Hello!

I applied to law schools with a151 in my LSAT, 3.4 GPA, URM.

Obviously not the best but I decided to apply this cycle as it is the end of my gap year and because of other external factors.

I am interested in International Law which is why I applied to American as it's ranked #4 in IL.

I got into American with no money and I would have to move to D.C. Tuition itself would be $174,000 for 3 years.

American is my #1 because of the amazing international program but that cost...but I also would want to practice law in D.C.

I got into St. Thomas University and got $25,000 scholarship so it would come out around $65,000 for 3 years and live at home.

It is tempting only because I wouldn't have to take out as many loans.

My parents also wouldn't be able to help out with law school $ as they support my family + grandparents.

I would love to hear anyone's thoughts, input and/or what you would do in my position. Thank you and hope you're all staying safe!

Hey all, overall I have been really happy with my improvement, but I'd like to see if I can get into the low 170's. Right now I'm stuck at the 168-169 range. I'm missing an average of 1-2 questions on reading comprehension, and about the same for each logical reasoning section, but I still can't make it through all logic games on a timed test. I usually guess on a majority of the last game. Would anyone have any tips for improving speed and accuracy on the logic games section?

First, let me start by saying I believe our priority should be supporting everyone suffering and those on the front lines. The majority of us who must stay home are in a better place. Right now, for better or worse, time is what we have.

Staying home, of course, is not without its frustrations and problems. Many of us feel powerless about the ability to support family or miss out on work/wages and school. As in anything, we need to focus on what we can control.

For those of you studying, I can’t help but think about a time when I was laid off during my LSAT studies a few years ago. It was certainly frustrating. I had mounting bills that unemployment wouldn’t cover and family members I wasn’t in a financial position to support the way I wanted.

As frustrating as it was, I did, however, have time that I didn’t have before. While working a full-time job, I remember how I’d often lament the lack of extra time to study for the LSAT. After losing my job, there was little I could do besides use that extra time. I decided that while I was still looking for work, I would make a part-time job out of studying for the LSAT. In retrospect, that period was instrumental to my understanding of the LSAT and my massive score increase.

Here are some takeaways from my experience on how to use this time effectively.

Make it a part-time job.

Set up an actual schedule and put yourself on the clock. You don’t skip work, show up late, or spend your workday texting. You have a set time and you do your work. Otherwise, your boss won’t be very happy.

Take the same approach to your part-time job of studying for the LSAT. Have a set schedule. Sit at a proper desk. Take reasonable breaks for coffee or what not but limit them to a few minutes like you would at work.

An important benefit is that once you’ve put in those hours, the rest of your day is yours to do as you please, just like with a part-time job.

Limit those part time hours.

When I came up with this idea, I immediately texted my brother. He knew how frustrated I was about losing my job and I was happy to share my new idea about using this time for a positive purpose.

Ever supportive, My brother encouraged the idea of making this a job. “Put in eight hours a day just like you would at work. You’ll never get this time back.”

I had to change one part of that. Eight hours a day is not realistic for LSAT study. The material is just too abstract. I decided to limit my time to four hours per day. Depending on the day that could mean watching lesson videos (actively), doing practice sets or general studying. If I had a practice test or blind review, that would also count towards the four hours.

In my humble opinion, eight hours studying for something as abstract on the LSAT is just not realistic. Instead, my goal was to put in four hours per day, five days a week. Just like a part-time job. I made those four hours count rather than setting myself up for frustrations with eight hours.

This rightly gave me remaining hours in my new “workday” to meet other priorities: look for work, help family, work on other parts of my law school applications.

Self Correct

Like in any endeavor, this is an adjustment. Self correct to find what makes your work better.

At first, I made Starbucks my office. I liked the idea of coffee and getting to a space besides home. But a busy coffee shop had too many distractions.

I decided on a quiet library instead. I also eased up on the caffeine intake. Don’t get me wrong. Coffee is a part of my routine but there is too much of a good thing!

As in anything, experiment, self correct, find what works best for you.

Final thoughts

During a practice test or the real exam we must be aware of time. We either use time or lose it. This is also true of the hours and days we have to study. For those of us out of work and on lockdown, it is frustrating. But time doesn’t stop. We use it or lose it. We are limited in that time, especially now. But within those constraints we can use the time we have to support family, friends and people on the front lines. We can also use some of this time to take care of ourselves and invest in our future. We’ll never get this time back.

