All posts

New post

335 posts in the last 30 days

So I'm starting to prepare my law school applications, and I have a question about bringing up "special considerations". For myself, it has to do about my cGPA being on the lower side while my L2 is above the average for all of the law schools I'm concerned with. Keep in mind that I am Canadian/applying to Canadian schools.

In particular, from gr.12 up to about the end of my second year of university, my father was overcoming a disease that would render him bedside for several days. I went to school away from home, and on weekends I often traveled back home to help take care of my brother, whom has spina bifida and is a paraplegic. I'm a first generation student and the son of immigrants, so my father and mother always wanted to make sure I succeeded in school so I could fulfill my dream of going to law school, as they didn't have the economic resources to go to post-secondary. Thankfully, my father fully recovered when I was entering my 3rd year. Thus I no longer had weight on my mind, and didn't go home as much to help out. My grades drastically increased.

Now are schools going to require medical documentation of bother my father and brothers conditions? Will they require bus/train receipts to show that I actually went home a fair amount? Or are special considerations done more so on the honour system, where I won't have to provide any documentation? This adversity will mostly be described in my Personal Statement.

Getting notes from a doctor will be no problem, just we have no actual documentation saying that his disease went away. Also, things like travel receipts will be near impossible to obtain.

Thanks for the assistance!

EDIT: Incase it's not clear, going home to take care of my brother rendered me with not a lot of time to do work. And obviously knowing that your family cannot sustain itself because your father is bedridden brings an emotional burden alongside it as well that made it hard for me to focus.

0
User Avatar

Last comment monday, aug 31 2015

Older Students?

I am really enjoying this site and the class I signed up for. I am curious if there are other non traditional students enrolled or on 7Sage such as myself. I’m an older student, 52 years old, considering going to law school…probably sounds crazy to many of you :-) I’d love to connect with fellow non traditional students—I think it would be very supportive and helpful. Thank you in advance!

1

http://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-73-section-2-question-06/

I know this is early on in the section, but it's very tricky. None of the explanations I find online are satisfying.

For justify principle questions, the premises should connect with the conclusion, and this doesn't happen here.

First, a discussion of the stimulus:

Premise: The styling of characters in Quirks is not problematic because the film is funny, and that is necessary for a comedy.

Conclusion: The criticism of Quirks is misguided.

I would prephrase if a film is successful within their genre, actions that lead to that film's success as part of that genre is not warranted. (something along those lines)

The correct answer is as follows: D. "Films are successful if they succeed within their genre"

"if they succeed within their genre" = the film is funny, that is the most important thing for comedy

"films are successful" = ?

How can we conclude that "films are successful" = "criticism is misguided"? To me, that is still a big gap, that is not justified from the principle.

I don't think I have ever encountered a difficult LR sections as PT73. Please help!

0
User Avatar

Last comment monday, aug 31 2015

JY Read me!

Hi JY,

I've been getting through the curriculum at my own pace this last year, but I'd just like to say thank you so much for creating this curriculum. I plan to write 7sage a great review once I'm done with the curriculum and LSAT in December, but I'm so thankful this program exists. I first struggled with LSAT in 2012 with Stratus Prep's summer intensive. I remember thinking there's no way I'll ever understand this material because my instructor at the time seemed to almost enjoy talking over our heads. Then, I had a tutor who taught me much of the basics, but never could go beyond and get to the depth of what I needed to understand logic. Once again, I felt hopeless - that was in 2013. The last year, I've slowly but surely been working on the LSAT at my own pace and I'm finally realizing the flaws in my learning one day at a time. Yesterday, I had such an ah-ha moment when I realized the conditional logic rules cannot be applied to existential quantifiers. It was a huge moment for me. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for creating a curriculum that really goes into the greatest detail of explanations. After doing Teach for America for two years, I fully understand how hard it can be to create a curriculum and also differentiate based on everyone's learning needs. You are an awesome teacher and I am incredibly impressed.

Best,

Liz

5

Good morning,

I'm currently working on reading comp untimed. Just to focus on accuracy. For each passage I get -2 or -1. I find myself spending time on questions such as the "author's attitude" with unfamilar vocabulary. I usually take a dictionary out to define the word. Right now I'm not focused on timing. But there has to be a better way to get through reading comp without a dictionary. Plus, I won't have this option test day.. lol Please help !!!!!!!!

