Hey Guys,

I just started using much more recent PT's as my test date nears and I wanted to see if anyone felt the same way about RC passages and LR.

Has it seemed as though the RC passages became incredibly more difficult around the mid 2000's? Or is it just me getting in my own head because I've spent more time on LR recently?

The questions even seems somewhat 'different', there seems to be much more inference involved rather than pulling enumerated pieces from the passage.

Maybe Im wrong ive only done a few modern PTs, just wanted to see everyone elses opinion on the matter. The pre 2000 RC seems like a cakewalk now haha

So I have a subscription to Scientific American MIND and this months edition had a 4 page write all about burnout. Although it was mostly pertaining to the workplace, I found much of the article pertained to burnout in general and would applicable to the LSAT, so I figured I'd share.

The articles begins by outlining what burnout is and how it comes about. Burnout typically comes as a result of overextending one self. The most familiar reason for burnout is exhaustion from working too hard with insufficient rest. This clearly isn't some secret, but as someone who has studied for the LSAT, I think its safe to say we often underestimate the need for rest and overlook how beneficial it can be to our studies.

The article goes on to say that the three main components of burnout are: exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy. Experts say that even exhibiting features of one area is a risk factor and that the three factors tend to be related. What typically contributes to burnout is unrealistic expectations and feeling a lack of control over your work. However, the article also notes that there is not just one recipe for burnout.

What I found particularly interesting was, "The quantity of work is important, but he real trouble arises from an employee's perception of his or her performance". This statement directly ties back to how setting unrealistic expectations can lead to burnout. I found this area to most relevant to the LSAT because I know there were times where I thought I did really well on a test, only to find out after scoring it I bombed it. Typically what followed were doubts about the entire process, maybe even a little anger and resentment towards the LSAC and there were even times where I felt like giving up.

So what does the article say helps to prevent or reduce burnout?

SOCIAL EXCHANGES, recovery periods, and a sense of community (i.e: 7sage!)

and the more obvious answer of course.... getting a sufficient amount of exercise, sleep, and eating healthy.

I think we often forget about how important it is, for whatever reason, that we actually take a step a way from our work and take care of ourselves. There are times in our lives, such as final exam season and studying for the LSAT, where our lives get hectic. But, that does not mean we must destroy our body and mind just to meet our goals. Sure, if you need to cram for an exam or be a hermit for a week or two thats fine. But the LSAT is a long-term test, that typically takes at least 3 or more months of studying before actually taking the test. It is important that when you study you take the time to take of yourself. Not only will you feel better, but it will likely improve your performance on the test as well. I know when I studied I considered not looking at the LSAT for an entire day as being lazy and uncommitted. I was SO WRONG. If I wasn't in LSAT mode 24/7 I felt guilty and useless. This was wrong and I probably could've benefited from actually going to see my friends or taking a day off here and there. While I did exercise and eat relatively healthy, I was pretty anti social. Some days I felt like not studying and actually going out and seeing society for once. However, I talked myself out of it and chalked up my behaviour to no pain no gain and pushed through. DO NOT DO THIS.

A highlight in the article for me was:

"People who face burnout DO NOT lack some essential quality, such as work ethic, resilience, or self-confidence"

"Burnout represents the erosions of these qualities"

This is exactly how I felt. That taking time to recover was a sign I lacked those qualities.

Moral of the story: Take the time to take care of yourself. Eat healthy, exercise regularly, and for heavens sake BE SOCIAL. This is not an excuse to procrastinate or go out and party because you deserve it. But you can take a day off to go and hang with friends during the day or at night, it won't kill you and it certainly shouldn't make or break your LSAT score.

