Hi does anyone know which one is the best test center in the City of Los Angeles area?

I am considering:

. Loyola Marymount

. Southwestern

. UWLA (San Fernando)

THANKS!

Hey guys, i'm wondering if any of you have any suggestions or tips for keeping yourself engaged and continue with a stable level of momentum throughout the PT. I've noticed recently that i tend to get these mini-burn outs around the end of the section where i start to lag in situations where i should be going a quicker.

So, it's June 8th and I'm ready to take my exam. The school location changed at the last minute and I seem to be in an industrial building. As confused as I am as to why the location was changed, I'm still just trying to stay focused and remind myself of the different strategies I intend to use to attack the LSAT. I walk into the room and it's different than any other classroom I've experienced. There are no windows, the walls seem to be made out of dark metal sheets, and the lighting is very dull. Our seats are arranged in a square like fashion. If I look in front of me I can see someone directly facing me and there are people immediately to my right and my left. I'm worried because this just feels unnatural and depressing. As I look up I see the proctor walking in, and it's the TA from "Writing I" during my freshman year of college. This confuses me. He was also heavy smoker, and I am reminded of this as he proceeds to fill the room with a dull smog of cigarette smoke. Suddenly J.Y.'s voice pops into my head, he says "you can do this, remember all of your training, and the countless hours you watched videos of Jon and I explaining simple answers you got wrong." The proctor administers the test and shortly after I begin.

I open to the first section and it's LR. "This is awesome", I think to myself. "LR and LG are the sections where I've produced the best results and intellectual advancement, just like J.Y. said I would." However, by the time I get to #14 time has been called and I've missed answering half the questions. I'm going crazy. I think to myself "Is this the experimental? Should I cancel my score? Should I continue?" The next section is LG, attempting to shrug off the crappy feeling the previous section bestowed upon me, I move forward. Time is called again, and once again I only finished halfway though. This makes no sense to me. My 180 watch has 15 minutes left on it. Somehow everyone else in the room comfortably finishes except for me? "Is this a joke?" I think to myself. At this point, I go through all of the mathematical possibilities for me to at least hit a 155 (assuming one of the sections was experimental.) I eventually move on to the third section and it's RC. This is my worst section, yet I finished it on time with 5 minutes left to spare. It's weird, he didn't call time early and I finished RC early?? "I must be dreaming" I thought to myself. It's time for our break, but, it's 45 minutes long. "This must be why he cut the first two sections so short, he wanted to add 30 minutes to the break so he could smoke half a pack."

During my break I go home and contemplate suicide. The stress is eating at me horribly, thoughts of 1L at a crappy school are haunting me, and I feel like all I've studied/worked for was for nothing. I started to cry and feel ashamed to look into my family's eyes, my girlfriend's eyes, and all I could think of was being an outlier of the 7Sage curriculum. 7Sage has produced so many high scoring awesome individuals, but I couldn't live up to that standard. I get ready to go back to my testing location and try to at least finish the exam with some dignity.

As soon as I get there the test had already started. I WAS 15 MINUTES LATE! well, I really wasn't, but the proctor decided to cut the break by 15 minutes. I rush to my exam and it's another RC section. I only answered 10 question before time was called, and it was horrible. I felt tense, I felt everyone's glaring eyes staring into my soul through the smog, and I started to laugh hysterically. I looked at my test booklet, and it was infinite. I was stuck in a room with an LSAT test that never ended. As I was laughing J.Y. appears and clears the smog away. I then looked at my test booklet and it was brand new with 5 sections. As I look up I noticed I was in a new testing room. J.Y. is the proctor and everyone's usernames I could remember from 7Sage hovered over blank faces. I started my exam and as soon as I turned to the first page I woke up.

I've been cursed by your wizardry, @"J.Y. Ping".

Walking around with my attorney friend yesterday discussing a trial (I'm also her legal assistant), the curse began to take effect:

Words like "unless," "until," "the only," "without": they triggered a response in my mind that went like this: "Negate, make sufficient ... Unless he provides X, we have grounds for Y." This was the case for all logical indicators uttered in conversation. This has continued to be the case today. This is both uncanny (lit. "unheimlich") and amazing.

