@ said:

@ Wellbutrin is what I've been on! My doctor prescribed me the SSRI Paxil, he said that the wellbutrin will counteract some of the bad side effects and would balance the ssri. I also love wellbutrin! I've been taking it for over a year. The only bad side effects I had were headaches during the first few weeks and horrendous insomnia now. What SSRIs have you tried? if you don't mind me asking! Eeeek. I'd say three months is a bit of a stretch. I think typically 4-6 should be sufficient but who knows. Everyone's different. I'm still deciding haha!

I've tried Paxil and Lexapro and I've also taken (not SSRIs) Pristiq, Brintellix, and Effexor. Paxil and Lexapro both brought the same adverse reactions (nausea, lack of ability to experience emotion). Effexor was very similar, though it's not an SSRI. Pristiq and Brintellix seemed to work relatively well for about a year each but they ultimately made me exhausted, which fed the cycle of laziness--eat junky foods--no exercise that defines my depression. I was also prescribed Klonopin for some pretty severe nighttime anxiety I was having but I only ever took that as needed for a brief period; I never noticed any adverse interactions with whatever anti-depressant I was on at the time (I think Pristiq).

Whatever you do, best of luck with it!!! If you ever need an understanding ear, you know how to find me :smile:

I take the generic version of Wellbutrin for depression and I love it.

SSRIs and I did not get along AT ALL. every one that I tried made me feel either completely devoid of emotion and zombie-like or constantly nauseated and exhausted. some of them took affect (negatively) within just a few days, others took a little longer. if you're unsure and there's not at least three months before your test date, I'd talk to the prescribing doctor and explain your concerns.

@ said:

Friday: Same as above - if you live in NJ we can have a spa day :wink:

thank you thank you thank you!!!!! this is exactly what I was looking for but just couldn't quite articulate. flaw questions are really the toughest for me so that makes what you're saying re: focusing on them even more important.

how long should I be timing the LR and LG sections - 35 minutes each section, right? should I avoid the earlier PTs and just focus on the most recent? I understand that the more recent tests tend to test your inductive reasoning abilities more than deductive...

first - thank you for all of your responses over the past couple of weeks! I appreciate you taking the time to earnestly respond, really :smile:

next - as far as the LSAT Trainer is concerned, today will be my first day actually using it. I just got it last week and have only skimmed the RC section. i'll keep you posted...

LR is where I'm planning to spend the majority of my studying time - I've got the question bank questions, the 35 prep tests from 7sage, a handful of other (newer) prep tests from a local prep course my son took, and an LR drill book (from the same local course). I'm trying to, at least in this initial phase, tackle question types. using the question bank and the material from the local course, I'm able to do that easily. right now, I'm focusing on Main Conclusion and Point-at-Issue questions; I'll move through the CC/local course materials by question type, focusing on a different type (or two if they relate) each day (7 days a week, some days a couple of hours, others 6-7 hours). I also have a few key rings filled up with homemade flash cards for identifying question types and how to approach them; translation rules and how to handle them; logical indicators; and valid/invalid argument forms using "lawgic". I'm referring to them multiple times a day (waiting in the car for whatever, cooking dinner, etc).

in addition to focusing on the LR refresher and drilling, I'm moving through about 3-5 games per day (this is easy for me to do because I kind of enjoy them - doesn't feel so much like work). until I feel confident (enough) in my LG and LR abilities, I'm not spending more than about 30 minutes a day on RC (and then only if my brain is up for it).

I guess what I'm wondering about is whether or not I should be organizing my studying like this: 'Monday: LR MC, PAI; LG from PTs1-5; 30 mins LSAT Trainer; Tuesday: LR MSS; LG from PTs 6-10..." or should I instead stick to one thing (LR or LG, not both) each day? Am I doing myself a disservice either way?

@ said:

Do you have a test day in mind?

oops - thought I posted this in the September 2018 section...

congratulations!!!! awesome improvement!

@ said:

Bad inspiration: Michael Cohen. If that man can become a lawyer, I sure as hell can. I'm not even in law school, and I know that I should probably double check a contract and get the client to sign it if he needs to, especially if the language mandates that he really should. Gives me hope that I can't possibly be that bad.

LOL! It's kind of nice going into a field already knowing that there's someone worse than you (and you haven't even started yet!). sort of gives you the freedom to relax a tiny bit. (I have the chant "There's someone worse than us! There's someone worse than us!" from an old Roseanne episode playing in my head...)

@ said:

I was using the sheet protectors for awhile when I was working on LG but after some time I realized that it really wasn't helpful for me. Yes, it helps save paper but now I print out the games. At some point you should use pencil and paper to get used to it.

