Hi 7Sagers,

I just joined 7Sage about a week ago and the reason why I joined is because of the comments that I read about the course. My last PT was 135 :-( and my goal is to score between 160-165 on the June/October LSAT. I just don't know where to start. Should I finish the whole course first and then start taking practice tests? I signed up for the LSAT Starter. Should I upgrade to the LSAT Premium or LSAT Ultimate? When do I start using the Cambridge Drilling Packets? I will be studying an average of 20 hours per week and English is not my first language. Help.

I am wondering anyone has any advice on building mental endurance? I tend to get tired around 90 minutes or so, RC section tend to nosedive if I am already tired...

I already workout and read quite a bit so I am hoping for advice on other areas that may help.

Question:

What is the difference between

A-->B

______

A-->/C

and

A--->B

_____

not (A--->C)

Some A's are not B's

A's -----> not B 's

(some)

What if I want to negate some A's are not B's?

would the negation be ....

B's ---> not A's some B's are not A's?

(some)

or would it be

no A's are not B's?

A->B?

Has anyone noticed that lawgic is useful for many things beyond the LSAT... I'm actually so grateful to 7sage because going thru the material for the LSAT has been useful in so many more ways than one... for 1, it made dealing with the methods classes in my PhD program SO much easier... both qualitative (sufficiency necessity/ some-all-most/ truth validity) and quantitative (causation correlation)... changed my way of looking claims in general... and it helps me build stronger arguments... and take apart other arguments for example... I had an exchange on an issue immensely sensitive to me yesterday on FB and in replying to a friend I went off on a (not rude yet firm) rant.. which involved everything I've learned here, from causation, to truth and validity.... just curious to know... anyone else had the experience that studying for this test has affected other areas of their life in similar ways?

Sorry about the title, but I'm a soldier...

I took the overseas June 2012 LSAT and scored in the 160s. I was usually -0 to -6 total for LR and LG combined, and -SHITLOAD for RC. My study plan was skimming the Powerscore Books and doing a few PTs. RC was always my worst part, and I I have since abandoned the false assumption that you cannot improve on RC. I base this on my experiences going through about 80% of the Ultimate curriculum.

Anyway, I agree with the general consensus to NOT read the questions first. I have always gone straight to the passage and then hit the questions. I have been -0 to -4 on the RC problem sets in the curriculum with the variance NOT reflecting the "difficult level" in which they are categorized. I don't see any compelling reason to change my approach, but I want to check with the crowd on something.

So, to get to the point: has anyone tried an intermediate approach of reading the question STEMS only before reading the passage?

Possible pro: picking up and marking answers during reading / more clear pre-phrasing of answers

Possible con: getting too involved in the details and neglecting the structure and viewpoints

Please share your thoughts/experience.

For now, I will keep doing what I have been doing. Thanks for our insight, friends.

I was curious to know if anyone here had taken 2 PTs in one day?

1 in the AM and then one in the PM? I read a thread on here were one person was actually doing this but I can't find it.

Would you guys recommend this method? Or would you call it an automatic burn out?

I have the Premium package, yet am unable to view my comment and others' responses on a question in an available problem set. Is there any way I can bypass this?

Hello,

I can't seem to access the test and videos for PTJ07. It isn't showing up on my syllabus and I currently have the 'Ultimate' package.

When doing RC passages, I seem to do worse when I get too focused on the details. On the other hand, I tend to do better when I maintain a "big-picture" view of the passage. Furthermore, the former causes me to spend more time reading (3-5 minutes) and the latter less (i hope that was clear... probably not I'm a shitty writer).

To elaborate, when I maintain the big-picture approach focus on the structure, viewpoints (and how they relate), and the main idea of the passage and paragraphs.

I think "getting too involved in the details" means I get too focused on understanding the inferences and assumptions within the passage and neglect the larger implications.

So, even though all answers are equally weighted regardless of their focus, does anyone prioritize aspects (opinions, examples, definitions, etc...) of the passage? (Note: i won't way "parts" of the passage because they are not always broken down so neatly...)

So maybe a decent priority of focus would look something like this:

1) Main Idea

2) Structure

3) Opinions/Positions

4) Examples

5) Definitions

6) Assumptions, Inferences, other gaps in the arguments

Any similar experiences? Thoughts?

Also, when I look at a passage after reading and marking it, more underling and bracketing=worse performance.

Would like to invite discussion/participation in the topic of validation/invalidatin issues with the LSAT—both from folks currently in the study process and folks who have graduated from it (perhaps especially Sages). This is something I think about a lot: it is to be expected that even top scorers will get many hundreds of questions wrong throughout the course of study; so what perspectives have you found helpful in not feeling invalidated by wrong answers, and/or embracing the validation of correct answers and progress (without becoming overconfident)?

