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nicholasleon96300

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Admissions · Would the the October test be "too late" if applying this fall?

nicholasleon96300

Sunday, Jun 30 2024

I think the conventional reasoning is that while it is ideal to apply in September, or failing that, November, it is only really until December that you see any noticeable decrease in your chances, then January is not ideal but it is still very realistic.

If the choice is between applying in October (after Sept test) vs November (after Oct test), in my opinion your best chance at moving the needle would be to take the extra time to study. Just make sure that while you wait for your score to release you get all your app materials in place so as soon as you know your score you're ready to pull the trigger.

General · 146 -> 170!

nicholasleon96300

Sunday, Jun 30 2024

Keep it up!

LSAT · Should I keep my score?

nicholasleon96300

Friday, Aug 30 2024

Hey Gigi! The age old question. Based off things I've read and heard, like the 7Sage LSAT podcast, I would suggest considering keeping the score. I think it's not super strange for an admissions officer to look at your LSAT transcript and see that you took it once, then took it again and got a higher score. If anything it shows that you did some serious work in between those two tests and you knew you could do better. Then the worst case scenario is if you cancel this score, but then in October you get a lower score but since you cancelled your first score you have to settle with the lower of the two.

Personally I think a rule of thumb is that it's a big unnecessary gamble for anyone to cancel their first score no matter how much lower it is than they know their potential is.

General · 153 Diagnostic -> 174 Thanks 7Sage!

nicholasleon96300

Sunday, Jun 30 2024

@ said:

I am joyful with you that you have reached this great score! How long between your diagnostic and your final score? Can you please share what your daily study schedule was like? Drill, full test, study repeat? Would like to hear more details if you can please share. Thank you and again, congratulations!!!

Hello my swole brother, thank you for the warm wishes.

Yes I can tell you in great detail actually. I took my cold diagnostic April 9th 2023, and took my final test on June 6th, so just a few days shy of 14 months. However, from January 2024-April 2024 I didn't study, and starting April 15th 2024 until my final test date I was full time studying, the rest of my time from April 2023-December 2023 I was only part time studying (and my studying really fell off in December anyway). So I would say something like 9 months total time spent studying.

From April 2023-December 2023 my part time studying consisted of me studying for 2-3 hours each night after I got home from work and studying all day on Saturday on Sunday. I took PTs very frivolously, I would say a mean average of like 2.5 a week? I would not recommend studying all day on both your days off, nor taking PTs that fast, I would take only 1 PT a week, and then only if you feel ready, they are very precious resources.

The content of those study days has two distinct eras. Before I hired Albert as my tutor I would study very haphazardly, I fool proofed logic games a lot, like a looooot, and my coverage of the other sections was sporadic (I was always a strong reading comp tester, but my LR was middling and m LG was horrific). However, after Albert and I teamed up, he focused my schedule a lot, and what I mean by that is I got a real schedule lol, which is something I would definitely recommend, write yourself a schedule and treat it like you were going to the gym. Same as you might do an upper/lower/leg split, you do alternate LR and RC in a schedule. Also Albert got me down to 1 PT a week and "forced" me to take a rest day. As I write this it sounds like no brainer shit but I guess I just didnt have a brain.

After my 4 month break from studying, when I came back to it, I followed that schedule that Albert wrote me the year before except now I was studying roughly 8 hours a way, with lots of breaks in between. And on top of the schedule I added extra LG practice, heavy heavy heavy LG practice.

I hope that was sufficient for you, good luck!

General · 153 Diagnostic -> 174 Thanks 7Sage!

nicholasleon96300

Saturday, Jun 29 2024

@ said:

Congrats ! My only question is how did you keep yourself accountable to study consistently? I may be burned out at the moment but I have been struggling with keeping up with my studies.

Thank you! Motivation is something which is unique to everyone but for me it was a mix of a sort of stockholm syndrome and a burning desire to prove myself. That is to say, after a certain point, studying became very fun for me, the test is very repetitive so it can be calming and familiar; plus I had a very strong desire to do well because I knew I was capable and that was a very strong motivator.

If you are struggling for motivation at the moment maybe take a break. Coming back to the table with a fresh mind and a new perspective is such a valuable tool. Otherwise maybe consider lowering your study time. It may seem counterintuitive but making the process less grueling can facilitate more efficient study time or at least make it less offputting. Or maybe try switching up your study habits, that could achieve a similar effect.

General

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Saturday, Jun 29 2024

nicholasleon96300

153 Diagnostic -> 174 Thanks 7Sage!

Hello fellow Sagers!

