Sister threads:

List of Forum Titles

List of Affordable PTs

Hey 7Sagers! I know not everyone is aware of these fancy tricks & shortcuts that are on the forums, so I thought I'd make a post about them.

Please note that the screenshots I am showing are done in Chrome. It may be slightly different in other browsers.

What is this thread covering?

-Quoting

-Mentioning Another User

-Receiving Thread Notifications Via Email

Let's begin!

Quoting

Quoting someone is very simple! All you need to do is highlight the text you want to quote, then click the "Quote this" button that pops up. Here's an example:

Once you mouse over the "Quote this" button, it will turn blue.

Then, when you click the button, the quoted text will appear and you can type your reply.

Mentioning another user

You can mention other users in your post, which will send them a forum notification. Here's how to do it:

Start by typing the @ symbol. Once you type a letter after that (for example, if you're trying to mention me, it would be @d), a box with a list of usernames that match those letters will appear to your right. Here's a picture:

If the person's name that you're trying to mention is there, you can just click it and it will auto-fill. (You can also just type it yourself and it will work the same.)

Once you post your comment, the mention will be in blue and clickable, just like a link.

Clicking the name will bring you to that user's profile. (Example: @"Dillon A. Wright" ) If a user has spaces in their name (like mine), use "Brackets" to mention them. (@"Dillon A. Wright")

For the person that was mentioned, they'll see notifications like this:

Receiving thread notifications via email

Want to subscribe to a thread so it emails you everytime someone replies? It's very easy!

Go to the thread you want to subscribe you. On the top-right, close to the title, you'll see a white star:

Click the white star! It will turn yellow and you are now subscribed.

You'll get email notifications like this everytime someone replies:

To unsubscribe, just click the yellow star again.

Let me know if you have any questions about any of these (or anything else!)

So I just took my first PT after 1 1/2 years of hiatus and was quickly reminded of a problem I've always had with this test...

As I'm taking it, I always feel a strong headache in the back of my head. I'm sure it's because of the position my head is constantly at (looking downwards to the test). Maybe that position does not allow proper blood flow to the back of my head? Not quite sure...

My question is (I assume many of you have experienced the same thing): What do you do to fight, control, or prevent this annoying headache you get when taking the LSAT?

Thanks so much in advance!!!

I was looking on the Cambridge LSAT website, and I noticed that you can buy 6-section practice tests . It includes 4 sections from one PT, plus two additional sections from another PT. Has anyone taken 6-section test before? It might be a good way to build more stamina for the real thing.

The 6 sections are all multiple choice. The writing sample doesn't count toward the 6 sections.

Hey guys, so here's the deal.

We are looking for a stellar teacher to craft a stellar bar prep course with us.

We're looking for someone in their 3L year or just graduated from a top law school. The most important criterion is that they genuinely enjoy studying and debating the law.

Do you guys know someone like that? If so, please encourage them to email me (jy@7sage.com). 7Sage will be eternally grateful.

[edited heavily for content]

For the people who are taking the 7sage course, and who are on the sequencing games with a twist section, did you attempt to diagram the games before JY did? and if so did you have trouble? and if you had trouble and could not figure it out, did you just watch the video explanation, and then attempt to do it yourself? Because I am having difficulty with setting up games, and understanding some rules, and usually when I do not understand I just watch the video explanation, and then attempt it on my own. I just started doing the logic games section, so I am sure most people when they start out are lost on setups, but I am just curious. I want to add that once I set up the game, I have no problems with the questions, and do not really struggle with making most of the inferences.

Answering required assumption questions like:

"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for a right answer, I can tell you I don't have a very good memory, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you show me the trap (those darned sufficient assumption options), that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you."

I am new to 7Sage and just this morning downloaded the proctor app to my phone. I was working through my first timed section with the batman voice. I was so focused that the five minute warning startled me. Yikes!! It didn't help that I was alone in a quiet room. Oh the joys of interactive study aids!

I was always a pretty computer-savvy kid; growing up in the heart of the Silicon Valley with parents who run their own custom computer shop will do that to you. As a result of being around computers all the time, I was a pretty reasonable typist by the time I was 10 years old. Though I never actually measured, looking back I was probably capable of typing about 50-60 words per minute with my custom hunt-and-peck technique, which included the brilliant innovation of using both the index AND the middle finger on each hand to speed up the process. Four fingers instead of two, for twice the typing speed! Talk about revolutionary. Those silly 2-finger-using folks just couldn’t compete.

