I'm wondering how lenient/picky schools are when it comes to giving out app fee waivers. I plan to apply to many of the T14, Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, Chicago, UofM, Northwestern for sure, perhaps others. Paying $300+ just for apps is really going to hurt my budget. My background, I have about 25k debt from undergrad, but its not documented (loan from grandparents), im currently making about 40k yearly while paying off car loan, the aforementioned college loan, and of course daily expenses, rent etc. Also, is there any way to add an addendum to waiver applications? I would like to explain my undocumented debt etc but there's nowhere to do so in most forms I've seen.

Title says it all really. Curious to know how many questions you all have circled after a typical PT. I suppose here I'm more focused on LR and RC since with LG I feel you either 'get' the game and feel confident about all questions or you don't 'get' the game so you're not certain about any...

I'd also be curious to hear what your criteria is for circling for BR. Do you circle anything where you're (100% certain?(/p)

Guys, am I understanding this correctly? Basically, the letters in lg have a relationship only if they are mentioned in the rules, ie, “this comes before that..”. But have no relationship if they are not mentioned?

Hey everyone,

So I came across this thing in LG that got me a bit confused. Hoping someone can offer a quick clarification. Perhaps my brain just froze.

There is this one answer choice in LG that says:

If Hamadi is not appointed to the trial court than Perkins must be.

J.Y translated this as: H --> /P

but isn't it the other way around? In this case it is the "If" that is starting the conditional, not the "not". So shouldn't the translation be:

/H --> P

I don't know why I'm stumbling on this one but just can't see why he flipped it in this situation.

The advice on 7Sage is great. Everyone here genuinely cares about you, your progress, and helping you achieve your goals. People will go out of their way to encourage you and to help fill in your weak links with the LSAT.

Unfortunately advice is not one size fits all. While the LSAT is an extremely important test, and one that requires your dedication and endurance in order to succeed, it is also one step in a much larger game that is life. Not everyone can afford to take time off and devote themselves to the LSAT for years, and not everyone should. If you fall into this group of people with a time constraint, and are frustrated with the advice to postpone the test, just remember you know your situation better than anyone else.

The mentors/sages/guides and users here want you to do the best you possibly can on the LSAT. Many times waiting to take the test is the right answer. It's just not the answer everyone needs to hear.

So if you fall into this camp, and feel frustrated by the fact that no one understand why you need to take the test sooner than later, do not let it get you down. We are here as support for each other --- and we do understand that sometime people's paths and pace differ.

Just a shout out to anyone lurking and feeling pressured by this.

So I've found myself in a bit of a pickle with regards to letters of rec. One of my own making, but still. I am nearly six years removed from college at this point, so finding professors who remember me is a bit of a stretch. Thankfully I applied to grad school a year after college and had to ask for recommendations. I was able to track down one of the professors who still had a copy. He made slight alterations and submitted. One down. The other two have ignored my emails, so I'm not counting on hearing from them. That leaves me in need of a minimum of one more.

Normally, I could ask a current or former manager / senior co-worker, but my situation makes that difficult. I worked for company A right after school for a few years before leaving for company B. At company B I did not get along with the team lead in my first position and ended up switching teams just before I decided to apply to law school. I left company B to return to company A as my position with company B was all encompassing and would have left less than no time to study for the LSAT or write essays. Needless to say, my second team lead there was not exactly thrilled with me leaving so shortly after switching, despite understanding my reasoning. She might have been willing to write one, but has also ignored my email. That would leave all the managers / leads I've had at company A, all would be more than willing to write me great letters of rec under normal circumstances, but having just returned I cannot tell them I'm going to be leaving just yet. This is due to financial considerations / the very likely scenario of them looking to get rid of me before I hit the one year mark due to provisions in my offer. I've thought this through pretty thoroughly and there is no one I could ask who would be likely to keep it to themselves (at least not a risk I'm willing to take).

So I'm running out of ideas. I don't do things like volunteer work, etc. I've thought to ask a few grad TAs I used to work for in college with no response (seriously, how difficult is it just to send a "no" email, this is worse than online dating*). Worst case I can probably find someone just to fill the quota, but it won't be a good one. Like, I might as well just write one myself and submit it at that point. Any outside the box ideas I might not be thinking of?

* Please note that this is a joke and I understand the impulse in both scenarios to say nothing and am ok with it.

Hi 7Sage,

I’m writing to introduce our newest admissions editor, Chris Schlegel. Chris is a Harvard doctoral candidate, Iowa Writers’ Workshop alum, published author, Henry James aficionado, and gentleman of rare eloquence. He’s also one of the most incisive editors I’ve ever met. I think he’s a perfect fit for this amazing community!