I haven't been active on these boards for long, but I've sensed these dynamics at play. I wonder how attitudes towards performance contribute to or mitigate burnout—and how to pursue a balance of confidence and humility.

One of the ways I try to coach myself: every time I miss a question in a drill or a PT, I try to remind myself that every mistake is an opportunity—to learn more deeply, uncover otherwise undetectable weaknesses, and establish a quantitative basis against which to measure progress.

If the LSAT is meant to be a predictor of success in law school, then emotional maturity should unequivocally contribute either to success or lack thereof—just as it would in said academic setting.

Hey all,

I purchased the Premium package a few days ago and I just finished the June 07 LSAT but for some reason my account is denying me access now that I want to go back and review the score and answers. All of the lessons from the June 07 LSAT link including the video explanations are now locked and highlighted in yellow. I tried logging in and out a few times but its still the same. What could be the problem?

Thanks,

Matt

I dreamed about getting a JD in the US before I came here but I didn’t dare to even look at a LSAT question because I wasn’t that confident in English. I came to the US for an LLM degree in 2013 and purchased 7sage ultimate course one week after graduation in May 2014.

My diagnostic was an untimed 159. I went through the curriculum in June and started PTs in July. I did 3 PTs a week. At first I would do 5 sections, then 6 sections, using old tests as experimental sections. On non-PT days I would also drill individual sections from old tests. I always BR.

My first 14 PTs were in the low 160s with the highest being 169. But the last 2 (PT 48 & 49) I got 159. I knew I burned out. I took a one-week vacation, after which I went through the RC/LG part of the LSAT Trainer in a week. I then took PT ABC in the following week. I got 170, 167, 166 respectively.

In September I started doing PT 50s and I was in the low-mid 160s during PT 50-55. I thought it was because the PT ABC were relatively old, so they were easier. But as I got used to the newer tests, I could see incremental improvements to mid-high 160s in PT 55-60, with 2 low 170s.

In October I scored 5 170s consecutively, the highest being 175 in PT64. I then started redoing older PTs, where I usually did 2 PTs back to back in the morning and another 1 in the afternoon. I drilled some sections from the latest PTs, rather than on their entirety. I did the rest PTs in a library with my study buddy. At this stage I would do the PTs at various places, including my desk, library, coffee shop, supermarket and so on. But I only had 5 170s out of my most recent 10 PTs, others being mid-high 160s.

When I went to the test room in December, I had done all 78 available PTs (PT 1-73, ABC, June 07, Feb 97). But the test didn’t go so well. I usually had little trouble with LG but for some reason the last two games were just so weird to me that I literally thought about cancelling during the first section. I barely finished them in the last second. I had two RCs with the scored one being the fifth section. I had trained myself intensively but I felt exhausted during the last section. I felt that I rushed and had difficulty understanding.

I didn’t study during the waiting month and got 169, with -1 in LG, -6 in RC and -3 in each LR. I decided not to apply for the cycle and retake it in Feb. I bought Manhattan Guides for RC/LR and several Cambridge packages (weaken/strengthen/ RRE, etc).

I had a part-time job but I thought it was OK. Since I had BRed before, so I would just circle the questions that I thought worthy of going through again after the drill. I still redid maybe nearly 30 PTs in January. Sometimes I would do 100 RRE questions and 8 humanities passages in a row.

The Feb test went OK, though there were some questions I wasn’t sure about and I felt I rushed the RC too (again the fifth section). Another 169. I know that I’ve made quite some progress in the test and it may well be that 169 is my potential on the real test. But I want to take my last chance.

I had thought the LSAT as mental heavy lifting and tried to train my mental muscle accordingly. However, upon reflection, I made my biggest improvement in BR and the curriculum when I would just focus one question type.

I think I need to hone my fundamentals again, rather than stressing repetition and quantity. My initial strategy for June is that I go through the Trainer and Manhattan Guide for LR/RC again, but really slowly and carefully. And I need to set stricter time limits for redoing PTs, 32m or 30m per section.

Another problem for me is that redoing PTs and the real tests were so different for me. I got used to getting 180 in redoing familiar PTs, though I would try to force myself to go through the processes even in redoing. But the unfamiliarity in the real test just made me very uncomfortable. I’ve practiced skipping questions consciously and thinking fast. But I found my brain couldn’t think slowly and deeply enough to tackle some hard RC/LR Qs during the test. It was being “conservative”. I wonder how I can find certainty in a test which is designed to let me experience uncertainty. How can I improve?

