Dear 7Sage fam,

I am going to register for the December LSAT and will begin prepping mid September. This leaves me a solid 10 weeks of studying time to shoot for 170+ coming from PTs 157-160. I was prepping for the LSAT at one time (where I got my PTs from), and then decided to post-pone test taking for another time since I took up a demanding full-time position. I actually was a 7Sager before the whole copy-right incident happened! :o

Anyways... is this a possibility? Literally the only thing I need for HYS is a 170+

LSAT score and the reason I cannot take a later test is because my 80-88hr work weeks start back up in January until the end of August. (My job is freakin awesome, it just requires work). The cool thing is the only work required of me during this 10 week period are attending a 2 conferences in Jacksonville and Puerto Vallarta for a few days each. Other than that I have all the time in the world to prep!

LG was my most solid section typically -3 to -5

LR and RC... welp.

Any tips? Encouragement to go for it? Discouragement because I'm crazy?

Zach the Bookman

Hi all -

Does 7Sage provide answers / video explanations for the LR and RC sections for PTs 1-35? I was hoping to use these for a couple of weeks of practicing full, timed sections.

For the past week, when I try to print a test, it "prepares" the pages, and never progresses past the last few (ie 41/45). It just sits there...Anyone else have this problem? I've tried in Chrome and Internet Explorer.

Hi, I'm aiming for September, 2017, and I'm lagging behind on my PTs. Would it be a good idea for me to start taking two PTs a day? (I'm currently taking one everyday.)

I would be applying to law schools in Australia as an international student. Can someone tell me:

(i) What is the average LSAT score range for the three law schools?

(ii) Do I need an LSAT score as high as I normally would in the US?

(iii) Are international students evaluated at par with other candidates or is there a different criterion?

Thanks in advance!

Hi all,

I came across this game in a practice test (# unknown) recently. I am wondering how best to approach it. I am especially interested in understanding how to diagram this game. Thanks in advance!

Two friends, Rachel and Teresa, own a dog walking business. During a particular week, on Monday through Friday, they walk three dogs--a Newfoundland, and Otterhound, and a Poodle--in accordance with the following conditions:

-Each dog is walked exactly once by each friend and no dog is walked twice in one day.

-Rachel walks the Newfoundland at some time in the week before she walks the Poodle.

-Rachel walks the Poodle earlier in the week than Teresa does.

-Teresa walks the Otterhound earlier in the week than Rachel does.

-Rachel walks the Newfoundland on the day immediately before the day or the day immediately after the day on which Teresa walks the Newfoundland.

-Rachel walks no dogs on Wednesday.

7Sagers,

On Wednesday, August 23, at 9 p.m. ET, we’ll host a special personal statement workshop featuring 7Sage editors Amy Bonnaffons and Chris Schlegel.

Amy and Chris will be workshopping real first drafts submitted by 7Sage students a few weeks ago. This is your chance to see how a professional editor thinks about the revision process. And if that’s not enough to entice you…

At the end of the webinar, we’ll randomly select two attendees for a free round of editing with Chris or Amy!

You’ll find details about joining the webinar below. Farther down still, you’ll find the drafts that Amy and Chris chose. Read them yourself and think about how you would revise.

Webinar: Personal Statement Workshop

Wed, Aug 23, 2017 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM EDT Join by going to this link: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/579343661

You can also dial in using your phone: United States: +1 (312) 757-3121

Access Code: 579-343-661 First GoToMeeting? Try a test session: https://care.citrixonline.com/g2m/getready

#---

Essay 1

Many people view Costco as a wonderland of gallon-sized jars of mayonnaise, industrial cans of vegetables, packages of toilet paper large enough to last the average family a year, and $1.50 ready-to-eat hot dog combos that haven’t increased in price for decades. But for me, Costco has been the backbone of my work experience, teaching me valuable skills and work ethic that could only be learned through hands-on experience. My stint at Costco began as a part-time college job to pay living expenses just in time for my first semester at Creighton University. My job at the big box retailer is one aspect of my life that has remained constant throughout my educational pursuits: from graduating college, to studying as a paralegal, to my journey to law school.