I'm about to start my first blind review and i'm a little worried. I feel like i'm going to review answers and agree with myself or change correct answers to wrong ones by over thinking. Any advice or tips? Or something you wish you knew before you started blind reviewing?

Hi everyone,

I have already written the LSAT once, scoring a 151 in December 2016. I realized on my first go, I did not master logical reasoning as for when it came to test date (even after I completed the 7sage curriculum) I got completely tripped up and tanked by LR sections. From May to now I have been testing individual LR sections UNTIMED from 1-30 ( I am on PT number 16 now, I have had to take some breaks from studying due to graduation and other personal affairs), and continue to practice my LG sections (1-30) (timed, which is my strongest section). I refuse to begin timing myself until I have the fundamentals of LR mastered, which means I am consistently going 90-100% on these questions in untimed practice. Where before I was going - 10, to even -8, now I have shorted the gap to -5 to even -3 untimed. But still, this varies. What I have noticed though, that I consistently get curve breaking and tough Necessary assumption and flaw question that have a long and convoluted stimulus wrong. How can I ensure that these types don't trip me up? I have reviewed the grammar and fundamental lessons, I have gone over these sections, and I have even used the LR powerscore bible.

My test is September 16th, and I want to begin timing myself with full length tests from the newer lsats 60-80 as soon as possible in order to adjust to the newer lsat format.

What can I do to greatly increase my LR in that time ( I am blind reviewing)? Should I postpone to December?

Also with reading comprehension that is a hit and miss, sometimes I can score great or bad, depends on the toughness of the passages (ones that tend to science and economic based are absolutely brutal for me). But with working and volunteering (I have to keep my volunteering for it absolutely necessary with my canadian law school applications). I have made the decision that reading comp will be the section I devote the least amount of prep for, due to the fact logical reasoning is 2 sections and makes up for 50% of the test.

Any suggestions would be wonderful. Thankyou for reading this long message

Sincerely, a struggling LSAT student

Unfortunately, I have only two months to study for the September LSAT. Any suggestions on how to get through this? I am a pretty quick learner and I have had a friend who studied for the LSAT in one month and got into UBC Law school. I am taking one class right now to finish my undergrad and it'll be done by the end of this month. I also work part time, so I could really use all the help that I can get. I know I don't have enough time to finish the entire curriculum, but I have skimmed through most of it. Now, I just have to start applying the strategies learned to actual questions.

I could really use all the advice that I can get. Thank you in advance!!

So one of my biggest areas of weakness is hard science passages in RC.

I've been trying to read Scientific America a bit more, and I realize some of it is just repetition of these kinds of passages, but I wonder if there are any other tips/tricks anyone would suggest in tackling these passages?

Reading comp is a strong area for me otherwise, but I can sometimes tank 5 or 6 questions if I get a really difficult science passage (I usually do fine on easier science passages, but some are really f-ing hard). I try to just focus on the structure of the argument, but I still feel it isn't enough and I always miss connections between details. I can't help but feel if I had the science background I wouldn't be so tripped up on these passages.

I've found several similar posts and while valuable, they don't speak to my situation exactly. I'm taking September, I am half way through the Core Curriculum and I'm wondering if I should start using some PT's concurrently with my curriculum work. As of Monday I will be studying full-time.

Should I:

Plow through the curriculum and then start doing PT's? (Schedule says by end of 1st week in Aug, I will finish Core)

Mix in PT's either as timed or piecemeal practice concurrently with my Core work?

I have a set of 10 that includes PT 7 onward. My understanding is that these are significantly different from today's form and that they may just be good practice instead of indicating potential scores. So realistically between now and test time, I don't think I'll finish so many PT's that I would exhaust supply. Does it make sense to utilize these early PT's concurrently with the core work especially in light of being on a full time study schedule soon?

Thanks for your feedback!

Attention : I am planning on closing this group off within the next few weeks. I highly recommend you make an effort to show up to these next few meetings (if you haven't been a regular up until now) and CONTRIBUTE. If you don't have a working microphone, then you can use the optional dial-in # provided at the bottom of this post.

###Test Details:

PT: 64

Experimental Section: RC From PT58

Please submit questions you wish to review here : https://zach191.typeform.com/to/jr9Wi4

Date: Sunday, July 16th

Time: 7:00pm Eastern / 6:00pm Central / 4:00pm Pacific

For our full PT schedule please see the following link : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NqvbW4p83dpFmihrUOeWf6Dx8ETo25rLE1q1nPzOrpg/edit?usp=sharing

Notes:

###GoToMeeting Details:

September '17 Sunday Study Group

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

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/410064813

You can also dial in using your phone.

