I think your priority should definitely be the LSAT. However, I don't think it's wise to spend more than a couple of months JUST studying for the LSAT. Imagine you're at a law school interview and they ask you, "What did you do during your gap year?" No matter what score you end up getting on the LSAT or how high it is, it sounds really bad to respond with, "Oh I was just studying for the LSAT." There are so many applicants who take the LSAT while they're in college or who do both work and study, so it makes you look significantly weaker than them to say that you spent all of this time just studying. In my opinion, you need to figure out a way to prioritize the LSAT, but still have something to say in your application/interview. Volunteering on a part-time basis would be a great idea! I'm assuming you'd choose to volunteer in something you're interested in, so it can be a great mental health booster because it'd be a break from your studies, and you could also talk about how you're passionate about the cause/the impact you've made in your application, on your resume, and in interviews. Continuing in real estate sounds good, but I do think you should try to decrease your hours if you're working 8+ hours every day. That probably can't give you enough time to adequately study for the LSAT. Working part-time would make more sense and the point is that no one is going to focus on the part-time aspect, as long as you have something substantive to convey about your job. From what I've heard, paralegal positions are typically full-time and are quite demanding/exhausting, so I'm not sure how that will fare with your studying. In addition, law schools constantly encounter applicants with paralegal experience, so it won't make you unique in any way. My recommendation is to do something that will make you stand out (and that makes sense with your background/what you've done in the past because that will help you craft your application narrative) but will also allow you to prioritize the LSAT. Hope this helps you

Hi! I don't think anyone can definitively say if law school admissions will "care" or not because it depends on many factors (what ends up happening/what you do during those 2 years, what law schools you apply to, how well your job ties into your narrative of why you want to go to law school, etc.). Having said that, the general attitude among law schools towards taking time off in between college and law school is positive. I graduated in May 2019 and am taking 2 years off myself before going back to school, but that's also because I plan to apply for a dual degree, so work experience is a must in my case. But I can tell you that I've been to many law school fairs and spoken to many law school admissions officers, as well as friends who are currently in law school, people I know who went to law school, and admissions experts, and they all seem to agree that it's a good idea to take time off. In fact, many of the admissions officers I spoke to said that they ENCOURAGE people to take time off for many reasons: gaining maturity and real-life experience, making sure law school is what you want to do, becoming financially stable, doing things (like traveling) that you probably won't have much time for afterwards, etc. As long as you are spending those 2 years doing something you enjoy and care about and that also looks good on your resume, then not only will law schools not care about the gap, but it should actually work to your advantage. It sounds like your job is really great, so I'm sure that if you enjoy it and try to get as much out of it as you can, that will come across in your law school applications. But once again, everyone's experience is individualistic and subjective. As much standardization as there is in the admissions process (ex: LSAT lol), know that your path is your and ONLY your path. Law school admissions know that 100%. Congrats on almost graduating!! This is an exciting time for sure - enjoy it!

@ said:

Never got around to that webinar, haha. Maybe we could do a quarantine session and go over it? I made the slides and everything, so would be easy to do if there’s any interest.

Very interested!!!

@ Where do I find the podcast? Thanks

Will this be recorded?

Yes, although taking PTs again a and again may be helpful for some people, I found that I didn’t make much progress by religiously taking PTs week to week. The improvements truly came once I focused on 2 timed sections and BR every week. You certainly do not need to exhaust all PTs to be successful!

@ Congratulations on the phenomenal score! So in reference to the above, does this mean you did 2 timed sections plus BR of both those sections a week and nothing else? I do extremely thorough BR of individual sections, but I find that due to the thoroughness of the BR, it takes me a really long time to complete it. This results in me sacrificing practice time to do BR. I'm now pushing myself to do a section plus BR of that section a day because I'm at the point where my BR score is near perfect because I understand how to do virtually every question, but my execution sucks and timing is my biggest weakness. That's why I feel that doing more practice will probably help the timing/execution issue, but would love to hear your thoughts on this.

