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I have studied for LSAT since December last year, and finished PT 30-60, ranging from 164-173, with an average score of 169. Got a 166 in the real one, frankly a bit disappointed.

My current situation is LG -2, LR -3~-4 for each session, and RC -3~-8. I dunno what's wrong with my capricious RC performance lol.

I really want to raise my score, ideally above 173 in the September test (because I am studying at a university in Hong Kong famous for low GPA. my current GPA is 3.5, which is already 5-10% in my year). Is this even possible? I can spare 28 hours per week from March to May, and 50 hours per week from June to August. I don't wanna burn out so I've plan an 10 day trip in the summer.

I am thinking of buying the LSAT Trainer, or registering for the 7Sage courses, or both. Do you think they are helpful?

Any suggestion will be much appreciated!

1

Hey y'all—

Just popping in from 1L land per @DumbHollywoodActor 's request to share some thoughts about 1L prep—specifically, Larry Law Law's KTCOOLS course. I started Larry's course around this time last year and I don't think it's too early to start thinking about this. Here goes.

  • I have one of the highest GPA's in my entire class (I know of one person with a 4.01, I have a 3.975) and (to the best of my knowledge) the highest GPA for doctrine classes. We have a graded legal writing course, which your school probably will not. So, for all of the courses relevant to Larry's course, I may have the highest GPA at a T10 law school. I got an A+ in Crim and A's in Torts, Contracts, and Civ Pro.
  • I did this well because I didn't waste my time/energy on things that didn't matter and managed my expectations. Your grades in doctrine classes depend almost exclusively on your performance in a 3-4 hour period one day in December/April. I didn't brief cases (I have a very specific method of "book briefing" which I'm happy to share with you all over the summer) and I did practice exams early and often (not full exams but hypos that are ~45min to 1 hour, which typically represents the amount of time you will spend on an individual section/fact pattern on a law school exam; full exams you do during reading period and they should be exams your professor has released).
  • These principles (not briefing cases/book briefing and approach to PE's) I learned from Larry's course. Everything you will learn in law school is to the contrary: they will tell you to brief cases and hold off on PE's until reading period. I promise that you will have no idea how to take a law school exam unless/until you're exposed to them, ideally early on and in a context with some guidance. And I promise that briefing cases is a waste of time as far as exams are concerned. Book briefing is another matter, but writing out full briefs is, in my opinion, madness. It will make you miserable and you will get nothing for all of your effort.
  • People thought I was crazy. My study group thought I was crazy. That's because when you get to law school, the administration and mentors etc. will tell you to brief cases and wait to practice taking exams. Do not do these things.

    So—I learned all of the things that I think differentiated me from KTCOOLS. I'm not saying it's sufficient/necessary, but that's where I got the ideas for how/what I did.

    My personal tips include: take all of your notes by hand, don't have your computer or phone out in class, and start outlining by the middle of the semester. First-pass outlining is typing your notes. Real outlining (what you will actually use on the exam) you do at the end of the semester. And make all of your own outlines. The reason you outline is to master the material. Use A or A+ outlines from upperclassmen who had your professors only to supplement your own or to get ideas. Only use supplements if 1) they are written by your professor 2) the professor recommends (rare) and/or 3) to get enough of the law internalized to do hypos early on. Be warned that supplements will almost definitely lead you astray with at least a couple of your professors, so you may need to "forget" what you learned in order to practice exam taking when it comes to what your professor actually teaches. But that is a small price to pay for the experience of taking practice exams, refining your methods, and getting used to legal analysis under timed conditions.

    I'm not going to have time to address specific questions/comments, but much love to all :D Dave knows where to find me and he can bring important questions to my attention, but for now, I'm signing off and thinking of you all very fondly.

    41

    I bet this has been asked before, but as June gets closer, I'm wondering if I should give myself the summer and put off the LSAT until September 16. My only issue is that I plan on applying to T14 schools this application cycle (this Fall), and I'm worried that the rolling admissions process of most schools won't work in my favor if my score isn't available until October. Any thoughts? I would hope to have the rest of my application completed by the time my score was available. Any advice would be much appreciated!

