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M.Ed. Curriculum & Instruction with 2 (going on 3 now) years of classroom teaching experience in secondary science. BA Chemistry, looking to pivot into patent law litigation.
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I don't have anywhere near two degrees in English, but I do have a minor in English, and I read like 100 books a year minimum. I can relate to being decently strong at RC. I started off with a -2. But then I fluctuated back and forth between -0 and -5 for a couple weeks until I figured out that I needed to have a consistent approach to every single passage every single time. Now I'm getting -1, which is still not where I want to be, but it's been plateaued there instead of having huge variations, which is improvement.
What I like to do in RC is not only make a low-res summary, but also take the time to summarize after each paragraph. I also prephrase:
what is the main point
what is the tone
what are the different perspectives in the passage
how do the paragraphs relate to each other
Then I also have some mantras that I say to myself before every single test/section. Some of them include:
Prephrase on everything.
Trust my prephrase.
Every answer choice gets the same energy as the first one, even when I'm sure.
Before I click, have I proven this is right, or does it just feel right?
No flip-flopping, which means to switch an answer, I have to know that my current answer is wrong and the new one is 100% right.
A few things about making sure you're maximizing your use of your time:
Read all 5: You need to actually fully read every single answer choice and tell yourself, "What does that answer choice actually mean?" A lot of people are saving time by not reading every answer choice. If you're finding that you have way too much time, then maybe you need to go back and actually be reading every single choice on every single problem.
Prephrase: If you're finding that you have a lot of extra time, maybe you're not using enough of it to prephrase.
Take a second to pause and confirm that you're 100% sure on an answer choice before you click on it, and even take a deep breath before you click on the answer choice. That could help slow you down and improve your accuracy.
On RC, take a moment to pause after you're done reading the passage. Make sure you have your low-res summary, but then also take a moment to pre-phrase:
What is the tone?
What is the main point?
What are the perspectives in the passage?
That might help you a little bit on slowing down for RC and getting more questions right.
Hello,
This may seem like a really pedantic request, but I love literature and I hate fine art. I don't like that they're tagged in the same tag for RC passages. I really just want them to be tagged separately.
Also, I would really like it if y'all could tag the different kinds of science in the science passages, like biology, geology, chemistry, physics, etc. If we could tag all the subtopics in the RC passages, that would be really nice. I would really love to be able to study the topics I hate without being surprised by a topic I like and then getting it right because I'm interested which doesn't help me improve on my weak areas. I'm trying to challenge myself here.
Also, maybe there could also be a feature in the analytics tab where people can suggest a tag for a question, and then if enough people suggest a tag, the tag could be reviewed and added to the question?
I’m a teacher on summer vacation. It’s been a little chaotic to plan around a travel schedule, but nothing like working full time. But I cannot imagine taking the test during the school year.
Choosing What to Memorize
How do you make Anki cards out of a 7Sage core curriculum page, a textbook, or whatever other text (spoiler, this can apply to things outside of the LSAT)? First, determine what content you actually need to memorize. This is highly individualized; if a concept is incredibly intuitive or obvious to you, skip it. If you know a rule like the back of your hand and can apply it flawlessly without hesitation, do not waste time making a flashcard.
Breaking Down the Content
Break each concept down into its smallest, most manageable parts—often called "atomic flashcards." The longer the front or back of a card is, the more likely you are to get a tiny piece wrong, which forces you to hit the "Again" button in Anki.
Example: For indicator words, the front of the card might say "Consequently (indicates)". The back should simply say "Conclusion". Do not add unnecessary filler.
Handling Ambiguity: Avoid using a single stimulus for multiple concepts. For instance, the word "must" is both a necessary condition indicator and a certainty indicator (meaning it 100% will happen). "Might" is a possibility indicator. Since "must" can serve different roles depending on the question context, use parentheses on the front of the card to specify. You might create two separate cards:
Front: Must (conditional) | Back: Necessary condition
Front: Must (probability) | Back: 100% will happen if sufficient condition triggered
Setting Up the Anki Ecosystem
The Applications
Desktop App (free): Download the Anki desktop application. You can use plugins like Onigiri (an add-on that modernizes and customizes the Anki dashboard) to make the interface much prettier. Note: Plugins can sometimes make Anki glitch out, so take that with a grain of salt.
Syncing Across Devices: Log into AnkiWeb on the desktop app so your decks sync to the cloud. I also use the Anki mobile app and sync it to my ankiweb account. The iOS app is $25, so if you don't want to buy it, that's fine, but it allows you to go back and forth and study whenever you have downtime, like when you're bored on a train or a bus. There is a free android app.