This is totally normal, especially during these uncertain times. I echo what everyone else said, and I also want to emphasize that it's really important not to carry over that "falling off the wagon" feeling to the next day. In other words, let's say it's Monday and you're supposed to study but can't find the motivation. So you try to push through and end up studying productively for only one hour. Do your best, push through, but remember that Tuesday is a new day. Start over and try to get that one hour to two hours. But let's say Tuesday you don't study AT ALL. At this point, you're panicking and freaking out and thinking about how you're really starting to slack. Catch yourself thinking all of that and leave those thoughts behind because Wednesday is a new day. So take that Wednesday to try and get back on track. Essentially what I'm talking about is perseverance - you keep going forward, no matter what. No matter how difficult. If you need to take a whole week or two off, do it. I promise you that if you went through the CC thoroughly and actually paid attention to it (which it sounds like you were), you won't forget it. This stuff isn't conducive to memorization - you have to internalize it. That's harder to do than simply to memorize, but it's also less likely you'll forget it. I would recommend that you go back through the CC and review any notes you made throughout, any starred sections, anything challenging that you encountered, etc. Set aside one day, maybe 2-3 hours or so, to just focus on reviewing what you think you forgot (which you probably didn't forget). Go over the last few lessons you mentioned you did inconsistently. Don't overwhelm yourself with any new information until you've reviewed whatever it is you thought needed review. I'm willing to bet that once you go back and review, you'll see that the mental bookmarks you inevitably made throughout your consistent studying before will jog your memory. In terms of getting back on the wagon, like everyone said above, ease into it. Don't start with 4 hours a day - start with ONE and then build up to it slowly. Also, find small things to motivate yourself throughout the day. Maybe reward yourself with your favorite meal or a treat or something. Maybe give yourself a day off to virtually connect with friends. Listen to your favorite instrumental soundtracks when studying. Etc etc. And finally, remember that this is a challenging time for everyone and it's okay to give yourself a break. I always cringe when people say "don't be so hard on yourself" lol because I always take that to mean "don't push yourself hard" or "it's okay to slack." But honestly, it's about striking a balance, and part of striking that balance is allowing for inevitable times when you LOSE balance and knowing how to deal with that. Your reaction to losing balance/falling off the wagon is a million times more important than losing the balance itself. It's all about how you deal with it. Hate to be cliche, but it's not about getting knocked down, but rather choosing to get up when you [inevitably] do [get knocked down].

@ Sounds like a great strategy! Whatever you end up doing, definitely give yourself a nice break, because you deserve it! I'd say basing your decision on acceptance outcome is really solid and you don't even have to worry about writing another PS at this point. See how things turn out for you and if you decide to retake in the future and send in new applications, then you can worry about your new PS. I don't know if sending the same exact PS twice is a good idea, but I'm assuming that the admissions committees will totally understand if your second PS were based on the same core life story...because you can't really change that. But I'm by no means an expert on this, so definitely do research and consult with professionals. Keep up the great work - you have so much to be proud of. :)

Congratulations on your incredible progress! I haven't read through all the comments, so maybe someone already said this, but this is my brutally honest opinion: with your high GPA, if you want to shoot for a top 5, for example, I'd keep going, especially since you just recently started looking at harder questions in a different light. I know you're tired and just want to be done with it, but I'm a huge believer in never stopping short of your goals (barring extreme circumstances), as big and difficult and seemingly impossible as your goals may be. Now again, I don't know what your specific goals are and if you even have the desire to go to a top top law school, but if you do, then nothing should hold you back from breaking a 170 and getting that top score. You've already made it so far - 36 points is truly incredible. The other part of this is that you shouldn't be showing up to take the LSAT if you aren't consistently PT-ing in the range you want to be in. So let's say your goal this time around is to get a 173. That's only a 4 point jump from where you are right now (169). Yes, it'll be hard, but certainly not anywhere near as hard as making that initial 36 point jump. So if your goal is a 173, for example, then you shouldn't be showing up for the real LSAT unless you're already PT-ing between a 170 and a 175 consistently. Taking the November LSAT without having PT-ed higher than a 169 consistently is not a good idea and will likely make the fear that you described (your score going down or staying at the same) a reality. A 169 looks so much better than a 169 and a 167. So my recommendation is to genuinely, honestly reflect on what you truly want, what your goals are, and if you have the bandwidth to keep studying (even if that means taking a short break). That should be your first step. You make up your mind about what you want to do, and then you take it from there. Again, congratulations on your amazing progress and even without knowing you, I can tell that your perseverance and work ethic will get you very far, no matter what you decide to do. Hope this helps!