My acceptance to Creighton University brought me 1500 miles away from my hometown of Reno, Nevada to the mid-western town of Omaha, Nebraska where I was hired at Costco the week my first semester began. My weekdays were spent waking up before dawn for the 5am shift and leaving by 10am to spend the rest of the afternoon in lectures. I used the weekends to complete homework assignments and worked the late-night shift at Costco. My wages covered rent, food, and other living expenses allowing me to graduate with a de minimis amount of student loans.

Costco not only provided a means of financial support, but lead me to a great deal of self-discovery that ultimately brought me where I am today as I apply to Wake Forest University School of Law to start the next chapter in my educational career; I have learned I am highly organized, work best under pressure, have outstanding time management skills, and enjoy utilizing my strong language skills. Participation in leadership roles on and off the clock including safety committee representative, coordinator for the volunteer reading program, and Live Healthy program advocate for the warehouse promoted my personal growth. Like Creighton, Costco demanded that I give my best to the task at hand no matter how simple.

The rigorous course load of the Jesuit university not only shaped me academically, but also religiously, spiritually, and morally. The religion-based courses, including philosophy and morals and ethics, helped create the foundation for my analytic and research skills. Like many young college students, I did not have a definite academic or professional goal in mind upon beginning college studies and I took a plethora of classes in hopes of expanding my career possibilities. I do not regret the variety of courses that comprise my college transcript as I feel my diverse course load taught me perseverance to finish what I start and gave me a broad range of knowledge. It wasn't until my third year of college that I chose to pursue a degree in Spanish and Hispanic Studies to follow my passion for the language and culture. The major also suited my strength in writing that my professors had so often complimented. My time spent in the Hispanic community and in the classroom as I worked toward my major ignited my passion to study law as it left me wondering how I could help disadvantaged immigrants and minorities in a professional, legal capacity. It became clear to me that higher education could translate my passion into a career that would benefit the common good while satisfying my eagerness to gain knowledge.

Years after obtaining my Bachelor of Arts degree, I continued to work at Costco in payroll and human resource administration in the Winston-Salem, North Carolina warehouse. My job at Costco brought my thinking back once again to law. I viewed my position in human resources as a microcosm to the legal system; the company's employee handbook and policies and procedures as the laws and I the attorney advocating the rights of the employees and interpreting policies. I was intrigued to learn about the state and federal laws and regulations that had shaped the company's policies, leave of absence administration, workers' compensation procedures, and other legal matters relating to personnel and employment. My interest in employment law while working at Costco encouraged me to begin a paralegal education that flourished into a career for which I ultimately left my full-time job at Costco.

I can still vividly recall the sweltering, August day that would determine my fate in the application pool of Costco. The day of my scheduled interview, I awoke to find my car totaled by a tornado; I hadn’t even unpacked my moving boxes. Without anyone to call for help, I headed out on the unfamiliar streets of my new town on my bicycle with a folded map in hand. By the time I was able to locate the building, I had arrived over two hours late. Notwithstanding my tardiness, the hiring manager viewed me as a dedicated candidate and hired me on-the-spot. The start of my career at Costco is much like my path to Wake Forest Law; I haven’t always been sure how I would arrive to my destination but I have remained determined and haven’t given up on my dream of law school despite the obstacles that have confronted me.

Essay 2

2016 marked a pivotal year in my life. This was my first direct encounter with the social injustice that plagues our world. Working as a police officer at the Statehouse, every day, several times a day, I would interact with all different walks of life, from the homeless to the governor. While I didn’t realize at the time, there is a stark contrast in the way police officers interact with individuals of majority and minority status.

The catalyst to realizing the true existence of social injustice took place on a cold winter night in December of 2015. Around 11pm the temperature was 10 degrees with the wind chill. Just as any other night I was making my nightly rounds checking high traffic areas along Broad Street, When I received a call of suspicious activity in the parking garage. I arrived several minutes later to a small group of people standing in the garage, simply trying to get out of the cold. I promptly got on the radio and asked what the issue was, to which she replied, “the black man in the blue coat and jeans looks suspicious.” Standing fairly close to him and his daughter, he heard the dispatcher’s reply. The look on his face was of shock; was he being targeted simply because he’s black? The man and his daughter were the only two African Americans in the group. At this point I felt I was there not for a wrong doing but because the color of a man’s skin. While we usually didn’t allow individuals to loiter in the garage, if it was cold we had some discretion. Trying to rectify the situation, I carried on a conversation with the man for several minutes, telling him he was more than welcome to stay as long as he needed to get warm. Before leaving, he introduced himself ad Michael and told me I was the only police officer in his entire life that treated him like a human being. This particularly hit me hard, what made the act of profiling and mistreatment amongst minorities so apparent? Just a few days earlier I worked at a protest of police profiling and brutality amongst minorities, in which the man was present. This man stood up for what he believed in and in particular what was right.