Anyone else have experience with this ... I'm alarmed to see what was previously such a foreign concept to me suddenly appear as being ingrained as automatic behavior. This is both thrilling and disturbing (but in a way I really like).

So I have just begun studying with this program the last couple weeks. Originally, my goal was to take the LSAT this upcoming October, but after the first few lessons, I am worried that I will not have enough time for it. I thought about pushing the date I take it back, but I have also read that the sooner you apply to law schools, the better chance you have getting in and receiving financial aid. So I am torn between giving myself more time for prep and taking it sooner so I can get my application in sooner.

Any advice?

Hi all, there are a lot of lessons on 7sage and I was hoping if you guys could share which ones you found the most helpful.

Is it normal that one hits a point in their studying where it all just "clicks" and your score just rapidly increases? Or is it more likely to slowly progress?

I'm normally making in the low 160s when I prep-test, which isn't too bad - it is good enough to get in to the school I want to go to, but I generally miss half of my questions solely in reading comprehension. I normally miss 10-12 in RC, and then 3-4 in each of the other sections. I'm just not retaining any of what I have read. I can do it no big deal when I BR because I don't have the pressure of time...but when I do have the timer I seem to be always picking the most common wrong answers. Does any body have any tips for what I could do to improve retention/understanding of what to pay specific attention to while reading?? I take the LSAT in June! Thanks!!

Hey guys! I made a study guide on Quizlet with LR question types (like Mike suggested) that I wanted to share/ get feedback on (particularly with respect to #18, types of arguments). It's purposefully not as dense as it could be because it's what I intend to use to prime myself before taking a PT and the real LSAT.

1. Agree

Step 1: Read the stimulus

Step 2: Underline conclusion

Step 3: Ask yourself the following questions

-- (1) Do they arrive at the same conclusion? POA (point of agreement): conclusion

-- (2) Do they use the same premise to arrive at different conclusions? POA: premise

-- (3) Do they use different premises to arrive at different conclusions? POA: subject matter

2. Disagree

Step 1: Read the stimulus

Step 2: Underline conclusion

Step 3: Ask yourself the following questions

-- (1) Do they use the same premise to arrive at different conclusions? POD (point of disagreement): conclusion

-- (3) Do they use different premises to arrive at different conclusions? POD: premise

Note: It is really important to understand what they are talking about. Think back to the ESP disagree example -- you would have gotten this question right if you thought about the fact that what they're talking about is the extent of public opinion on the existence of ESP.

3. Explain

4. Flaw

Step 1: Underline conclusion

Step 2: Find premise

Step 3a: Use typically fallacious terminology to properly identify the flaw (e.g., correlation =/= causation)

Step 3b: If you cannot draw upon existing knowledge of term bank, write down what exactly the argument doesn't take into account

Step 4: POE (process of elimination)

- Wrong flaw (not in the argument)

- Mixing of flaw (gets the right elements of the flaw but in the wrong order)

- FIC (factually incorrect)

- OS (out of scope) (specifically when they talk about information that isn't present in the argument -- this can feel odd when you're in the test because you won't know how to classify this answer choice since it almost seems like no parts relate to the main argument)

Note: It's really important when you're eliminating answer choices to really understand what the answer choice is doing. There will be some instances where you get two answer choices that relate to S/N confusion but will reverse the wrong one (so it will say confuses the sufficient for the necessary). You need to be extremely careful and if necessary, come back to these to give you the time you need.

5. Logically Completes the Argument

Step 1: Read the stimulus

Step 2: Underline conclusion (if you can)

Step 3: Identify what part is missing (typically the conclusion but could be a supporting premise)

Step 4: POE (process of elimination)

- Eliminate AC's that aren't the correct AP (argument part)

- Eliminate AC's that aren't MBT

6. MBT

Step 1: Underline conclusion

Step 2: Link up premises

Step 3: Chain them up if you can

** pay very close attention to a solitary conditional statement

Step 4: Go to answer choices and POE

- Mixes up terms (very common)

- FIC (factually incorrect)

- MS (modal shift)

- DS (degree shift)

- OS (out of scope)

8. MSS

Step 1: Read the stimulus

Step 2: Link up concepts (if you can)

Step 3: Go to answer choices and POE

- Mixes up terms (very common)

- FIC

- MS

- DS

- OS

Note: Be extremely wary of very strong answer choices but do not eliminate because they are strong.

