Disclaimer: Making sub-game boards might not be the method that works best for everyone, and 7Sage states that it is possible to do every question WITHOUT a sub-game board. This is simply my testimony on how it has made me the most confident I've ever been on LG.

While logic games has always been my best section, it took a while for my brain to naturally do them in an organized manner. I was good at seeing the rules and creating my master game board, but I didn't make second level deductions, which meant no sub-game boards, which meant 10 different copies of my master game board that were extremely unorganized.

As I have practiced doing logic games more and more, I have come to realize that sub-game boards, even if they are not 100% filled out or solved, are life saviors. Most people think that sub-game boards are only worth doing when you can fill them out completely, but this is untrue. Sub-game boards, no matter how filled out, are simply additional visuals for you to write down facts about the rules that you already know. When I first starting considering sub-game boards, I found myself finishing with about 2 minutes left but getting -3/4 from silly mistakes. After I really started making deductions a natural step in my LG routine, I started to finish with 6-8 minutes left, only getting -1/0. Logic games has always been my best section but today I hit my personal best by finishing PrepTest 81 Logic Games with 9:40 left on the clock and getting -0, and it was all thanks to the sub-game boards (I did one for every question so maybe I just got lucky lol).

To those struggling to complete Logic Games or those who finish but just find themselves making little mistakes, try focusing more on your ability to create sub-game boards. Granted, not every game will be ideal for sub-game boards, however, they are beyond helpful when you can find them. Also, it will get you into the habit of naturally connecting rules and deducing inferences. DONT BE AFRAID TO SPEND TIME ON MAKING THE SUB-GAME BOARDS. I might spend six minutes on writing the sub-game boards but when it allows me to do each question in less than 30 seconds, you'll find that you spend a lot less time on the game despite the perceived 'slow start'. They also help you from making small mistakes because they provide more detailed anchor points to compare the questions to so you don't get lost or panic in making 8 or 10 copies of your master game board.

Well it’s taken about 3 weeks for me to finally sit down and type this post. Now that the time has come I’d like to share my experience with the test and what I’ve learned along the way with the hope that it will help others.

My first thought: It’s weird being done the LSAT. I’m sure an abrupt stop to just about anything would garner this sort of feeling, but yeah, it’s a strange feeling.

I started studying for the LSAT around August/September of 2019 and I really did not anticipate it taking me this long to achieve a score I’d be content with. I remember seeing the lesson in the CC where J.Y says you should give yourself at least one year to maximize your LSAT score. This really blew my mind as at the time all I was acquainted with was the typical “3 month fallacy”. In any case, when I made the decision to fully immerse myself in this test, I made it knowing full well that I could invest all this time and still not end up with the score I sought. In other words, sunk costs would be sunk. I bring this up solely because it’s easy to get caught up with all the success stories we see of people studying for long periods of time and getting their dream score. What you don’t see is those who invest their time and then fall short. This is in no way meant to be discouraging but rather to shine a light on a perhaps overlooked reality. Personally, I was okay with that possibility as I knew I’d regret it even more if I didn’t try.

Side note: even if you don’t ultimately land on the exact score you want, odds are you’ll still make solid improvements if you’re putting in the effort and studying correctly.

As many people have said before me, this test is definitely learnable and you can make significant improvements. So try to find solace in that whenever you’re feeling discouraged, frustrated, or straight up fed up with the test. Something I kept telling myself along the way is that if I can’t endure the process of studying for the LSAT, riding the highs and lows, well then maybe i’m picking the wrong profession. I’m sure there will be mixed opinions about that, and yes, it’s not literal but i’m assuming it holds true to some extent (or so i tell myself). Regardless, I treated the LSAT as something that I had to systematically chip away at, much like learning a new language or instrument. Treating the test like a job and trying to approach my process as an objective observer was a skill I had to acquire.

Approach to studying

I think one of the most beneficial things i did for myself early on was go through the CC slowly and thoroughly. It took me 4-5 months, but I came out with very strong fundamentals, and fundamentals are everything; you can’t build a sturdy house without a good foundation. Once I finished the CC I started working on untimed sections. If you can’t score what you want untimed, I would wager its close to impossible to score it timed. Once I was scoring where I wanted untimed, I began to introduce time and incrementally reduce it.

LG: I foolproofed games non-stop and still could not get to -0 to -1 consistently until I changed my strategy- you don’t know what you don’t know (this is where a fresh set of eyes can be very valuable). LG is in my opinion the most learnable section of the test and is a section that everyone should try to capitalize on.