    2

    I just wanted to take a few moments to praise 7Sage, the Admissions Course and especially the Personal Statement editing session. I spent so much time scouring the internet to find the right way to study for the LSAT and the right way to get the best application possible and wasn't finding anything I felt would actually work for me, until I found 7Sage. While my LSAT score was rather unimpressive, it was definitely an improvement from where I was when I started, 7Sage helped me understand the LSAT and helped me score pretty highly on practice tests. I choked and panicked when it came to the real thing (entirely my fault), but I was intent on applying with my low score anyway. With the help of the Admissions Course, I was able to form an overall great application, and I believe my personal statement is what made my application stand out. After just the one editing session I purchased on here, my PS looked 100x better.

    In short: 7Sage, and @"david.busis" helped get me into my dream school, Emory, even when LSAC gave me less than a 10% chance of getting in, so thank you so much!

    14

    Hello! I don't know if it's kosher to ask for guidance on this subject so if it isn't...please ignore. But I got invited via email for a video interview with Cornell law! I'm freaking out! I have no idea what to expect or what to think will happen but...does anyone have any pertinent advice to this kind of interview and how to prepare? There's no deadline...no information included....I guess I'm going to just do my research (especially on Cornell!) today and dive into the interview some time tomorrow when I'm at home and hope for the best?

    1

    This is probably a dumb question but is timing of response indicative of a better outcome or just of a glut of applicants?

    For instance, if I am waiting on a school for a couple of months, does that mean I am still in play or could it basically mean anything?

    0

    Hey guys! While we're not finished with PT80s explanations, I know a lot of you are eager to get your hands on the PT itself. So, we decided to release PT80 early with limited explanations until they're complete.

    Once the explanations are available (which may not be until after J.Y.'s May BR group) they will automatically be added to your account if you still have PT80.

    For a limited time, you can pick up PT80 for $5.97 here:

    https://classic.7sage.com/addons/

    This comes with the printable DRM e-doc and a +1 month extension to your account. If you do not have a full course, you'll only have access to PT80 for 1 (one) month, so please keep that in mind while purchasing!

    If you have LSAT Ultimate+, this PT has been automatically added to your account.

    4

    For the past month or two I've been averaging between a 164-167 actual score and between a 172-175 blind review score on the PrepTests, both older and newer. It seems like I've tried and done everything to improve my actual score up to the BR numbers, but nothing really changes, any advise would be much appreciated.

    0

    I find that the LR section tests four fundamental aspects:

    I. Our ability to make inferences

    Which it tests through Most Strongly Supported, Must Be True, Must Be False, and Necessary Assumption questions.

    II. Our ability to support an argument

    Which it tests through Strengthen, Pseudo Sufficient Assumption, Sufficient Assumption, and Principle questions.

    III. Our ability to weaken an argument

    Which it tests through Weaken and Flaw questions.

    IV. Our ability to recognize structure

    Which it tests through Main Point, Argument Part, Method of Reasoning, Parallel Method of Reasoning, and Parallel Flawed Method of Reasoning questions.

    (Miscellaneous: Resolve Reconcile Explain and Point at Issue).

    Organizing question types this way helps me see the bigger picture of the section instead of approaching each type independently and getting bogged down in the weeds of the particular type. Look at how much sense it makes to test these things for aspiring law students and how fundamental these are to being a lawyer and practicing law in the future. Each question is a symptom of something larger and each question you get wrong is a question that's exploiting some weakness in your fundamentals. With this framework, you can better identify and track the fundamentals you're deficient in. For example, instead of just seeing that I miss an inordinate amount of Pseudo Sufficient question types, I now see that I'm missing something fundamental about my ability to support an argument. Now I can focus on the fundamental aspects of this shortcoming and I can complement my Pseudo Sufficient Assumption drilling by focusing on the related question types.

    The accuracy of this categorization may be proven by its potential to predict your performance on other question types. So if you find that you get a certain question type wrong more than others, see how you're doing on associated question types.

    What do you all think about this? Is this an accurate framework for the LR section? What helps you improve on LR?

    3

    Two questions regarding BR:

    Does it decrease the utility of BR to review the same day you took the test? I try to do it next day but that kills some time I have after I've taken the test. I just want as accurate of a BR score as possible so I wait for the following day to review. Is it a big deal if I start reviewing same day as the test?