Also read this thread on LG; it's very helpful: https://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/2737/logic-games-attack-strategy/p1

It seems like you're in a really great place! I would definitely try to get your LG section consistently down to a between -0 and -2, since that's typically the section that's easiest for people to improve on. 7sage's CC really helped with improving my LG, so if you haven't done that already, I'd recommend you go through all the lessons and problem sets in the LG section of the CC. Try to identify your weaknesses in LG...maybe record yourself doing LG sections and then watch the recordings to get a sense of where you're going wrong. LG has a lot to do with habit and familiarity, so the more you do, the better you'll get at them. But you gotta make sure that you take the time to BR and FP each game you didn't have a firm grasp on. It's not enough to just fly through a bunch of games. Try JY's FP method (there should be a whole step-by-step process somewhere in the CC) and combine that with BR - reflection and review, reflection and review, etc. If your fundamentals are an issue, then it might be worth doing a bunch of games untimed to really try and carve out a disciplined process of approaching each game. Once you feel your fundamentals are solid, then add in the timing aspect, but start with giving yourself a bit more time so that you feel the pressure, but it's not tremendous pressure at first. Gradually keep cutting back the time until you can replicate your untimed disciplined process in a 35-minute timed setting. And also, flag the games that you had trouble with and make sure you go back and FP them, but leave some time (like a few days/weeks) in between (spaced repetition). Hope this helps!

@ Sorry forgot to tag you ^

Thank you so much!! This is so helpful. One specific question I have - I've often heard that mental health issues are really a problem in law schools, especially top law schools. Is this accurate? I remember reading about one study at Yale Law - something like 70%+ of students had clinical depression and/or anxiety (among other things, like imposter syndrome, etc.). I'm curious to know, if this is true, how do you y'all manage your mental health AND also make it through law school successfully? It seems like kind of a contradiction. It would seem like people who are at these law schools and in these intensive environments can function extremely well under pressure. There seem to be two components to this - law school can cause mental health issues and also people who go to these top law schools are more likely to have mental health issues because mental health issues are associated with type A/higher-stress individuals. Hope that's not confusing! Just trying to get a more accurate picture of what the mental health scene looks like in law school and what your experience has been with it, if you're willing to share. I think it's SUCH an important an issue for everyone to know about! Thanks so much again

#help On Q19, I have two questions:

1) We may not know that the powwow was revived IN ORDER to strengthen the identity (why it was actually revived, who knows) BUT the question stem is asking you what the author would most likely agree with…so even if that wasn’t the reason the powwow was revived, isn’t it true that hypothetically, if it WERE true, the author WOULD agree with it?

2) Also, on the point that the relationship between the powwow and strengthening identity wasn’t established, yes it was because the author says that powwow is a resurgence of a vital tradition and he also gives the powwow as an example of an intertribal practice that is a major facet of NA culture today, and the author also says intertribal practices reinforce the NA identity [on a broader front], so from all of this, why can’t we make the conclusion that the author would most likely agree that the powwow was revived in order to strengthen NA’s sense of ethnic identity?

@ Thanks so much! How long did your LSAT journey take?

Does this mean you have less wiggle room to make errors, if there are just 3 sections? It makes sense that this would be the case...if there are fewer questions, 1 wrong question would cost you a lot more "points" than if there are more questions.

