Hey 7Sagers, Nicole's back from her long tutoring hiatus! Hooray! Many of you have interacted with her here in the Discussion Forums, via the numerous Webinars, and the BR Calls so you know how great she is.

Nicole received a 170 on the February 2016 LSAT and will be attending Northwestern in the fall. Her rate's $50/hour. PM her here if interested!

I was interested in the idea of going into "survival mode" when you've fasted for at least 12 hours, and trying to write a PT first thing in the morning, 6:15 am, with nothing in my system but some coffee and H2O.

Safe to say it wasn't wise...

Learned some valuable lessons about how to avoid sloppy mistakes and ALWAYS bubble in "C" when I don't know and have chosen to move on.

A big -7 RC (tied for worst ever aside from diagnostic) ruined my -9 total LR and -0 LG for a 165. But, the key is to keep moving forward. BR was only a 167 and I've since eliminated the reasoning that made me change a handful of correct answers to wrong ones.

Hey everyone! I just have a quick question that maybe someone can help me with. I want to review and go over a lesson that talks about a certain subject matter; is there a way to search within the course syllabus that would bring me to the search-input, directly? For my particular case, I'm reviewing flaw/weakening questions, and I wanted to search for the lesson that mentions the term "takes for granted."

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks,

Iasonas Marquez

I've been stuck in the 166-171 range for 8 months or so now, and do retakes in the 174-176 range.

I typically miss 2-4 in LR, and 0-3 in games.

However, my RC is all over the place. There have been times where I've gone -0, and others (like most recently) where I've missed as many as 8 or 9.

I started doing the Puzzle Theory (piecing all of the answers together), and writing a brief statement summarizing each paragraph. These helped initially, but not as much anymore.

I also understand that all of the answers are in the passage, but I'm finding the answer choices so convoluted that I can't find them. With that said, I typically finish RC with a few minutes of extra time.

How do I properly review RC? What can I do to get better?

I haven't had it easy to say the least. Without delving into my life story, I'll just sum it up to, my goal is law school. I'm trying really hard. I am 3 semesters shy of completing undergrad. I am retaking the LSAT this September. My first score was below 150. I anticipate my GPA being right at or just right below a 3.0. With that being said.. I actually have a few F's on my transcript, but I did retake those courses and replaced the F's. But I know they are still "there" although the GPA was recalculated, the failing grades are still in existence. I'm just wondering am I completely doomed with these F's on my transcript.. or what? I read (too much) on the internet, and other sites and forums, and some people say that the schools / LSAC rarely even take into account the personal statement or hardships, etc. (I'm doing pretty well considering circumstances)... *sigh* I do not want to give up, but if it's nearly not even possible then.. I would hate to have wasted time and money. Guess I'm feeling discouraged.. but don't encourage me just because. Honest, blunt opinions please!

Hey guys,

Say you are working through a preptest and half way through the questions of a Reading Comprehension passage or a logic game, you realize that you misread a rule or mis-interpreted the main point or a key view of the passage. How would you go about mitigating errors while still maintaining a good pace to finish the passage and logic game on time and accurately?

So I was averaging -5 total in LR on the 50s and 60s but when I started taking some of the 70s (70,71,72) it went up to -9 total. And usually one of the sections will be a lot easier where I'll go -2, and then I'll bomb the other one with like a -7. I've tried reviewing these questions in depth and I noticed several things:

1) the LR stimuli are longer

2) answer choices are harder to comprehend,eliminate

3) NA questions are not as tight as they once were (check out the LR question in PT71 section 1 on predatory pricing and you'll see what I mean).

4) Lots of annoying principle/strengthen questions that are really time-consuming.

Perhaps it may take some time getting used to, but after taking PT72 LR#2 I had to vent since I found this section to be insanely difficult. And with the circular game, this PT is an absolute killer.

Has anyone noticed any other trends in the 70s LR? Or does anyone have any advice on how to tackle/approach these different questions? Thanks!!

My question is assuming a candidate has hit the median GPA and median LSAT score for the top 5 law schools in the US, do they need additional experience/achievements like leadership positions, research, volunteer experience to have a shot at these law schools or is the LSAT score and GPA the main determining factors?

What program does he use in the newer videos to annotate and video capture? It looks like his pen has pressure sensitivity, so I was thinking he has a tablet or iPad? Just wondering, as it might be useful for me to use while BRing.

This week I had an unpleasant "first" in eternal battle against the LSAT LG ogre. I missed an ORIENTATION question on the second game of PT 69. A game rated one star!

