Your dedication to the LSAT is admirable. I humbly suggest you take the trip and fit some study time in and around your family visit. One weekend won't change the outcome of your test. If you decide to stay put and study, is there a chance your body will be studying but your mind will be with your sister? If so, what's the point in missing a memory you cannot get back? Especially if your study time is diminished because you are not fully focused.

@ I think as you do on the subject of taking apart PT's. I think it is a really good idea to dismantle a number of PT's, especially ones from 1-35, particularly when you have recently completed the CC. A complete PT is rather daunting.

The CC is a remarkable learning tool but it is not designed to prepare one for the timing aspect of the test. And when you look at the program, it makes sense. One needs to learn and master the lessons before one can layer-on the additional stress of time management.

Taking PT's apart and using them as 'mini-tests', each section its own little test was how I worked my way up to a full PT. I would take one section, use the free proctor tool in the 7-Sage bundle, and then I would BR it. It was far less daunting and it help me build up my stamina for a real PT. This also helped me understand the cadence and flow of the different sections. If you take just 5 PT's apart you end up with 10 LR sections, 5 LG and 5 RC 'mini-tests' and for me that was immensely helpful. I took my first PT at the beginning of the course and then I took one soon after finishing the CC. As soon as I finished that second PT I knew I had a problem with timing. The thing was, I knew I had learned lots of lessons, but I was not proficient enough for my new found knowledge to transfer to a full PT. It was too much pressure under timed conditions and for me, it was counterproductive. I was working strictly to manage time. I found that to be detrimental in my learning process. Breaking up a few PT's was a pretty good return. The mistake I see people making is burning through the PT's without BR'ing properly. We all want instant gratification, so we rush to grading our work. That is when a PT gets wasted.

Nice. Hey, how close to the Nov. test date would you suggest PT'ing this? Would you suggest making it the last PT before a Nov. 'Really Real' test?

Thanks for sharing. Congratulations on your success. Your study tips are particularly helpful

@ Just prior to a PT, the overwhelming feeling that this test matters, that I am not fully prepared, that this PT is indicative of who I will be as an LSAT test-taker in real time. In that moment I am not taking a PT, I am taking the actual test and I somehow have convinced myself that I cannot learn any more or progress in any way.

So I try and counter the feelings above by remembering what a friend of mine told me not long ago.

A bunch of my buddies have known I am studying for the LSAT. They give me a lot of crap. My one friend is a doctor. He knows I want a high LSAT score. One day he asked me 'why'. My response is irrelevant.

What he said to me was this, 'In 15 years of knowing me, did you ever ask me what medical school I attended'?

I said no.

He said, ' Dude, no one is going to care where you went to law school and no one is going to care what you got on the LSAT after you take the fucking thing. Just do your best and calm the fuck down'.

I know this may not apply to your particular situation, but maybe some part of it does. My life won't end if I don't maximize my potential on the LSAT. I am giving it all I have. I hope I do well. But in that most stressful of moments, just before I take a PT, I play in my mind the advice of a friend.

Victoria I hope you have an awesome test day on 11-17.

@

I experience the exact same thing. My stress level prior to taking the test is high. After I get going I am much better. And an hour or two after the test I am ready to begin BR'ing. In fact I am rather excited a few hours after the PT to get back to it and see how it all shakes out. My worst experience throughout this effort of studying for the LSAT has been the time prior to a PT. Yeah, the hours of study are long, I have put pretty much everything else on hold while I work on this, but I have always been able to compartmentalize my life when I have needed to do so.

Perhaps the anxiety of the PT, knowing it is a metric of how much we have or have not mastered, is the stress point. Whatever the reason my experience is much like yours.

Hey There. I am taking the January LSAT as well. I would appreciate the chance to join the study group.

Cold Hard Cash, in a paper bag, unmarked bills.

It is October. You are taking the test in March. It is rather early to worry. Like it or not this test is hard. First of all, do not rush through the CC. Don't worry about all the comments people write like 'I went 5-5 in under 6 minutes yay me!' crap. Almost no one, unless you are a statistics whiz with a PhD in Philosophy, can easily accomplish what you are trying to do. The fundamentals are critical. If you base your learning in the early CC lessons you will find it pays dividends later. Be clear and learn100% the conditional logic lessons. Whatever you do, do not skim over anything. The lessons that are the hardest for you, make them your priority. Be prepared to be bummed out for the next 2 months. There will be no corners turned and no big sparks of light. Watch JY's lessons on Blind Review and as much as it sucks, especially in the beginning, make it part of your study life. Just keep your head down and focus focus focus. You have the ability to do this. The real concern should be do you have the will to do it? See where you are in mid January and take stock of your situation then.

Do you really want to score 160's-170's? You can. If you want it to, it will become a reality. But this will not happen because you hope it does. Time spent with the CC is not enough. Time spent in the CC, buried deep in each and every little part of it that you don't completely understand is how you will accomplish what you have set as your goal. This may not happen on the timeline you currently have set for yourself. This will only happen if you pour countless hours into study and learning.