My heart and soul are bursting with joy and pride to write this post and I want to publicly thank 7Sage so much for what it has given me and how much it has helped me achieve. As the title goes I achieved an excellent score on the June administration of the test. Originally I was going to wait to post something like this until I had my marching orders as to what school I would (hopefully) be attending (and I think I will end up writing another proper endorsement on a more public forum when that happens), but I am just so happy and I think the efforts of the 7Sage team deserve to be shouted out right now, and that the rest of the community can always use more examples showing that this kind of thing is possible. This mountain can be summitted, this dragon can be slain, by anyone!

@Albert Gauthier (who I can't properly tag here) was my tutor for a brief 6 weeks and the strategies and study plans he formulated for me helped guide my journey long after our time was up. Furthermore, he made me feel like he genuinely believed in my ability and potential which was essential to my final score.

In my opinion, 7Sage is the real deal, and my improvement is the proof. For all of you soldiers out there in the trenches fighting the darkest days of your own personal battle against the LSAT, please take heart that you are in great hands and all the tools you need for success are right here for the taking.

If anyone has any questions for me please feel free to DM me or ask them here, I would be happy to lend any insight.

General · Question about First PrepTest score

nicholasleon96300

Friday, Jun 28 2024

That's a very good score for a first time take. I believe the median score for a first time taker is 152? So you're pretty much bang on target. Good job so far, make sure to keep a consistent study schedule and use the 7Sage analytics to zero in on your weaknesses. Also to keep a wrong answer journal and take blind review seriously. Keep it up!

General · For the August LSAT, do I need to learn the conditional indicators (Gp 1,2,3,4)?

nicholasleon96300

Monday, May 27 2024

They are definitely used in LR. I would say that, for many questions, a reflexive understanding of conditional logic is essential.

General · 137 --> 156 ... Thank You, 7Sage!

nicholasleon96300

Tuesday, Aug 27 2024

You rock!

General · Score not increasing

nicholasleon96300

Monday, May 27 2024

As reece said, the core curriculum is probably the best place you can look to make progress at these early stages. Clamping down on JYs lessons is the best way to maximize your beginner gains.

Also as they said, progress is not linear. That's not just something people say to make themselves feel good, it's one of the coldest hardest facts about studying for the LSAT. The best remedy to this is consistency. Study frequently and intensely (intensity does not equal duration). Make sure your study schedule is one that you can maintain. 7Sage tutors always use the example that it's better to study for 30 minutes every night than to binge study 8 hours but only 1 day a week.

Do not neglect your needs and responsibilities, talk to/spend time with your friends or family, eat healthy, and exercise regularly.

Try to take your mind off this deadline you've set yourself. I did a similar thing last year and it played havoc with my ability to take the test on test day. It's just pressure you're placing on yourself. It's giving yourself a handicap before you even step into the ring with LSAC.

What would be even better is if you could delay that deadline, but of course you have your own goals struggles and realities so that may not be viable, but the conventional wisdom is you shouldn't take the test until you are consistently scoring above your goal score.

PrepTests ·

PT104.S3.P2.Q14

nicholasleon96300

Monday, May 27 2024

The curve on 14 is hilarious

General · Feeling Lost

nicholasleon96300

Sunday, May 26 2024

Good luck! > @ said:

@ Not OP, but when you say "take a look at the LR questions you're weakest on", would you recommend going over actual questions we've missed or just the type of question we're missing most, with new stimuli?

Curious because I see this advice a fair amount and am not sure if I should be going over previously missed questions months/weeks down the line.

I mean drill those question types. In the drill tab you can sort questions by that type of question and focus on those, maybe do a drill set of 5 at a time ratcheting up the difficulty. After some time has passed you can always go back to old ones you've missed to conserve the material.

LSAT · Too ambitious? (October LSAT)

nicholasleon96300

Sunday, Aug 25 2024

I agree with haq, I think January is where your best shot will be.

I say this very often in these forums, but it may be better for you to consider taking another year in order to apply with a stronger chance. You have your life to live, and circumstances may be demanding things from you, but if you want to ensure the best score you can for yourself, I would strongly urge you to consider taking another year to study. Ultimately you should make this decision based on how well you are improving in the coming weeks, but it is a very desperate strategy to set such a short window for yourself.

In the ideal world, we wouldn't take the test until we have the confidence. Setting a goal date and then trying to improve as much as you can in that timeframe is putting the cart before the horse in my opinion and can cause a loooot of stress, I know this because I did it that way. My original timeline was something like 4 months, I ended up waiting another year and taking a total of 9 months studying (with 8 weeks at the end of those 9 months being "full time" studying). Waiting that extra time made all the difference in the world and let me jump from 153 diagnostic into the 99th percentile. It was a very difficult decision, because I think like a lot of people, we think time is slipping through our fingers, but there is a lot of time and it's better to do it right and slow than fast and always ask yourself "what if I had scored higher..." That's the way I think about it anyway, you'll have to ask me in a couple months when I get decisions from the schools I'm applying to.

