Hello everyone, this is my first time posting on here, but I’ve been reading through posts every now and then for the past few months. So first of all, thanks to all of you for making this forum such a great source of wisdom and motivation. It’s really helped me out a lot over the last few phases of studying.

I was hoping people might have some thoughts and suggestions on how to structure the remainder of my prep time. For the past several months this point has just had a big looming ‘PT!’ marked - which is surely at least part of a good idea.

An idea of where I am:

I started studying in earnest back in January. Jan/Feb I went through all 3 Bibles. March/April I did the 7Sage CC. The summer mostly consisted of The LSAT Trainer, fool-proofing LG’s, and moving from untimed LR/RC to fully timed (BR of course). As of this week I am done with a giant slate of fool proofing on LG and starting to get back into shape on the other sections.

LG's are fool-proofed 1-38 & ABC. Planning to keep adding to that one section at a time.

My LR is going pretty well but is definitely what I’m most stressed about. I normally get to the last 2 pages of questions around the 25 minute mark, and finish at 33 with not a lot of time to go back and check. My past few scores (most recent to less recent) have been -4, -4, -0, -0, -1, -2, -1 (You can probably guess where I took 2 weeks off to finish up LG fool-proofing). It’s tough to see too much of a pattern in question type missed. Parallel questions of either type are definitely prevalent and MSS probably stress me out the most. But I’m also fairly likely to miss NA and SA which I am confident in (or anything else).

RC has been pretty similar. I’m more likely to bust on RC with a passage that just blindsides me for -4 or -5, but less and less all the time. More recent scores on that are -2, -1, -2, -3. Oddly Main Point and Purpose of Passage Questions seem to be the ones I’m most likely to miss along with a curve breaker question or two. I used to finish the sections by around 29-31 minutes with plenty of time to go back and check, but after my LG break that has crept up to 33 with one section I didn’t finish (-3). Hopefully it starts to slide back down now that I’m not neglecting the section as much.

I’m signed up to take the electronic field test this coming weekend and am planning to sit for the real thing in December, but am perfectly content to slide that date back to February. My sort of amorphous plan had been to jump in PT (60+ are all entirely clean for me). But does anyone have any suggestions on a balance of full PT vs. timed sections vs. reviewing CC material or any other thoughts on what might be helpful to squeeze out my last few points and gain some consistency?

Thanks in advance, and I look forward to being more active here as I finish up my prep!

I assume, we obviously do the memory method on the actual LSAT exam, correct? Or does it take too much time?

Disclaimer: I do have one personal experience that may be worth writing about. I had something of a nervous breakdown on campus, and it served a catalyst for beginning treatment of my depression. I'm "back to normal," now, but all the online advice I've read recommends against writing about depression. I believe I can write a compelling personal statement about my recovery from depression. But I think the risks are too high. For example, law school is going to be a challenging time in my life, and the admissions people won't know for sure I won't slip backwards. Ideally, I wouldn't write about depression.

That being said, I truly have nothing else going for me. Every personal statement sample I've seen from T14 schools is at least supplemented by noteworthy experiences, such as demanding work, internships, or hobbies. I don't have any of that. My most complicated job was working as a teacher's assistant for one semester about a subject I had no passion for, and my only extracurriculars are some very basic volunteering. I volunteered for a gubernatorial campaign and with Syrian refugees. But I was mostly posting signs for the campaign, and I was simply correcting the pronunciation of Syrian refugees who read aloud to me.

Perhaps one event that could inspire a personal statement was when I stayed over-time as a teacher's assistant to help a student who suffered a brain injury. But I can't imagine writing a long or even compelling statement based on that alone.

Thanks for reading. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Was wondering if 7Sage thought about the ability for 7Sagers to download the lesson videos and watch them without the lifeline of internet connection? The only reason (sufficient condition LOL) I ask is because I'll be without solid internet access for 7 months while deployed and would like to still go over lessons during down time. Any thoughts or has this been considered / implemented?

So my letters of rec are from January of 2014. I am applying most likely for this cycle or maybe the next. Is it ok to apply with these letters?

I have been out of school and not in the work force for the last 2.5 years while staying home with my son, so I have absolutely no one to get new letters of rec from.

So my dilemma is ~ should I apply with these letters or reach out to my recommenders for a new letter of rec with an updated year? I am almost positive they would remember me as i was very close with all of my professors and in a small college.

Hey, guys. I have some conflicting notes on something and was hoping for some clarification.

