Our 89 Point Increase Story

Tuesday, January 24, 7:00 PM EST

Please join us for a very special evening with the Sages

Josh Aldy @"Cant Get Right"

David Brown @"Accounts Playable"

Daniel Z. Nelson @danielznelson

and

Nader Parham @"Not Ralph Nader"

We will share our LSAT journeys, our struggles, and most importantly, how we were each able to overcome our individual challenges. The LSAT is a highly dynamic test which means that each of us will have unique obstacles to overcome. The LSAT is different from other tests in that it provides all the information we need to answer every question, so if you can learn to read it, you really can master it. If you can see yourself in our struggles, we hope you can see yourself in our ultimate successes. If we can do it, we believe you can too.

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Q&A to follow the presentation, so bring your questions!

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Does anyone knows where I can get the list of In/Out games from PT41-80?

Thank you!:)

I know how to strengthen and weaken correlation within a stimulus. However, my problem is that while under timed conditions, I somehow miss the correlation within the stimulus. Because of this, I miss most of these types of questions seeing as I do not approach how to strengthen or weaken the stimulus accordingly.

Can someone please be so kind to give me advise on exactly what to look for to instantly pick up on correlation within a stimulus???

Hey All,

I just took Preptest 2, Section 1 twice (once timed, once untimed) and BOTH TIMES got my butt kicked...even going through the correct answers now, I'm like "What?? How on earth is that correct?" Has anyone else taken this section and had a similar experience? Also, is anyone willing to take this section and maybe BR it together (post answers...because I have seen them)?

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I am relatively new to 7sage and I want to say that I look forward to all these discussion forums they encourage me alot. To everyone that is here, just taking the decision to take the LSAT already makes you a winner. It does not matter the score that you are getting, just be encouraged. I really do appreciate all the ideas and advice in this forum. I wish everyone the best.

I'm still trying to get through the CC currently, and I see the importance of mastering the inferences for the LG's. However, I also want to keep making progress as I'm still up in the air if I will be ready for June. Should I wait till I am done with the CC to start mastering the games, or do it as I go? Thanks!

Hey guys I'm new to the forums and love all the content!

Here's the short of it. I graduated from Rutgers with a middling GPA I worked for a year after at a non-profit and graduated from Seton Hall with a dual masters in diplomacy and MBA in supply chain. I've worked for a year on the Hill during that time and now work for a logistics firm. I want to go into trade or corp law and am worried that my undergrad GPA will affect my admission to a top school even though I graduated with honors from Seton Hall. I do community service, speak German, and have some decent connections. Would I essentially need to get in the mid 170s + to get into a top tier school? Thanks for any feedback guys!

-Will

Any ideas on how to manage mental sharpness? I'm always trying to push through when I hit a wall... Otherwise, I exercise, rigorously practice cello, play games, meditate, or drink coffee... My mental capacity seems to be declining every time I tackle the study. Help.

I have some questions on how to make note taking and studying more efficient. (My apologies in advance for lack of tech lingo).

General: How do you incorporate tech into your study? I use Microsoft Word to take notes per question type and store my notes on iCloud for mobile review. I use quizlet for any concepts that may be drillable, that way I can have them in my pocket at all times. However, if I want to look at a specific question, I have to write down the questions location (25.3.20), put my notes below the location, then find either the hard copy of the question or use the question bank and look back and forth. Maybe I'm lazy, but I like to think my laziness inspires creativity and efficiency.

Specific: Related to the above, I am wondering if anyone has thought of a quicker, easier way to portably drill real lsat question besides cumbersome formatting and drilling on MW? There are some aspects of note taking that are much easier typing and others that are much easier with a pen. Does anyone know how I might get a digital copy of a question (any method that avoids scanning/printing) be able to type above and under it and write freely on the page (annotations, logic game boards) in a digital format, like with a bamboo digital writey thing or an iPad pro? I'm trying to find a digital, convenient, efficient, and portable way to jot down, review, and drill notes, with typing and free form writing next to/on real lsat questions. I really want to avoid difficult formatting (MW), inefficient drilling (MW), limited note taking ability (only typing), having to scan or print anything, or having to look back and forth from notes to question. I hope I'm making sense.

