I had a discussion with a coworker yesterday about taking the LSAT. I just turned 32 in May and she kind of frowned at my age. I felt she was frowing because she felt I am too old to be pursuing law school. By no means do I agree. I'm 100% certain (not really, but I would definitely bet my rent money and car payment on this!) I'm not the oldest person to pursue law school. I just wanted to know others perspectives. A little of my story. I never wanted to go straight from undergrad to law, so I never tried. Looking back on everything I probably would've had to drop out anyway. I couldn't find a job after graduating (2006) so I decided to go back to school for my paralegal certificate (2007). I've worked as a paralegal in various areas since. I've definitely wanted to get started with LSAT prep a lot earlier than now but life had other plans. I was diagnosed with cancer in 2008. Took my first LSAT Dec 6 2008, 5 days after being diagnosed. My score was horrible! Til this day I have refused to tell anyone my score. Now, under the circumstances I had no business taking that test, but I wanted to keep things as "normal" as possible. Admittedly, I wasn't even entirely prepared for the test. I finished chemo and all treatments in June 2009. Of course it took me awhile to jump back up on the pony so the LSAT was placed to the side. After more scares and more surgeries I'll fast fwd to 2013. I was ready to move forward with my studies. My health seemed to be ok. April 2013 I had surgery to have a tumor removed from the base of my brain. This surgery knocked me on my @ss!!! I was just not ready. At all! Worse than the chemo! It took me about 6-8 weeks to bounce back, but not entirely. Just enough to return to work. I've always suffered from allergy and sinus issues. For some reason the symptoms turned up in 2012-2013. I suffered back to back chronic sinus infections and ear infections. Lost slight hearing in one ear. Didn't even know that was possible. Antiobiotics and steroids no longer helped so here I was back in surgery about 8 weeks post "brain surgery"!! Probably not the best decision but obviously my neurologist and ENT were aware of my history. Again I got knocked all the way down!! The recovery for this one was even longer. After 1 more minor procedure in 2013 I was ready for 2014. After playing around with other materials I was fully committed to 7Sage. After lots of distractions, lazinees, stubborness and procrastination 2015 will be the year for me. I don't see the reason for having to take the test in October so I'll take it in December if necessary. I hate to say, "I only need a XXX." I've decided to see how far I can push myself to achieve the best score possible for me. Just because I'm that stubborn! I've decided to not let the LSAT have me! LOL Anybody else dealing with age or any other issues that may seem like the "law school ship" has sailed?

Are there any inaccuracies in this book? I am starting to get skeptic here, but I could just be cray cray.

Hello everyone.

So I've been studying for the LSAT daily since the beginning of May. I plan on taking the October 3rd LSAT, and my diagnostic was a 145.

However, thanks to BasedJ.Y., I've improved significantly. My problem, however, is that my preptests can be inconsistent. I've taken about 9 PTs now, and my scores range from 157-171, with the average being 163.5. There will be times where I'll score multiple mid-high 160s, and then my next PT will be like a 158.

With test day creeping up, I'm starting to get nervous. My goal is only to achieve somewhere between a 160-163 (obviously higher is better), and the law firm I work for told me that they're only scheduling me 1 day a week from now until the test, so I can focus on things (and thus have ample time to devote towards evening out this inconsistency). But I, under no circumstances, want to score under a 160, and my recent PTs of 158 scares me.

My inconsistency tends to be in logical reasoning. For example, on the preptest I just did I went: 22/28 RC, 21/22 LG, 15/25LR1, 20/25LR2, 20/25LR3(EXP). I often average between 20-22 per logical reasoning section, but there's just times where, like on this present PT, I just shit the bed entirely.

What does everyone here recommend? I plan on doing 3 preptests and blind review a week from now until the test. Should I expect my LR score to even out after all of the BRs? I've gone through the curriculum many times, but it seems as if my IQ will just drop to -3 randomly during an LR section.