United States: +1 (872) 240-3311

Access Code: 410-064-813

First GoToMeeting? Try a test session: https://care.citrixonline.com/g2m/getready

Which admissions cycle would the June 2017 LSATS be ideal for?

Hey y'all! I've seen a lot about "foolproofing"--what exactly is it and how do I do it? Also, can it be done for more than just LG?

Thanks!!

Deleted

I am going through the prep tests chronologically and am wondering if the LSAT has changed at all over time.

Hi all,

New to 7Sage, and was wondering...am i missing something in the best way to review questions in practice? When we are learning a new question type there are videos with sample questions from PTs, are we to find and print these out? In some of the videos I can't see all the answer choices when the video is paused. Are we not supposed to go through these on our own before we play the video? I need time to read and analyze the questions before the strategy is revealed. Is there a technique and/or easy way to print that I'm missing?

let me know thanks!

Usually able to locate the correct answer, however on weaken, strengthen, and both kind of assumptions questions, I am not finding the answer by prephrasing. I usually go into the answer choices knowing what the right answer should do. Does that make any sense?

Hello 7Sage (:

I have been studying on and off since January, with school making studying a bit difficult. Regardless, it is now 72 days until the September test and I am stressing out. I need a 173.

Baseline scores: 141, BR-152

Average for the past 3 PT's (42,43,45)

154 (LR: -20, RC: -10, LG: -7)

159 was my most recent PT score.

BR-167.5 (LR: -9, RC: -4, LG: -1)

169 was my most recent BR score.

Since the test I took last week, I have made a goal to fool proof all LG from1-35. Is this a proper way to go about LG prepping?

School chilled out a bit now so I can devote 8 hours towards LSAT each day. I am also using analytics to work on my problem areas in LR- (Flaw, SA, MSS and REE) as well. I feel so stressed that I won't reach my goal and it is just eating me up inside!! Any advise would help.

Here's the link to JY's explanation in the Core Curriculum: https://classic.7sage.com/lesson/budget-for-counseling-programs-flaw-question/

^^Could someone confirm whether or not my line of thinking is correct?

P: 90% of people nationwide believe that an appropriate percentage (i.e. 10%) of the school’s budget is being spent on counseling programs.

C: Thus, any significant increase in the school’s budget should NOT be spent on counseling programs.

Analysis: The premise talks about how people feel good about the 10% counseling programs receive. But, the conclusion says that any actual increase of $$$ in the budget should not be spent on counseling programs. But this conclusion doesn’t follow: for if the overall pie/quantity increases, then counseling program funding will also have to increase in order to maintain that 10% slice of the pie (the conclusion seems to imply that the “appropriate amount” should not be exceeded). So, counseling programs actually MUST receive more funding if their appropriate percentage is maintained.

So in other words, the conclusion essentially mistakes the poll results to mean that 90% of people believed that an appropriate amount of their school’s budget was being spent on counseling programs.

(A last note: I was anticipating that the flaw in the argument was that the conclusion is drawn from a belief but is treated as fact. But upon reviewing this question, I see that the the bigger issue is that a conclusion about quantity is being drawn about premises that only described percentages.)

For the September exam: What would be a solid PT taking schedule for a full-time LSAT student? I want to take as many PTs as possible (without burnout) while having enough time to do a proper BR.

I'm thinking 3 (maybe 4..) PTs a week?

Any suggestions on a good PT plan until the September exam? I want to make sure I have a good mix of old and newer PTs as the PTs 60+ are more difficult.

(Note: I've already done around 20 PTs as I was prepping for the June exam but extended to September as I wasn't hitting my target score area).

Any advice appreciated on how to make use of the next 2 months in regards to PTs. Thanks!

Hello! I've read a lot of different discussions about this, but I can't find anything that specifically answers my questions.

I have taken 11 PTs and have averaged 163, but recently scored a 170, then 165. My scores are all over the place and I'm aiming to score 170 in September. Because I was originally planning to take the June exam, I already completed PT 62-71 so now I am back to using older ones. I've already purchased 42-61 and was planning to take those 20 (plus PT 71 which I saved) but now I'm reading that taking the 40s doesn't actually help because they're easier...? Should I use the 40s for drills and purchase the 70s individually? I don't want to spend more money than I have to, but I also don't want to mess myself up by using the 40s if they're not going to help.

