For this section of the application, do I list every single year of my dean's list or is that to excessive since I received it every semester or should I make a single entry for each of them.

Also would publication go here? And would Merit Aid Scholarship from the Chancellor's Office for academic recognization go here if it does?

Thanks for the help!

#Admin

#Help

Trying to meet up in person with someone living in san diego to review practice exams. Let me know I live in north county (escondio)

Who should it be address to?

My Prof is asking if they need to be addressed to someone specific or not?

Thanks for the help!

Even though I really want a LOR from this Professor, I feel like I'm far to busy with schoolwork and studying for the LSAT to sit down to learn how to write a LOR. But at the same time, I think he's asking me to write it because he is far to busy. I already have 4 other LORs from employers and other professors, is it worth it for me to stress out over this single LOR? Should I kindly ask him to write it or should I just give up on his letter entirely? The thing about this professor in specific is I've known him and kept in touch with him for about 4 years, so I feel that his LOR will shed light on our long-standing academic relationship. Any advice?

Lately I have been looking ahead at the games and start by doing the ones with the most questions tied to them. Is this a decent method? Should I instead start with the ones that look easiest to me? Just not sure the best way to approach the logic games sections.

What does your daily study routine look like? How many hours? What do you do?

I'm currently doing about 2-3 hrs/day prepping for October, mainly drilling and reviewing full sections. I don't know if that's too little/too much (working too). Thoughts?

Looking to score over a 160. Just took the August test and got a 152.

I did Princeton Review and Kaplan and was not a fan of either. I need a structured study plan to get me to my goal. Needs to be flexible.

Weakest section is Logic Reasoning. The strongest is Logic Games, but I want to get my LG down to (-2) max. I'm anywhere from a -0 to -5 on an LG section.

I'm writing this post to 1.) cool down and 2.) get some good advice and hopefully have my questions answered

Background: When I first started studying for the lsat, it was 3 months ago and I used 7sage and studied for around 4-5 hours everyday, although I took a day or two off a week to rest my mind, while drilling LR and LG mainly at first and then later I moved onto RC. This past month I took 5 practice tests all in the range of the mid to high 140s and it has messed me up mentally. I can't seem to understand it but no matter what I do I keep getting these bullshit questions wrong. I barely have time to read 3 passages for RC and even then I only somewhat understand what I'm reading. I would say I definitely put over 200 hours into this bullshit and feel that this was a giant waste of time. Also, I want to clarify that I tried to study for the lsat from almost every which way possible so I wouldn't see that as the reason why I'm not doing good. My BR's are in the low to mid 150s, which is a dream score at this point, and every time I see my BR score I just get overwhelmingly pissed off that I can't get those numbers on the actual exam. I'm currently registered for the September lsat in a week and don't even care what I get at this point. I don't quit on things easily but I'm also realistic that the more hours that I put into this is just wasting time.

Another thing worth noting is the advice I got from the lawyer I currently work for who runs a successful law office. I spoke with him about my worry for my lsat score and he laughed and told me not to worry. When he spoke about his law journey, he told me he went to some shitty law school, which isn't even active anymore, and how he did terribly on the lsat, like me, and how he was worried about going to law school, passing the bar, etc. He took the bar 4 times and told me that that he was determined to become a lawyer and wasn't going to quit no matter how hard it was. It definitely paid off for him as he has his own office now, drives a 100k car, and is still in his 30's. One thing he said that gave me some hope was: "if you want to be a lawyer then it doesn't matter how it happens as long as you end up being one and are set on doing so." I'm focused on being a lawyer so I really do hope what he said holds true. He told me about his other lawyer friends from his same law school that all ended up being successful after graduating and that if I put my mind to it then I could be just as successful.

Current Plans: Assuming I get what I currently got on my PT's, let's say a 146, my chances of even getting into a below average law school is like 60% and that's on the 7sage law school predictor which inflates everything and isn't that accurate. My thoughts are I'm going to take the test now, continue to study until the October one and take it then, and then if I score better than the September lsat I'll keep it if not then I'll cancel it. I actually am shocked at myself for being unable to get into the 150s but that's irrelevant because I've been dealt a bad hand. I'm planning on applying to only low ranked schools and early admit one of them. I plan to submit my applications in October to give myself the best chances of acceptance.

Questions: So with a 146 lsat and 3.4 gpa what do you guys think my chances of getting into a school like Southwestern would be with early admit? For those that are also scoring in the 140s range what are your guys plans: Are you planning to study for higher score or just apply with what you have? Do people with 140s lsat scores get accepted to law schools? I know lsat matters a lot but how significant do you think gpa/internships/personal statements etc. matters in law school applications? Is it worth applying to law schools if you were in my scenario or would you switch career paths?