7Sage has been a really great resource and community for all of my LSAT prep, but now I'm in, and I'm feeling lost. I start in the next few weeks. I was taking things one step at a time, never jumping too far ahead in the admissions process. So, until June, my only focus was LSAT studying. I started looking for 1L advice when I thought law school might actually be a realistic possibility after the June test. I have found so much conflicting information. Some people who recommend buying every 1L support book possible and others (mostly people I know) who went in completely blind and still graduated in the top 10% of their class. I have taken some of Larry's book recommendations, I have been reading Planet Law School (which recommends a million other support materials), Glannon on Civ Pro, and Delaney's Learning Legal Reasoning. I don't want to overwhelm myself by buying and reading every book ever written for 1L's (nor do I even have the time), but I also don't feel comfortable walking in without knowing exactly what to expect. I've been reading through Larry's Law School Master but it's so new it doesn't offer what 7Sage has in terms of community and consistency. I would love any advice!

I've decided to take a break from PTs, and go back over the basics. I think one of my weaknesses is taking the Lawgic that we were taught, and applying it to the questions. So... if I can get someone to breakdown for me EXACTLY WHY and HOW we put questions into lawgic. Simplify for it me. How does it help with logical reasoning and reading comprehension questions, and then apply it to a question. I think this will help to unlock whatever block I'm feeling about understanding how this works exactly.

let's use a question I get wrong every time. Test 29 Section 1 Question 7.

Find the logical operator?

Identify two main concepts

Assign symbols to the 2 main groups

Apply translation rule

Find contrapositive

Translate back to English

Sooooo, I just did Pt 27 S2 G2 which is the lizards and snakes game. That was challenging as hell. Did you guys struggle with this game as well? Also I am a bit flustered by the explanation of this game. JY makes the claim that the 1st premise of this game means that each habitat has 2 slots, but how do we know that if the rule just states MAX 2 PER SLOT? Max 2 does not mean every habitat has 2 slots. Also, during the exam you are not going to "ignore certain elements of the game." How did you guys go about solving this game?

Okay, I just wanted to post this. I know I post a lot sometimmmmeeeessss.

I don't know what my initial diagnostic score was, but I'm sure it was the worst. I started prepping for the LSAT last May of 2014. I started with Kaplan for a few months, then I eventually found 7Sage, but there wasn't enough time for me to get my *best* mark before the December 2014 write. I wrote anyways and received a sad 155.

I was discouraged to say the least! I didn't get into any of the schools I applied for (not surprising), but I decided to hit the books every single day since I took that exam, even if it was for an hour or two in the morning before work and on my lunch break.

I started taking timed PTs once a week since the end of May. I have taken 9 so far. I posted in June that I received my first 170! Yesterday I took PT 57 and received a 168. I took today to BR and I received a 180 for the first time EVER.

The point of this post is thiiiiissss. I remember reading so many discussions when I started last year about people reaching (what seemed like) impossibly amazing scores. I was so insecure with my ability and didn't really believe that I could do it. I also was naive to think that you could fully prep for this exam in such a short time period. And, while I don't mean to discourage those reading this who are within that tight time frame, I can say that I benefited most from sitting back, reassessing, and taking my TIME with prepping. Sure, I would have loved to start at a law school for this September, but when I was prepping back in 2014 I would literally wake up at 3 AM every day and study until 10 PM every night (after an 8 hour day, so I would study in the AM for 2-3 hours, on my lunch break, and then from 5-10 daily). It was exhausting to say the least. But, and more importantly, I wasn't ever giving my brain any opportunity to absorb the information it was taking in every single day. I couldn't let my brain process how to answer questions. I used to get so much test anxiety when sitting down to write a PT at 3 AM that I would almost make myself physically ill and then cry when a dismal 152 would pop up on the grader and I would wonder how on earth I could ever increase my score.

SO. THE point is this. You can do it, everyone has it in them, all it takes is consistency, perseverance, belief in your ability, and TIME.