Organizing Your Decks Create a main deck titled "LSAT Prep." You can break this down into sub-decks based on the curriculum, such as LSAT Logical Reasoning or LSAT Reading Comprehension. (My personal RC deck is basically empty because I figured out a strategy that worked for me and just stuck to doing that instead of memorizing).
Using Tags As you extract information from your curriculum, tag your cards by category. Helpful tags might include:
Conditional indicators
Argument part indicators
Causal indicators
Common flaws
Question type stems
Best Practices for Card Creation & Studying
Keep Card Types Simple You are not trying to build a Ferrari of an Anki deck; you just need a usable tool for you and only you. Stick to the Basic card type. You do not need Cloze deletion or automatic reverse cards, as reversed concepts in the LSAT usually require slightly different wording on the stimulus side anyway.
Configure FSRS Settings In your deck settings, ensure that FSRS (Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler) is turned on. This is an algorithm that adjusts review intervals based on your personal memory history.
Set your retention target high for the LSAT (95% or higher).
While a higher retention rate will cause cards to appear slightly more often initially, it significantly reduces your long-term review load. Once you are in maintenance mode, the workload is really light.
Aside from enabling FSRS and setting the retention target, you do not need to change anything else in the default Anki settings.
For Optimal Memorization: Do not study new cards on the exact same day you create them. You just typed the information, so it is artificially fresh in your short-term memory. Let the cards sit for a day. Complete your scheduled daily reviews, but save the brand-new cards for the following day to truly test your recall.
Please note: while I do have a M.Ed., this is just what I do to study and is mostly based on my experience as an educator and learner. I can't guarantee Anki will work for everyone.
Why?
Because short form content has been shown in many studies to decrease sustained attention and causes symptoms that mimic attention deficit. How do you expect to get through a whole RC section if your brain is being hijacked to expect instant dopamine releases every 30 seconds?
So… delete all forms of short form content from your phone. Like right now. Seriously. If it really needs to stay on your phone (like you use instagram for business purposes or something), maybe use an app like ScreenZen or BePresent to lock yourself out of it.
Ok, I’ve deleted the social media apps on my phone. Now what?
Now you need to fix your attention.
Meditate: A study by UCSB found that meditation, specifically focused attention meditation, can actually increase standardized test scores.
Read long books: these don’t have to be “serious” books at first, especially if you aren’t an active reader. If you haven’t read anything in a while, maybe try a more “light” series like Dungeon Crawler Carl.
Work out: being active and getting your heart rate up a few times a week will release neurotransmitters that help regulate focus. I prefer yoga because it kind of double dips into the meditation benefits, but literally any form of regular activity is better than no activity.
If you’ve been struggling with RC passages, getting through full sections of LR, etc, try these interventions for a few weeks (while also studying) and let me know how it goes!
Also, this is part of how I just pted a 179 after 2 months of studying.
Your goal scores are realistic, but if you haven’t seen any significant improvement and you’ve been studying since May, you need to change the way you’re studying. Clearly what you’re doing isn’t working.
If you haven’t read it already, there is a certain book that rhymes with “the soup bowl,” that I highly recommend as a way to break out of this plateau. If you have read it, maybe you didn’t read it closely enough or fully internalize it. You need to be strategic in how you read it—read the whole thing, cover to cover, but read each chapter more than once and make flash cards on the second pass through of the key points or indicator words or whatever else you think you need to memorize. Seriously, skimming a book is not the same as reading it!!!! Then before reading each day, review said flash cards.
I read it in 2 weeks, but it took me 2 more weeks of reviewing my flash cards every day as I slowly reintroduced PTs, sections, etc in order to fully realize any gains…
I have ADHD (diagnosed since kindergarten…). I’m also a gen ed science teacher with a M.Ed. I know a thing or two because I’ve seen a thing or two… BUT THIS IS NOT MEDICAL ADVICE!
Unhinged ADHD Study Tips:
Pavlov yourself. Every section gets a treat. Or, you only get your favorite drink (mine is either iced matcha or hot green tea with honey - which also helps focus with l-threonine and caffeine) when you study.
While we’re talking about caffeine… DON’T OVERDO IT!!!! Caffeine withdrawal headaches, the diuretic effect, and so many other things make caffeine have a net negative impact on studying if you consume too much. Modulate your caffeine intake… seriously!
Talk to yourself like a crazy person so you stay focused and actually read every word of the stimulus and answer choices. Bonus, you can record yourself and have ai analyze your thought process.
Take movement breaks between sections, and in the same vein, do a little cardio before studying so the exercise hormones regulate your dopamine levels
Study somewhere other than your house - ideally somewhere enjoyable, but not overly distracting. Like a really pretty library. That way going to study is like going on a little adventure.