When the first quarantine orders were given two weeks ago, LSAC cancelled March quite promptly. I think they cancelled the morning of, at least before my shelter in place orders were given. Now with the quarantine extension in place for a few days, I thought they would have cancelled by now?

No cancellation along with the webinar of them exploring remote testing makes me feel as if remote testing could be a very real possibility .What do you all think?

After taking prep tests, I have come to the conclusion that one of my biggest problems is focusing on the questions/answers. We all know that it's easy to get lost in the minutia of the LSAT--whether it be choosing the most "popular" answer rather than the correct answer because you didn't pay attention to the difference between one word in the answer choice you chose and one word in the answer choice that is correct. It is important to note here that in my international studies major in undergrad, my tests mostly consisted of writing timed essays, and as such, my brain works much better in that arena--focusing on creating a thesis and going from there, rather than reading multiple answer choices and getting lost in them. When trying to answer multiple choice questions that is the majority of the LSAT, I notice that it's hard for my brain to focus on these things. Does anyone have any tips for training the brain (please don't respond with saying study / use the course more because that is what I have been doing :) ), aside from medication one can receive from a diagnosis? This can also include the changes they've made to their routines, workouts, eating habits/recipes, etc. Thank you so much !

Hi all,

I’m scoring in the low 160’s and have 2 spots open for those who are interested in receiving tutoring and are scoring below that. Send me a message if interested.

Let me know, thanks!

So I just feel the desire to share something with you all. I have been in tears twice during work today, not because of whats been going wrong but what has gone shockingly, incredibly right. I have been studying since October saw substantial gains after the first month of taking practice tests then my score leveled off at 160 for over a month. I had been taking tests twice a week in preparation for the April test, but I rescheduled to June for obvious reasons and because my score wasnt close to my goal of 170. I took a week off of PT's and spent more time thoroughly studying my LR answers from the last test. I had fallen into a habit of lazy reviewing for sure, with all of your voices in the back of my head telling me I should be putting in more effort, writing out answer choice explanations. I gathered my thoughts before my PT yesterday and wrote out my approach for each section, interacting with the RC passages, skipping questions on LR, and taking a moment to consider how my rules interact for LG. I scored a freaking 167! I'm psyched, I'm shocked, and relieved that my potential is there. For me it was never a matter of if I had it in me, it was a matter of if I was going to follow through with what I needed to do to get there. If I have learned anything its that these victories are meant to be short lived, I need to keep pushing and making that score consistent before I make my goal of 3 more points. Having until June makes me extra confident I can do it. ALSO, long story short I have a bachelors degree in chemistry and have had a tough time since graduating two years ago, I have jumped between a few jobs and havent gotten above the position of a lab tech, which according to my degree I am over qualified for but the world is a cruel place. I am on a contract at my current company set to end in April with hopes of getting hired on, which is horrible timing considering the damn economy rn. BUT my managers decided they "didnt want to lose me" and hired me on the spot for a scientist position (definitely rushed considering the real possibility of a hiring freeze coming on). This week (this month for that matter) is a prime example of how anything can be flipped on its head. Keep working HARD. Always do the next right thing for you and be kind to everyone around you, you never know who is watching. Thanks all, carry on!

What is the difference between LR questions in the 70's and 80's compared to earlier PTs?

For example, is it that recent LR questions hinge on really subtle interpretations of words, like conflating "method" and "reason" and these two words are spaced far apart in the paragraph? Is it picking up on really subtle flaws? Did the old tests just test your basic understanding of logic and not really test your ability to hunt for subtlety?

I ask because I did really well in PT 60, then did 5x worse in a pt from the 80s. This is pretty consistent too for LR. Why?

I’m in EST timezone but I don’t really mind what timezone you are in.

Plan is to have a whatsapp group where we’ll be posting how much (whether #of sections or hrs) we studied everyday. I’m not looking for a group to do BRs together or to do any Skype sessions (at least not at the moment)

I work full time also so I’m just looking for ways to keep myself accountable and motivated. Let me know if anyone is interested.

Btw - I’m planning to take the test in the summer and I score somewhere around mid 160s.

Hello everyone!!! I recently just got my first 170! I went from a 151 diagnostic back in June to that score on my most recent prep test! I just wanted to say thank you to everyone on the forums who's helped me, I really appreciate it and it definitely helped me get to this spot!

I would appreciate any feedback on my study plan from the Sages and also really anyone else who has been studying for a while and feels like they have a good grasp on what they are doing here.