:)

For the practice sets of 5 problems. It says to time ourselves. Should we time ourselves to see how long each question takes us? Or time in a limited time sense. And if so how long should I give myself to do 5 questions. Thanks

How often do you find yourself finishing sections early? If so what sections particularly, & how much extra time do you typically have to go back and double check questions that you weren't 100% on?

I've hit a plateau at the 159 - 162 timed range, with a BR between 167-170.I'm typically finishing RC with literally no time to spare and average around minus 6-9. LR I can usually get through every question in time, with the exception being skipping and guessing on a difficult parallel reasoning question. LR average is between minus 5-8 per section with the a few minus 3's. LG is undoubtedly my worst section. I usually finish the first three games (or easiest three) relatively comfortably, but always run out of time and end up guessing on the last game. If I'm lucky I'll have time to read through the rules of the fourth game and get the easy acceptable situation type question. My LG average usually falls between minus 7-9, but I've had a couple as bad as minus 11-12. I don't typically have trouble picking the right game board or setting them up correctly, however it still just flat out takes me too long to make the necessary inferences. I typically resort to not making multiple set ups before attacking questions. Most of the time I write the rules, then move straight to the questions and brute force the correct answer after POE for obvious wrong answers. This is partly because I'm terrible at deciding when it's going to be extremely helpful to make multiple set ups before hand, and partly because I'm not confident enough to do it thoroughly in a reasonable amount of time.

I truly feel like if I could just get faster (especially in LG but also LR) I could get over the hump, but obviously that's way easier said than done. I'd love to be consistently hitting 165 before October. At this point I have completed the entire 7sage core curriculum, about 3/4 the LG bundle, and taken PT's 36 - 38, and 51 - 60. I'm trying fine tune my approach for the final 7 weeks before October. Any guidance would be much appreciated.

I am starting to get more answers correct. Do you guys view the explanation videos on the ones you got right? I want to get my money's worth, but not sure if that's a waste of time.

Yo people.

I loved my LSAT watch from 35minutes.com. I used the heck out of it from Feb. thru July. Then I finally ripped the mechanism out (better it happen now than, you know, like the week before). So now I want a new watch.

I'm looking at this one. http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Score-LSAT-Watch-Exam/dp/B00SC6FJ3M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1438699397&sr=8-3&keywords=lsat+watch

And this one. http://www.180watch.com/

I stopped caring about price because I'd rather have a better watch than save ~$20-$30. You feel ??

Any thoughts? Priorities are ... Either 4 section color coding or none, love the nifty "section reset" button (otherwise I was planning on having my nails done to guarantee that they're long/strong enough to pull the little doohickey out ... maybe that last part belongs in the Confessional thread).

http://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-62-section-4-question-08/

http://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-62-section-4-question-10/

Hi all, I just took PT 62 today and I would like to get some input from other 7sagers regarding the answer choices for these two questions. I scored a 173 on the exam, but there were a couple of answers that still do not sit right with me after watching each explanation ten times. For question 8 the stimulus refers to "diverse cultures," but the correct answer choice includes the phrase, "all of the world's cultures," which seems overreaching. I initially circled this answer choice (C), but I changed it to "A," which I thought was incorrect as well. As for question 10, it seems to me that the flaw is that liquid water is not sufficient for primitive life to evolve, but the correct answer choice reads, "fails to consider that there are conditions necessary for the evolution of life in addition to the presence of liquid water." How does this introduce the notion that water is not sufficient? It just points out that there might be other necessary factors. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Which study method is better if you have enough time to take and BR 60 LSAT PTs... Take the 20 most recent PTs 3x's (56-75) or 60 PTs (16-75) once... Please explain your decision... I actually am on pace to accomplish 20 x 3...

From various posts, I see that there are a lot of Canadians here. I figured that it might be useful to have a thread devoted to Canadian related topics, whether related to the LSAT or law school.

I am entering my 2nd year at a Canadian law school, and try helping out on the forum when I can. Feel free to ask me anything on the forum or via PM; I'd love to help to the extent that I can. Regardless, I think a Canadian thread might be useful as these topics will all be in one post instead of strewn all over.