Good luck soldier! Regardless of what you decide to do, study hard! 15-20 point jumps are eminently possible, it's just the timeframe.

General · Whole Test Stamina

nicholasleon96300

Sunday, Aug 25 2024

@ said:

Great advice, thank you. I try to tell myself similar things concerning burnout, but it's hard to step away when the test is just around the corner. And as for total study volume, I'm coming to terms with the fact that three months isn't really enough time to get the score I need on this test. I'm half-planning to retake it, depending on the score I receive in September.

Yeah I think that's a great way to look at it. By all means, full steam ahead, give it your all in September, but it is very very normal to take longer than 3 months (honestly we need to kill that rumor that 3-4 months is enough time to study for most people), and most people take the test multiple times. Everyone has their own life circumstances that may demand they have a certain score by a certain date, but to be honest, there is absolutely nothing wrong with even taking a whole other year. You get way more time with less stress and you only strengthen your application by accumulating more work experience (provided you aren't full time studying for the entire time).

Good luck!

General · Whole Test Stamina

nicholasleon96300

Sunday, Aug 25 2024

I think in your case it would be helpful to keep in mind the fact that you mentioned at the start of your post, which is that you are only 2.5 months into your studying, that is still very early. As long as you keep to a consistent and rigorous study schedule, the stamina will come in time. If you want to try and accelerate the process, consider working on your speed, it goes hand in hand with stamina, if you finish sections faster and easier you will have more bandwidth and mental capacity for later. I wouldn't stress it though, give yourself some slack and keep at it.

In regards to burnout, I would recommend giving yourself ample breaks if you can. Remember that studying isn't just about raw time spent, it's about the quality of that time. A 4 hour study session that is broken up by 3 breaks where you are focused is far superior to a grueling 8 hour session where you might have gotten more than twice the amount of content "done," but you were absolutely drained by hour 4.

General · Good score on easier test. Is difficulty accounted for?

nicholasleon96300

Wednesday, Sep 25 2024

Yes don't worry, that is the purpose of the curve. LSAC is very careful about this, they want their test to mean something and for the law schools to keep using it, so they will control for relative difficulty.

The way they do this is through the experimental section. When you take your real LSAC-administered LSAT and you complete the experimental section, you are setting the curve for a future exam. They take the scores of everyone who did that section and place them on a curve, so it doesn't matter how relatively difficult any section is, there will always be a percentile-ranking on the exam.

It's why I can get a -12, and on a different test you can get a -8, but we can still both get a 168.

LSAT · Should we skip the Logic Games curriculum

nicholasleon96300

Monday, Oct 21 2024

The LG curriculum is obsolete as the previous comments have stated, but I wouldn't discard the section as a whole!

Logic games, specifically and especially pure In/Out games can still serve as a valuable tool for learning how to chain up and read conditional statements as well as their contrapositives.

There are a lot of strategies unique to logic games that do not transfer easily to the other two sections of the exam, but they force you to be able to read conditional logic backwards and forwards like nothing else, so if you are struggling with that skill or implementing the logical indicator phrases I would recommend giving an In/Out game a shot, untimed, of course.

General · November LSAT 3.9 GPA//Reverse Splitter

nicholasleon96300

Wednesday, Oct 16 2024

I think consistent practice focused on your areas of biggest improvement is key.

I would disagree with alacebo, I think practice tests should be used more sparingly. There is value in becoming accustomed to the actual task of taking the test, since it's such a mental marathon, but the LR and RC materials lose a lot of their edge after you've seen them before, so doing a ton of tests runs the risk of running out of material. I know you intend to take the test in November and be done, but there is no use in backing yourself into a corner and burning all available test materials. Also, taking so many PTs so quickly is a pretty great way to burn yourself out which is not what you want in the run up to exam date.

I would recommend a more measured approach, taking PT's at most once a week, using the data gathered from those tests to narrow your scope of study. If your analytics say you are having trouble with a particular concept or question, then for the next week you can hammer that concept with lots of drilling. And always keeping an eye towards timing.

I would recommend developing a skipping strategy. Success on this exam can be best guaranteed by making the process as algorithmic or mechanical as possible. Having a plan for how to take each section is just as important for having a plan on how to tackle each question type. What types of questions do you automatically skip after identifying their question stem? After how long do you move on from a question if you're not sure what's going on or dont have a clue what the answer might be? What level of uncertainty are you willing to accept in a final answer choice, and what answers choices will you flag for a second look if you have spare time at the end of the section. These are all questions that are useful to tackle and if you have well rehearsed answers to them, you will see a bump in your score.