I missed it because the board involved dishes on Top, Middle and Bottom shelves and the questions were worded like this:

A. Bottom shelf: dish 2 and dish 3

Middle shelf: dish 4 and dish 5

Top shelf: dish 6 and dish 1

I stared at the correct answer in disbelief for a good minute, before I realized that I didn't actually READ the darn answer choices. I just ASSUMED that the top shelf would be, you know, on top.

Which brings me to the importance of always reading the question and the answers, even when you sort of know what they are going to ask.

And I'd like to throw together a list of other tricky questions I've encountered over the last few months, so nobody makes the same mistakes I did.

For games (in addition to the example above):

a. If X is in group/position A, then for how many OTHER elements is the order/distribution known

b. paying attention to the difference between " a complete and accurate list of the people who could do X" and "a complete and accurate list of the people any of whom could do X" and variations thereof (PT 69 had one of those as well).

c. rules like "N can be NEITHER first NOR last"

d. In rules, notice the difference between "a spot" and "at least one spot" between A and B

e. In rules, pay attention to what it means when "A was two years before B" or "X finished two spots before Y" (A_B and X_Y respectively; it's tempting to assume two slots in between).

f. Unless the game tells you otherwise, don't assume that groups/positions can't be empty or that all elements have to be used, or used only once.

For LR:

a. A couple of "dialog" questions ask about something that Selma and Louise are committed to AGREEING on. Easy to miss, since the vast majority ask about disagreements.

b. Pesky EXCEPT questions (especially "all must be false except", or disguised ones like "which of the following does least to help reconcile", "which of the following does not provide evidence to strengthen the scientist's argument" and so on.

Do you have any other tricky wordings you've found that you'd like to add to the list? Or tips on how you make sure you READ and not assume?

Hi guys,

I find myself struggling between two answer choices, the tempting answer choice and the correct answer choice for the more difficult Resolve Paradox questions. I find this to be the case more for difficult Resolve Paradox Except questions. What is a good way to go about drilling this question type? Should I just review the Resolve Paradox questions that I have done and found difficult? What sort of strategies helped you improve accuracy in this question type.

Just took PT62 and think I got clobbered. Was curious if that's a particularly hard PT but couldn't find any PT ratings on 7Sage.

I know 7Sage has difficulty ratings/student comments for individual questions, but not sure if these exist for PTs.

For some reason, I cannot access the study buddy feature. Is the feature only for paying members?

I have been scoring in the high160s, and I took PT 76 today.

I felt very confident about my LG section. Honestly, I was expecting -0 or -1, which would've put in the 170s.

When I scored my test, I got -3. What a disappointment :( When I reviewed the questions, they were silly mistakes (Reading answer choices wrong due to the close margin between answer choices between B and C, comprehending Tuesday as Monday....)

From time to time, I also make silly mistakes in my LR and RC sections...

I would say that most of the questions I get wrong are ones that I circle, but, almost always, my "confidence" error questions are due to a variant of stupid mistakes.

I am aware that the core reason behind not being able to hit 170+ has more to do with my inability to get the "circled" questions right, but all lost points are equally detrimental to my score.

What could I be doing wrong?

Hello, I was wondering may I bring a silent stop watch to the testing center? I have accommodations that give me more time and to use an analog watch or the Perfect Lsat watch wouldnt be of any use, so I was wondering if it is possible?

I'm trying to figure out the best way to get myself moving quickly enough before I start a PT, without making myself too fatigued to be able to perform at my best in the later sections.

If ever I have pacing problems - being rushed towards the end of a section because I started off reading too slowly - it's in the first section. How do people get themselves - short of the obvious, take a bunch of coffee (which I do) - up to speed before they start a test?

Fellow 7Sagers, I have a dilemma on my hands and I'd like your advice on how best to resolve it. I'm especially interested in hearing the opinions of those of you who have first-hand knowledge of the services offered by editor David Busis, Spivey Consulting, or ideally, both. Here goes...

Context: I'm going to take the LSAT in September and if need be, re-take in December, as well. After I receive an LSAT score that I'm happy with, my goal is to then immediately turn around and send off my law school applications. Therefore, to accomplish all of this, I need to begin preparing all of my non-LSAT components of the application now. Procrastination = death.

Problem: I know that during the process of putting together all of these application materials, I'm going to need some expert-level assistance. But that's where I'm stuck. I'm not sure how much help I'll actually need and from whom it's best to get it. I'm especially worried about being blind to any "unknown uknowns", to use Rumsfeldian terminology.