Goal Score: 174

Cold Diagnostic: 166 (Aug ‘19) (disclaimer, this is not a totally fair point of comparison as I did not do an adequate job of precisely simulating test day conditions - e.g. gave myself more time in between sections).

LG (-9)

LR (-8)

RC (-3)

Studying so far: I technically started studying for the LSAT last summer but I had no idea what I was doing. Initially, I worked my way through a Princeton Review Prep book from the library and was devoting probably 4hr/week to studies with no set schedule; then based on the advice of a friend, I went through the PowerScore LR Bible but studying was still haphazard.

The same friend told me that what I really needed to focus on was taking timed practice tests. Through no fault of my friend, I somehow got it in my head that if I just took enough practice tests, my score would improve. I then blazed through 9 PTs without any BR (I have since learned my lesson and have turned those old PTs into drilling material so not a total waste). To illustrate how bad it got, at one point I took a PT on 8/28 (163), then 8/30 (164), then 8/31 (163), then 9/2 (160) and then 9/4 (158). (In case you’re curious, during this period my LG and RC scores were very inconsistent but LR was relatively stable at around -8-14). I would take these tests, exhausted, at 4:00am and then (because of a somewhat toxic situation at my full-time job), would job hunt late into the evening. Obviously the lack of improvement was disheartening (although, looking back it is almost laughable that I expected ANY improvement in between these tests).

When I started my new job, I put LSAT training on hold (partially because I was exhausted) and partially because this new job was a lot more intense. Anyways, I quit that job back in late February and have been studying full-time (so approximately ~5 weeks) ever since (6 days a week for 8-10 hours a day). I joined 7Sage shortly after and I finally feel that I am studying the right way. For the remainder of February and first half of March, I worked intensely on drilling LR (2-3 sections/day with intense BR) and full-proofing LG. When I was ready, I took another PT as a check-in and scored a 169 (BR 170) with -1 LG, -9 LR and -3 RC; I was calm for most of the exam but felt as if my nerves still probably got the better of me in both the LR sections. Anyways, one week later, the Coronavirus is in full swing and I took another PT from home in the absolute worst of conditions (jerry-rigged setup in my closet with my dresser set up as a desk) where I was hunched over and could not give 100% to the exam; ultimately, I think my nerves really got the best of me, scoring a 159 (-9 LG, -9 LR and -9 RC).

What I took away from this is that I do not have a reliable and repeatable process; I’m falling back on my intuition, which works fine when a test somehow aligns with my strengths but not so much when this isn’t the case (feel free to disagree with my diagnosis). After my 159, I went through the Core Curriculum in earnest (previously, had just hopped around focusing on Formal Logic and other perceived problem areas).

All this to say, that I am now going to be starting a new PT/BR schedule and would like feedback on my tentative plan. I had originally planned (and am registered for the April exam) but expect this to be canceled and feel that June/July is probably more feasible anyways.

Logic Games:

Logical Reasoning:

Reading Comprehension:

Apologies for the somewhat rambling post but appreciate in advance any feedback.

Hi, over the past year or so I've constantly been updating my blind review template based on what instruction from tutors and mentors, from the 7Sage CC, from The Loophole, from all-star sages and also based on what I find benefits me most when I BR a question.

If you have any questions or suggestions I'd love to hear them! Hope this benefits you.

PT, Q, Q type:

The best way to do these questions is:

Motto for Q type:

Translation Drill (after looking at the stim once, process the information and repeat it in abbreviated form here.):

Conclusion Premises Background info:

Referential phrasing:

Cookie Cutter logical layout (Method of Reasoning and structure):

Flaw:

My Prediction / prephrase:

Blind Review (BR) and Answer Choices (ACs) - why is the AC right? Why wrong?

Test writer review (TWR) – Why is this AC on the test in the first place? What is the trap set for this wrong AC? Who are they trying to fool?

Seek mastery

A.

TWR.

B.

TWR.

C.

TWR.

D.

TWR.

E.

TWR.

Teach a parallel question:

Takeaways:

(This is long. Thanks for bearing with me. Otherwise, TL;DR is at the bottom.)

Through elementary and middle school, I knew I wanted to be a lawyer. When I was confirmed, I chose Thomas as my "confirmation name," after St. Thomas More, the patron saint of lawyers. Whenever I was asked, I always said that's what I wanted to do, mostly because I enjoyed logic, and dissecting arguments.