0

I am currently working at a boutique law firm supporting eight attorneys and their paralegals. Since our firm is small and close-knit I've been able to work closely with every team member in various aspects. Any thoughts on a rec. letter written on behalf of all the attorneys or is it best to only have it written from one attorney? I already have two traditional letters but am hoping to have a powerful third. Thanks for your insight!

0

This weekend a large wind storm knocked out power at my house for a few days leaving me without access to 7 Sage! Luckily I had my untouched Trainer to satisfy my burning desire to study all weekend... Seriously though, I'm about 40% through the ultimate course and it got me thinking what would be the best way to implement both these resources. My initial idea was to first complete 7 sage using the old practice sets, which I was fortunate enough to download before the ban. Next, I was going to do some review and then go through the Trainer. Lastly the plan was to go through 7 sage again using the new sets while refering to both curriculums to see what ideas worked best and how they could be combined. From previous research I was planning on mostly using 7 Sage for the LG section but I feel like for LR and RC they could be used together. What do you guys think? Should I stay the course with my original plan or somehow go through them together?

0

I currently own pdf copies of prep tests 37-67. With test day nearing, I want to purchase prep tests 68-75.

For those of you who have taken the lsat or know how the real test looks like, would I be better served buying the pdf copies and printing them out or buying the booklet paperback form on Amazon?

I am mostly concerned with similarity to the actual test.

Thanks!

0

I was out for a run yesterday and crashed and burned - hard. It was really only a matter of time before I managed to lose a little skin in the name of fitness, but I never imagined that I would end up with a broken elbow, which is what the urgent care doc diagnosed. So, I'm in a sling and temporary cast (and doing everything with one hand...) and while I likely won't need surgery, I will probably be in a cast come October 3. I've never broken a bone before and would appreciate any thoughts or insight about what test day might look like.

0
User Avatar

Last comment sunday, aug 30 2015

Getting nervous!

I am in need of some advice from fellow LSAT takers and law school applicants. Just a little background about myself. I graduated with a 3.8 GPA with a BA in paralegal studies and have been working as a paralegal for over 5 years now. I love the work and I am very passionate about what I do. For this reason, I have decided to finally make the leap and go to law school. However, I am really having trouble with this LSAT! I have taken about 4 or 5 timed PTs and they all range around 145 to 148. I have a hard time finding the time to study as I work long hours right now and I guess I am just not very good at timed standardized tests.

Why am I having such a difficult time with this test and how can I get better at it? I am currently scheduled to take the test in October but am now wondering if I should put it off again. I would really like to go to law school next fall but I am really becoming worried about this test.

0
User Avatar

Last comment sunday, aug 30 2015

BR Score

I know this probably has been answered but i just wanted to understand again what the BR score conveys. Is it just time and press that is killing me? . Just did my second timed test and got a BR 162. I am aiming to get a 170+.

Thanks for all the feed back.

0

While Ive been working through BRing Reading Comp passages in the past week, Ive been using outside explanations to help me understand where my gap in reasoning lies. While I think it might help in the long run, its inevitably extremely difficult to remember the logical reasoning behind every single question. That being said, would I be better off figuring out the logical reasoning on my own or continuing to use outside explanations for right/wrong answers? My concern is whether I am cheating the process by possibly not fully thinking it through on my own. Any tips will be helpful! Thanks!

0

Hi everyone!

So RC is my strength and I usually only miss 8-9 questions on the whole section and that is mostly because I run out of time! If I have time I am pretty sure I would get them all right! Any tips on improving reading speed? Or will it just come with practice as i do PTs over and over again??

thank you!

8

Hey guys! I hope preparing for the Oct. LSAT is going well for you :) I was wondering how you review for logical reasoning questions after getting them wrong. For logic games, we are told to print out 10 clean copies and to do them frequently until we get them right. How do you do this for logical reasoning? Sometimes, I notice that I end up memorizing the answer choice and that really doesn't consolidate my knowledge about it.

Thanks!

0

I am taking my first timed test tomorrow woo! Anyways J.Y. says in the videos that you need to be 100% sure that you're answer is correct but also be sure 100% now why the wrong answer are wrong. I am confused because if I am doing a Logic game question for example once I find my answer I was planning on moving on? Should I sacrifice time for the method?

Also When doing a BR Review should I get a copy of that test and re-do it with now time limits? Just somewhat confused thanks in advance for the help.

0

PT66 BR Tonight at 7pm ET

You know who you are.

You know what to do.