Amazing! Thanks a ton for doing this, both of you

Hi! This is a great question. I haven't been through the cycle yet, but I've done lots of research on law school admissions, spoken to a lot of admissions counselors, and talked to a lot of my friends who've gone through the process. From my understanding based on all of that, your LSAT and GPA are the two most important factors in law school admissions. Anything that would compromise either one is not worth pursuing. However, the legal internship does sound quite great, so maybe think about if you can figure out a way to do both, if that's even possible. Maybe you could delay your internship start date for a couple of months until you take the LSAT? The tricky part about that is you may need extra time for a re-take, so you don't want to put yourself in a position where you need to start your internship but also need to re-take (or even just delay because you're not ready) the LSAT. Another option is to cut out some of the other activities that you may be involved in that are less important than the legal internship in order to make time for it. Of course, this is assuming that you're involved in other stuff. Yet another option is to do the internship during the summer if it's available then. That way you could still put it on your applications and you'll already hopefully be done with the LSAT. But if you absolutely must choose between the internship and LSAT/GPA, then I would 100% go with LSAT/GPA because those two are literally the most important factors for admissions (especially the LSAT). I know plenty of people who got into top law schools without prestigious legal internships, but I know virtually no one who got into a top law school without a great GPA/LSAT. This is a very difficult decision and I applaud you for sharing your dilemma with others - it's always really great to have a sounding board and consult other people before you make the final decision. Congratulations on getting the internship! And remember, even if you have to drop it for now, there are so many other incredible opportunities that will come along. Learning how to prioritize is part of the undergraduate experience, so you're doing everything right. Hope this helps and good luck!

This is so relevant to what I'm going through right now!! Trust me, more people than you think are struggling with balancing work/life/studying/etc. I can't even imagine how people with both kids and jobs are making it work...so yes, it's really comforting to know that you are TOTALLY not alone in this.

I had to switch my schedule more times that I'd like to admit until I finally came up with one that worked for me. As many of the comments say above, you have to find what works best for you. There isn't one "right" way of working in your study time. But there are definitely some common things to consider. I have a full-time job, but it's more than that because I also commute an hour each way to work every day. I have some flexibility in terms of when I can go to the office, but the nature of my job requires me to be available pretty much 24/7. I manage a team of people, and my boss is an elected official, so with everything going on right now, I am working overtime and also sometimes have to travel for work. I really love my job so much, it's the perfect fit for my future career goals, and it's truly an amazing opportunity that is typically not offered to people in their early 20s. Having said that, the LSAT is also integral to what I want to do in my life. So despite the nature of my job, I had to figure out a way to prioritize the LSAT and consider the time set aside to study as "sacred." It's in a box that no one can touch. My study time is separate from everything else in my life and it's there, no matter what. Treating is as such is really the only way to make sure that I am actually moving forward with my LSAT progress.

As so many people said, I am definitely not a morning person, so initially, I tried to study for 2-3 hours after work. That worked for a little bit, but eventually, I realized that I was extremely tired after working for 7-8 hours nonstop all day. I don't have a lunch break, or take any other breaks, so it just wasn't feasible. And again, I have that 1-hr commute each way, which definitely tires me out even more (NY traffic is a beast!). I realized that the only way I could make this work was becoming a morning person. I am now in the stage of trying to wake up earlier each day. The goal is to wake up at around 5am, get ready for the day and then sit down to study (usually in a cafe or another location that is not my house - the change of location helps wake me up) for 3-4 hours before work. I turn off my phone for those 4 hours, which is essential. Like I said before, my work requires me to be "on-call" at all times, but I found that those 3-4 hours in the morning before 10am are usually the slowest. Depending on your job situation, it also might be helpful to talk to your boss or your colleagues about what the best time is for you to check out. That's if your job is similar to mine and requires you to be alert at all times. My boss/colleagues are totally okay with me being off the grid for 3-4 hours every morning, and my assistant is aware that he must be available at that time (which I made sure he was comfortable with, of course) to handle anything that I wasn't available to handle.