/A --> B

and

A ---> /B

are different things, right?

I wrote down:

/A-->B

=Either or; one of A and B must be in, the other is free to float.

A-->/B

=Not both; only one of A and B can be in, the other must be out.

This is what I wrote down from the course but I thought I saw something different in one of the explanations.

EDIT: In case it wasn't clear from my title, this is about personal statements.

In my personal statement right now, I'm trying to indicate that reading Supreme Court cases for an undergraduate law class grabbed me in a way that no other course material did. There is one particular case that jumped out at me, and I can write about it honestly without BSing. Reading this case was an especially important experience for me because it solidified law as a future for me when I was depressed and saw no direction in my life.

I see a few issues with this though:

It's pretty shallow. The impact from reading a case won't compare to the other candidates who undoubtedly have some experience in an actual law firm or other "legal position."

Georgetown advises, "... Stay away from legal concepts and jargon. You run the risk of misusing them, and even if you use them properly, legal language may make you appear pompous." I'm not sure if this applies to the arguments and reasoning found in the Court's opinion, but it feels better to play it safe. Also, is "commerce clause" a legal term?

It may indicate that I expect to deal with large, Constitutional issues in my legal career. And as that surreal short film about law school points out, "there are only three lawyers who deal with Constitutional issues. Each of them graduated in Harvard in the 1970s. Can you graduate from Harvard in the 1970s?" (Here's the film, by the way:

So what do y'all think? Is it a good or bad idea to write about a case that stuck out to me in an undergraduate class?

Hi, so I've been blind reviewing for a while now and completely understand what it is. In the past, when I take a PT, what I have done is printed off two copies and taken the PT under timed conditions with a random 5th section. Afterwards I would do the PT on the second copy untimed without having the answers from my first timed attempt in front of me since that can sometimes mess with me psychologically in various ways.

However, I've started to wonder if it would be better to BR by passage/game for RC and LG and by section for LR rather than doing the whole PT untimed as BR and not looking at the answers until I've answered all of the questions. The reason is that I've found that by the time I'm done with all 4 sections, I don't necessarily remember my exact thought process as I was going through my BR.

Basically my BR process would involve doing each passage untimed and looking at the answers just for that passage afterwards. This way I can see which questions I got wrong and look at explanations on the Powerscore/Manhattan forums while everything is still fresh in my head. I also think it will save me time because if I do my BR from start to finish, then when I finally look at the answers and see which ones I got wrong, I pretty much have to spend time re-reading each passage that I have wrong questions in.

The same idea would apply to LR by section and LG by games, though I feel like for me this is most important with RC since it is the section I struggle most with.

I'm interested to hear what you guys do and which method of BR you think is more effective/time efficient.

I switched to 7sage about 3 weeks ago, so still working on core curriculum. I am taking the dec LSAT and am currently PTing around 155 (154 was my raw score, I did not study much before 7sage like I should have). In order to get into my dream school I know I need a 163 and I should be golden (162 would probably also do it), I'm currently doing 2 PTs weekly, studying nightly, doing undergrad and taking care of my toddler. Do you think it is possible for me to improve my score 8 points by December?

I began college as a part-time student while working full-time; I took a few distance ed (online) classes through a community college in another part of the state. I eventually moved states and started attending another community college, which I attended for about a year part-time. I then transferred to my current university, where I have been a full-time student for 2 years (graduating in December). Overall, it'll have taken me 4 years to complete college, though a substantial chunk of that was part-time study.

Does this warrant an addendum? They'll see three undergrad institutions' transcripts, and I don't want them to simply think I'm lazy or something for going to school part-time. My grades were excellent at all three, so I'm not trying to make excuses there.

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if there is any interest out there to also blind review the hardest RC passage together each time we do a PT . Maybe we can set aside one separate day to do this. On previous RC tutoring sessions I have noticed blind reviewing RC to take at most 2 hours. I am working on seeing what time we can do this by seeing openings on 7sage calendar. I hope to find an opening on Sunday.

Let me know if there is any interest out there to do this.

UPDATE:

Thanks for all the interest. I went ahead and scheduled the blind review RC meetings for every Sunday at 7 pm. Please treat this blind review call the same as our LR calls by not checking your answers before hand. Also, please have a clean copy of the section and a pencil with you. We will first read the passage together and do low-high resolution summaries and then do the questions under time before going over them as a group.

Here is the link to the meeting. Just click the link at the specified date and time and I will see you there.