9. Necessary Assumption

Step 1: Underline conclusion

Step 2: Identify premises

Step 3: Diagram into P -- C format

Step 4a: What's missing? Term shift? Do you need to eliminate alt. causes?

Step 4b: If nothing's missing, then the necessary assumption will need to actually link P -- C (ex: P actually has an effect on C)

Step 5: Find the correct answer choice and use POE (the wrong answer choices will typically focus on the wrong part of the argument so knowing what terms or links you need to focus on is crucial to not getting messed up)

Step 6: Confirm the correct answer choice using the negation test

10. Parallel

When reading the stimulus, look out for and write down:

1) Underline conclusion

2) Argument structure in stock variables (A --> B, B --> C // C)

3) Pay attention to the degree

4) Pay attention to the modality

When going through the answer choices, the fastest way to eliminate them is to eliminate based off of degree, modality, and then mapping out the argument structure. Even if you don't really understand the argument, look out for these three things: argument structure, degree, and modality.

11. Parallel Flaw

When reading the stimulus, write down the flaw you are looking for (luckily, these can be easily categorized or identified).

When going through the answer choices, find the answer choice that matches. If stuck between 2, compare the argument structure, degree, and modality.

12. Principle

Step 1: Underline the conclusion

Step 2: Identify the main premise

Step 3: Put into argument core (P -- C)

Step 4: POE

Note: Principle questions can be like Sufficient Assumption questions where the AC tightly fills the gap between P and C OR they can be like Strengthen questions where the AC helps fill the gap between the 2 but doesn't necessary fill it.

13. Reading Comprehension

-- As you're reading, answer the following questions:

1) What is the MP?

2) What is the AA?

3) What is the structure?

4) What are the main examples?

-- When you're answering questions, pre-phrase the correct AC before looking at the correct answers. Find the AC that matches the correct answer. It is even more important in RC to read every single answer choice carefully because 1 word can make or break an AC.

-- Typically, answer choices will be wrong because:

- MS

- DS

- OS

- FIC

-- If you don't know how to answer a question or are really struggling with a passage, eliminate as best you can (do not OVER eliminate) and then move on. Do not get sucked into spending 3+ minutes on answering a question right.

14. Resolve

(1) Are the 2 groups treated the same?

-- Correct AC: needs to show how the 2 groups are different

(2) Are the 2 groups treated differently?

-- Correct AC: needs to show how the 2 groups are similar

15. Role / Argument Part

Step 1: Read the stimulus

Step 2: Identify the argument part

Background -- sets up context for the stimulus

Premise -- supports something (note, even if the premise supports the IC, it is still the premise)

Intermediate Conclusion -- both is supported by something and supports something

Conclusion -- is supported by the argument and supports nothing else in the argument

16. Strengthen

Step 1: Identify conclusion

Step 2: Diagram argument core

Step 3a: If causal, strengthen the argument by showing SC --> SE (same cause, same effect), NC --> NE (no cause, no effect), lack of reverse causation, and lack of alt. causes)

Step 3b: If not casual, strengthen the argument by linking terms

Step 3c: If the argument draws on evidence from 2 groups, then show that the 2 groups are similar (if the argument treats them as such) or as different (again, if the argument treats them as such)

Step 4: POE

- FIC

- OS

- MS

- DS

- Weakens

- P+ (premise booster) (this can be tricky)

Note: Sometimes, all it takes is one word to destroy what might seem like a correct answer choice. Pay very close attention to the answer choices.

I see there are just over 1000 questions with the Cambridge LR bundle.