Just to sum up, I don't care what law school I get into as long as I get in somewhere. I know bar pass rates and all that but for me as of now all that matters is just getting in somewhere with what I have. I have great letters of rec and my personal statement is great as well. So, I hope the best for all you guys whenever you take your lsat and good luck with your guy's law journey.

Definitely my fault as I didn't realize the time difference but I missed the deadline by 40 minutes. Do you guys think they'll let me register? I sent them an email right away

The first time I took a logic game section, I didn't get a single question right. Logic games were the death of me. Every time I took one, I would literally start crying.I decided I wanted to just keep going and going until I got what I wanted. I would wake up at 6am, and study for two or three hours before my college classes started. I studied for over 400 hours total. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. Today, I got my score back. A 174. I couldn't have done it without 7sage. The course saved me.Now, so many doors are open.To whoever is reading this, please remember, YOU CAN DO IT.

Do not give up. The time will come. I never thought I could've done this, but somehow I did! Thank you to this wonderful community for all the support along the way.7sage is such an amazing platform, and I cannot recommend it enough. I am canceling my account, but for a very happy reason :)

Much love,

E

Hello, I am recently trying to take notes by using the memory method. I feel helpful on some sides but experiencing lots of trouble simultaneously.

First of all, I run out of time whenever I try to take some notes by using this method (I need extra 5 minutes at least). This happens because I take a long time to read (4 minutes per passage on average), and I also overthink what to note. I still do not have consistent rules on my note-taking - sometimes I put only names and years, sometimes only names and key terms..etc. Since I cannot be sure what to note, I should take the time to clarify it. Then this time consumption makes me rush even more in the end.

Therefore, I want to ask if there are any tips on note taking or using the memory method in RC. If you are not using the memory method, can you suggest any alternate way of approaching RC? Any tips will be welcomed!

Hi everyone, just received my first LSAT score and wanted to share my thoughts on what helped me get there. Like some people on this forum, I started prepping late and was working full time while doing prep.

I started prepping for the test in May 2022 with the intent of taking the test in August. At first, I thought "nah I have so much time", so I took the entire May to just slowly work my way through Powerscore's LG bible. I then did my first PT, scored a 158 and was sort of encouraged by this score because I needed a 166 to get into my target school, and I wasn't quite aware of how hard/easy it is to increase your score. I was also working full time through the summer, though my job was chill so I wasn't coming home feeling like I'm done with life, which I'm sure helped with the prep. My weakest section was LG (when I started, it would take me about two hours to complete one logic game), and my RC/LR were generally in the -2 to -6 range from the start (my undergrad was in philosophy so I suspect it helped).

My main issue was getting overwhelmed with the LGs. I would get stuck on a question, then start freaking out that I'm spending too much time on this question so I won't finish the section on time, so I might as well just quit. My PTs quickly went into 165-166 but then I stayed there for two-ish months, then I slowly started getting 168-169, and just the week before the test I scored my first 170. I then did my actual test and received a 171 this morning.

With this out of the way, here are some things that I believe helped me score a 171 on the test day:

No PTs on the test week. I knew that if I scored low, I'd be discouraged and it would impact my test day performance. My mental fatigue was starting to show, so I knew that even if I did several PTs on the test week and did well on them, I would get super tired and my brain would turn into mashed potatoes on the test day. Whatever gains were promised by trying to develop the stamina during the final week didn't seem to justify the risks.

Eating a big, delicious breakfast on the test day. This one might seem like a very minor point, but once you consistently score within your target range, then you have the ability that you need to do well, doing well on the LSAT comes down to winning the mental game. Eating breakfast sausages with bacon and eggs really helped me win the mental game and feel good before the test.

Don't burn through the study material just because you feel like a loser. This one was big for me. I would take a PT, then score 3-4 points below my average, then I'd get mad at myself for being stupid, then I'd take another PT, do even worse, then the cycle repeats. By the end, I have wasted the study material and learned nothing valuable. You can spend hours doing really inefficient prep and learning next to nothing just because you feel like "I must keep prepping! My life=prep, nothing else matters". This was my mindset very often, and it only made me feel worse for not progressing faster. Instead, what I found helpful was to allow your mind to really rest. My best PT performance was after taking a week-long break and doing zero prep during this week, and I think that doing something similar during the week before the test helped me immensely.