70 Plus Series (December LSAT Study Group)

Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/305261573

You can also dial in using your phone.

United States: +1 (669) 224-3412

Access Code: 305-261-573

Joining from a video-conferencing room or system?

Dial: 67.217.95.2##305261573

Cisco devices: 305261573@67.217.95.2

First GoToMeeting? Try a test session: http://link.gotomeeting.com/email-welcome

I recently made a post suggesting that 7sage update a certain statistical tool and that it would be useful for law applicants on this site. Afterwards I was blatantly and maliciously attacked with personal insults, and unfounded baseless assertions by a certain user @seekingperfection.

To keep a long story short, he pissed me off. So now I feel its my duty to expose this dude for repeatedly lying on this forum.

His claims:

My prediction: He has no degree, has never held a professional job, lied about his published papers, lied about his lsat score.

His responses will be one or more of the following:

So now I’m calling him out @seekingperfection – post a screenshot of your LSAT score, post links to your published works. You talk a lot. PROVE IT.

DISCLAIMER: If anyone is offended by this post, please disregard it. And please don’t report this, we are all adults here, no one needs parents on here telling everyone to “be nice” or goto bed by 8:00pm. This is all in good fun. But for those of you that have had contact with this user, I think this should be interesting.

So when do we think grey day will be? Will there be any delays with the hurricanes? Any idea?

Hello all! I'm signed up for the September LSAT and have been testing in the lows 160s. It terms of preparation, I have completed 70% of the 7sage curriculum and have taken only 3 LSAT practice tests. I am already planning on taking the December LSAT because I am absolutely confident I can make at least a 168 merely by improving on LG, which is the part of the curriculum I have not gone over. I have also been missing around 3 questions in RC and around 8 across both sections of LR, so I know I could also make some improvements there.

Typically I would just say I'll withdraw from/cancel the September test, as I already know I plan to retake. However I am taking the LSAT abroad, as I'm in Europe at the moment (actually in a country that doesn't offer it, requiring me to fly to Paris to take the test). I made this whole plan several months ago, assuming I would be ready. Long story short, I'm not and I know that I am not performing at my score potential.

At this point, I can't get the money back on the flights/hotel/or test in Paris, so should I just go ahead and take the test, knowing I'll probably get a 162 or so? I am not planning on submitting my apps until January when the December results are out anyway. I've already read up quite a bit on whether the December LSAT is "too late" and have realized with a 170+ score, it really isn't. I also have read the policies of each school I plan on applying to in regard to multiple LSAT scores, and the general consensus seems to be they will consider the higher one, and give you the option of sending in an explanation if there is a big discrepancy between the scores.

Like all of us, it has been beat into my head to not take the LSAT until you feel ready for it. Is it irresponsible of me to just take it anyway and then explain the lower score away on my application?

Also, as an aside, I am now in a position where I could devote around 20-25 hours per week for the next two weeks to studying. I know predicting point improvement is hugely difficult, as it depends on the person, but do you think I would potentially raise my score another 3 points or so?

I really appreciate y'alls help. Just reading through the discussions here on 7sage is helpful, the community seems so genuinely helpful and pleased when other's succeed.

how many games should it take?

http://www.lawschoolpredictor.com/wp-content/uploads/Law-School-Predictor-Full-Time-Programs.htm

What are the chances JY and the gang @"Dillon A. Wright" can secure the rights to this nice little tool right here. Given that it hasn't been updated since 2013, I'm sure that the creators wouldn't mind if 7sage buys the rights and updates this and incorporates it into their site. Would be pretty badass if you ask me, and it's a shame to see something so sophisticated sitting off in the corner gathering dust like this, could be tremendously useful to most folks I would think.

https://classic.7sage.com/lesson/advanced-andor-in-necessary-conditions/

I'm having trouble understanding this lesson.

A--> B or C

Why can't "OR" in the necessary mean both? unless otherwise indicated as "not both"

Since its a necessary condition would it not mean that it is necessary for one of them to happen/be triggered but could it not also be the case that B and C happen?

A--> B and C

Similarly for "AND"

I don't understand why AND can split the arrow... if A --> B and C... doesn't this mean that it is necessary for both B AND C to be triggered? Because the contrapositive means if not B or not C then not A... If we say A --> B and A--> C are we saying that one of them could happen without the other and the statement will still be true.. but if this was the case why can't we say or?

Hello, everyone.

I've done the core curriculum and am (trying) to solve all the LG problems from PT 1-70 but things are not looking up.