I totally see where you're coming from - as I was working on some of the games yesterday, I thought "wow, it's so easy to just wipe off the last question's rules - they should let people use dry erase boards/markers for the test!" and then immediately was like, "ah, better practice in pencil..."

thank you!!! as I'm going through the CC for LGs, I'm printing out the games and putting them in a binder inside page protectors for drilling (someone suggested this as an alternative to printing out multiple copies of each - great idea, IMO) - but I have one question: are the games that are being taught/used in the CC ALL of the PT 1-35 LGs or are they just some of the games? If it's the latter, where can I locate the others?

following because I'm in the same exact spot and wondering the same thing...(so thanks for asking!)

Thurgood Marshall and Morris Dees

ETA: even though I know they probably don't count, I love Matlock and Atticus Finch ;)

I don't study several hours a day every day - one of the commenters was asking what kind of time I have available to study and I was responding accordingly. I don't actually study that much. I do study frequently but I recognize and respect my limits (plus I like TV lol).

I'm definitely reviewing the lawgic section of the CC and will be drilling LR regularly. I have a love/hate relationship with lawgic...when I listen to JY's instructions and can see how easy it makes finding the correct answers, I love it; when I have to figure that out on my own and I haven't quite gotten the hang of it, I hate it. my brain just isn't used to thinking this way - please tell me it clicks at some point!!

hi again :smile:

back from a much needed weekend away with the hubs, well rested and ready to jump back in...though admittedly I actually found myself kinda scared to do BR on this test because I performed so miserably the first time around.

here are the results of my BR today:

154

LR: 11/26 (-15 which is a -5 decrease from my original attempt; 11 of the answers I changed but got wrong during BR were correct the first time around)

LR: 16/25 (-9 which is a +8 increase)

LG: 21/24 (-3 which is a huge +12 increase - once I was able to figure out the game boards, it all fell into place)

RC 17/26 (-9 which is a +4 increase)

I'm much happier with these results, obviously. however, I realize that this is just one test and isn't a significant indicator of my performance on the actual test. I clearly have some stuff to work on (LR and science-related RC questions) so I'll be drilling LR and fool proofing games. I recently got the LSAT Trainer for the RC section as I've heard it's quite helpful in conjunction with 7sage, so I'll be working with that as well.

I'm hoping that with practice comes speed because that's going to be an issue...

@ said:

Have you completed the drilling and exercises that were in the CC? I'd normally suggest focusing on PTs because the exam isn't far away, but you're getting enough wrong that I don't think chugging PTs will be beneficial.

which drilling and exercises? I have not started drilling LG - I have all of them printed out, in page protectors, and ready to go and will start drilling those Monday (going out of town until then). I'm not sure what other exercises you're referring to...

@ said:

Enter your answer choices into the analytics on 7sage. Then post the data you get from that. 2 months isn't that much time. I want to be able to give you specific advice. Also when you give that information, please share what PT you took. Lastly, how many hours a week can you commit for these last 2 months?

PT 37

LR -10 (16/26 right)

LR -17 (8/25 right)

LG -15 (9/24 right)

RC -13 (13/26 right)

I can easily commit 6 hours Mon-Fri and up to 8 hours Sat-Sun.

@ said:

How far off of your goals are you? What were your sectional scores? Are you willing to consider another test date if September doesn't go as planned?

I didn't save my scores - I was worried if I did that I'd look at them and focus on the questions I got wrong instead of doing BR the way it's meant to be done. my worst section was LG, which I knew right away would be a problem as I was working on it because I couldn't figure out how to set up the games correctly, plus I ran out of time and literally Christmas-treed an entire game and a half worth of questions. LR was troublesome but I felt relatively confident in my answers in the first LR section, though not so much in the second section.

my diagnostic was 150; my PT today was 143; my goal is 160. I'm taking the September test but am ok with taking the November test as a back up if my score is bad.

for LR, I think where I get tripped up is figuring out how to properly apply lawgic to the LR questions. for LG, it's all about setting up the games correctly.

hi there! 44 yr old mom to three, wife to one here. my oldest is 25 and he's starting law school in St. Louis this fall, my middle is 23 and still lives at home while she finishes school, and my youngest is 10 and she's a full-on mama's girl - attached at the hip.

I'm lucky because my husband's job (atty) affords me the flexibility to go to school without having to work outside of the home, so my jobs right now are parenting and studying. I've been working part-time-ish as a photographer (currently only shooting for stock agencies) for about 5 years and I love the work but I've always wanted to practice criminal law. I'm one semester away from graduating with my BA in Criminology.