I am very big on fitness/exercise and even with everything going on right now, I wasn't ready to give that up. It's a huge help for mental health and motivation/energy, and I'm sure others can relate when I say that it's actually a part of the LSAT journey, because overall physical and mental health is needed to do well on the LSAT. Fitting in a work out in the morning was actually not super feasible for me, so I work out in the evening after work. Yes, I am tired and drained, but the LSAT is a priority. I need mental clarity for the LSAT, and I don't necessarily need to be mentally sharp to do my fitness stuff. So that's an example of a partial sacrifice - I'm not giving up fitness as a whole, but I needed to move it to a more inconvenient time in order to prioritize the LSAT.

In terms of weekends, I personally am someone who needs time off, no matter what. After working intensively every day of the week, working out every day, and on top of all of that, studying for 3-4 hours every morning Monday-Friday, I crash on the weekends. I need that time to myself, whether that means hanging out with friends, spending time with family, going through emails I didn't have a chance to go through during the week, finishing up some work, spending time in nature, etc. That all still counts as "being productive." Just like recovery is an essential part of an effective fitness routine, recovery from the LSAT is an essential part of making progress on it. It's also worth noting/reiterating that I don't spend my weekends in bed all day watching movies (although, if you need to do that once in a while, DO IT!!!) - I still try to maintain some productivity. I have a start-up with a team, and I truly enjoy working on it, so I do a lot of my business meetings/team meetings and individual work for the start-up on weekends. I genuinely love the feeling of still being productive and working towards my goals on weekends, but changing up what I'm working on and forgetting about the LSAT for a couple days haha. As I get closer to my test date, I might need to integrate studying into the weekends as well, and I'm fine with doing that temporarily. But if you're studying for a while, I think it's critical to take some time off. It doesn't have to be the weekend. It could randomly be Wednesdays, or whatever works with your schedule. But you need that break so that you don't burn out. Initially, I felt very guilty about taking weekends off to do other stuff. However, eventually, I realized how important it is, and it actually gives me so much motivation and energy to tackle the work/study week.

One last thing I'll say - I'm a huge believer in making it work. Whatever it is you're doing, whatever struggles you're having, whatever circumstances you're in, there is ALWAYS a way to make it work. Just don't give up until you find what works for you. I literally had to change my schedule more than probably 20-30 times until I arrived at the right one. And if something feels out of place, I will keep making adjustments. The LSAT is all about persistence, especially if it doesn't come easy to you (it certainly doesn't for me!). Think of the struggle to juggle the multiple things in your life right now as part of a larger journey of growth and strength. Ultimately, conquering the LSAT is about so much more than just getting your goal score and being admitted into your dream law school. The way you frame this experience and the way you handle the obstacles along the way will stick with you for the rest of your life. The habits you develop now (efficient scheduling, for example) can be life-long habits. You are getting SO MUCH out of dealing with this issue of balancing work/study - so much more than just a score.

I'm by no means an expert on this, but one thing I've noticed about LR question types is that the best approach is to have an intuitive/holistic understanding of what the question is asking you to do. I think a lot of people get caught up in the whole robotic process of labeling a question and then following a set of very specific steps, and that can be problematic because not all questions fit neatly into a certain label. So when they encounter a question that isn't the "perfect MBT" or the "perfect Strengthen," etc., they freak out. Obviously, labeling question types is immensely helpful in determining how to read the stimulus, what to look for, which answer choice gets the job done, etc., so you should still definitely do that, but the question stems are all pretty straightforward, even if they don't fit neatly into a box. So just read the question stem, intuitively understand what it's asking you to do, and then do the thing that it's asking you to do. For example, a question stem might ask you "Which of the following exhibits both of the logical flaws exhibited in the argument above?" This is a parallel flaw, but even if that label doesn't immediately come to mind, think about what the question stem is asking of you. It's asking of you to select an argument from the answer choices that makes the same two types of mistakes that the argument in the stimulus makes. So then go to the stimulus, identify the two flaws (identify conclusion, identify premises, identify context, etc.), and then look for those two flaws in the answer choices. And as for deciphering between the answer choices, remember that there is no BEST ANSWER. There is only ONE answer, and the four others are totally wrong. They are 100% wrong, not just a little wrong. The third thing I'll say is that this could also just be largely due to nerves, in which case, what has really helped me is when reading the stimulus and panicking, I will take 5 or so seconds to look up, breathe, close my eyes, and then re-read the stimulus. You need to find a quick and efficient/consistent way of calming yourself down as you go through the section. Couple that with an effective skipping strategy. If you get lost on a question, SKIP IT. Coming back to it with a fresh perspective at the end will be LIFE-CHANGING, trust me.