Just wondering if they are more comprehensive than all of the LR practice sets with the 7Sage Ultimate package?

Trying to decide if I should buy the Cambridge bundle or just print off all of the LR practice sets on here to drill with.

This might be a strange question; hoping I can explain myself properly...!

I plan to start PTing soon for the October test. I've been through the core curriculum twice, the Trainer twice and the LG bundle once.

For those of you PTing, is it normal to start the process without feeling you have a totally firm grasp of each concept? Something inside me is misleading me into thinking that I need to be 100% sharp-skilled and "test ready" for I dive into the PTs. When deep down I know that the extra work that the PTs spur on, in context, is what will actually make me test ready.

So, in conclusion, is it normal to enter PTing somewhat foggy? I don't want to keep feeling I must learn more first, and enter dangerous ground of delaying PTing too much.

There is no test center anymore anywhere in San Jose or in the whole SF South Bay region for ANY test administration!!

There used to a few in San Jose. Now none exists in the region for the upcoming June/Oct/Dec/Feb tests. Santa Clara U is also closed.

South Bay takers, where are you testing?

[mod edit: please dont post titles/content in all caps.]

Not sure who would have to be the architect for this, and I'm sure it wouldn't be done before I take the LSAT in October, but I was thinking for future 7Sagers it would be nice to make the study schedule more interactive. As an example, I have had the Ultimate package for a while now and I recently finished the curriculum and have taken a couple of PTs, but I also just bought the most recent PTs when they were on sale before the LSAC PDF ban took effect. I also bought the PS bundle to complete the total 7Sage package. Because of this, and also due to the removal of the LG Bundle, my schedule has gone all over the place. Previously I was supposed to have started PTs next week, but now I'm supposed to have already finished 6 PTs.

I think it would be great if we could pick what we wanted to be on our schedule and then generate based on those chosen tasks whether it was specific lessons or whole subsections of the curriculum. For example, I don't need the PS Bundle to appear the week before the LSAT since I won't be working on it then, but I would like the LG Bundle to be factored back in. I think the best possible way to do this would be to somehow integrate the syllabus with the study schedule so that I could star any items that I wanted on my schedule and then set a start date and test date. This way I could star specific lessons to review throughout my PT schedule in order to make sure I was keeping all my skills up without having to go back and search out those lessons.

Anyways, I'm sure this is asking a lot of the creators of this site, but I love this site and have gotten so much out of it that I just wanted to make this suggestion to see if there was any popular support for such an improvement and hopefully we could help out future users based on our own user experiences.

Hi 7sagers,

I have a question about test taking. At the end of the section the test proctor says "please put your pencils down."

While the proctor is saying this, can we bubble in our last answer(s)? Unfortunately as I am often considering 1 or 2 questions at the end of time on a section, this is a real concern for me. I want to be able to at least fill out a bubble for each question. And there is a second or two between when the proctor starts saying this and stops saying this which (if you are hovering on a last question) can allow you to jot down your best (or automatic) guess.

What are the experiences of those who have taken the test with this issue?

Thanks

What are YOU doing in these next 3 weeks to maximize that score?

As for me, I'm going to be taking PT 63-74 and really nailing LR & RC. Both have been thrown out of wack for me once I started PT'ing in the 60s so my goal is to figure out what is going on in order to prepare as best as I can for June. I'm also going to take 5 section PTs for the next week and a half and then ramping that up to 6 section PTs so I'm not fatigued in the 5th section. I was shocked to see how much my brain hurt by the 5th section, even though I was completely 100% fine at the end of the 4th section.

What are your trade secrets?

Hi all!

I've been studying for a while now, and over the past two or three weeks my scores have been dipping to the high 150s-low 160s, when I used to be able to get mid-160s. My BRs average anywhere between 169-173 and it's been a while since I hit a score I've been happy with. Not sure what's happening to me but when I'm doing separate timed sections I seem to be doing significantly better than when I put it all together in a PT >:( Is there still hope for me to get in the mid/high 160s from now til the 8th? I'm definitely starting to panic and feel like poop. I took the Dec '14 LSAT and got discouraged with a 159 so I stopped studying til ~March after I got a full-time job. Any advice would be super helpful!

http://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-66-section-4-question-23/

I just wanted to hear other people's thoughts on this question. It just felt totally weird to me, it seemed like the correct answer choice was inconsequential compared to the central disagreement, which I *incorrectly* assumed was damaging to the environment vs. not damaging.