I'm putting a lot of stock into the LSAT because for me it's imperative that I get a scholarship in order to go to law school. I need to go to Stetson Law because it's local to me - living away from home is not an option for me and I want to be able to participate in local prosecutor and PD clinics (since that's where I hope to work). But if I don't get a scholarship, it just does not make good financial sense for me to rack up $150k in student loan debt to work at a job that pays $40k/year to start ($80k at the high point). and while there are a few other fields of practice that interest me, the whole reason I'm doing this is to practice criminal law. the last thing I want to do is put myself in a position where I need to take a job doing something I really don't like just to pay off my loans. because if I don't get a scholarship offer and I don't go to law school, my worst case scenario is not a "worst case" at all - I'll fall back on my photography career.

I definitely deal with all of the "what if's" and "am I doing the right thing?" questions all the time. the biggest two for me are: "will my family or marriage suffer as a result of this?" and "do I really want to give up the freedom and flexibility that I currently have in exchange for the daily grind again?" everyone in my family is very supportive of me going to law school, but I do worry that they're going to resent me when I'm not here anymore in the ways that I am now - when I'm no longer readily available to them. I especially worry how all of this will affect my super-attached 10 yr old...she'll be starting middle school the year I start law school. middle school sucks as it is, I don't want it to be even harder for her because I'm suddenly less available. and then my concerns about giving up my current freedoms fluctuate - one day I'm excited about the opportunity to interact with like-minded, intellectually stimulating people and the next I'm thinking "you'll be 50 in about 5 minutes, do you really want to be starting a career when most people are nearing retirement?" my brain is a stew of conflicting thoughts.

it's like taking a really, really long road trip and driving interstate at 75mph+ the whole way until suddenly you have to exit and drive 45mph and your foot is like, "what the hell, man?"...it just feels weird.

the only new thing I can add is to maybe try gardening. I've read that something happens when your hands are in dirt - maybe a connection with the earth, maybe the ability to mindlessly focus on something else, maybe just being outdoors - that will help to settle a troubled mind. I did a little of this over the past year and it does help when I'm in a depressive funk. even just pulling weeds or tending to a small herb garden helps.

but I do believe that the best way to see improvements is through the use of therapy (you'll know you have a good therapist when you have one - not all of them are good), a healthy diet, exercise (even just a walk outside), and being outdoors for a period of time.

I started 7sage (my first and so far only course of study) in late November 2017. I studied probably about 10 hours/week until the end of February. For various personal reasons (family obligations, exams, papers, etc), I stopped studying until May. When I started studying again, I put in about 20-30+ hours each week and will continue to do so until I take the test in September. I was originally scheduled to take it in July but I knew I wouldn't be quite ready. I'm not sure I'll be ready in September, either, but I'm giving it a go anyway. if I'm not happy with my score, I can retake it in November and still have time to apply for Fall 2019.

#teamsoybeans for the win

Also, did anyone else give the farmer a name in their essay? No? Just me? Yeah, by the time I got to the essay I was sooo done...

I have a similar concern - I hope it's ok to piggy back on your thread @ :) I've taken two (three after this coming semester) classes in undergrad that are taught by our county's Public Defender (not an assistant PD, THE public defender). she's - at least I don't think - technically a professor in the truest sense of the word but I think a LOR from her would really help me. I'm not sure if I should ask her. I have two professors that I'm torn between for the second LOR - one I've had three classes with and who knows me and my work ethic really well; or one I've only had one class with but who's been published hundreds (maybe thousands) of times and is widely respected and considered an authority in his field. Which one would you ask?

for me, yes.

last week I was knee-deep in the LG section of the CC. I was plugging away and doing fairly well. after about a week and a half of 4-6 hours of studying every day, I started just doing horribly on LG and nothing was making sense anymore. I got overwhelmed, I overthought my failures and subsequently got depressed. my brain forced me into a break that I didn't have time for - I stopped studying for 4 days. I came back fresh on Monday morning and everything was clicking again.

everyone handles stress/burn out differently. a tremendous help for me was getting outside and getting active. I think one day of paddle boarding did more good for me than 3 days of lazing around, watching crappy tv.

thanks for asking this - I'm finding that I'm making "dumb mistakes" in the LG section of the CC. prior to watching a video, I try to complete the game board and answer the questions on my own first so that I can pin point the flaw in my execution. most often, my mistakes happen when I either fail to complete inferences or actually read the stimulus incorrectly (which I think means I need to slow down a titch).

the above answers were really helpful for me to recognize that these "dumb mistakes" are legitimate issues that I need to take seriously to correct.

congrats everyone! I didn't even know this was a thing, but glad that it is because so many of you have been a tremendous help to me and saying "thank you!" just never feels like it's enough.