Hi guys,

I'm retaking the LSAT in October, so I already have familiarity with each LSAT section, but not in the in-depth way that many people on this forum seem to have. I have the Powerscore Bible for LG 'cause it's my weakest section, but I'd like something to drill and keep somewhat sharp on Arguments and RC (was getting -2/-4 on PTs in those sections). Since I'm pretty good at them, I don't want to drop $50 a piece on the PS Bibles and spend a ton of time on them.

Does anyone know about the viability and/or helpfulness of the "LSAT Superprep" book published by LSAC to help me drill in these sections? (Thinking maybe it could help me understand the sometimes baffling logic of LSAC) Or is there maybe a better way?

Thanks for your help!

Christian

So just bombed my fourth PT and I think it's about time I reevaluate my timeline and goals in here. Mid 160's is my target but I can't seem to see the light at the end of the tunnel here. So far my PT have been embarrassing at best. My initial diagnostic was 146. I've taken PT 36 - 39. So far I've gotten 133 (Didn't even think that was possible), 141, 146, and 147. I started the course in April and finished a couple of weeks ago and just started PT. Thing is, my BR has been comparably much better, in fact, probably right where I'd like to end up at. I've BR at 150, 156, 168, and 162. On RC I'm averaging -11.5 on LR I'm -14 and LG I'm -17. On BR for RC I'm -5, on LR I'm -7, and LG -8. A lot of these are really brought down by my first test where I pretty much locked up like a deer in headlights. But still, I'm thinking tempted to start from scratch here. Thing is, when I come back for BR, even for the ones I get wrong on BR, I'm seeing very clearly where I was wrong and most of the time, the right answer is the one I struggled with debating for. It leads me to believe there is something that's sunk in. I just don't know if this means I should continue PT and BR to a greater extent to work on timing and understanding the stimulus quickly, or if I should come back to the fundamentals of the course again before taking any more exams. Even since my first PT I've noticed a difference, especially in LG where I am at least completing a couple of games, but I'm nowhere where I thought I would be with 60 days until October. At this point, I'm thinking I should push this out till December. I'm already working full time and I'll be starting school at the end of this month. If anyone could help me gauge the mess I've made here, it'd be much appreciated.

Hi all. I'm about to do my June 2007 preptest tomorrow according to my syllabus. I know I'm supposed to emulate the test conditions to be the same time as what the real test would be held (early morning). However I can't do it this week b/c of my child's school schedule. The timing is super tight so I would be distracted during the test about being tardy to pick up at school. Would it be terrible to take the preptest any other time during the day when I feel alert? Or....should I wait and move on to the rest of the core curriculum and do the preptest next week when I have the time. Thanks so much.

So I was reading a blog post on personal statements by the Yale Dean of Admissions, and she linked to this video as a "law school reality check:"

I know we have all heard these critiques about going to law school before, but watching it in the context of what not to do in my personal statement made me second guess everything I was planning on writing.

I'm hoping to get thoughts from you guys (because posting this on TLS would likely make me cry) regarding the video. How have you convinced yourselves that you're not whom this video is making fun of, and how will you prove that to law schools in your applications?

Thank you and I apologize if this is old news.

I have been studying for the LSAT for MONTHS... almost a year. In that time, all of my sections have improved except for Logic Games. I average about a 68% correct on this section. I have used the Foolproof Method for all of the practice tests I've taken. I drill and drill until I can do each game perfectly. But as soon as I get to a new PT, I freeze up. I usually only have time for the first and second game... and if I'm really stuck, I'll only have time for the first game. Another common fate: I finish the first and second games in good time. And then I get stuck on 3 and 4, and get flustered and read everything wrong and end up guessing for the last two games. It's really, really bad. If the first game is usually the easiest and I'm stuck on it... I clearly have serious issues.

