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I am trying to keep a positive hardworking attitude towards the LSAT, but this has been increasingly more difficult when my recent 4 PT scores after the CC slowly dropped to horrific all time lows.

Before starting the CC, my initial practice test was a 141 (ouch). I took the CC very seriously. I paused every video to do the question before hand, never skipped anything, and I have been working even harder during the current PT phase.

My scores for the PTs 36, 37, 38 and 39 are: 157, 153, 157, 150; BR: 167, 162, 161, TBD.

36: LR -11, LR -9, RC - 7, LG -5.

37: LR -11, LR -6, RC -12, LG -8.

38: LR - 7, LR -6, RC -12, LG -5.

39: LR -15, LR -8, RC -12, LG -6.

For my blind review, I go over every single question again, on a freshly printed PT and I look at the analytics thereafter. I dive deep into the questions myself first, then watch the videos for those questions that 1) I chose the wrong AC twice, 2) I chose the right AC initially and changed to an incorrect AC in BR and 3) the questions I successfully changed to the right AC.

For the last remaining questions (right both times), I will check to see if I was at all swayed by any of the other answer choices. i.e. did not eliminate an AC, or I possibly circled and erased an incorrect one. Ultimately, I am trying my best to not only learn why I chose the incorrect AC, but also why I did not choose the correct AC. I then strive to couple this mentality with solidifying the correct thinking I made when I picked the right AC twice.

I really spelled out exactly how I blind review so I could possibly get feedback from the community if I am maybe doing something wrong. It is a bit disheartening to see these scores after the hundreds of hours I have spent studying. Nevertheless, I am determined to do well and will not let this stop me.

Any suggestions on how I can improve my BR mechanism? What more could I add into this process?

Thank you all and sorry about the long post.

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Friday, May 19, 2017

Test Day

Hi Everyone,

With the looming June test, I thought it would be a good idea to discuss test day practices and habits. Whether you've already been in the trenches or have yet to, I'd like to get a sense of what works or has worked for people as they get themselves ready for the day and take the test. I'm sure I'll have enough things to worry about on that (fateful) day so getting a good plan in place now will surely alleviate some of that pressure. I know that no matter how much we plan, things always go awry. So, this can hopefully help people get a more practical understanding of what to expect so as to enable better preparation. While I'm planning for the September test at 8:30am, please feel free to share your experiences taking the June test at 12:30pm as well.

For one thing, I'm interested in planning out my morning. How early do you plan to wake up? How early do you plan to get to the test site? At what point do you warm-up/ review questions, right before the start of the test (in the testing center) or well in advance (before leaving your home)? What about the more trivial things that you ordinarily don't think of until you're hit with it, like how late you're allowed to use the bathroom before having to be seated to begin taking the test, etc, etc.

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Dear All,

I would like to know if someone can describe to me how they Blind Review and/or what are the steps they take when going over an LSAT Preptest. I just want to make sure that I am doing it correctly. Many Thanks!

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Was this addressed yesterday? If so, I missed it!

"Starting with the September 2017 LSAT, there will no longer be any limitations on the number of times a test taker can take the LSAT in a two-year period. LSAC has revised this policy as part of its planning for additional administrations of the LSAT. We will provide more information about the LSAT schedule in the coming weeks."

The test is going to be offered more than 4x a year (2nd & 3rd sentences)? That'll be awesome!

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Hi there!

So I just came back to 7Sage to start studying for the LSAT again, and I've noticed a whole bunch has changed! I see now that many drills and problem sets are entirely printable. I also see PDF versions of PT 1-35 and 36 and onward. So I wanted to confirm, does this mean that I no longer have to buy preptests separately anymore? (I'm with Ultimate+)

Back this fall when I started this was the impression I had... but it seems that things have changed now and it's almost too good to be true! If 7Sage has all the PTs in the curriculum and I just need to print it all off, that's perfect! Just wanted someone's confirmation.... thank you so much!

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Silly question, but I'm out of #2 pencils and wanted to know if any of y'all have raving recommendations for a particular brand before I re-stock for the June test. I'm a lefty, so any that are anti-smudge would be especially useful!