Join us as we continue Wednesday's session and jump into the LR sections from PT 65

Saturday, March 4th at 5PM ET: PT 65

Click here to join this conversation: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/617377325

Please click the link and comment if you plan on participating.

You can also dial in to the BR call by using your phone.

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The Full Schedule

And if you’d like to see the full schedule for upcoming sessions, here it is:

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=aWw1aWEzYTRkbWdoaDZsa3U3YjBsaDBlZDBAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ

Note:

I apologize if this may sound like a stupid question but are there jobs for law graduates that pay six figures outside of BigLaw. Although unrelated, I was speaking with my 24 year old friend who is a compiler engineer making close 150k while working close to 40 hours a week and I was wondering if there was a equivalent job in Law that pays a similar amount for those hours.

I want to better understand how big of a difference my PT scores are from my BR scores and what I can reliably consider my BR score to be.

Right now I use the BR method, circle the question, don't look at the correct answer, write out the explanations, etc.

After I BR I score the test and usually there are a few questions I got wrong that I did not circle.

What I then do is note those question numbers and try to "blind" review those.

Of course, this sort of defeats the truly "blind" part of the blind review, however most of the time I do not remember what the correct answer was after I scored it nor do I always remember which answer choice I chose while taking the test. However, I do have the added knowledge that at the very least whichever answer I picked the first time around was incorrect.

Let's say I circled 4 questions during the test for BR, and after blind reviewing them I scored the test and of those 4 I correctly changed my answer on 3 during BR and 1 of those I still got wrong on BR. Now I look at the ones I did not circle for BR. Let's say there were 4 questions I got wrong that I did not circle. I then "blind" review those by not looking back at the correct answer or the answer I picked. Assuming I did not remember what the correct answer was during the scoring nor did I remember what my answer choice was on the test, if I got those 4 correct on the not-entirely-blind blind review, could I consider those as part of my BR score?

Usually there are a few questions for whatever reason I clearly remember what the correct answer choice was after scoring it and/or what the answer choice I chose on the test was. In those cases I know even if I got it correct in the second round of review, I had too much information at my disposable to properly consider that part of the BR score.

But of the ones where I did not remember the correct answer or what I chose on the test, can I consider those part of the BR? I am trying to figure out how much simply knowing that I got it wrong can affect the not-so-blind BR score even when I don't remember what I chose on the test and what the correct answer was. And by knowing that I can better gage my room for improvement.

Using the example above, I circle 4 for BR, of those 4 I get 3 right and 1 wrong on BR. I then score the test and got 4 others wrong, none of which I remember the correct answer or the answer choice I picked on the test. On the second round of "blind" review I get all 4 correct. So is my BR score for the test -1 or is it -5?

Obviously, if the method I'm using is anyway a deviation from the the BR method then my score is not necessarily a true BR score. But what I find valuable about the BR score is that it indicates that you probably know the material well enough to get it correct, you just need to practice more and then the gap between your raw score and BR score will close. So if my BR score is -1 it means one thing about how I approach studying and if my score is -5 it means another thing. That's why I am asking these questions.

My scaled score is a reliable ~172, my BR score is a ~174, and under the not-so-blind BR it's ~177. So is my reasonable room for improvement the difference between 172 and 174 or between 172 and 177? Am I fooling myself by saying I'm a 177 and all I need is more practice because the truth is I am more of a 174?

Of course, I could just be way stricter during the test and circle every question I have even the slightest doubt which would be creating a lot more of review work but at the very least I would get a more accurate BR score. In the meantime, however, feedback would be much appreciated!

As a side note, I don't know if it's been discussed on these boards, but to say that your BR score is where you could be with more time and practice is somewhat misleading because when you look at a question on the test it's for the first time, whereas on BR it's at least for the second time. Complex stimuli and question stems become way easier to decipher the more you read them so that could factor in why you get it correct on BR but incorrect on the test. Nevertheless it's the best review method I've found so far, so good going 7Sage!

https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-22-section-3-game-3/

The first time I ran through this game, I went -4 and way over time. Really just stumbled through it without understanding. Then I CCBRed. During BR, I "found" an inference and split the boards based on it. That trial went sooo smooth: -0 and 3m UNDER the prescribed time by JY.

Then I watched the video explanation and noticed that JY did not make the inference I made. I went back and reviewed and now I'm not sure if the inference I made was valid or not lol. Did I make an invalid inference and benefit from dumb luck??