Treat studying for the LSAT like a wellness journey; you don’t just want your mind in the best condition, you want your whole body in the best condition possible for the test. Eating brain and body healthy foods, like fish (for the omega-3s) and whole grains, is a must. Critically, though, studying for the LSAT is NOT a time to be in a calorie deficit unless it’s absolutely medically necessary ordered by a doctor. Your brain will NOT operate well if you don’t give it enough fuel. ADHD, and especially ADHD meds, can make eating habits unpredictable, and you can sometimes forget to eat lunch for several days in a row (for example). So, especially when I’m on ADHD meds, I always have a bottled protein shake ready—that way I can at least have something, even if it’s not a full meal. This way, my focus doesn’t lapse because my brain is starved of energy.
Actually not unhinged tips that are still good:
Contrary to popular belief, ADHD actually thrives on predicable routines, but only if you’ve practiced them enough that they become default… soooo
Study at the same time every day
Study in relatively the same setting every day
Eat the same food before you study every time
Always do exactly the same procedure on every question - you don’t have to use this, but mine is: start with understanding the stimulus, then what’s wrong with it, then pre-phrase, then look at the question stem, then decide what you need to do for that question stem, then adjust your prephrase, then read every answer, then rate the answers out of 5, with 1 being “no way” and 5 being “instant yes,” then pick the best one and move on.
Always do exactly the same warmup, do the blocks in the same order, etc. for example, you could start with flashcards before moving on to reviewing your wrong answer journal, then dive into your study session.
I have a growing list of mantras I repeat to myself every time I open a section so that I can remember things like mistakes to avoid or routines I need to do.
By making things predictable, you’re also regulating your nervous system during the study session, which helps with focus.
Another thing that helps with regulating your nervous system is meditation. Researchers at UCSB actually found in 2012 that meditation increases reading comprehension on the GRE by a statistically significant amount, but more than that, meditation is a key tool for regulating attention in ADHD. Moreover, meditation is useful because it helps with resilience and mood regulation—both of which take a hit with ADHD in the form of rejection-sensitive-dysphoria… and guess what a low test score feels like? Rejection. You know what suffers when your mood is low? Your score… it can turn into a nasty cycle. While meditation isn’t a cure-all, it CAN smooth things out.
What kind is best and how do you start? researchers in the GRE study looked at Focused Attention Meditation—you can google it to see examples, descriptions of how to do it, and guided meditations. My recommendation is to start with 1 minute between each block of your study session, then grow this to 2,3,4,5,10, etc. every so often, meditating for even longer like 30m-1hr can be a good tool to really strengthen your focus muscles.
there is a teaching shortage, so you can always torture yourself for a year as a teacher! jk, i love my job (a lot, actually). you don't have to have a certification for all schools...
also, if you take it somewhat seriously, you can learn really valuable communication, time management, and work ethic skills that will help you in future careers.
@EEC_517 I fully second this. My diagnostic was a 169, and I was able to improve my PT score to a 174 average within a matter of 4 weeks or so using Loophole. I finished the book in 2 weeks and spent the 2 weeks after drilling and taking PTs and sections.
@graceslevin guided meditation is great when first learning how to meditate in general, but the kind of meditation discussed in the study is typically not guided. Normally when I meditate I just focus inward and focus on a specific stimulus like the feeling of my ring on my finger and let thoughts pass through without latching on to them. This is called focused attention meditation.
I think this study on meditation is extremely enlightening regarding focus and reading comprehension on standardized postgraduate testing.
@lcsjeppe Yes, I have both 7sage and loophole references in my deck. In my deck it's mostly loophole phrases with any 7sage stuff mixed in that loophole didn't cover in extreme depth, but this 3-exposure cycle approach to content can generally be used regardless of if you're on 7sage or reading loophole. I wrote the post mostly for a 7sage audience, if you're reading a book (any book, even LSAT trainer/powerscore/whatever) I'd read a chapter a day. Most books are designed so a chapter is a digestible amount of content for you to internalize.
Like for example, 7sage has an extensive table of negations. Loophole doesn't. I put 7sage's negations in my deck.
ScienceAlex
Essential Study Skills for MinMaxing Your Score (part 1 - remembering + understanding)
This is part of how I got to a 177 PT after 4 weeks of studying.
Hi! I have a master's degree in education, and I'm currently using it to minmax my studying for this test using some of the most foundational things that teachers learn about in college. That means I want to put in the least amount of study hours and have the maximum retention and mastery of the material. I'd like to share with you what I know, so you, too, can steal my study methods.
I'd like to introduce y'all to a framework called Bloom's Taxonomy. This is one tool teachers are using when they create lesson plans and decide what order students should learn things in. This is also the very foundation of what I'm doing to accelerate my study timeline.