When I was in fifth grade, I was introduced to the devil herself. I refer, of course, to the one and only Mavis Beacon (if that is her real name), and her heretical “touch typing” teachings. Initially, I thought I’d like her. I figured that she’d maybe teach me a few new tricks to speed up even further, and otherwise just reinforce how great a typer I was. After all, how could I possibly have any difficulty with ‘learning’ typing? I was already pretty good – if anything, I figured it would just be some refinement of technique.

Instead, she told me to do some ridiculous stuff. She told me that I should use all ten of my fingers to type, which I thought was completely unnecessary since I was getting by perfectly fine with just four. Then, she told me that I wasn’t supposed to look at the keyboard while typing, which really convinced me that she was off her rocker. What do you mean I’m not allowed to look at the keyboard while typing? How am I supposed to see what I’m typing if I can’t look at the keys? And, maybe just as importantly, what’s the point? Was this lady seriously trying to tell me that the mere act of looking at what I was doing would somehow be detrimental?

I tried it her way. I really did. But as a direct result of taking Ms. Beacon’s advice, my typing speed plummeted and my accuracy suffered tremendously because I couldn’t see what keys I was hitting. I mean, duh, what did you think would happen when you told me not to look at the keyboard? And when I went back to the four-finger method, I was suddenly fast and accurate again! Needless to say, I was quite displeased with Ms. Beacon and her so-called “instruction”, and decided that she was a fraud.

When we conceptualize progression, typically we think about building off of a base that we’ve already established. We spend 20-some odd years (at least – shout out to the older crowd!) speaking the English language, arguing about various things with friends and family, getting As on our essay exams, and so forth. From that, it seems reasonable to think that our base should be pretty strong. This is further reinforced by the notion we discussed last time out that everyone thinks they’re perfectly logical. And indeed, you can often get a surprising amount of progress by bulling forward with poor fundamentals, which further adds to the illusion. In any case, our brain (reasonably) thinks that we’re X amount of distance down the road, so anything we add on top of it should push us even further down that road, right?

Wrong. Because sometimes, you’re just on the wrong road. The fact that the you’ve spent a long time on that road doesn’t mean it’s close – in fact, it’s probably just more infuriating when you realize that it’s not taking you where you want to be going, and you need to get off that path ASAP. If you’re halfway to Mexico and you need to be going to Canada, then minor course corrections really aren’t going to help much.

So how do you fix that? Well, the first thing you need to do is backtrack to where the initial error took place. In the process, you will ‘lose’ some ‘progress’ that you’ve made, and that’s terrifying. When people see their preptest scores stagnate or even drop, they inevitably scurry back to doing things the ‘old’ way – the way that has ‘worked’ for them so many times before - because they're scared to death of losing those few points they fought so hard for. That’s an understandable reaction. But if you continue to hold onto your old, unprincipled methods of tackling the LSAT, you can only ever get so far. You will hit walls just like everyone else, but you will never be able to get past yours. Why? Because unlike what it is for others, where it’s just an overgrown speedbump, yours is actually just the end of that particular road. For example, you can get reasonably far without any conception of formal logic, but eventually you won’t be able to fudge it anymore and your score literally cannot increase until you deal with the issue. In the process of backfilling the gaps, you will likely have to rethink a lot of the ‘tips and tricks’ you’ve picked up along the way because they no longer make sense within your new theoretical framework. And so, the ‘regression’ happens as one bad habit exposes another.

Dealing with these issues requires you to internalize things that you haven’t really ever thought about before, and that’s hard. Mistakes will be made, and it won’t feel good. It feels like you’re taking a step backward because your results are decreasing as you continue to backtrack through your shaky foundations. It’s really tempting at this point to just throw up your hands and say that the new ways just aren’t working, just like 10-year-old me did in his first go with touch typing. This is also the point that a lot of people end up with a new set of LSAT books (because their previous materials *obviously* weren't very good), only to be further disappointed when their new materials essentially tell them to do the same thing as their old materials. Sorry folks, there are only so many ways to teach someone how to identify a main conclusion.

One of the most important parts of the process is unlearning all of the awful bad habits you’ve gotten away with your entire life. In the process, a lot of things that previously seemed clear will suddenly get murkier. That’s normal. Your brain is undergoing a course correction and establishing new neural pathways, and there will inevitably be some transition pains. Your brain has had 20 years to build up lazy junk pathways, so of course it’s going to be more comfortable with those than the new ones you’re trying to implement. But as you continue to internalize those better processes, your performance will leap ahead of where it was previously. You just need to give those processes time to lock in properly.