LR: I think for most people, this section requires rethinking the framework of an argument. most of us are so used to our bad, everyday colloquial arguments that we don’t know how to truly criticize or pick apart an argument. Don’t worry, this test will teach you. Put on your skeptic lens and begin questioning the arguments being thrown at you, 90% if not more of the arguments on the LSAT are BAD ARGUMENTS, they’re just dressed up. Meaning the premises do not support the conclusion, often times its not even close but it just appears that way because the questions are playing on your preconceived notions and/or biases.

RC: This sections was the hardest to improve. once again i’m going to echo what many have said before me: focus on the structure. you don’t have time to look for every detail or reference the passage for every question. The key to avoiding this is looking at the big picture. try your best to construct a cohesive narrative or framework from which to view the passage while you read: what does the author think, what is the point he/she is trying to convey, their attitude/tone? how does he/she go about constructing their argument? how many perspectives are there? you’d be surprised how far a general outline/structure of a passage can guide you.

Study groups/partners

Study groups and partners can be a complete game changer. Others will find holes in your reasoning and help you pinpoint your weaknesses. Don’t be scared to verbalize your reasoning. Everyone is learning and working towards their goal, if someone belittles you or makes you feel dumb... well I feel sorry for them. Leave and keep going until you find the right group/study partner. Personally I found big groups to be less productive. I think 1-3 people is the sweet spot for maximum productivity.

Focus on the process not the results

Instead of focusing on your PT scores (which can become irrelevant to a certain extent come test day) focus on your test taking/studying process. Don’t look for instant gratification by skipping your BR, I cannot stress how important BR is. Make notes of the questions you miss, be relentless. Find your strategy and ingrain it in your mind. Your process and strategy are some of the few things you can control on the LSAT, so take advantage of that and make them a priority.

Find a reprieve from studying

For me this was spending time with my girlfriend, playing music or watching a movie/show. Again, I can’t stress how important this part is. This test will chew you up and spit you back out, so do not let it consume you, ITS A TEST FOR CHRIST SAKE (sorry to any religious people reading). Take AT LEAST one day off per week where you don’t even think about the LSAT. Often times overcoming a plateau can be the result of Rest and Rehab. Again, you don’t know what you don’t know - this sometimes includes being burnt out.

Don’t listen to anyones negative bull**, it’s your life.**

Throughout my studies I had various people, friends and family members, hit me with the “YOU’RE STILL STUDYING??” or the “JUST TAKE IT AND APPLY ALREADY” - Tune it out. This is your journey and everyone’s will be different. don’t worry about the road you take, just focus on your destination. it may take some people 1 month, some 3, some 8, some 15, some 30. fight the urge to compare yourself to others- it will only hurt you in the end.

Lastly, thanks to everyone who helped me along the way, and to J.Y for hating the lawyer life and creating the amazing resource and community that is 7sage.

Now go get yours. Happy studying everyone and good luck!

P.S. if anyone has any questions or wants more specific information, don’t be afraid to ask.

I am really confused, the more I study for RC the more my score decreases. I used to get 6-7 RC questions wrong but now I am getting 16 wrong, please help!

I am taking the august test and I finished the CC a while ago but I’m scoring 155 and with 50% time. I also am rarely able to sit through an exam for one go.

Please let me know if you know any good tutors or if you are one.

Also if you have any tips please feel free to drop them, I’m starting to freak out so it would be very appreciated

Hi guys,

I wanted to share my experience with finally scoring in the 170s. I have been studying for this exam for almost two years. I started in the 150s and was stuck in the low 160s for awhile. Like many, I thought that represented my average ability and while I was enthusiastic about re-taking the LSAT, I didn't have any crazy expectations for my score to go up. However, within the past month, I began scoring in the 170s. While it's primarily exposure to the exam that has improved my score, here are a few little tips that have helped me out! Hope they're of some benefit to you :)

Create a master list for logic games symbols. We have all encountered logic games rules that have swiftly reduced our confidence to zero. When you review the game with J.Y, TAKE DOWN the way he writes the rule. I cannot tell you how helpful his symbols for tricky rules have been. For example, writing a "cross" to indicate that items cannot repeat in the same column or row was life saving. Besides the primary symbols for logic games, there are many lesser known ones. Make a list of them and subsequently be prepared for almost anything.

Put your head down and learn the valid argument forms. Oh ma god guys. When I started these lessons, my brain kept short circuiting. Anyone else? Well, they will take your LR score to the next level. When I got to parallel reasoning/flaw/SA questions, I'd just skip because I was like lol that's going to take some time. But after learning the valid argument forms, you breeze through those questions because you'll not only know what's valid, you'll know what's invalid and therefore be able to filter out all the useless-junk sentences that wordy SA questions throw at you. I used to get soo bogged down in the 5-7 sentences included in a SA prompt. But so many times 2/5 sentences don't even matter but how will you realize this without learning the valid argument forms?!