Having a game plan for when you're experiencing test-day paralysis. If you're like me, then you worry that you'll get stuck and unable to progress through the test, which will start a chain of psychological events that make you shrivel up on the inside and want to terminate the test right then. Acknowledge this and develop an action plan for what you do when this happens. For me, it was a very deliberate breathing exercise, where I would take 15-30 seconds (yes, you must sacrifice time to gain something more valuable -- a clear mind and an ability to keep going) and do deep breathing.

Understanding that the LSAT is not a mysterious magical ritual. This one was by far one of the most helpful things in winning the mental game. To do well on the LSAT, you don't need to grasp some deep mysteries and hope that it works. The LSAT made by humans like you and I, who're sitting there and creating problems with predictable patterns. It is a standardized test whose complexity is limited by the ability of those nerds (sorry LSAT-makers) to create convoluted problems. They're trying to confuse you and scare you, but they're just applying simple psychological tricks -- you're better than that, you can recognize these tricks, understand how to solve these problems, and be smarter than them.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to post them here or DM!

All the best to you my friends

I noticed a few posts asking for tips on weaken questions, and was in the middle of writing a response. But I thought this would make more sense as a general post. If you're struggling with level 4 and 5 weaken questions, this might be helpful.

TL;DR = You can also weaken an argument by pointing out an inconsistency in the author's reasoning. It's not just about showing why the conclusion could be false despite the evidence being true. And it's not just about trying to directly counter the assumption.

As a preliminary matter, when weakening an argument, we're primarily trying to weaken the reasoning of the argument. That's something the curriculum emphasizes. But there are actually several ways by which one can weaken the reasoning of an argument.

One way is to directly counter the assumption. So, take this sample argument:

Penguins are chubby.

So, they're cute.

The assumption here is that if something is chubby, then it's cute. So we can weaken the argument by showing that there's at least one thing that's chubby that isn't cute.

(Now, if your instinct is to say, but that doesn't mean penguins aren't cute - they can still be cute. And chubbiness can still be one factor that contributes to their cuteness; it can still be a + on the scale of cuteness. You're right - but we've still weakened the argument by showing that their premise does not automatically prove their conclusion. The author of the argument was assuming that the chubbiness of penguins, by itself, without anything more, would guarantee their cuteness. We've shown that that assumption is wrong, which hurts the argument.)

That way of weakening an argument I think is most natural, and most susceptible to an approach that focuses on "Why could the conclusion be wrong even if the evidence is true?"

But another way to weaken reasoning is by showing that the assumption would lead to an inconsistency in the author's position. And this way of weakening is something that can escape one focused solely on pointing out a "loophole" (to borrow the parlance of the popular book). For example, let's add a bit to the stimulus:

Many animals in the world are not cute. Snakes, skunks, and rhinos, for example.

But, penguins are chubby.

So, penguins are cute.

One assumption of this argument is that if something is chubby, then it's cute. Do you see how we would weaken the argument by pointing out that rhinos are chubby? If we accept the author's assumption, then the author would compelled to think that rhinos are cute - but that contradicts something the author believes. But if we don't accept the assumption, in order to preserve the author's belief that rhinos are not cute, then the author's premise no longer leads to their conclusion about cute penguins. So we've caught the author in a contradiction - their affirmed position on rhinos conflicts with the assumption underlying their argument about penguins. Argument = weakened. Notice how if you go into the answers on this argument thinking "Why could penguins not be cute even if they're chubby?", you won't immediately notice the logic of the answer "Rhinos are chubby."

Now the example above demonstrates what one might call an "indirect" showing that the assumption is false. Rather than directly giving an example of something that's chubby but not cute, we've shown that the author's own beliefs commit them to something that contradicts that assumption - thus, the assumption is false.

Here's another version of "indirectly" showing that the assumption is false by way of inconsistency.

Devi said she'd be in Los Angeles at 9pm.

Thus, we can expect to see her in LA at that time.

We can weaken this argument by pointing out: "She said she'd be in San Francisco at 9pm." This weakens because if we accept the author's assumption that she'll be where she said she'd be, then she'd have to be in both LA and SF at 9pm. Clearly that's impossible, which means the assumption is wrong.

But this idea of inconsistency as a weakener also extends to situations in which we're not actually showing that the assumption is false.

Here's an example:

Sarah says that Paradorn, our new international student, was born in Thailand.

But his accent does not sound like that of someone born there.

Thus, Paradorn was probably born in a different part of Southeast Asia.