No matter what curriculum you're using to study for the LSAT, you should not be starting off with immediately doing questions*. Instead, you need to learn the very most basic facts and concepts and understand what you're reading. Most people think that this means that they should skim the article, maybe watch the video for a little bit, and then call it a day. "Okay, I've done the reading, now I can apply." No. Without truly understanding what you just read and internalizing it, you cannot get the apply, analyze, and evaluate stages of Bloom's taxonomy (which is where the questions live). And I'll be honest, this part, the understand and remember stage, does require a little bit of front-loading the material. Meaning, you might put more hours into this stage than any other stage.
So what does internalizing something mean? How do I do it repeatably, easily, and fluidly? It's not really a one-size-fits-all kind of situation, but the "topic learning cycle" I outline below can really improve your retention. It may not work for everyone, but it is one framework based on the science of how people actually learn that works for me.
Day 1 of a topic: Be an active reader. This means finding ways to connect with the text using some level of background knowledge. This means asking questions of the text and actively summarizing in your brain as you read. I'll probably make a separate post on the details of active reading strategies we teach in k-12.
Day 1: Check your understanding. This is different than the Apply stage on Bloom's. Checking your understanding means perhaps doing a skill builder or a you try (caution - this does involve going beyond the understand level of Bloom's sometimes) about the material that you just consumed. If there isn't a Skill Builder published about that reading, or there isn't a you try published about that reading, then you need to design it yourself as you're reading. One way you can do this is anytime you have a question about the reading, write that question down on an index card. Then, if the answer comes up later, write that answer down on the back side. Then compile all your index cards and quiz yourself with them.
Day 2: Only take notes on the second pass! The first time you read something, it should be purely for understanding. The second time, you should take notes on what you remember as the most important things in the reading. This should ideally happen at least a day after you did the reading the first time.
Day 3: Compile your notes, any quiz questions you made for yourself, and any key terms from the reading into an Anki deck. While I have my own, it is way more effective if you make it for yourself. Identifying what to put in the deck is part of the learning process.
Day 4 and beyond: use spaced repetition, which is what Anki is for, to continue to review the material as you add new material in (note - Anki will not be the only way you use this material, it is just the foundation).
Does this mean that you're taking four days to learn each topic? Yes, but you shouldn't be only learning one topic at a time. There's a reason I said this was a cycle:
Day 1: learn one topic.
Day 2: review the first topic and add in a second.
Day 3: review topics one and two and add in a third.
What do I mean by one topic? Well, there isn't an easy, clear-cut answer for this. One topic could mean just one reading here on 7Sage. It could also mean all of the content in a module. It really depends on you: how much your brain can handle learning at once and how long you have to study.
Now, I know I just said that you probably shouldn't be using actual LSAT questions during this stage, but there are a couple exceptions. You could probably safely do the Main Conclusion and Argument Part questions as soon as you have memorized all of the argument indicator words and understand what an argument structure is. That might be getting to apply just a little bit, but I would argue it's still mostly in the understand stage
By taking the time to truly internalize each topic that you learn, you'll be much better prepared to move on to the apply, analyze, and evaluate stages of Bloom's taxonomy. That's the end of this post, but I'll probably make another one about the higher stages later on.
*yes, you should take a diagnostic.
@RubyBlue Like it says in the post, apple voice memos should automatically have a transcription. otherwise, there are a variety of transcription apps out there, a lot of which are paid or have a minute cap.
I can help you with science passages (free)! I am a science teacher and I love these sections. DM me!
@FrankSherman I am a firm believer that you should probably make your own! You will internalize them better if you go through the work of making them.
@KyraPrice I tell it my answer, my BR answer, and the right answer only for questions I missed. But! I am really careful about saying what answer I'm selecting every question when I'm recording.
@i_gothic It's what you specifically need to memorize. Whatever is causing the most hiccups, find a way to flash card it and then study them!
When you say you completed the foundations, what do you actually mean by that? What did you do to study them? If you’re still scoring a 139 on PTs, either you just don’t have enough time or you don’t know the concepts.
I would guess the latter from the added context of your drill scores. So what I’m guessing based off of pure speculation is that you just spent 3 months going through the motions of doing the core curriculum without really fully internalizing it. Perhaps you have notes, perhaps you don’t, but I would guess that it is more likely than not that you were not doing things like processing your notes the next day, making flashcards, reviewing flashcards, checking for understanding and re-learning, etc. All of this is essential for actually internalizing a concept. Just watching the videos and doing the skill builders is not enough.
TLDR; What I would guess is that there is a leak in your essential study skills rather than in any particular question type.
Please don’t take this personally. If you graduated HS during/right after COVID you probably didn’t have the opportunity to learn these skills in high school. Or maybe your school didn’t teach them if you graduated earlier.