concerning the practical framework of this review. I would like to know how an individual will be able to measure their "raw" score (the initial score after completing the preparation exam), if the blind review method recommends for an individual to avoid scoring the test until the end of the review? I want to make sure that I am correctly measuring my improvement going forward. So if anyone could help me understand this process more clearly, I would greatly appreciate it.

hey all,

i was just wondering if everyone else also felt the the toughness of this test.

for me, it takes approximately 15 hours to complete 1 prep test cycle.

This consists of: 3 hours to take the test, 4 hours to blind review the entire test, 4 hours to check answers and review the test (watch video explanations, etc), and then 3 hours to watch my video footage of me taking this test.

Man, it's a ton of work -- just for one PT. And then I try to improve my weaknesses and then rinse and repeat.

So if I were to do 30 PT's, then this would take me 30 * 15 hours = 450 hours.

Man this is tough. I was wondering if others felt the same way .. or if anyone had any advice/suggestions/comments, etc. Thanks!

I've also heard from individuals like @"Cant Get Right" that in the end they were performing at a rate where they didn't even have to blind review anymore (they just did the blind review during within the time allotted of the test).

How long did it take to get to that point where you could feasibly do a test and completely review it in just 1 day? (currently, it takes me approximately 2-3 days to fully review a test).

I'm trying to figure out whether I should register for an LSAT date, but also trying to see if I can reach my goal score within that target period. I'm currently BR'ing at about my target score (mid 170s), but I just don't know if I can get my target score to my BR score by like July for example.

I've done all PT's as drills from 19-40, so I have 50-80 to do as full PT's, and I'm trying to create a PT schedule to aim to do all of them. Should I do aim to all 30 of those PT's? Currently it takes me like 3-4 days to complete a PT cycle... I really want though to be able to do more PT's and to get faster at this PT cycle (eventually bringing it to like 1-2 days to complete a PT cycle) and to finally just take this test (I've been studying for about a year). How long does it take to get to that point?

Sorry fo the rambling thoughts. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated! thanks! :) you guys are the best 7sage!