My pre law advisor said to submit an addenda explaining that my LSAT is a poor predictor of my future promise at law school. I am applying this cycle and am debating submitting this information. I got an 1820 on my SAT in 2009 (83rd percentile) and had a 4.41 GPA going into college. By the time I graduated, I had a 3.87, worked12 jobs, was on the high honor roll, college honors program, phi beta kappa, and a couple of other academic honors and awards. BUT my LSAT (took it in december so not 100% sure) is hovering between a 159-161. What are your thoughts on sharing past SAT scores with schools and sharing this kind of addenda?

Hi all!

I am a professional writer with many publications under my belt. For years now I have helped many individuals gain acceptance to the undergraduate and graduate schools of their choice. If you are having issues with your personal statement, need editing, polishing, planning, or writing assistance, feel free to message me here on 7Sage with your name and email address. I have been very successful with this. Please note, I will NOT write a personal statement for you, but I can help you craft something that make you stand out.

Good Luck!

Has anybody applying to law school completed a master's degree outside the US or Canada? I see on the LSAC website that undergraduate transcripts must be sent from the degree granting international institution, but I'm not clear on the protocol for graduate work. I did a master's in Spain...anyone know if I have to have the diploma and transcripts translated into English and forwarded directly from the university to LSAC? In case anyone has experience with this, words of wisdom much appreciated!

Do law schools see all the places you have applied?

Hello: Is there an online forum for us to submit and/or critique each other's personal statement?

1) Done 4 PT's with BR and the scores are fluctuating between 148 and 160. At what point did you guys start seeing consistency in your PTs?

2) Do you think its worth getting the Cambridge LR drills from old Lsat's (1-35)?

Thanks everyone!

I recently emailed sage with a couple questions about their courses. It has been a couple days and no response yet. Does anyone know if it takes them a while to respond? And do they have a 800 number?

I've heard some say that the Economist is a great source to improve on vocabulary and reading ability to improve LSAT ability.

Anyone used the above news source or something else to improve?

Looking for LSAT study buddy in Mississauga area

Question guys!

I was curious, if for certain question types anyone simply scans directly for the correct answer, or upon seeing the correct answer; even relatively early among answer choices (A or B for example), selects it and moves on in an effort to fortify time remaining for more difficult question types .

Is this a dangerous tactic? Can this be a good tactic for answer choices that clearly shine true, such as conclusion/MP questions et cetera?

I employed this method upon my first few pts without much thought upon around the first 10 Q's in LR and found I was saving a vast amount of time by not reading wrong answer choices (I was finishing almost 10 minutes early with minimal unaccredited responses (for me anyway, around -4) . I refrained from using this method several PTs later after coming across mid section problems I would get wrong by not reading ALL of the answer choices. Now a days, time is a serious issue for me and can score anywhere from -4 to -10, the larger portion of negatives owing to the time crunch I think.

IF anything, could this be used as an effective means of time management? Or does it seem too dangerous

Thanks in advance

So I started preparing for LSAT recently (last week), and I have bought the 3 bibles along with previous PTs.

What's your opinion about the bibles?

Is it true that the bibles are a waste of time? That's what I concluded from several people who studied the bibles then found out about 7sage. I consider myself lucky to find 7sage at an early stage.

I am really confused at this stage. My current thoughts are to study with the bible for the first couple of months then jump to 7sage buying the starter package(3 months) but, of course, there are worries along with that including getting confused with different approaches, burning some tests, wasting time with powerscore.

Your input is greatly appreciated.

Last thing, I am planning to write it in June 2015.

I'm curious. Your answer could be long / short / funny / serious. A few entries will be selected for free stuff here on 7Sage.

Edit: Contest is over, please vote! Winners will be selected (hopefully) soon.

So. I'm pretty sure I might be re-taking. Not sure yet. At all. I guess we shall see come January 5.

However, someone posted their Reading Comprehension Method and I remember reading it, but I can't remember where it is now.

They posted something like... they don't make note of details, just... Authors Position, Opponents Position, ect.

I'm wondering if anyone who has a solid RC method would post it here! I think I'm going to start prepping for the June LSAT now, and RC was my weakness.