Don't go paragraph by paragraph with RC to form the reasoning structure. Guys, this may not work for everybody, but I used to slap "CONTEXT" or "BACKGROUND" or "SUPPORT" onto every paragraph after I finished reading it. I did this because I was so anxious about keeping track of what I was reading in my mind and I was jumping to formulate the reasoning structure as soon as possible. This kickstarts your good reading habits. But ultimately, I think the passages make a lot more sense when you start to put the pieces together as you read. Instead of stopping after each paragraph and going, "Shit, shit what is this in relation to the whole?" Ask yourself, "What is the author doing right now?" Are they explaining the origins of something? Are they going into greater depth about the situation? Are they discounting one theory for another? Are they summarizing what you just read? This approach made reading more fluid and forming the reasoning structure more natural.

Cherry pick essential words form the LR stimulus. We all know how wordy the stimulus can get. The kicker is that a lot of those words don't even matter. Once you identify the conclusion and the support, you got to filter the junk out. There are a lot of adjectives and phrases that have no bearing on the argument. Here is the process in action. I have bolded the essential words.

My friends say I will one day have an accident

because I drive **my sports car **recklessly. But I

have done some research, and apparently

minivans and larger sedans have very low

accident rates compared to sports cars. So trading

my sports car in for a minivan would lower my

risk of having an accident.

Lmao, I'm not sure if this passage demonstrates this tactic super well, but you guys get the gist. Just try it and you'll begin to pick up on what's important and what's not. Well, I'm at work right now and my supervisor just came out of her office so I'll have to cut it there for now. But I hope to get some more tips out soon. Stay strong everyone! YOU GOT THIS.

Hello,

I feel like I have a solid grasp of the RC section, but almost always consistently get -2 or 3 wrong on each passage. This is for all difficulty levels, and all topics. At first I had issues with the main point questions, but I feel like I'm good on that now. I'm trying to understand what I can do to gain insight into why I keep getting the same number of problems wrong, and how I can improve from here. I don't know if this is random or because I am missing out on doing something. Any insight is welcome, thank you!

Would it disadvantage me to ask for a LOR from a professor from a different university who taught a course at my university that I took with her? She came to my university, taught a class one spring, and I really enjoyed her class and got a lot out of it but she isn't technically a professor at my university, she is a professor at another university close by. Can anyway take a guess on how that would be viewed during admissions or if it doesn't really matter?

Hi so I took the LSAT for the first time and got to preview and then cancel my score. Is there any way to view my score for that cancelled LSAT? I can't remember what I got the first time and want to know for future study plans Help!

I'm graduating a year early (in 3 years) and am wondering if that is something that I should write an addendum about. My university classifies me as a "third year" but I have the credits to graduate early and I'm worried that the third year classification may be somewhere on the application and may confuse the readers? Idk. Any guidance would be great!

I am tasking the LSAT in November and looking to either form a study group or join a study group. I am even interested in finding a study buddy as well !!! Please someone respond I am ready to ace this LSAT!!! :)

Hey everyone!

I had some thoughts tonight on the exam, and I thought it might be useful to put them out there into the LSAT community at large. Hopefully there's someone who finds this helpful :)

So, something that's been stewing in the back of my mind for the past week or so, is this idea of the bell curve. How can we use that to our advantage when we approach the test? Obviously, we all know that there are easier questions and harder questions... and we all reach a point where we feel like we should be getting the easy questions correct, after all, they're the easiest questions we see, and we want to have some idea that our studying is paying off, right? But, up until recently I had a mental block with these questions. So concerned I was about my pride (haha), not wanting to miss an "easy" question, that I was sinking way too much time into them, trying to make sure I got them right.

But, here's what I realized: The writers want to maintain their curve, and we all know this... but for me personally, I wasn't putting enough time into thinking about what this really meant. The LSAT is so good at manipulating us into choosing the wrong answer, we forget that on certain questions, they're manipulating us into choosing the right answer. At times, the LSAT seems like this force of nature... it's a test with amazing psychometrics. It knows us better than we know ourselves. But, instead of always seeing it as a bad thing, we can reframe it in a positive way, and it could help us to move faster during the questions that we know we probably got right but... we just wanted to "be extra sure" about. I think there are two major (and probably obvious reasons) for adopting this mentality.

First, it saves time. If we can get these questions lightning fast, it will save us so much precious time that we need for the 8 or so really, really tough questions. This is also a really important fail-safe on this test. Something that I have come to realize, (because I've had some very wise people tell me) is that mistakes will be made... I will misread, it's just going to happen. The more time you have to play with, the better chance you have of correcting these errors. Second, it saves brain power... so much brain power for when you're exhausted and you're worried about time and everything else that comes with this exam.