Here is JY's GBs:

___ |19_| _o

___ |20| ___

Here are my GBs:

19_ |19_| o

___ |20| 20

and

___ |19_ |19o

20_| 20_ |___

Having gotten this far in explaining my question, I believe I did make an invalid inference because my GBs limit the possibilities such as:

___ |19_ |19o

_| 20 |20

However, if anyone has something to add, or I'm still not seeing it correctly, please let me know. I PT around 160 and consistently go -10+ in games. To say LG is my bottleneck is an understatement.

I have a question for the Character and Fitness portion of the Law School application. I was basically caught Tresspassing in my bosses office, and initially lied about it to the Director of Community standards. on my record is failure to comply, dishonesty, and trespassing. In your guys' opinion, would the Dishonesty be the biggest deal breaker for my law school application? If it helps i can private message my addendum...

Hi guys,

I got my February score back and unfortunately I did 5 points worse on this take compared to my second take. And it is the lowest LSAT score I have on file. Will I need to provide an addendum about this LSAT score or do I need to not worry, as law schools take the highest LSAT score into consideration?

Hey hey!!

I've been AWOL for awhile. Anyway, I got a 5 point increase from what I scored in 2014. I could have done better, but I also could have done worse. So, that's life. I took the score increase and smiled knowing I rocked the games section and probably had nerves get to me more than I should have. Shout out to 7Sage for the advice, curriculum, momentum, ect. You guys are the best out there.

I decided to apply and see what happens and (as a result of a little Peace Corps stint) got all my applications fee waived. 18 schools later and I'm beginning to hear back. Thus far, I am waiting on about 12 schools. My top choices are still MIA. However, my bro said I should probably start to think about my top 2 options and get some opinions on them.

So, it's right now Iowa v. Boston College. VERY different locations. Iowa essentially offered me a full ride and BC offered me like 1/3rd. Initially I would have gone straight for Iowa, but BC has better placements in the Boston/NYC area (an area I'd prefer to be in long term). Iowa, however, could open some doors for me in Chicago which is a city I also really like and I am from very close by.

Background: I really am not into Big Law. My current interests are in advocacy law and public interest. The dream is to work for DOJ or state govt. but that may even be a reach as I'd be competing with HYS students. I'd also like to eventually maneuver into public policy work focused on children's rights. Short term, I could see myself starting in juvenile court. I'd be open to the private sector mainly working in family law dealing with adoptions/custody. But BL isn't my game.

All thoughts/opinions would be nice to hear. Thanks team :)

I am at the point where I can get 100 percent correct on LG with unlimited time, but still have trouble finishing all four within 35 minutes and usually end up bubbling in the last game at the end. I always am too nervous not to check wrong answer choices once I've come across an answer that I think is correct (assuming that the answer is not E), but I am worried that this is costing me precious time. I was wondering if people usually tend to move on once they've found a correct answer choice.

Hi all,

What are some recurring topics you've noticed in LSAT reading comprehension? Some I've noticed are: evolution and natural selection, Ronald Dworkin, African American/indigenous/Asian American rights, impressionist artists, and subjectivism vs. objectivism. Wouldn't hurt to familiarize myself with these recurring topics (i.e., you've seen on 2+ Reading Comprehension passages). Any more (I'm sure there are many?)

Im going to make this quick for u guys. I took this past Feb LSAT, and I was very disappointed. Quick background- After finishing core curriculum, my first PT to last went around this- 157 159 157 161 162 161 167. As you can tell, I was very happy with my improvement. On the night of the LSAT, I couldn't sleep, went to bed around 2am and woke up at 5am. Couldnt go back to sleep after waking up. Ended up playing video games until it was time to take the test, which I took with 3 hours of sleep and had to supplement by chugging 3 cups of coffee before the test, giving me the jitters and some extra anxiety due to all the caffeine. Ended up getting a 157. Either way, now I am about to get a full time job but still have to retake the test in June because I can clearly do better. My question is first off, how much did getting 3 hours of sleep mixed with the extra anxiety of chugging coffee etc affect my score? Some people have told me heavily. And also with a little amount of study every week until June due to a full time job, will I still be able to perform close to my high score? I am so angry at this whole situation.