LSAT · ⚖ Official June 2024 LSAT Discussion Thread ⚖

nicholasleon96300

Saturday, Jun 08 2024

@ said:

It's a long shot, but do you know if I have any options regarding whether I can get this test expunged, retake it, or even take the issue up with LSAC or Prometric? I'm not hopeful of anything, but I'd appreciate any help or advice you all could have.

I think you should definitely take this up with LSAC. I've heard of people getting retakes for less reasons than this.

General · Broke into 170s

nicholasleon96300

Tuesday, Oct 08 2024

Congrats! Keep it up!

LSAT · Sufficient vs Necessary

nicholasleon96300

Sunday, Sep 08 2024

NA must be true for the argument to hold any water at all, SA makes the argument valid. NA are usually very weak compared to SA, things that you might take for granted.

Example of NA:

If the weather is good tomorrow, we will catch lot of fish at the lake

The weather will be good tomorrow

Therefore, we will catch lots of fish

A necessary assumption here would be that there are even fish in the lake to begin with! Something so subtle that you could honestly pretty reasonably assume to be true without it being stated out right.

Whereas SA questions are something that makes the conclusion valid. I like to think about it as we have conclusion Y, we need to find answer choice X that works as a sufficient assumption to trigger the conclusion, in other words X->Y where X is the answer choice and Y is the conclusion in the stimulus.

Example:

The weather will be good tomorrow

We will catch lots of fish tomorrow

Sufficient assumption: if the weather is good tomorrow, we will catch lots of fish

I hope this helps!

LSAT · Weakening Questions

nicholasleon96300

Sunday, Sep 08 2024

Hey Symphony!

The way I like to think about weakening questions is to imagine some tells me to my face the conclusion of the argument, then when I ask them "why?" they give me the premise(s) to support it. My job is to figure something out that gives me any reason to doubt their conclusion, even if their premises were 100% true.

A quick example broken down:

Conclusion: the US forestry service should suppress all wild fires no matter the size

Premise: Annually, wild fires cause $10 billion in damages.

If I wanted to weaken the argument, I might point out the fact that, total suppression of all wild fires no matter their size, makes it so lots of dead wood and other forest detritus builds up, so when wild fires do spark up they cause way more damage than if the forestry service allowed certain smaller fires to burn.

It is still true that annually, wild fires cause $10 billion in damages, but I have given a reason to doubt the conclusion that we should suppress all fires regardless of size.

I hope this helps at all!

Admissions · 3.72/4.00 GPA - How is it?

nicholasleon96300

Wednesday, Aug 07 2024

Totally agree with everything colestove said, and to add onto that, the LSAT is very much something you can do something about right now, so instead of worrying about your grades which are very much set in stone, refocus towards the LSAT and get the best possible score you know you can.

General · Regarding 7 Sage LSAT

nicholasleon96300

Saturday, Sep 07 2024

Welcome Margit!

I would suggest that before you start drilling you should do the most of the core curriculum. You can find it by navigating to the "Learn " tab at the top of the page.

If you haven't already, you should consider taking a "diagnostic test," which is a practice LSAT that tells you where you are before you start studying. It's not necessary but it might be fun to look back on in a few months to see where you started, also it will give you some info about your weaknesses.

LSAT · ⚖ Official June 2024 LSAT Discussion Thread ⚖

nicholasleon96300

Friday, Jun 07 2024

Took yesterday and overall had a decent time with the actual test but I had THREE SEPARATE PROCTOR ISSUES. Not sure if it’s fair to call them proctor issues, but 3 glitches nonetheless. I think I handled them well, mostly because I knew my specific issues weren’t going to affect my allotted time, but let this be a warning to you all, test glitches can happen and they can happen TO YOOOOUUU (ghost emoji ghost emoji ghost emoji), so you better have a strategy to cope. In my case I had taken the test three previous times with zero issue, and of course this last time with the most on the line, I had these issues.

As for the test itself I felt prepared. This was my final time taking the test, I made significant improvements in my logic games skills in the past few months and I think it really showed on the test. One of the duplicate sections was light work no reaction didn’t even take a sip of my diet coke, so I think that one was the experimental one. I hate to predict positive results in anything I do, it feels like jinxing myself, but I’m not afraid to say that I think this was my strongest showing on the test by far and I scored higher than my previous high of 162. Best of luck to you if you’ve yet to take it; and to all those who have, rest easy now, crack a cold one, it’s the weekend.

LSAT · RC, LG,RC, LR

nicholasleon96300

Friday, Jun 07 2024

Took today as well. Just my luck, had 3 separate system glitches. Loooove ProMetric...

Are they not doing the 7Sage thread where people can discuss the exam?