:) so please! Share your methods!!

Pls send me an email to [removed] if you are interested, I am planning to take the test in February 2015.

Note from Student Services: Don't include emails! PM instead. :)

Hey all,

I sat the December LSAT at an unpublished test site in Japan, and from what I understand, the test I took was not the same as the one taken by those in North America. What I don't know is whether the test I took is the same as others took at published test centres outside of North America, or whether the test I took was completely different from both.

Also, does anyone know whether the same curve will apply to all tests administered in December, regardless of testing location?

Now that I'm done studying for/taking the LSAT, I was wondering if anyone could tell me more about the 7sage law school prep. Is it for people who are in the middle of their first year or are you supposed to do the course before you go to law school? Also, in what ways do the course prepare you for law school? Thanks for any help in advance :}

Hey guys, so i was wondering if i could get your opinion on my study plan. I recently finished taking Blueprint Prep course around 1 week ago and since then i've just been doing timed sections from preptests 33 - 37, with one full timed PT.

I have no time restrictions at all since i graduated from UG and have money saved up, so i don't need to work for the time being. Since Blueprint used real PTs in their materials it only leaves me with like 14 Fresh practice tests to use to get a score from, so i'm using those maybe once every 2 weeks or so to measure my progress.

As for materials to practice from, i have all of the practice tests to date and have gotten them printed out and coil bounded. My last timed fresh PT that i did with blueprint i scored a 153, and my most recent BR that i did was around 173, so i'm using that as my most recent score to base my focus on and still working on my accuracy until it gets above a 175+. My plan for the next 8 weeks is as follows:

Month 1: My focus is gonna be improving my BR to be consistently above 175+. This is the schedule i have in mind:

- Monday & Wednesday: Full 5 section PT w/ Blind Review.

- Tuesday & Thursday: Drilling areas i'm not great at + hammering the Memory Method for reading comp and repeating games from the Full PT that i wasn't getting in perfect time or missed questions on.

- Friday: Day Off to prevent Burn Out.

- Saturday: Full 5 section PT w/ Blind Review (2 of these in this month will be Fresh to measure my score).

- Sunday: Review Day (Going back and reviewing each problem i got wrong during blind review and review it + drill any question type or game that i'm having trouble on)

Month 2: Switch gears to timing and endurance:

- Mondays & Wednesdays : Full 5/6 section PT w/ Blind Review.

- Tuesday & Thursdays: Individual Timed Sections + Any drilling if need be.

- Friday: Day Off

- Saturday: Full 5/6 section PT w/ Blind Review (3 of these will be fresh).

- Sunday: Review Day.

Doing this will leave me around 6-7 Fresh PTs to have just in case i'm not at my target score (170+) by the February test. If that happens then i plan on continuing the same plan until the June test.

Any opinions on things that i can add to make it better or if this is too intense?

Thanks Guys!

- Naveed.

Also one thing i've realized is just how important BR is. I WISH i would have found 7sage sooner. Although Blueprint taught me great foundational stuff, i know i could have learned it faster with 7 sage and improved wayyy more, mainly because all the intense amounts of work and studying i did with blueprint... i could have been BR-ing and learning a ton more in terms of improving the way i approach problems and tweak what works for ME. My original diagnostic was a 152, and the highest i ever scored after taking blueprint was a 157 with constant fluctuations. I felt like i had accuracy down but it wasn't until i did my first BR and i got a 163 on accuracy that i realized that there were deep foundational mistakes that i needed to improve on before i could hammer on timing. Only after 2 weeks of BR and drilling i've been able to improve my accuracy to 173 already, so seriously thank you 7sage for your free resources, you guys are amazing!

I was planing to take Feb one but then realized that I won't get ready by then... so I want to cancel Feb one but I am afraid that it might leave a record or some sorts?

Can someone please answer my question?

Thanks in advance!