    Does it decrease the utility of BR to review using the same marked up PT you used for the test? When I blind review now I have one copy of the test I use for the timed test and then once I have the questions circled I use a clean copy of the test to look at the questions. My thinking is that I do not want to be influenced during BR by my markings like crossed out answers and underlined conclusions, but getting a clean copy just for review isn't always practical.

    1

    I was hoping that I could get some group thought capital on timing of taking these tests. Background is as follows - I am a (much) older non-URM who is planning on doing a joint JD/MBA. I was planning on doing the LSAT first, then taking the GRE based on advice from Pacifico in June, 2016. I have a couple of years on that schedule before I can start school, so that would give me enough time to give LSAT a year, and GRE 6 months. Spivey mentioned that I need top scores to get into a top place or there is very little chance I can get return on investment with the years left in my career.

    Now, with the announcement that Harvard is accepting GRE in hopes of attracting more STEM type candidates, I am wondering if I should take the GRE first? I would hope that enough other T14 schools follow Harvard in the next year or so to give me a decent list of places to apply to. Perhaps I could avoid having to take the LSAT, which I am finding very tricky. I have education and significant work experience in 2 of the STEM fields.

    If I could get a high GRE and use that for both law and business school, I could cut my wait to start by perhaps a year.

    What would you do?

    Thanks for your thoughts.

    0

    I was deathly afraid to take my first PT. Happened to line up on my birthday on the weekend.

    I didn't take a diagnostic and this was my first PT after going through the curriculum.

    Thankfully, I got a 161. My second was a bit lower; but I'm still optimistic. Not sure where my ceiling in terms of score so I'm just gonna work as hard as I can until June and see what comes out of it.

    Thanks 7sage.

    0

    Hi. I've been studying for the LSAT since July, and since I completed the curriculum about a month ago, I'm having a very hard time setting an effective, dedicated routine.

    I am not employed and my schedule is completely open. I usually wake up around 8 or 9, meditate, run, eat breakfast and then read for an hour before starting. Then I'll BR a logic game from the day before, drill a new one, and then watch a webinar or study the curriculum to focus on my weak spots. And then I BR an LR drill from the previous day and do a new one.

    I did very well with the LR sections in the PTs offered with the curriculum, but I think they were retakes or some of the questions were used in the curriculum, because my scores on 45-48 have not been nearly as good. Went to from -3 avg. o -6, and I'm drilling LR every day. No days off. I did a PT a couple weeks back after finishing the curriculum and got around a 168 (target is 175), but again it was a PT with some questions I was familiar with. The LR questions I'm currently missing aren't really a specific type, though I'm having trouble with flaw questions regularly and sometimes it's hard to identify conditional statements.

    So now I'm planning on doing one PT a week for the next month and then bumping it up to two a week in April. What would be an effective way to use my time during those days between PTs. My blind reviews take up a lot of time, and I don't know how and what to study in the time I'll have left after that.

    Attended the post-curriculum seminar already. Please help. I do not want to waste all of this time that I know I could be using more wisely. I'm testing with accommodations, 50% time. I usually dedicate around 6 hours a day to studying, and my scores are not reflecting much improvement, though I'm up a little bit from the 158 I got in December.

    0

    Hi. Just having trouble distinguishing answer C from D in this question. I think D is wrong only because it is plural. Can someone please confirm? I think it's saying the same thing as the right answer (C) in a different way. Please explain if I am wrong.

    D. Takes for granted that threat (increased encephalitis) that is aggravated by certain factors (rain) could not occur in the absence of those factors (rain.)

    Takes for granted that increased encephalitis that is aggravated by rain could not occur without rain. IC can only occur with rain. No other factors.

    C. Ignores the possibility that a certain type of outcome (increased encephalitis) is dependent on more than one factor (rain).

    Ignores the possibility that other factors (that aren't rain) could contribute to IC. D says increased encephalitis could not occur without rain. No other factors seems to be established in both answer choices.

    I don't really see much of a difference in the meaning here. Please tell me if I'm interpreting this incorrectly.

    https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-48-section-4-question-17/

    0

    Hey guys! Since I know a lot of you just took the February LSAT, I wanted to hold a little contest of sorts. It's relatively simple, nothing flashy-- but the 3 people who post the most detailed, well-written review will get our Admissions Course for free. If you already have our Admissions course, you'll get a +1 month extension or a PT explanation of your choice. (If you don't have a full course, this will only last for a month!)