Hi

So, it seems that these circular reasoning questions are killing me... okay so I have a question on answer choice B. I am not quite sure why this argument is circular reasoning. The structure is:

Okay, so the explanation to this question states that it is circular reasoning with premise 1 (Violent crimes are rare) and the main conclusion (The claim that there is a large number of violent crimes in our society is false. However, the reasoning on why I eliminated this answer choice was:

So if we were to look at this argument structure specifically at the circular reasoning part:

This seems to be good inferencing to me? I recall a lecture in 7sage's logical courses.

Here, to say that it is not the case that all cats cannot bark can mean several things: few cats can bark, many cats can bark, or all cats can bark. Yet, we never question the inference made from this structure...

Even if we were to assume that those two sentences meant the same thing, it is not circular reasoning if you provide additional premises. See https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-25-section-2-question-09/ (see from the 2:20 mark). After doing several circular reasoning questions, this advice seems to not stand anymore... Some clarification would be great on this point that the addition of additional premises circumvents the argument from circular reasoning.

Any take on these two points? So in my view, I'm not sure but would like some clarification on this, is that even though we see an answer choice, and from mechanical thinking, identify the answer choice as circular reasoning, there are quite different nuances in each one. For instance, here is another answer choice that can be identified as circular reasoning.

PT17 S2 Q2

E) draws a conclusion that simply restates a claim given in support of that conclusion

If this wording for circular reasoning had been provided, it would definitely miss the mark, as being rare is NOT a restatement of not a large number.

However, if we are to look at the answer choice in question:

PT24 S2 Q8

This wording would be true for this argument. While the conclusion is NOT a restatement of its premise, it still does presuppose the truth of it (If the statement that violent crimes are rare is true, then without a doubt, the conclusion that there are not a large number of violent crimes is true, as "being rare" implies that "it is not a large number").

So my take on this is that:

Any feedback would be great!

https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-24-section-2-question-08/

I have a question about BR method. I have been BR'ing every single question on all four sections of my pt's since starting working on pt's (I've done about 8 pt's so far). When I do a BR, I write out why each answer choice is either right/wrong.

This process take a lot of time to fully complete a full BR. I've seen modest improvements on my scores (10 point increase from my original 147 score on my diagnostic), but is this cumbersome method efficient and productive? Should I be only picking particular questions to BR? How does everyone else BR?

I was wondering how the admissions process for transferring works. For Instance- say I went to a tier 3 or tier 2 and ranked up pretty high in my first year, but wanted to transfer to a t16 program. What do these schools take into account? Will weight be placed more on academic achievement in the first year, or will the LSAT be put in play with equal measure thus negating my performance?

Also, do companies look negatively on law school transfers?

.

How long should a thorough review of a LR/RC section take?

I spend hours on reviewing a typical LR/RC section...am I being unnecessarily inefficient?

Hey everyone!

So I currently work at Regent University School of Law admissions and I've heard some great things in the local area about grads from here and job placement. However, it is a very small, religious, private school which is unranked. Compared to other schools it is pretty young. Why are some schools like this not ranked? Has anyone heard anything negative about this school? The professors here are from mostly Ivy League schools and seem to be very solid.

I am applying to law school soon for the fall of 2018, so I have a bit of time to research and decide my path. I'm currently living in Virginia Beach and my husband is stationed here. We own a house so that's why I am more tempted to stay within the area. It would be ideal for me to be able to go to law school while he stays in the Navy for a few more years for financial reasons. I recently separated from active duty myself to pursue my educational goals. So my first choice is William and Mary because of the location and the community it's in. It seems that plenty of people are getting jobs around here from there and in DC, with pretty decent starting salaries. I'm seeing a trend of people who pretty much have unlimited geographical opportunities and while I wish I did also, I have my other half to think about too. I will apply to UVA, Duke, and Georgetown as well but they are all around three hours from my home. I am taking my LSAT in June, so of course this will determine what is realistic. The only thing that worries me is that I don't want to commit career suicide by choosing the wrong school.

Maybe this is a far too altruistic way of thinking in this line of work, but skills and personality have to account for something right? I still have no idea what kind of law I want to practice but I do know that I have confidence in myself to succeed at whatever school I go to and in whatever field I decide to pursue after. I am really looking for thoughts here and input. Thanks everyone.

-Nicole