Now one way to think about this is to ask, "Why might he actually be from Thailand despite not having an accent that sounds like someone born there?" And if this your question, you'll be naturally disposed to answers that point out that you can be from a country without having an accent associated with speakers of that country. For example, he might have been born in Thailand but moved to a different place when he was young, which would explain his lack of an associated accent.

But what would you think about this answer: "Paradorn's accent does not sound like that of someone born in parts of Southeast Asia outside of Thailand."

This actually does weaken the argument, because the author's underlying assumption is that if one does not have an accent that sounds like that of someone born in a particular area, then that means one was probably not born in that area. By pointing out that his accent is not like that of someone born in SEA, we've caught the author in an inconsistency. According to their own assumption, we'd have to conclude that he probably wasn't born in the non-Thailand parts of SEA, either. But that goes against the author's own conclusion - so either the author's assumption is wrong, or the author's conclusion is wrong. Argument = weakened.

In my experience, this type of answer is a bit difficult to pick up on because most people would be mainly focused on showing why Paradorn actually could be from Thailand despite the lack of an accent. And it's tough to see how this answer gives us some positive reason to think he may have still been born in Thailand.

In addition, the logic of this answer seems to go against our initial instinct to question the relationship between being born in a particular place and having an accent associated with that place. Many of us would think "The lack of an accent doesn't really tell us much about where you were born." And then it would be weird to pick an answer that weakens by seeming to suggest that because he doesn't have an SEA accent, he's not from SEA. But the key is that this answer's logic isn't actually about countering the conclusion of the argument. It's about showing the author's inconsistency - if their assumption is true, then their conclusion doesn't make sense. And if their conclusion is true, then their assumption doesn't make sense. This does weaken the argument even if we have not actually shown that the author's conclusion is false or that their assumption is false. What we've shown is that at least one of them must be false.

This type of weakening logic, I think, is hard to recognize if your approach is limited only to asking "Why could the conclusion be false even if the premises are true?"

Hi everybody, I just got my score back yesterday for the August test, it was a 169. This was my second take this year (4th take overall). I have a 3.86 GPA and I am 2 years out of college working in my state's legislature. My dream schools would be Georgetown or Duke for public interest law, and I was hoping to get a 171+ to be above their median.

I have begun drafting my statements for the application and want to turn them in as early as possible. Studying for another retake while working on my statements would likely delay when I turn in the applications. In the month leading up to taking the test, I had multiple PT scores that were above 171, which is the reason why I think retaking might be beneficial. I also took a 2 week break, so I now feel like I could contribute significant effort to studying once again.

Does anybody have advice on whether or not to retake? I understand many aspects of this make it a personal decision, but even any anecdotes or words of encouragement would be tremendously helpful. Thanks!

Are you a 7Sage user looking for an easy way to find people to study with? Or do you just want a break from reviewing questions on your own?

You're in luck! Join us for our next "Study Group Breakout" on Tuesday, September 27th from 9:00-10:30pm ET.

Here's how it works:

Hope to see you there! Register for the event using this link: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMpdOipqT8tG9wMZgCdqduvAGlUnTf5cAEK

Hey guys,

I've been studying for around 4 months and I've been getting quite discouraged by the big differences in my practice test and blind review scores, and was hoping to see if i could get any advice from anyone whose had similar experiences as me.

I have done around 20 practice tests and noticed that when i do them completely untimed, I get high around a 170 (give and take 3-4 points) However, the problem is that when i do them under timed settings, my score drops all the way down to 159-160s... its really concerning me, especially that i have a test scheduled this September.

Any advice would be appreciated! (Would also like to know how long you guys think the process of passing this timed vs untimed hurdle might take)

Thanks,

-K

Explanation (2 mins): https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-40-section-1-question-21/

Question 21 on PrepTest 40 Section 1:

Pizzerias are the only restaurants that routinely record the names, addresses, and menu selections of their customers. Simply by organizing these data, they can easily identify regular, average, and infrequent customers. Therefore, pizzerias utilize direct-mail marketing more effectively than do other restaurants.

Which one of the following, if assumed, enables the argument's conclusion to be properly inferred?

The answer: Answer choice E

Restaurants that routinely record names, addresses, and menu selections of their customers always utilize direct-mail marketing more effectively than do any other restaurants.

What? How are we able to conclude such a strong statement?

From my understanding, the argument structure is very simple. The second sentence in this question is complete fluff. The first sentence provides the premise and the third sentence is the conclusion.