Here's my list of games I've struggled with before (some are funky, some not so much, but I'm pretty good at games and all of these got me somehow):

Dec 1994 Clan, Feb 1997 Train, Oct 1993 Game 3 (dance), June 1991 Game 1 (Klosnik), June 1995 Game 2 (planes); 70,3,game 1 Question 7; 6,4,1 (snakes); 6,4,4 (bridges); 7,2, 3 (judges, Datalog); 8, 2, 2(square lot); 74, 2, 4 (mnager of photography); 39, game 2; 33, 4 , game 2 (bird-watchers); 33,4,game 3 (stones); 19, game 4; 23, game 3; 21, game 2; 27, game 2 (zoo reptile); 28, game 2; 35, game 2; test 46, game 4 (there are lots of inferences); test 55, game 4 (definitely do this one!! fundy); test 56 game 4 (homestead); test 57 game 2 (otto, raines, etc.); 57 game 3 (dinosaurs and colors); 57 game 4 (grants); 73, section 3, game 2 (gold/rose room) - look at the substitution question at the end!!!; 73,3,4 (bouquets); PT 46, game 2 (cassettes)

@ This alarm clock is a much cheaper alternative than the $200 one suggested above and it basically does the same thing: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Z53LKL6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've had it for a couple of weeks now, and it's really great because it simulates the sunrise, plays really soothing music when it wakes you, and you can also use it to help you fall asleep because it has tons of cool light effects. Put it somewhere FAR from your bed so that you are forced to actually get up out of your bed to turn it off. And then once you turn it off, do everything you can to resist the urge to get back into bed lol

Oh and one more thing - worrying about "studying right" on the LSAT is a major issue. Most people worry, and with reason. Studying correctly for this exam is absolutely the key to doing well on it. But I've been doing this for a while, and at this point, I'm 100% convinced that 7sage and the tutors on here and the students/discussion forums have all got it right. So do your best to try and let go of that worry/lost feeling because it can definitely stand in your way. If you're not confident in your studying/study habits/study method, there's no way you can be confident on practice/execution. And obviously, that confidence will build over time, so keep that in mind too.

I would definitely start out with 7sage and go through the common curriculum. Start from there. A lot of the practice/drilling/PT-ing is built into the curriculum, so all of that will become clearer once you dive into the curriculum. I wouldn't worry about other resources until you've gone through the curriculum and yourself feel that you need some extra support. I just bought the Loophole book and am excited to try it because I've heard great things about it! But plenty of 7sagers don't need it/didn't use it to improve, so I echo the advice of the people above in that you should maybe hold off on bombarding yourself with a ton of resources and just start with 7sage. I haven't heard of a SINGLE person who did 7sage and regretted it. It's just the best thing out there. Once you get into 7sage and have advanced, THEN you can start thinking about tutors/extra resources, but at that point, things will be much clearer to you, I promise. Just be grateful that you STARTED at the right place (7sage) because tons of us wasted time and money on other resources before discovering 7sage. Also, once you're ready for a tutor, definitely look at 7sage's list of approved tutors because the tutors on there are bomb!!!

This is a great discussion thread! I would also like to echo @ 's question and ask if anyone has any tips on how to stay motivated during this time, how to prevent burnout, how to take effective breaks, etc. Disciplined studying for long periods of time is DIFFICULTTT