So don’t fret if your test results aren’t shooting skyward as soon as you finish the curriculum. That’s normal, and it’s happened to a lot of people who ended up scoring very well (including me). Instead, focus on making sure you’re learning the theory properly and not taking shortcuts, because if you cheat you’ll pay for it later. And, make sure that you stay mentally strong and resist the urge to lapse back into your old habits. As I sit here 20 years later, able to type 110 words per minute on my awful laptop keyboard and almost 140 on my good mechanical keyboard, I am incredibly thankful that I stuck with it and learned how to touch type. My short-term loss turned into a huge long-term gain, all because I gave it time to click.

Thanks, Mavis.

AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Mod note: Please don't post titles in all caps!

I think it would be fun/funny to list the types of people you see/listen to when you're at your LSAT testing site on test day.

I'll list a couple of people to start it off.

Ditcher: This guy has no idea why he's there or if he's even ready. As soon as his name is called during attendance he gets up and says "I'm not ready for this, I shouldn't be here, good luck everyone." Making other students a bit more anxious than they were already.

That Guy: This is the guy (I say guy because I've never seen a girl do this, and I took the test twice) during break, who talks about the LSAT like it's no big deal. He barely studied for it because it's just so simple or he doesn't take it seriously. He says this while laughing and shrugs it off like it isn't a big deal. After the exam is finished he walks away with a look of defeat on his face.

Freaked Out: These are the people who are obsessing over the test during their break (they are usually a bit vocal). They feel defeated and want to cancel their score. Some do and some don't, but it doesn't make others any less anxious.

Pencil Person: This is the person who taps their pencil every so often and it's a bit distracting. They also tend to cross out answers like an angry 5 year old scribbling in a coloring book. Out of all the people, these may be the worst.

The Nail Biter (this is me): I bite my nails to keep the rest of my nerves under control. It may be distracting, but I'm not sure if it is because I never noticed anyone else doing it.

I'm sure there are plenty of others. Feel free to post some if you've experienced similar/other possibilities!

Prep test 31 section 3 - Necessary assumption - Asteroids and extinction of dinosaurs

The answers to this question are as follows:

A) any collision of an asteroid with the Earth would have occurred on a land area rather than an ocean

B) dinosaurs in the neighborhood of an asteroid impact but not within the zone of direct impact would have survived such an impact

C) any event that takes place over a long period of time has many different causes

D) dust from the impact of an asteroid on the Earth would not have had any cooling effect on the climate

E) no more than one large asteroid struck the Earth during the period when the dinosaurs were becoming extinct

Why in AC "D" do we not get to make the assumption that the cooling effect on the climate could lead to the extinction of dinosaurs, but in AC "E" (the correct answer) we are supposed to make the assumption that more asteroid impacts could lead to the requisite amount of dust, rendering the dinosaurs extinct?

Any help on this would be great. Thanks.

junior in college here. What do people think is the lowest GPA you should have to even consider applying to law schools?

So I retook the June 2015 LSAT and got a 163. Now this is much better than my first actual test score which was a 153 (did not study in the right way or right amount of time), however, I was scoring between a 165-169 before I took the June test. I'm planning on applying to schools of different tiers but my top three T14 schools are Berkeley, Michigan, and Northwestern, which I plan to apply to early binding. What I'm debating is whether to take the October test for probably a max increase of 5 points. I have a 3.81 from Michigan and have been working as a paralegal for a little over a year now. What I'm wondering is if I have a shot at Northwestern and Michigan with these credentials (I'm not a URM). I know a higher score would definitely make me a stronger candidate but I also don't know if it's worth risking getting a lower score than the one I have now. I'm working full-time right now and am planning on applying for the Fall 2016 cycle so I don't know how much intense studying I can do between now and October. The thing is that I feel like it's just a few small differences that caused my lower score so I think I'd need to focus on tweaking certain areas of the test if I did decide to retake for the last time. I know I'm thinking out loud here but I'm really going back and forth on this one. Any sage advice is much appreciated!

I have noticed that there don't seem to be any recent responses from J.Y. or his team on any of the comments after any of the lectures for many, many months. Does anybody know if they are still being checked? No sense leaving questions for the authors of this study guide if the comments are not proctored.

For those of us waiting to take the October or December, does anyone know when the June LSAT will be released?