Option 1 (@david.busis): As many of you already know, 7Sage works with the wonderful David Busis. I've bought his Intro. to PS course and seen him in action on a webinar. He's funny, direct, and full of writerly wisdom. I would love to buy his "Unlimited PS Edits" for $599. The only concern I have is that this leaves ALL of the other important stuff (e.g. scholarship, wait lists, mock interviews, etc.) off of the advisement table. Basically, I live and die by my numbers and personal statement and hope for the best with everything else.

Option 2 (Spivey Consulting): A second option is to buy a more comprehensive--and significantly more expensive--package with Spivey Consulting (out of the firms I got quotes from, theirs seems like the best value). I'm confident that Spivey et al. know their stuff when it comes to the entire application components and process. But it's A LOT of money for a person in my financial situation (just about $3,000 more than what Busis' PS edits would cost me). I'd prefer not to rack up credit card debt for this, but the investment might be worth it if it gets me into a better school and/or a better FINAID package. Or, maybe it's not necessary if I've got good numbers and Busis' great advice on crafting my PS. Who knows?

Option 3: Anything else you all might come up with. Have at it!

Well, there it is. There are no do-overs when it comes to submitting my law school apps later this year. And at 33 years-old, I cannot afford wait another year to do so anyway. I need to decide ASAP which service fits my needs/budget and get started right away. If any of you have first-hand experience (rather than mere speculation) that you can offer up on this topic, I would greatly appreciate it.

-Adam

i was hoping if there are any 7sagers with ADHD (or ADD) or even without that could maybe give some tips or pointers for writing the actual lsat/studying for the lsat. i find myself rereading LR questions and wasting precious time. also i find myself missing on key words and phrases because i read over it too fast. what are some methods that i can use that would be effective when studying for the actual test and also manage my time when answering them timed?

Hey Ladies and Gents,

I read @"Nicole Hopkins" ' Group BR Instructional. She mentioned that, if it's an option, you should self BR prior to joining a group BR. Does everyone do this? I've never taken part in a group BR before, but, I've done plenty of self-BRing.

For future BR Groups, I intend on self-BRing prior to joining the group BR. However, regarding this Sunday's BR group, I won't have time to self-BR.

This has probably been asked a million times, but I'd appreciate if anyone can share their stats with me so I have an idea. Thanks so much.

Does anyone know where this is? I got an email saying I need to upload a photo to my account and I cannot find where to do this on the LSAC site anywhere. I've emailed them but they say will take 3-5 days for a response:(

Okay, so I am nearing completion on the core curriculum (woot woot!) and I would definitely say that I am starting to grasp these core concepts relatively well (still have much to learn, still a padawan). Lately, my issue has been in BR. I have had this nack of royally screwing myself over when I BR some of my drills. For example, did a 4star RC passage today. I got it done in 7 min. After this I BR'd the section, like always. My pre-BR score was a -1 out of 7. BR was -5!! WTH??! Is it possible my subconscious intelligence is becoming smarter than my conscious reasoning. I guess this might be a good problem to have, in some respects. The same thing kept happening to me when I drilled a bunch of NA questions yesterday. Pre-BR, on the clock I would generally go -0 for the drill. But, when I BR'd I would miss like half of the questions. This is kind of freaking me out...

Does anyone have any experience related to this issue?

Just curious if anyone has taken or heard reviews of any of the law school prep courses out there? If it is worth it & if those that have taken them found it to be helpful during 1L?

Also are any others considering taking one before starting school in August?

Hey! I used to be able to buy prep tests PDFs online but all of the sudden can't find any! I live in the UK and it's the quickest way to get them. Does anyone recommend a website that sells the pts in PDF form, or any website that delivers quickly to the UK??

I've seen in other discussions that this is not advisable. However, I have been studying for nearly a year and took the LSAT once before. Although I went from a 157 diagnostic to a 168 on the February administration, this is less than what I was hoping for going in (low 170's).

Based on reading around, it seems that some of the T-6 schools will take some kind of average (feel free to correct me). I have thus revised my goal to 175+ and am planning to re-take in September. Also, after using a number of other test prep methods the first time around, I decided to build up stronger fundamentals using 7Sage's no-nonsense Core Curriculum and PT/BR process.

Like other 7Sagers, going through the curriculum has been slower than I initially expected. Should I stick to it or start PT'ing? Feeling pressured as other September test takers are joining the BR group and soon to have my prep limited to weekends due to work.