I really do not know what more I can do. I am signed up for the test in October and I'm getting nervous. I just don't know what to do. This is apparently the easiest section for most people to improve in, and the easiest one to get -0 on, so... what's wrong with me? What am I doing wrong? I can't seem to take the things I learned from my drills and apply them. Even if I remember the answer in a drill, I still practice as if I don't, going through the thinking process of elimination and selection. I'll pull out entire game sections from a month ago, and still be able to do the old ones perfectly. I just can't do any new ones.

I'm so stuck :(.

Hey all!

I know the topic retaking PTs (and the value of that) has been discussed many times, but I just wanted to get a little more specific advice.

Like many others, I have exhausted all of the PTs, except for 72-74. There are some PTs that I have reviewed very extensively. Some PTs I have only taken once and may not have done a very thorough review. I think there is value in finding which ones I am less familiar with, and re-taking + BR. Right now my main focus is working through the Cambridge drilling packets, and really honing my fundamentals.

What can you glean from the score inflation of retakes? For example, I just took a PT and scored a 180, but I remembered the logical reasoning very clearly, so I don't take it seriously at all. RC and LG I did not remember as well. How about for a PT that I do not remember as well, what can I take away from the score?

I am just worried that for the questions I have reviewed a lot previously, I am remembering the right answer, and sure why it is the right answer in that instance. But I want to be extra sure that I am reinforcing the right reasoning skills and not just the right answers.

Thank you so much!

Julia

In 2 out of my last 3 PT's, I have scored over 175... Unreal.... I would have never guessed I would do this in my wildest dreams. Thanks 7 sage and community

Hey 7Sagers,

Had a user email in with a question that I think you could help out with! Here it is:

Hey guys

I have a quick question, I was wondering is it possible to get into any Law School with a 3 year degree? This is a general degree offered in Canada and in Canada it says you can still get an admission into Law School with this degree but I was wondering is it the same in the USA. If it is I was wondering if you can point out any potential pitfalls of 3 year degree vs a 4 year degree?

Thanks in Advance

I scored a 168 on June 2015. I made the decision to take it only 9 weeks before-- In those subsequent weeks I took 30 pt's. The 4 weeks before the test I took a pt every week day, and would study till I was on the verge of tears. It was brutal, and by the last week before the test I was inconceivably burnt out. I had to neglect taking the last pt's I planned to. I was going for quantity this first time taking the test, and now I'm gearing up for Oct 2015. I want quality this time; I want less hours of studying but I want to maximize the time I spend. Most of all, I want to be as fresh as possible on test day. Burnout is not going to slide this time.

Has anybody else experienced this crisis? At some point, quantity, the amount of hours and pt's, begins to yield little in terms of becoming better at taking the test. And it burns you out-- I scored 3 below my average in pt's for June 2015, which I hear is actually normal. How do I, with limited hours and only a few pt's (I'm planning on only taking 5-6 pt's before Oct), maximize the time I spend?

I believe that I'm going to find out that quality of study time, after thoroughly acquainting one's self with the LSAT, is far superior than the quantity of hours spent studying.

I'm starting to build a large enough sample of PTs (just took my 7th today) that using the analytics to inform my prep seems like a sensible option. There's a lot of information, though, and I'm not too sure how to translate it into a study strategy. I understand the basic idea; it tells me that I'm bad at pseudo-sufficient assumption, so I should work on that. I'm curious, though, what else you guys get from it and how you apply it. For instance, do the question/section difficulty ratings tell you anything during your review?

What information on there do you guys most value, and how do you use it specifically to guide your next week of studying?

Thanks, all.

Hello all,

So here I am whining again. I started PTing from PT36 and now I am at PT39. Between PT38 and PT39, I did 50 questions of Flaw and 50 questions of NA from Cambridge, and I got most, if not all, correct.

My score on PT39 went down by 6 points from PT38. I am devastated and don't know what to do. There are so many great stories in this forum but I see that might not be applicable to me. I am trying and trying but I just can't see improvement. I seriously want to cry while writing this message.

I am drilling but I am not improving. When I BR, I do way better, duh!

Be honest, is it possible that there are people who can never improve in this test?