Thanks

Hey 7Sagers,

Had someone write in with a question I thought you could help out with! Here it is:

I was just wondering if you could let me know a list of your recommended formal logic textbooks that might help me with LSAT study. Just to give you a little background, I have read LR Bible once and watched all your lectures and have done all the LSAT prep tests once. I plan to take an official LSAT exam 2015 December.

My problem is that my brain stops thinking for moments and try to re-read stimulus over again and again to process the pasdage or stimulus especially when I encounter convoluted sentences or difficult logics. Especially when I feel pressured by time limit, it gets worse.

I heard from some of my attorney friends that reading law school text books and studying and analyzing actual cases may help. I just wanted to get your opinion on this if it would really helps. I feel only studying with LSAT prep tests is not sufficient at my level.

I would so much appreciate it if you could provide some tips.

Thanks!

So I've been siting at the library for approximately 2 hours and I am still on the same video lesson :/ for some reason my wi-fi is acting up. I am connected to the public library's network but it keeps saying "Looking for Networks.." So I cannot watch the video I'm on because it literally stops every 5 seconds and doesn't want to come back. But everything else works perfectly fine except the video lessons. Does anyone with a Mac ever experience this? Any steps on what to do?

Hi All,

While I'm trying to get pumped (in the mood?) for the October LSAT, I keep ruminating about part-time versus full-time enrollment. I'd love to hear your thoughts regarding the difference and any feedback regarding my thought process:

Full-time Pros

*Full immersion in the classroom & ancillary activities

*Perhaps better scholarships

*Perhaps better connections & experiences

*Perhaps better job prospects

*Perhaps a faster track to the JD (e.g. NU has an accelerated JD)

Full-time Cons

*Little-to-no income (therefore, much reliance on my partner, assuming that he still likes me by then)

*Less time for personal/work/study balance

*Sticker price (aka potential for massive student debt)

*Blow to confidence if I attempt admission with a lower LSAT score (think under 170), even with solid uGPA

Part-time Pros

*Balance life/work/study potentially better

*Continue to work on-call/contractor to help with tuition (to provide an idea, I make roughly $50/hr on-call and $85-100/home visit as a healthcare provider)

*Perhaps feel less rushed in school

*Perhaps easier chance of enrollment with lower LSAT score (think: under 170, including solid uGPA)

*Perhaps easier to make & feed/water a baby, if that's what we want to do (I'm 32 next year. Dude will be 35)

Part-time Cons

*Perhaps less/no scholarships

*Perhaps poor-to-no job prospects

*Perhaps poor connections & experiences

*Perhaps less recognition/respect

*4ish years to get to the JD

Side note on why I'm even considering part-time app/enrollment:

I spent nearly $100k (including scholarships/loans) on my master's from NU in allied health. My bachelor's cost me much less, as I earned an associate's first and then took advantage of transfer scholarships. Mommy & Daddy didn't pay for college, unless you count my birthday & Xmas cash as student loan payback.

Although I currently make six figs, one of the reasons why I'm pursuing law school is that I've concluded that I no longer find my career path fulfilling, for multiple reasons. I've attempted a few times making changes to my path, but I always come to the same conclusion...I'm bored, incredibly unhappy, and miss using my brain in ways that I feel that the legal field will fulfill.

If I can continue to work as a clinician while going to law school part-time, I feel that I may have more stability in reducing income stress & tuition payments, rather than going into more massive debt. However, my biggest fear is that enrolling part-time will absolutely crush career prospects.

These are just my initial thoughts that keep swimming around in my head (tormenting me as I twist my mind around LR). Thoughts, ruminations, and arguments welcome.

Thanks!

I took the June LSAT and scored 150. Needless to say, I would like to do better next time around. I had a pretty demanding job this past year (as many of you here know, it is very difficult to work/study), but I followed through with the Premium 7sage course + many PT's + the Trainer. However, I am committed to retaking the test with the best possible strategy in mind. I am currently in a time of transition with work and here are my two options, which I am hoping to get your advice on:

1) I could try to stay in the city I live in currently and get a part time/full time (less demanding than my previous) job + take a BluePrint class and see if my issue all along studying was that I am not very good at self-study.

OR

2) I could go back to my hometown (the suburbs) and dedicate all of August and September to not working and only self-study for the LSAT (there are no BluePrint classes...or any good LSAT prep classes) whatsoever in my hometown. This would also mean that I would most likely extend my 7sage package and work through Cambridge Packets, Logical Games Bible, PT's, etc.