Sorry for the long post. Hope it’s not so confusing. I know this is an amazing community and I’ve got a lot of help and motivation from it. I truly appreciate any advice and suggestion. Thanks!!!

Hi all,

I got a ton of help from fellow 7Sagers when I was studying for the LSAT. Now that I'm a Sage, I'm trying to pay it forward by helping out current students. I'm mostly going to spend some time going through the course and writing out explanations for questions where videos don't yet exist.

If you want some input from me on a particular problem that you're having, please tag me ( @"Allison M" ) or send me a PM. If you need help with a question from a specific problem set, please include a link!

Cheers!

Allison

Hey

I will be taking PT 40 tomorrow and I will BR/review with another 7Sager, is anyone else interested in joining?

Hey 7Sagers,

Someone emailed in with a question I thought you could help out with! Here it is:

I recently started using 7Sage, and I am currently having difficulties with identifying embedded clauses, modifiers, details and predicates. I've gone over the lessons a few times and done the practice quiz. I am looking for some insight.

I'm 30% through the 'Ultimate' syllabus, and having trouble soaking in a lot of LR strategy. When I look at mixed questions for the section, I still feel like I'm unable to laser in on the strategy for that specific question type, etc.

One section that really threw me was the introduction to logic. After a second run-through it went in perfectly. I'm thinking I'll have to go through the entire theory course again to make sure all of 7Sage soaks in.

Has anyone gone through it twice? If so, did you find it helpful on the second pass?

Hello! I'm studying for a June retake. Score was in the low 170s--aiming for a mid-to-high 170s (I know...it's ambitious...) But I could use a study partner. I'd be down to study if you're in the Koreatown area in LA!

Hey folks—just spent some time Googling free proctored LSATs and signed up for 2 with Princeton Review (have to go to Ft Worth but at least they're on Saturdays!).

Any tips on finding these kinds of free exams? I live in Dallas but could in theory justify going as far as Austin, in case you need a point of reference.

General tips appreciated as well—and for folks in other geographies, I think this is useful information for everyone so please share!

How should I go about learning from questions that aren't common? There are a few questions that require pure reasoning and don't rely on patterns or anything. I'm having some trouble with them. Is there anything I can do to improve that?

I applied to a few schools recently that interview prior to admissions.

If anyone's interested in a mock interview partner helping one another get better at interviewing and are serious about it, then send me a message and we can do mock interview sessions on skype.

I'd thought it would be great if we got a retakers thread started for this upcoming June Test. What are some things you are planning to do differently? Study materials, schedules, etc.

I underperformed by a lot from my PT average so June it is...

EDIT: I would like to use this thread for June prep so we don't crowd up all the entries. :P

I'm just curious to know what are people's schedule for the June LSAT. Maybe we can use this thread as a way to see everyone's schedule such as for those that study 40+ hours, those that work & implement lsat prep, those that are still in undergrad/grad school & manage studying for the LSAT. This may be helpful for everyone retaking in June and needs motivation to get back into study mode.

Here's a fun little logic-game esque puzzle that I just solved, and was glad to do so.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra_Puzzle

Don't scroll too far down or you'll see the solution!

So I have now taken the LSAT 3 times, and I'm beyond frustrated. I took the LSAT for the first time OCT, 2013 after 6 months of study self-study and a 7Sage course. This first round I was studying at least 5 hours per day. At that time I was PT scoring in the high 160's and low 170's. However, I scored a 161. [RC -8, LG -1, LR 1&2 -16 (bombed LR)]

I decided to wait and reconsider law school. I decided to take the LSAT again December 2014, and after 3 months of less intensive studying (I felt I burnt out the first time) I was PTing again in the high 160's and low 170's. However, I scored a 161! I couldn't believe it. (RC -7, LG -9, LR 1&2 -10). I failed in games and knew it during the test. I neglected it as the easy section as I never had a problem with it.

So, I studied games intensively and retook it in February. Bit of a panic leading up to this test: Had a flat tire on my BMW (no spare) half way to the test center 40 miles away, thought I was going to miss the test, was able to get there 5 minutes late and still get in, and then someone got kicked out for cheating which caused a scene. However, I scored a 161!

How is that even possible three 161's?!

Should I give up? Literally give up on my dreams of going to a top law school? I can't improve my RC as it always lands around -7 to -10, I get my LR to around -2 or -3 per section while PTing, and get my LG to -0 while PTing. But I'm cursed with this 161.