Two months later working day shift, we received a call that an individual that had been shot in the head and needs medical attention. Less than a half mile from Capital Law School, I arrived to the crime scene in shock, this man was no stranger, rather Marshawn was the leader of many of the protests and civil rights movements that had taken place just a few months prior. He was very passionate about equality, especially in regards to police relations among minorities. While some were in shock, the apparent suicide was taken rather lightly by many others, some of which were making jokes and ready to clock out. How could they be so heartless? This was a young man who later we would find out took his own life as a direct retaliation of police profiling. The injustice that he felt could have very well been brought on by one of us, or even myself, which was particularly hard to live with.

As time went on the impact of this man’s suicide only grew on me. I began to think of every instance in which I might have unintentionally engaged in profiling or been unfair based even marginally upon race. I would never stand for such an injustice. This man believed in his cause so much, that he gave his own life. While tragic, this lit a fire in my soul in terms of the many social injustices taking place. I changed my undergraduate major from criminal justice to sociology and began to thoroughly research current injustices and police profiling. This went against everything I have ever been believed, but growth only happens in a state of discomfort. Stagnation turned to chaos. Everything I had ever known was now being challenged. Things were no longer taken at face value. This combination of events, while seemingly meaningless to others, sparked an extreme passion for improving people’s lives. Becoming an attorney would enable me to bring attention to societal issues that are not being addressed, and to give a voice to people like Michael and Marshawn, who tend to be marginalized.

Hi guys,

I'm sure the answer to this question is pretty simple (just wake up earlier regularly) but I'm very much a night person and even after a month of waking up at 6am trying to force myself to be mentally active earlier in the day, I still can't write a PT until 11 or noon at the earliest. I just wrote the June 2017 exam and am retaking (set to rewrite in December), but I'm seriously considering deferring law school an entire year to be able to write in June again for the sake of time. Is this extreme?? Should I just wait it out and see if I can adjust??

I should also mention I was PTing in the 166-172 range before getting a 158 (mostly due to test anxiety). So I feel like more time could be beneficial for the sake of my score anyway?

Any advice from reformed night people would be appreciated!

Hi, I was wondering if most of you add a 5th section to your PTs, and if so do you take those sections from unseen PTs or from old ones?

Hi there,

Is every RC passage from PTs 1-35 used in the curriculum's problem sets? I am trying to get every bit of RC practice I can, and would love to know if anyone knows of certain passages in particular that weren't pulled for the curriculum. I've done the problem sets twice over and am looking for unused material (I've also already done every RC passage since 35 already).

I am doing great on the other sections, but RC is killing my score. I am constantly missing 15+/- on RC.

I have tried underlining, making short summaries/ LSAT Trainer method... and nothing seems to be working.

What strategies do you use? I'm just not getting it.

Would anyone say that the prep tests from the years before say 2001 are harder than the newer ones. Harder in terms of the wordings

Hi all,

I purchased the casio watch recommended here that has the top dial to turn and from my understand is OK for the new LSAT rule.

Do you think Proctors will know that it is acceptable? What are some thoughts on what you will do if they make a fuss?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005JVP0FU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm just starting and I'm wondering if there's a big difference between reading the lessons and watching the videos of the lessons? I'd prefer to read but I don't want to miss any material that isn't covered in the accompanying text. Thanks for the help!

If you plan on ideally getting into law school in the 2018 school year, is September LSAT your last chance

I'm hoping that some RC session host by Sages would come before Sept LSAT. After attending @danielznelson RC session, I feel more confident in RC.