    Here's the details:

    All you have to do to be eligible is post a review of any test center at which you took an officially administered LSAT (anyone is eligible for up to 3 entries).

    Instructions:

    -- Make a new discussion post in the "Test Center Reviews" category and title it like this:

    [Test Center Review] Test Center, City, State/Country

    -- Include the following categories (feel free to copy/paste):

    Proctors:

    Facilities:

    What kind of room:

    How many in the room:

    Desks:

    Left-handed accommodation:

    Noise levels:

    Parking:

    Time elapsed from arrival to test:

    Irregularities or mishaps:

    Other comments:

    Would you take the test here again?

    Date[s] of Exam[s]:

    Examples of some well-written test center reviews:

    --https://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/8859/test-center-review-cedarville-university

    --https://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/6873/test-center-review-northeastern-university-boston-ma

    --https://classic.7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/6887/test-center-review-furman-university-greenville-sc

    I'll be choosing 3 winners on March 30th, 2017.

    Thanks!

    2

    Hey guys,

    Just got a response from Baylor that I have been wait-listed due to lack of seat availability for the fall semester. They gave me the offer of being automatically accepted for the spring semester if I reapply, but that's a ways away. Does anyone know what the usual protocol for being waitlisted is? Is it a toss- up, basically a zero chance, or somewhere in between?

    0

    You can find the entire article here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/03/08/harvard-law-school-will-no-longer-require-the-lsat-for-admission/?utm_term=.6851f69ab16d

    Pretty surprised. What do you think this might mean? Will other schools adopt a similar policy? I've heard the GRE isn't quite as challenging as the LSAT... By potentially broadening the student applicant base, will this negatively affect those who take the LSAT?

    0

  • Yale
  • Stanford
  • Harvard (-1)
  • U Chicago
  • Columbia (-1)
  • NYU
  • Penn
  • Michigan
  • UVA
  • Duke (+1)
  • Northwestern (+2)
  • Berkeley (-4)
  • Cornell
  • UT Austin (+1)
  • Georgetown (-1)
  • UCLA (+2)
  • Vanderbilt (-1)
  • WUSTL
  • USC
  • Iowa
  • Notre Dame (+2)
  • Emory
  • Boston U (-3)
  • U Minnesota (-1)
  • Arizona State
  • Boston College (+4)
  • Alabama (+2)
  • UC Irvine
  • Washington and Lee (+12)
  • GWU (-5)
  • Indiana U Bloomington (-5)
  • Ohio State
  • U Georgia (+3)
  • U Washington (+3)
  • U Wisconsin Madison (+3)
  • Fordham (+1)
  • U Colorado Boulder (+4)
  • Wake Forest (+4)
  • UC Davis (-9)
  • UNC (-1)
  • William and Mary (-8)
  • George Mason (+4)
  • U Florida (+7)
  • U Illinois Urbana-Champaign (-4)
  • U Utah (+1)
  • BYU (-8)
  • SMU (-1)
  • FSU (+2)
  • U Arizona (-8)
  • U Maryland
  • GTown has been knocked out of the T14

    Wo.

    3

    Why is the correct answer C? I did watch JY's video, but still not sure why B is wrong. Here's my reasoning:

    Yolanda’s conclusion: Joyriding is the MORE dangerous crime (than gaining access to computers without authorization)

    Arjun’s reasoning: I disagree (or meaning, Joyriding is NOT MORE dangerous crime (than gaining access to computers without authorization)

    Why? Because computer crimes also cause physical harm to people.

    Here I think the Arjun’s flaw is that what’s absolute (computer crimes cause harm) cannot prove what's relative (computer crimes cause MORE harm than joyriding.

    Yolanda’s making a comparison argument (joyriding is MORE dangerous) but Arjun’s disagreeing with it with only the evidence that computer crime also causes harm. He does not establish that computer crime is MORE dangerous, only that it is dangerous.

    That’s why I thought that he does not provide a valid evidence to disagree with Yolanda. Am I reading answer choice B wrong? Would any evidence, albeit an invalid one, be fine to eliminate answer choice B?

    https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-20-section-1-question-14/

    0

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