Jolene appears to be taking issue with Alex's premise rather than the conclusion or the argument itself. Thoughts?

Hi everyone,

I'm taking somewhat of an LSAT hiatus for March (school, it happens) but I'm going to start a goal-setting/accountability thread here. Even if my goals will be pretty lean for the next three weeks, it'll be nice to have a solid motivation system in place for April, when I'm hoping to come back to LSAT with a VENGEANCE haha.

So the idea is that every week (let's say window from Sunday night to Tuesday morning), we post our tasks that we want to accomplish for the week -- and then the following week we check back and see if everyone managed to cross off the study items on their to-do list. :-) I'm hoping this will help us all stay motivated and accountable!

I'm debating whether to take june or October And can't schedule October without canceling june .

How do test sites look for October in SF?

Have any of you taken any foreign LSATs for practice? Three Indian LSATS (administered by LSAC) are available for free on Cambridge's website (http://www.cambridgelsat.com/resources/free-downloads/logic-games-practice/). Since LSAC administers the exam, is it safe to assume that the content is comparable to the test administered here in the U.S.?

@"Jonathan Wang"

@amanda_kw

@nicole.hopkins

@emli1000

@ddakjiking

@"Nilesh S"

@"Dillon A. Wright"

@blah170blah

I am consistently scoring in the low 160s (160-163) and scoring in the mid 160s to low 170s (166-172) after BR. Do any of you have any suggestions on how to get out of a plateau. On BR, I immediately notice many careless mistakes, either due to misreading the questions or stimulus or time constraint, but I always seem to make comparable careless mistakes on the next PT I take. Does anyone else struggle with this issue? I am taking the October test and I have only completed PT 36-46 and June '07. I also have every single PT, including 1-35 and PT A,B and C. Would it be helpful for me to take every single one of them as a PT, or should I save some of them for drilling? I want to maximize my potential on the LSAT and I'm willing to take and thoroughly BR as many PTs as necessary.

@nicole.hopkins @amanda_kw @emli1000 @"Nilesh S" @ddakjiking @"Jonathan Wang"

I wanted to share mine. I frequently look at the law school numbers website to see who's been accepted, how much money has been awarded and etc. I see scores better than my official score, but much lower than my PT scores (either having worse gpas if not exactly the same) getting accepted and even with some scholarship pocket money. I was given a second chance to re-apply to my first choice if I can improve on my June exam. My blood boils at the fact that I can do so well but under performed when it counts, this motivates me to keep going, even when mentally fatigued (I don't mean burnt out.) To clarify I mean that if I've set up an agenda for that day I don't allow myself to fall short OR do it half-assed. GAAA I'm so angry! Fortunately this makes me a crap ton more motivated to keep going and noticing my improvement makes it all more enjoyable! If anyone else wants to share their take please feel free! I just had to let this out!

So I'm going to be writing the October LSAT, and from what I've been reading scores are generally released 3 weeks after you write the LSAT on the LSAC website. I've also heard that they can be mailed to you in 4 weeks.

My question is how do the scores look like when you login to see them, is it a simple number out of 180, without showing what you got on each section, or something different?

Also I'm a bit worried that I won't be able to apply to schools if I receive scores in November, as that's close to the deadlines for most Canadian schools.

Hi All...

I'm accepting reality and changing my test date from June to, well, October or December. I can't decide. On the one hand, if I don't keep having things happen that interrupt my preparation I could be ready by October, but life keeps happening, so maybe I should do December. If I change to October now, and later decide I want to stall ... er, change, again, can I later switch from October to December?

Thanks...

And place it near our booklet? Also what pencils should I use ? I've been drilling c mechanical ones up to this point .