By the time I got to high school, I had steered away from that dream, simply because I was told that "doctors and lawyers" were the types of people that got consistently high grades and, well... I didn't.

In college, I tried my hand at a few different programs, but never really found "my calling." I tried aviation, and computer science (both of which I enjoyed, but weren't "my thing"). I ended up settling on a degree in Secondary Education, with a focus on English, because teaching and English were things I was naturally good at, and I needed to get out of school sooner or later. I sailed through those classes without much trouble and graduated with a 3.0 GPA.

I've since found that teaching isn't "my thing" either, and I've been doing technical support, in one form or another, for going on 10 years now. Again, it's something that I have a natural aptitude for, but not something I'm necessarily passionate about.

I settled down, got married, had some kids, and spent some time wondering whether this is what I was meant to do. And then, I found you all.

I feel like I've found my people.

I'm... excited to study? What?

I am legitimately looking forward to the time when I get off work, put my kids to bed, and get to my computer to listen to JY teach me things at chipmunk speed.

I learn. I take quizzes. I fail — and thoroughly enjoy the process. I've never been this excited to learn about something in my life.

But, here's the thing:

I don't really know what it's like to be a lawyer.

And actually, I don't even know what it's like to be in law school, or how the process of studying for the LSAT compares.

I want to believe that I will enjoy it—that this will be "my thing." But I've been watching these videos about how so many lawyers get through this whole process, where they crush the LSAT and get into a great law school and do awesome in school and then they get out and... they just wind up hating it. And that scares me.

I don't plan to go to into big law, or even "medium" law (is that a thing?). I'm not sure I will ever live in a city with more than 150,000 people. When I become a lawyer, it will probably be in a small firm with a few other people and a wide focus — at least, that's what it seems like to me.

So, here's the TL;DR: How did you know you wanted to be a lawyer? I am pretty sure I was made for this. But, the number of lawyers who hate their jobs is daunting, and I don't want to get into this only to find out that it's just "another thing" that I tried and decided wasn't for me.

When I take a practice exam on 7 Sage how come there are only 4 sections and the actual test is made up of 5 sections with 1 unscored section. So I'm wondering where is the missing section and shouldn't we be preparing by doing 5 sections vs 4 since that'll only under prepare us. Thoughts? Solutions?

Hi all,

I’m currently scoring in low160’s. I can tutor whoever is scoring below that. Send me an inbox message if interested.

It seems like it can either go both ways, when undergrads graduate into a weak economy they are more likely to continue their studies since the job market is very competitive. On the other hand, people with jobs are reluctant to leave them for law school due to the uncertainty of the labor market. Then there's people staying home more which can equal more study time. What do you think will happen?

Hello,

Is it possible to understand suff n necc. conditions to such an extent that memorizing the indicators taught to us in the groups become unnecessary?

Thinking out loud- i'm afraid of becoming too dependent on the memorization of these indicators and not be able to establish a solid form of logical thinking into my reasoning process, if that makes sense?

Any thoughts?

My loophole book just came in the mail and I was curious if I should finish CC first then read or is it okay to learn from both at the same time. I also have Mike Kim's LSAT Trainer on the way as hell but I think that's just a study guide not necessarily a course. I'm interested in hearing everyone's thoughts and/or suggestions! Or experiences?

If I have completed a section of the test in its current form, will converting it from paper to digital or vice versa remove any answers I had inputted for that section?

I am looking for a study partner to go over maybe some material in 2-3 sessions a week. I think someone to touch base and to toss around ideas with. I also think talking it out and explaining questions to others on how you will approach a problem is also helpful. We can do RC together because RC is usually dry as hell. Or, do one game together. I mean, whatever works. I am a non-traditional student and work full time. I am just trying to get comfortable with the language of LSAT as much as possible.

Hi everyone,

I am studying the second time around for the LSAT. I have taken it once before, a while back and scored a 146. However, I am looking to start re-studying except for the life of me I cannot form a solid game plan or even know where to begin. My goal is between a 160-165.

Thank you.

Been studying for about 2 months and I am 1/3 of the way done with the CC. Looking for someone or some people to help hold each other accountable and eventually review PTs together. Looking to take the exam in July and maybe October.

I was studying 5-6 consistently before Covid. Idk maybe im just lazy or making excuses but im barely doing 3 now lol

I plan to take the LSAT in August of this year. I am looking for a tutor that can help me. Suggestions are welcome.