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Wednesday, May 17, 2017

What to do

Got nowhere to go. Need advice. I'm preparing for the Sept/ Dec 2017 test while working a demanding full time position at a law firm. This has put a significant strain on me to the point that I'm doing poorly in both despite all the incredible time and effort I've expended. I'm doing so poorly that I'm at risk of losing my job. I was told I have a month to see if things improve otherwise I'd be let go. I'm certain that my studying is the reason my performance has significantly declined. I honestly don't want to continue working knowing how important the test is but the only thing keeping me is the fact that I know I won't be able to get a reference for when it comes time to find a summer internship during law school. Most probably I'd be better off not listing this position, which now amounts to about a year and six months worth of experience, on my resume at all. If I were to stay and work, I know I could salvage myself so that I can make up for the drop in performance since I began studying. I just don't know if that's worth getting a low test score. I've already put off applying to law school for a while now and given what I've been through, which I don't want to get into, I couldn't wait another cycle even if I wanted to. I can see definite improvement with my score in the coming 4 months but it will really demand my fullest attention. Is it worth sacrificing my position now and putting myself at a significant disadvantage in finding another job so that I can devote myself to the test?

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What do you guys think of this?

[Admin Edit] LSAC's tweet and LSAC's announcement:

https://twitter.com/Official_LSAT/status/864501182202556416

http://www.lsac.org/jd/announcements-and-news

"Starting with the September 2017 LSAT, there will no longer be any limitations on the number of times a test taker can take the LSAT in a two-year period. LSAC has revised this policy as part of its planning for additional administrations of the LSAT. We will provide more information about the LSAT schedule in the coming weeks."

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Hi Everyone! I just took my first PT after finishing the curriculum and I'm really disappointed. I had gotten a 152 on my diagnostic and I just got a 153 on my first PT. I ran out of time and I feel like I'm overthinking too much which is making me take too long on the test. Does anyone have any recommendations of what I can do? I'm going to BR it in a little bit to see if I will change answers and complete the questions I didn't have time for. I can't figure out when I should skip a question and I keep leaving a bunch until they end. Any advice would be great. I am taking the June LSAT and I'm really worried. In general, I feel like I have learned a lot and I understand, but I think the anxiety of taking the test makes me really unfocused.

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Hello all my fellow 7sagers! I have a simple question. Is there anyway that I could purchase PT's and print them from the kindle edition? Or will I be forced to buy physical copies?

Thanks

-M

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So I sort of restarted the curriculum because my scores were dipping, finally got to seq w/ a twist games this morning and was feeling pretty excited to start... what is happening lol good morning and good luck to everyone with their studies!

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Hi guys! I am slightly new to 7sage, in the sense that I still working through the CC. I have been pretty silent when it comes to posting, but a total sponge to everyone else's. I am struggling a bit, and I feel like this is the best place for some much needed advice. Long story short: I am preparing for the Dec test with a 3.0 undergrad GPA, so I know have to literally give this prep my all and have been for the last month. But I am feeling really off track in terms of my focus and overwhelmed at the density of material I am trying not only learn, but master. I work full time and carve out most of study time around work (4 hrs/day )or if I can get in some time in the office I try to as well. I know it's early on in my road to taking this test, but do you guys have any pointers for encouragement during the studying process to avoid being bogged down with the thoughts "This is soo much stuff" and the stress of it. I feel like its starting to take away from my focus at this point... P.S. Sorry if that seems all over the place lol

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Hello, I'm currently active duty in the Military and I'm not depressing until 2021. I plan on applying for the fall semester of 2021 and taking my LSAT in 2020. Aside from studying for the test, is there anything suggested for me to study/read in the meantime to prepare for law school?

Thanks!

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Hey 7sagers!

My BR scores are in the mid-high 170s (woohoo!), but my actual scores have been stuck in the mid-160s for a while now. I know the BR gap is a common problem, and I've seen a lot of people advocating to drill and BR, especially for LR. As the June test approaches, I'm wondering what kind of drilling would be best to raise my score at this point. For example, should I be drilling individual question types (untimed)? Timed sections to work on speed? Something else entirely?

For those of you who have successfully made the leap from the 160s to the 170s - what types of things/aspects of LR questions did you specifically focus on learning during your review? For example, were you focused on argument structures? Your skills that led you astray? Specific vocab? Characteristics of wrong answers? Perhaps I've been focusing on the wrong things during my review and not improving as a result.

A few strange things I've noticed about my scores-

  • Not sure if there's any significance to this, but my raw score is pretty consistent, regardless of the curve/difficulty of the test. As a result, my scaled scores have actually fluctuated a lot.
  • Sometimes, there is a wide gap between my scores on different LR sections. For example, for the 2 LR sections on a single test, I'll score -8 on 1 section (and be short on time), and -1 on the other section (and finish early). Does this happen to anyone else? If so, what does it mean and how do you get consistently better?
  • TIA for all your help! Happy studying!