If you got the questions right in a group of problem set questions, do you still watch all the videos? I am currently only watching the ones I got wrong otherwise it would take me about an hour to do one set of 5 questions, but I don't want to miss out on some valuable advantage by skipping the ones I got correct.

So i have spent majority of my study time doing timed sections. My average LR section is -2 and my average RC is -4. LG is -1/-2.

For some reason when i sit down for a PT my scores go all over the place. I am not confident in my ACs, i misread rules, i rush my reading. Its a disaster.

I was hesitant to take more than 1 pt every 1.5 weeks or so, but i dont think its enough? Thoughts?

I was gearing up for September, but by the looks of my PTs its looking like im gonna have to push to dec

Hello all,

After finishing the CC and attempting about 5-6 PTs , I noticed I was still hovering around 158-160 so I revisited the CC and that same day, decided to take PT41 untimed and scored a 166. Huge confidence boost because that's the highest I've ever scored (June test scored a 156 so 166 is quite the improvement). I've done a few more untimed PTs after that thinking that perhaps it was a timing issue but still have returned back to the 160 score :( my motivation is a little shot because it's a little frustrating to know that I may be capable of scoring 166 but keep on scoring in the low 160s... My goal for Sept is to PT at least 165+.

The PTs besides PT41 (post and pre) have been around -8 to -9 on RC, -6 each on LR and 0 to -2 on LG. I know my RC needs work and I've adopted the no notation strategy and have noticed a slight improvement in comprehension and understanding the questions a bit better. The Infer Author Perspective is usually the ones that I get wrong though. For LR, I've noticed a huge improvement in understanding after revisiting the CC but the questions I now get wrong are usually the level 4 or 5 difficulty questions (usually flaw or parallel flaw). Also, I've noticed I struggle a bit more with principle questions, does anyone have any tips to proceed with these?

PT41 was -4 on each LR, -6 on RC and -2 on LG.

So close yet so far away! Help :'(

Hi guys,

It was just as I has predicted. I have a Below Average evaluation. That is tantamount to a D.

I seriously need some opinion/advice on whether or not to apply to law school at all even if I get a good LSAT score.

A D evaluation will be regarded as not passing by law schools, so I think my application will go to the bin regardless of LSAT scores.

I am targeting T3/4 law schools, but those won't be possible and might be a long shot.

Advice much needed.

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/

Usually grade my tests by hand (I've done probably done over 40 of them over the last few months), and today I randomly decided to use the grader on here. I had to blink a couple times when I read final score... 178. I'm used to scoring in the low 170s, so I was not expecting this. I had to re-grade by hand to make sure it wasn't a mistake.

I think I can attribute this to three things: (1) I had a really light week in terms of studying this week and went out last night, so I went in with a calm mindset (2) tried a new strategy on LR and RC that seemed to help me not get stuck on questions (I utilized something like the 25 in 25 strategy on here, only it was more like 25 in 30 for me) and (3) finally had a perfect games section on a PT. Feel encouraged! I started at a 162 five months ago.

Anyways, my family is sick of hearing me talk about the LSAT, so I thought I'd share this here.

Hello all!

Unfortunately I am really struggling with RC and I am wondering if anyone who also struggles (or did) has seen improvements in their RC scores by only doing 3 of the passages, so spending more time on those one's and then bubbling in random answer's for the 4th passage? Or if this didn't work for people or if you haven't tried it is there any other tips or things you changed while reading or answering the questions that made your RC scores increase?

Thanks so much everyone!!

Hey all! I find that whenever I do RC (and sometimes even during LR) I feel panicky and rushed which causes me to not absorb what I'm reading properly. This only happens to me on timed PTs as during BR or when I'm not under time constraints I can read the passages fine and get the questions right. Also this doesn't happen to me during LG as I feel much calmer during that section haha. Does this happen to anyone else? Or does anyone have any tips on how to stop this and calm down when reading?

Thanks everyone :)

So.... I'm having a hard time finishing more than 17-19 Questions in LR Sections and about 15 in RC.... I always thought I was a fast reader... until now :( .. How do I become faster at reading all of this and yet have time to answer the questions?

English IS my second language, but still I'm a faster reader than some of my american friends... so I'm not sure if that has something to do with me not being able to read fast enough for LSAT.... Its really stressful... How did you guys become fast in those sections???