So, let the LSAT steer you where it wants you to go, that way you'll be ready to take over the reigns when it's time to shine!

p.s., check out the LSAT Lab video where they talk about moving through the first 10 questions on instinct. I think it definitely shaped helped my view on this.

looking for people who plan to take the August/ October 2022 Study Group Online together

Hi Sagers! I'm looking to nail LG for my exam in October. I'm at a point where I can usually score between -3 to -5 but want to get that down to -1/-2 consistently. I have been watching the demo's of 7Sagers perform on a game while JY critiques and noticed how clean their diagram is + how they thoughtfully approach each rule.

I feel I am getting a bit overconfident and sloppy with my setups and could learn from a higher scorer. I'd love to start a thread for tips from high scorers on strategies you implemented that changed LG for you. Could be as simple as writing neatly and clearly, or more complex. All tips welcomed!

On a side note - I am experiencing a superficial difficulty when seeing a 'new' logic game from a section I haven't taken before, it tends to freak me out... Any tips on how to get over this? Maybe I just need to practice more new games?

Can someone explain to me why C is wrong and E is correct? I was pretty confident that C is the correct answer.

Can someone explain to me why D is the right answer? I chose B, but I did not feel very strongly about its accuracy.

Do you guys drill a problem game 10 times to ingrain it in your mind?? I heard it works really well but I can't seem to motivate myself to do one more than 5 times :/ any tips to push pass this?

I wouldn't say I am hitting a wall with studying, but I've definitely hit a fence.

I am forcing myself to maintain my study schedule, which I am proud of. Still, I can't stay focused while trying to retain information. I constantly feel like everything is just dragging on.

I've implemented some measures to stay engaged (basically, printing out everything everything possible to be able to take more specific notes) but I cannot seem to shift my mentality.

If you have had to overcome this kind of issue, I'd love to hear how. I know this type of thinking will not do me any good.

Could someone please #help explain or point me to a discussion thread that shows you how to properly use the tracking feature. I've been drilling logic games and I don't think I'm using it correctly, but it it seems to be a great tool for working on improving timing. New to 7-Sage so I haven't played around with it too much. Any #help would be much appreciated. Thanks guys!

Hi Everyone,

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. I have been out of school for 10 years now and due to my job have moved to another part of the country. I don't have any close ties to my undergrad university plus it was so long ago I doubt a letter of recommendation from an old professor would be effective. I've worked for the same company rising through the ranks for the last 9 years. I don't believe I can go to a superior to ask for a LOR because I would be notifying my employer of my intent to leave the company. I can't take that risk with my family so long before I would actually attend law school. I am not a member of any major organization, church, or anything of that nature. My work schedule never really allowed for it. Has anyone else experienced a similar situation? Is writing an addendum to explain the lack of LOR's an option? Again, any ideas or thoughts are welcome and appreciated. Thank you!

I scored a 161 on October 2020 flex and a 163 June 2021. Don't get me wrong, I'll take any improvement I can get but only seeing a 2 point increase was disheartening after those months of intense studying. I have always been an overachiever and part of me wants to push for round 3 in October, but the other part of me wants to take my score and run. I graduated in may with a 3.87. I currently work full time as a legal assistant and have barely anytime to study anyways. I have been considering part time law school and looking into t35 schools. I am just not sure what my next move should be.

Hi everyone,

Hope everyone is doing well! I'm in need of some serious advice. I took the LSAT for the first time last month (June 2021) and I didn't get the score I had hoped for. I plan to retake the exam in October 2021 or November LATEST, for admission in Fall 2022. I need some advice on how to get back in the groove of studying after taking a month break. I need to stay consistent and figure out a way to study effectively in order to raise my score. Full disclosure, I got a 146 on the exam and I need a 160 so I can get into my target school. Any advice helps. Thanks in advance.

Anyone have any tips on how to tackle these questions? Usually goes: which one of the following would be most useful in evaluating the argument made. I've been trying to identify an assumption and pick the answer choice that is relevant to that assumption but it's working 50/50.

Could anyone explain either of these to me? Thanks!!!!

Hello! Ive been studying for only 2-3 weeks now, and I am curious to know how long it took y'all to see at least a 10 point improvement.

My original diagnostic when I first started 7sage was a 149, but I'm trying to make at least a 165. I haven't seen any improvement yet, and its kind of making me worry.

Thank y'all!

I am relatively new to the US, and in my life out of the US never had such an experience. I've been using a study buddy thing on 7sage since the last October. But the fact that one person out of 5-7 doesn't show up bathers me. A typical case looks like this: a person adds me on the tool, offers a PT or sections, sets up a time (via zoom, one-on-one), doesn't show up, and doesn't say a word afterward. Is it a cultural norm?