Any advice would be appreciated!!

x

I just finished reading Smarter Better Faster by Charles Duhigg and found it to be very useful for finding ways to increase focus, motivation, and productivity with my LSAT studying. It is also very readable since the gist of the book is structured around storytelling.

Full disclosure: My bachelors degree is in cognitive psychology and I love behavioral science, so I might have gotten carried away a bit with the length of this post, but I do believe that the using psychology to master the LSAT is necessary for doing well.

Here’s the stuff I found most useful for LSAT prep:

Ch.1 - Motivation:

Positive emotional reward linked to making decisions (gained through experience) AND belief in having control over our lives and surroundings AND linking mundane tasks (such as studying) to greater purpose or personal values, thus transforming them into a choice —> motivation to act

(Yes, those three conditions are sufficient for motivation, according to science.)

Motivation depends on emotionality.

Motivation is a skill that can be learned and honed, not a static personality trait.

Following a success, praise yourself for hard work, not your intelligence. (Focusing on static traits like intelligence shuts down motivation.)

Ch. 3 - Focus:

This chapter was most useful to me. The author talks about the concept of mental models (a story of what should happen in a future scenario) and how they can help combat cognitive tunneling (focusing one irrelevant or insufficient thing due to being overwhelmed by information) and reactive thinking (reacting to external stimuli randomly or as they arise instead of intentionally).

Mental modeling works in several ways. It helps us know what information to pay attention, because we already have a plan, so that we are better able to successfully complete a stressful/high-risk task. The author uses a story of a pilot successfully landing a totally wrecked plane and it was very relatable to trying to answer an LR question with a seemingly incomprehensible stimulus on a timed PT…

Mental modeling also provides us with a picture of what a situation should like, and when it doesn’t look that way, an alarm goes off in our head and we fix it, rather than proceeding with the bad strategy. To increase focus and avoid distraction or mistakes, the author hence recommends visualizing the anticipated task. For example, I have a hard time not getting distracted during LSAT studying by other tasks, and mental modeling allows me to set an intention and better catch myself when I deviate from what I intended to do, such as browsing the Discussion Forum instead of BR or forgetting to identify the premises and conclusions in an argument stimulus in LR.

Cognitive tunneling and mental shutdown (the flight or fight mentality that the CC talks about leading to inability to do higher order thinking) is exactly what happens to me when I get stuck while studying or a timed PTs, so it has been useful to try to transform material and strategies from the CC into mental models of what I should be doing instead of panicking. I think that the mental model idea works for individual small tasks, like answering specific question types on LR, as well as for whole sections, such as creating a mental model for active reading during RC (still a bit of a struggle for me). Another useful mental model might be for remaining calm, focused, and confident for the actual LSAT. You can practice mental modeling anytime - while commuting, cooking, showering… In relation to LSAT prep, it’s just another way of studying, but it can also be applied to any aspect of your life.

“Mental models help us by providing a scaffold for the torrent of information that constantly surrounds us. Models help us choose where to direct our attention, so we can make decisions, rather than just react.”

The concepts mentioned in the book definitely overlap with recommendations for studying and test taking form the CC, not that 7sage needs even more proof of being effective :).

Ch. 4 - Goal Setting:

Pairing two types of goals:

Ch. 6 - Decision Making:

Decision making is integral to the LSAT - choosing the right answer, choosing what to focus attention on, choosing when to skip questions…

ability to envision what will happen next (“forecasting”) probabilistically AND comfort with doubt (knowing what you don’t know) AND realistic assumptions —> good decision making

We have a success-bias, i.e. we tend to notice success more than failures, even though failures offer more insight on how to succeed, in other words, not fail. (focus on areas of struggle in LSAT prep instead of searching for ways to increase score)

Ch. 8 - Absorbing Data:

data must be understood and then applied to be useful (e.g. actually formulate study plans out LSAT Analytics page on 7sage; active reading)

large amounts of data can best be absorbed by asking series of questions (e.g. while digesting a complex LR stimuli ask: what are the Ps and C? what is the strength of support? are there any assumptions?…)

hand-written notes are the most effective because the disfluency of hand-writing forces us to take more time to reformulate the information. I believe that everyone should take comprehensive notes by hand while doing the CC.

If any of this spoke to, do yourself a favor and read the relevant parts of the book, I’ve tried hard to summarize it accurately here but you will get much more from the book :)

What do y’all think? Has anyone else read this?

What mental models would you make for studying for the LSAT?