Okay. I have been studying lightly from end of May to August. I then studied everyday from August till the December exam. I work full time, so I studied mostly in the morning, on my lunch break, and in the evening.

I was averaging about a 160 before going into the LSAT. My logic games were always in the range of 0 - -3 wrong, so usually the LG brought my mark up quite a bit.

Now that's been a week I'm not sure. I guessed on the entire 4th game. I had an experimental Reading Comp, which, with RC, I average a -8, but the experimental somehow... brought my confidence up. I did every question, understood the passages, it was great! I did the LR, which I usually get -5 ish wrong, but that too felt pretty good. I answered all of them.

For the real RC, I remember the last passage being a bit hard, but I did push through and finish all of them. Same with the last LR.

What I'm wondering... now that I sit here.

I know that my application is not the strongest, but they do offer admissions to people with my GPA, and with my corresponding LSAT average. However, with that LG, I'm not sure if it's worth it for me to keep my score.... or not. I'm in Edmonton, Alberta, and I want to go to the UofA, but they average all LSAT scores. They're the only school I applied to that does that.

Would it be smarter for me to cancel my score now, instead of having a .... say... 154 show up on my LSAT score? Nothing significant happened to me during my test where I feel sufficient to write an addendum.... but could I? Say I retake for the June for the next cycle, and I pull out a 170. I wouldn't want them to average my score....? You know what I mean?

Anyone who could help shed some light would be appreciated. I'm feeling a bit blue about the exam, now that a week has passed.

I want to establish a practising habit. I know that later on I will be doing proctored PTs with BR, and this will be on PTs of 38+. Apart from that, when am I to do timed questions?

Let's say I am studying inference, after reading the theory, I will be doing inference questions from LSAT (1-38). Do you advise of doing these ones timed or not timed? I was initially thinking of doing them not timed to digest the concept well. What if after doing that, I find myself to be very bad with timing? Also when do you advice of doing full sections instead of categorized sections? and will that be timed or not timed?

I don't want to burn precious questions.

Many thanks

Hello everyone! I quickly want to introduce myself before I ask my question. First off, my name is Peter and I graduated from UC Berkeley in 2011 with a Bachelors Degree in History. Since then, I have been working in the legal department, (drafting contracts and dealing with third party author misconduct issues) for a educational publishing company. Now on to my questions!

I have browsing the web on different ways to study for the LSAT and a lot of people (reddit) had suggested using 7Sage. The courses certainly look promising, but is there anything I would be missing out on? I guess more specifically, do I need to buy supplemental books or materials?

When looking at books to buy for studying, there is usually a list of at least a half dozen books. A lot of people suggest the powerscore bible for logic games and logical reasoning but state that I should stay away from their reading comprehension bible. I plan on taking the June 2015 LSAT and would be purchasing the 7Sage Premium Course. Am I set with just purchasing the 7Sage Premium Course, or is it best to buy additional (and if so, which) materials?

Assuming that I don't get the score that I want in June, I know I can extend my course for an additional fee. The next test that I would sign up for then would be the September LSAT. How much is the additional fee and how long does that extend the course? Or is it better off buying the LSAT Ultimate Course? The only downside with this I see, is that I DO get the score I want on the June LSAT and then I have a course that I am not taking advantage of. Thank you everyone for taking the time to read this!

Regards,

Peter

So I faxed my cancellation form and got a receipt back, but I am still nervous that something got fucked up. Should I do anything else to make sure they know of my intent to cancel? Or should I just let the process play out?

Hey everyone!

I have only been studying for the lsat for a little over 2 months and can't seem to get where I need to be. I keep seeing everyone talk about how horrible they are doing when scoring a 160 but I can only wish that is where I am. So my question to all of you is this: Did you start off scoring high or was it a progressive thing? Should I be scared?? I am now getting super serious about studying as I am aiming to take the June test so if anyone wants to start a study group with me that would be AWESOME!!