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    Hey everyone I am considering upgrading from the starter package to something else as I have finished the CC and did all the problem sets. I don't know how else to practice certain question types so I am considering upgrading my account. Any experiences anyone has had with the upgraded version and is is worth it ? Thank you and good luck everyone :)

    2

    Hi everyone,

    When I started to study for the LSAT, I was originally planning on taking the June exam, but I wasn't making enough progress on LG and thought I would postpone to September. Even just 3 weeks ago, I was hitting -8 on LG. I don't know what happened, but I woke up one day and things started to "click" : now I am somehow managing -2 per section. I thought it was a fluke, so I PT-ed about 6 sections and they all average about -2-3.

    Now I'm in a dilemma: I only have less than a month left till June but I've only taken 4 full, timed PTs (just here and there in between to evaluate progress.) I was saving PTs 40s up for later. (I've used maybe like 5 PTs past 40s to get myself acquainted with the more recent PTs).

    **So my question is: should I start full, timed PTing NOW?**On the one hand, I am scoring only 2~3 points below my target score, and if I want to take the June exam, I guess now is the time to start taking the full, timed PTs. Perhaps, I can reach my target score by June by doing so.

    On the other hand, I want to really take the time doing more drills. I am still incorporating some concepts and playing around with some strategies in LR and RC. I definitely know the concepts well, but I haven't mastered them. I don't want to move onto the full, timed PT until I feel extremely comfortable with each section. I recently bought the Manhattan Prep books and am finding them pretty helpful in mastering the concepts and strategies. I originally wanted to finish the books first before full-on PTing. I think I need at least a couple of more weeks to really incorporate the concepts.

    I think I can score close to my minimum target score in June, but I don't think I would reach my full potential by then. Or who knows? Maybe I will after a full-month of PTing? It's really hard to predict how much I'd improve in a month. Should I take the risk?

    I'd ideally wait till September, but given my sleep cycle and insomnia, June is a much better option for me.

    Sleep cycle is brutally hard to change for me. Even if I practice sleeping at 10pm and waking up at 5~6am for 2 months, I sort of already know that I won't be able to fall asleep the night before the exam day. Exercise doesn't work. Melatonin doesn't either, and neither does Nyquil.

    I'm a bit wary of waking up at 6am to take the 8:30am exam.

    So hard to decide... Only if the September exam were also held at noon...

    1

    June will be the first time I'm taking it. I'm shooting for 155-160, but I'll be happy with 150. Been PTing around 144. Haven't even started studying for Logic Games, but I figured I'd do that now and in between then. But the window to postpone and switch is quickly closing. I'd rather have one good score, than 2 scores. Someone said it's better to not have all your eggs in one basket, like if I were to just do September, but I also don't want to go in and do poorly and it reflect badly on me, when I apply this fall.

    What should I do?

    Thank you

    0

    Hey, so I find myself having a constant desire to take a full PT. I do sections of the CC and instantly want to take a test to apply what I've learned and see if it makes a "huge" difference in my score. I am wise enough to know this is not the case but I think I really crave that "reward" of seeing my score. This is actually hurting my studying because I'm so eager to jump right into a test after each CC section that I don't hammer the core concepts home. How often do you PT? Do you PT only once you are done with the CC? or did/do you PT during the course? How can I find ways to "reward" myself without wasting an entire test?

    0

    Not going to lie, I'm pretty nervous about this. I definitely am still not near where I want to end up (going to do fool proof method next) but I'm ready to see where I am at. Really struggling to break out of the mindset of I'm the same person that I was when I made my half-hearted attempt to study for the LSAT during school (I was sub-150). I'm looking to write in September and I know 3 1/2 months is a lot of time but I'm still pretty nervous.

    Any tips or advice for taking PT's?

    0

    Hi! So I need some advice about whether or not to stick with my June test or take the test in September. I took the test in December 2016 and got a terrible score (145) and I really am aiming for a mid 160s but I have been still averaging -9 on each section, I am understanding the material a lot better but Im just nervous if I take this test in June I wont be where I want to be, does anyone have any advice? Thank you so much in advance!

    0

    Hey guys so I registered for the September lsat and I am having a difficult time figuring out what i should be doing next. I'm considering purchasing the ultimate package to get access to the more difficult questions, so any recommendations regarding that? Also I don't feel that I am improving on logical reasoning at all. I went through the course curriculum already and I'm lost as to what needs to be done next. Please any advice would be great. Good luck to everyone!

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