I've done 40 PTs so far. This is what usually happens. First, I will try to solve the problems on my own. I will probably get the sequencing and simple in-out games and make all the inferences. On a good PT, three sets with maybe 4-5 wrong. On a particularly bad one I might get two or even one set properly done, missing up to two digits. The latter has been happening a lot and on the September LSAT, I did not fare well on this section and had to randomly guess for about twelve of the questions.

I understand JY's explanations and they have been very helpful. But are you supposedly to go over EVERY single game set with explanations? For me, that seems to be the reality. And even with 40 PTs down, I am not making the leap I had been hoping for.

The Games are holding me back and I have not done anything else for some time. It's making me really depressed, guys. I hope to hear some words of wisdom. Thanks and have a nice one.

So I haven't experienced burnout yet and I've been pushing myself hours and hours and hours to reach my limit of studying until I can't. I notice that my competitive nature and the fact that I haven't hit my projected score has overridden potential burnout. I'm sure I will burnout soon, but I'm liking that my motivation is currently there. Hopefully it is because I'm aiming higher each time.

Hoping for an extremely productive 2 months before the test.

Need that 10 point jump!

Hello everyone,

So I should be finished the CC by next Tuesday. After that I was going to drill all of the LR and LG as a refresher before I took my first PT. Is anyone willing to help me make a schedule so that I drill and PT effectively for the December LSAT? I am hoping to at least PT 4 times before the actual test, and I'm focused more on quality PT'ing over quantity.

Hi all,

I already all my transcripts in, including local community college courses I took for dual HS/college credit in high school. my main concern is--I don't really want admissions people to think I went to community college (because then it looks like it took me 6 years to graduate), but that's kind of what it looks like on my academic summary report (I think). Will they definitely know those were high school classes? I can't imagine it's worth writing in an addendum, but I do hope it's somehow clear.

Curious if anyone else has been in this same boat. Thank you!

Hiya!

Newbie 7sager (?) and first-time poster here. My question is regarding GPA addenda. The general advice, I see, is to write one to explain an upward or downward trend in one's GPA. What happens if one's GPA was all over the place? I was an Econ and Math major. I ended up hating Economics, and my grades in my Econ courses reflect that. I loved Math, and those courses, for the most past, saved my GPA (3.42). How do you recommend I go about explaining this in my addendum? Should I even bother with an addendum at all?

https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-64-section-3-question-26/

I got this question right during the PT by POE (A-B reverses necessary and sufficient terms, ACD all use most-statements) but in BR I really had to labor over the logic. It in fact took several sessions to feel good about my interpretation. However, my translation differs slightly from JY due to the presence of nested terms so I'm curious what ya'll think about it.

expect benefits outweigh cost → (acquire info → R)

Therefore

acquire info → R

This appears to be the most basic logical structure in the book. A→B, therefore B. We need A. But the nested terms muddy the waters a bit. We need to conclude R which is nested within the necessary condition. Because of the odd form, there are more ways of doing that than just A→B. But, most importantly, we can't conclude R if one expects the "benefits outweigh the cost".

This is really where I had my difficult. the easiest correct AC would have just said "The benefits never outweigh the cost". However, what they gave us was

acquire info → expect benefits outweigh cost

That results in a perfectly valid but unusual form. Our final chain looks like

expect benefits outweigh cost ↔ acquire info → R

"Consumers who do not bother to acquire this info are acting rationally". We can safely say that now because consumers who don't bother to acquire this info also don't expect the benefits to outweigh the costs.

Hello all. Perhaps this was a question that was touched upon in the recent resume webinar, which I wasn't able to attend (it didn't begin until 1 am here in Iceland) BUT I thought maybe y'all could give me some guidance. I am wondering how/if it's appropriate or normal to include information about past research projects you've done on a resume (or somewhere else in the application process). While the work I did in undergrad was not law related at all, it was published in an undergraduate research journal. And I am currently working on an international law-related thesis-type paper for my grad program. I genuinely want to share with admissions committees what I've been working on because it's really interesting to me, not just because I'm looking for another way of padding my application. This is more true for my grad level writing than undergrad however. So I was just wondering if the best place to do this would be incorporating it into my personal statement? Or am I missing something?

I got credit from a local college in high school and it's been a hassle getting them to send the transcript and LSAC form (they don't do it electronically). They said they sent it on September 29th and I'm wondering how long it typically takes for LSAC to process transcripts during this time of year.