I have been where you are and I am by no means an expert. But I know more than I did 6 months ago and I will not stop until I win. I have had plenty of discouraging days and I will have plenty more. But I (you) want choices when I (you) decide on a law school and a high LSAT score will be the most important factor in the control I (you) have in that decision.

Now go grab a random LG game and beat the crap out of it!!

@ Thanks a lot, for this and todays meeting.

If you get the chance, the BR sessions with JY are particularly informative. The more time I spend studying and using 7-Sage the more impressed I am. The opportunity to sit in and participate during a BR session w/JY and the other students is not to be missed. The level of clarity gained from these free sessions is remarkable.

Go ON With Your Bad Self, Pacaque. Now take your opposable thumbs and print up a completed answer sheet for PT 86 by 10pm tonight and post it here.

I am interested as well

Thanks

I ordered a Mastermind last month. I sent it back the next day. A real POS. The bezel is not reliable. The last thing I wanted was to have the one thing a watch should be able to demarcate, and that is 35 minutes, only to find out I have less time than I really do because the bezel is crap. A Seiko or a Timex with a rotating bezel will work perfectly.

That is just 'Effin Awesome. Own it and enjoy the accolade. You worked hard to earn it.

More than one person has expressed to me how helpful it was to take a break for more than 6 hours and let the material sink in. You will retain more and have better command of the information if you take a few days and let your mind process what you have learned. Much of the information is in there (your head that is) but in order to have excellent recall, allowing the lessons to gestate is critical. When you read all the comments from people saying that they took a year or longer to achieve 170+ scores, it is because they allowed the information, over the course of many months, to become ingrained in their mind. Take a few days and relax. When the urge to do 'just a couple of LR questions' do not do it. Taking a small break does not insure a better score. What a small break does for you is it gives your body and mind a chance to own the information. Your are walking into a very difficult times test in 5 weeks. Recall and calm nerves are going to be the difference between you getting the most out of all of your study and leaving some points 'on the table' so to speak.

Now go back and count how many conditional phrases I used in this comment and build each sentence using LAWGIC. Kidding, Please Don't Do That.

YEP Right there with you in the want to end this. Good luck and I hope every 'AH-HA' moment you had the last few months comes back to you at precisely the needed moment while you are sitting on 11-17.

@ I for one appreciate you taking the time to write and post the discussion above. Perhaps the title and analogy were not perfect, but I understood it perfectly well. Those that are not so fond of the title and analogy may have a small point, but that takes nothing away from the excellent example you gave us to think about as we work toward becoming proficient and hopefully masterful at taking the LSAT. I have found this Discussion Section in 7-Sage to be really quite helpful. So have many others. This forum is designed to help one another, be supportive and instructional. You have done just that. Thank You.

Wow, great resumes, impressive experiences......NOW GET ME INTO YALE!!!!

Kidding.

It is great to watch the 7-Sage team grow. The potential of the business has grown with the addition of such talented people.

7-Sage, thanks for continuing to invest back in your company. The resources offered to us clients or customers/students, whatever you call us, makes me ever more comfortable sharing my positive experiences relying on 7-Sage with anyone who is in need of LSAT help.

Selene, Kurt and Aaron; nice to meet you electronically. You are joining a wonderful group of professionals.

Excellent podcast. What makes this stand out from many of the other LSAT podcasts available is the lack of arrogant and smarmy conversation. J.Y and David are approachable in their back and forth on the subjects they cover in a way that is encouraging and inclusive. Thanks for developing this. I am looking forward to listening to more of these productions.

HI There. So I enjoyed your podcast with JY last month. Could we possibly meet for a coffee or lunch? I would appreciate the chance to get your opinion and perspective on my study habits etc.

Thanks a ton.

Yeah Leah M B makes a great point. What separates a quality consultant from a less than stellar one is how much work they make you do. You want your work to be yours, not the representation of what some professional thinks you are. That is certainly an important item to consider. Any consulting firm worth your money should make you do the work. They should help you understand the parameters of you subject and keep you focused. That certainly can be done with the help of essay swaps and law boards. If you find a firm that you trust, there are two questions to ask yourself;

Can I write my needed essays without their help and get the same or a better result? If you can great, but then consider this;

Do I have the time to vet my work and the work of others on my behalf? If the answer is once again a yes, then save yourself the $.

I am using the 7-Sage admissions Consulting program and it is not a scam. The writers that work with their clients are serious professionals. It is not inexpensive, and if you have the time to dedicate to doing the work yourself you can probably do a decent job. But if you have time restrictions and you want to rely on smart veterans of the application game you may want to consider the 7-Sage admissions assistance.

That has the potential to be a great PS. oshun1 was spot on with the '95% about you'. The few paragraphs above prove you write with a clean and concise structure.

Thanks David. Timely information as many of us are working toward the November test date.