Let's use variables to diagram the logic:

A = Restaurants that routinely record

B = Pizzerias

C = Utilize direct-mail marketing more effectively

First sentence gives: A -> B (Restaurants that record -> Pizzerias)

Answer choice E provides: A -> C (Restaurants that record -> utilize direct-mail)

Conclusion says: B -> C (Pizzerias -> utilize direct-mail)

But using the premise in the first sentence and the assumption provided by the answer, we only get B some C. We can conclude that SOME pizzerias utilize direct-mail marketing more effectively than other restaurants. The conclusion is a general blanket statement that would include all pizzerias (I think).

What am I misunderstanding here? This question has been giving me a lot of headache, thanks to those who took the time to discuss in advance!

Is there a limit to how many times you can buy score preview with the new rules? I used it for the August 2022 test, and I bought it for the October test too. I'm trying to register for November, but it's not showing up in my cart.

August LSAT is my first official LSAT attempt, I got 165. This score is 5 more points than the 75th percentile of my target school. I think chances to be admitted is quite sure. So right now my question is that should I retake the LSAT to secure more scholarship? I checked the 509 report, I think maybe I can get more than half scholarship. But it is still too expensive for me, I need the full scholarship.

So here is the question:

1.Go ahead to apply with my current score. The good thing of this is that I save time and don't have to do it again. And also I can submit early, I think this would increase my chance of scholarship, but I am not sure, pls correct me if I am wrong. The bad thing is that my score is not super high enough to secure full scholarship. But, wait, am I wrong to think in this way. The higher above 75th percentile, the bigger scholarship?

So if I get higher score, then apply on Nov 2, is my chance to get full scholarship biggest?

The bad thing about this plan is I retake, but not good score, then I am late in applying. And then does it mean I screw myself?

Really need advice!

I didn't think I would ever write one of these posts but alas.

In 2019, I started with a diagnostic score of 154. After studying for two years, I scored a 166 in the September 2021 test. I dipped to a 163 in the October 2021 test. After that, I was incredibly discouraged, took a break from studying, decided not to apply to law school that cycle, and even contemplated whether law school was right for me. I restarted studying this past summer, aggressively PTing, drilling, and reviewing, and I'm so happy I was able to increase, even if if it's only three points, my score to a 169.

Could not have done this without 7sage's thorough explanations and resources -- thank you.

My two things of unsolicited advice:

(1) Where there's a will, there's a f**king way.

This journey was incredibly challenging -- mentally and emotionally -- to the point where I asked myself repeatedly whether I even wanted to pursue the law. I felt like I had hit a wall, not once but multiple times, and kept going using brute force because I wanted it. If you want it and if you are willing to put in the work, you can -- and will -- achieve it.

(2) This is your journey and no one else's.

You know what's best for you. You know what study method works for you and how much you need to study to achieve the score you want. For me, because I'm not innately smart, I knew I had to put in more than five times the work than the average person. I answered every PT question, including RC, LG, and LR, from PT 15 and up at least five times (for LG, I did every question six to ten times). I know, crazy. This strategy doesn't work for everyone, but for me, I knew I had to drill these questions several times to develop my ability to recall different patterns (LSAT is all about pattern recognition). Figure out what works for you, and develop your own strategy. Block out the outside noise from your parents, tutors, or other high scorers -- they don't know what works best for you, only you do.

Good luck!

I am a little unsure on the order in which to compile application materials. I am taking my first LSAT on September 10th and will be applying ED in October. Can I purchase CAS before I have my LSAT score and LOR's submitted?

Started studying July 2021, took Jan 166, Feb 165, March 169…took a month off of studying, studied all summer and opened a 176 today!!!! I NEVER thought I could do it. Especially after 3 160-somethings in a row. I am crying. THANK YOU 7SAGE AND JY!!!

All,

After repeatedly getting diagnostics in the 130's I decided to get 7sage in January 2021. I foolishly believed that I only needed help with Logic Games and put the bulk of my focus there but I realized Logic Games was taking me a REALLY long term to get through so I decided midway through 2021 to go through the entire CC in order beginning with lesson one. I also decided I wouldn't do another PT until I have finished the CC and have a solid understanding of how this exam works. Sometimes, I would spend hours slaving over a topic until I understood it and as such my progress through the CC has been slower than I hoped for. Am I taking the right approach? Is there a better approach to this?

Running into this problem when I try to link prepplus with account. I think this is due to previously linking prepplus with another 7sage account( an old one I thought I lost).

Would there be anyways to resolve this?

Best,

Ricky

This is an inference question and I put the answer as A.

Can anyone explain to me why A is incorrect and why D is correct?