Note on all groups

  • For the newbies: Add me on Skype, using handle nikkers625 .
  • For the regulars: Please let me know if you plan to join tonight's session and have not yet been added to the conversation.
  • For everyone: take the PT under timed conditions; BR as you are able; join us for all or part of the call—everyone is welcome.
  • Note: For the purposes of the call, we like to check our group blind review score together at the very end of the call :) So please do not check your answers beforehand :-) Or if you do, just try not to say things like "No, guys, I checked, it's D."
  • These groups work best when folks from ALL stages of prep and with all different goals join in! Not just for "super-preppers" and definitely not just for the casual LSATer (does such a person exist?).
  • PLEASE ... Ask questions !!!! In so doing you are giving others the opportunity to uncover weaknesses in their own understanding, review fundamentals, and ultimately improve their own score. And you're giving yourself the opportunity to do the same. Wow, such harmonious learning experience.
  • The only expectation anyone has for these calls is for you to have fun and ask questions as you desire. We are just a bunch of LSAT lovers who gather via Skype and intellectually slaughter each test.
  • 1

    http://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-66-section-2-question-20/

    Not having problem with solving this question but having problem with how to diagram a specific sentence.

    Carrie: "the only thing that can be required for an action to be morally good is that it fulfill a moral obligation."

    J.Y diagrammed this as bi-conditional. I am having a hard time to see it. Although it does have both sufficient and necessary indicators ("the only" and "required"), I just don't see how Fulfill Moral Obligation(FMO) can be sufficient for Morally Good. Intuitively, saying FMO is the only requirement does not seem to indicate that it is sufficient. Technically, I couldn't break this sentence into two sentence (one using the sufficient indicator and another using the necessary indicator) like J.Y has done for the other bi-conditionals.

    Any thoughts?

    0

    I was wondering about the reasoning why they did this. Do they really make more money by not licensing out PDF versions of the exam? Were websites offering them without LSAC approval? I was thinking about this today, and I find the former more probable than the latter. Long term trends for people taking the LSAT and applying to law school are down. Why raise the costs (at the margin) for those that want to study? Wouldn't this put even more downward pressure on people taking the LSAT, and thus, hurt LSAC's revenue growth? Raising the fee on the exam at least made a little more sense since they have a monopoly on the test administration, but there is competition for study materials. I don't understand what the purpose is, or in what scenario that this made any business sense.

    0

    Okay so I'm pretty much at my wit's end here with the last 2 or 3 tests I've taken.

    As background, I used to be incredibly consistent on the Logical Reasoning section. I would typically miss 1 or 2 per section and would never miss more than 3 overall in both sections combined. This was the case for most of the PTs I took. Then PT50 happened. I thought I was just having a bad day, and ended up missing 5 LRs that test. Then on PT51 I missed 3 (not more than usual) but then today on PT52 I missed 5 again.

    Ironically, I'm at the point where I'm getting 180s on nearly every single Blind Review I do. I'm overall pretty accurate at never missing questions that I don't circle, but now I feel like just as I've gotten really good at understanding how to answer nearly any LR question and answering them all accurately and not falling for any of the tricks (untimed) I've also gotten way worse on the actual timed PT. This is hugely frustrating for me since, before this started happening, I was consistently scoring around 174-175 and was weakest in the RC section (with LG nearly always at -0). I spent a week or two and really drilled RC hard and was able to get myself down from nearly -4 or -5 to -2 or -3 each time. But now LR has gone off the rails! I feel like I can't win!

    At first I thought it was my strategy for balancing time on LR. Previously, I would skip almost any question I didn't immediately feel comfortable with or thought would take a while (even if they were easy MBTs that I just didn't want to diagram out). Now, I've tried to spend more time just going through the test a bit more linearly so that I don't feel strapped on time having to go back to a bunch of skipped questions at the end of the test. I thought this would be a good strategy but it seems now like I'm missing more questions anyway.

    So I'm not sure what to do. On today's test it was hugely disappointing that 2 of the LR questions I missed were incredibly trivial and had more to do with the fact that it seems like I rushed through the question because of time than that I didn't understand it, and, again, I'm able to correct every mistake in Blind Review.

    Not exactly sure what to help me improve at this point. I feel too confident to review basic lessons on LR questions (again, I get nearly a perfect score in blind review, so I obviously understand the concepts, its just that something mysterious happens on the timed tests) and I don't really know what else to do other than to look back at questions that I got wrong, but seeing as they're spread pretty evenly across different question types randomly, not sure how good that would do me either. Anyone experience anything like this before?

    0

    Confirm action

    Are you sure?