I am 22 years old and I definitely want to come back to the current city I live in for law school (which means option 1 would be good for establishing residency in this state). However, I would need a 165ish to get into law schools around here. So overall, what seems like the better study plan to help me get the best score possible for October? Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Does anyone BR the entire PT, or just the ones that were circled? I'm just now starting PT and I just want to make sure that I'm understanding each question type. I only circled those that I wasn't 100% but I guess I just want to solidfy that I know this question type and why I chose the answer. My plan is to BR the entire PT in the beginning of my BR studies then only BR those that I've circled once I've gained more confidence. I just took my first PT and for some reason I feel like I just took the training wheels off my bike! Does anyone see any issues with BR the entire PT? Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Printer - I purchased the Samsung 2020 laser printer someone recommended. I know the ink should last longer with the laser printer but I think I'll still be using lots of paper with LG. I have been using wide ruled notebook paper. It's much cheaper than printing paper, especially this time of year because of back to school sales. Most times you can get it for about .25 per pack for about 150 sheets, $1 for 600 sheets. The printer paper I buy is about $3 - $4 for 500 sheets. Can anyone think of any issues using this paper could create? I haven't been able to come up with anything. I'm just trying to figure out the cheapest way without screwing myself over in some way. Thoughts?

So I just signed up for the Premium package, and I'm confused as to what my plan of attack should be. I took the June LSAT and scored a 164. I missed -1 in logic games, and -2 in one of the LR sections. The Reading comprehension section and other LR section made up the other misses, about -8 for both. I started doing the 7sage methods for studying before taking the lsat, specifically blind review and the method for LG. Im curious if I should go back through all the lessons, or if I should just get the practice test books again, and start going through the questions using the 7sage methods while for the most part ignoring the teaching materials. I had originally used powerscore method up until I finished the books, then I discovered 7sage's methods about 3 weeks before the LSAT, which is when I applied their methods. Thank you for the help

Hello everyone,

While my PT score has increased little by little, it seems like my BR score has hit a plateau in the low to mid 170s. I've been studying for the LSAT for quite some time and am feeling frustrated that my BR score isn't consistently 175+. Anyone have advice on how to improve the BR? What tactics did you use? What I'm doing right now is going over all of the questions again after taking a PT. However, I still make confidence errors and am having trouble spotting them in advance. Any advice/tips you might have would be greatly appreciated.

Alright! I have completed the Premium package of 7Sage twice now, I started taking prep tests at the end of May and, so far, my average for PTs is 164 and my BR average is 170. My highest score so far is a 168 with a BR of 172. Obviously I need work in both my PT score and my BR score.

I am shooting to take the October LSAT and would like my PT mark to consistently sit in the low 170s before I write, so when I factor in nerves, etc, I can score in the high 160s/very low 170s. I think this is a realistic goal for me, but of course, I will always shoot to score beyond just in the low 170s!

I'm wondering where I should go with my study methods. My LG are near 0 wrong each time, so I maintain just completing 1 timed LG a day to keep my skills up, with BR/drilling on my PTs.

For Reading Comprehension, I find I'm struggling there the most as of right now. What do you suggest? I do have all the Cambridge packages, and I drill 2 in the AM every day from those. Should I be drilling a full 4 a day? I have read the LSAT Trainer section for RC, so my approach is to read for structure and what-not. Obviously I need to refine my skills in this section, but I guess I'm at a loss of where to go from here.

For my LG, I do miss an average 2-5 per section, so that needs work as well. I have started by printing the PT from 36 and above, and I am now drilling full sections under timed conditions and supplementing that with Cambridge packages untimed. Does that look like a good plan?

So far, I PT only on Saturdays. I only do a 4 section for now, to retain materials, but I have gotten into a good rhythm of waking up, hitting the gym, eating, drinking my coffee, and diving into a PT - keeping my test day schedule consistent. I am going to introduce a 5th section come August and maybe start taking 1 PT during the week, but I am debating that because of major mental fatigue after being at work all day.... not sure it would be worth it if it'll just be a bruise to my ego.

Any advice would be appreciated!

I am not having much luck getting any responses to my study buddy inquiries using the beta program, perhaps because I am still at least two test cycles away from taking the test. So, I thought I would try a discussion post to see if anyone out there is starting their LSAT prep now for one of the 2016 test dates (perhaps June or October, 2016) and would like to get an early start on a study buddy partner?

I've got a copy of Manhattan LR in the house. Ordered it a few months ago but didn't touch it.

Does anyone recommend it? I've gone through 7Sage twice as well as the Trainer, but always open to new perspective.