Hi all! So I'm preparing for the July 15 test, average is 169, and BR is almost always above 170 (took a bit of a hit transitioning from PTs 36-44, and now in the 70s). Working me bum off to routinely score 170+.

I am planning on taking 3 PTs/week (being okay with only 2 if time gets away from me--- I'm a full time grad student). Spending 20 hrs/week studying.

Because I'm doing so much BRing, I started to think that skipping the BR on the first 7 (or 10) LR questions for one out of three PTs each week would save massive time where I don't feel like I am actually gaining that much. The reasoning always seems natural, and I almost always get all of these questions correct.

Help me check myself: am I being lazy, or it this a fine strategic use of time?

Throughout my undergrad years, I started taking (non-transferable) community college courses through my local CC for purely recreational purposes. My UG didn’t offer much in the way of law-related or criminal justice-related courses, so it wasn’t hard to take two or three per semester through the CC. Now that I’m looking at applying to law schools, I’ve just found out that these courses will count towards my LSAC GPA. This is good, it seems, because they bring up my 3.7 UG GPA to about a 3.9. However, I’m also worried it may look like an attempt to game the LSAC GPA system. Should I write an addendum explaining that or will it not be a significant issue? My LSAT is a 176 so I’m hoping to apply to schools that I assume will look pretty carefully at my full transcript. Thanks so much!

Hi everyone,

I just put together an FAQ about LSAT related questions. Let me know if I left out any big ones!

Full lesson: https://classic.7sage.com/admissions/lesson/lsat-faq/

Contents:

I don't know where to start. Most of the schools I am applying to state that the PS is optional but I obviously plan to write one. That being said, these schools do not have topics or anything to write said statement on and I was wondering if anyone could give me a guideline for this?

Reposting, hoping someone feels me on this: If we do all the work upfront, then the questions will fly by.

If we do all the work upfront, then the questions will fly by.

You guys, this is my new mantra. So simple, but so hard to grasp. I've been watching videos of terrified me ~ staring at answer choices for way too long and hesitating for what looks like an eternity ~ and it hit me! If we do all the work upfront, then the questions will fly by. JY has told us this, but we have to live it and learn it. This mantra may just save my ass on June 3. All together now, "If we do all the work upfront, then the questions will fly by!"

I was taking the tests in order, I skipped (1-13) and everything was going fine until I got to test 55. I took PTs 55-60 this month and my score completely tanked. Im getting near 165 and when im lucky I get 168. I've noticed that the tests were starting to get really weird. Games got a lot harder, there was the annoying "dinosaur game" and "bus game". But what really caused my score to sink the most was the RC. I always averaged around -4 on RC and now my range from these last 6 tests were -5 to -10. With LR, I still maintained -4.

I think RC changed drastically because there used to only be just a few inference or most strongly supported questions and now it seems like they put a lot more on the RC section and they made those question types the hardest. During BR, i reread the passage many times and I still end up missing a few of those inference or most strongly supported questions.

Is it normal for my score to drop this much when I encounter newer PTs?

I was wondering if some of yall could post examples of how you BR the logical reasoning section. I am stuck in the 20-22 per section and would really like that to be 22-24.

Hey everyone,

I have made steady progress since the beginning of my studies five months ago. And as satisfying as seeing this progress is, when it comes to sitting and taking practice exams, I get terrible testing anxiety. It's almost as if my mind switches from on to off and everything I remember flies out the window-- all while my mind feels like its wandering in a million places. I can sit and take a section, two, or even three and perform well, but as soon as I sit down to take a full length PT, my mind shifts to panic mode. I began meditating daily in February and this seems to help and exercise is also a part of my daily routine as well, but I was wondering if anyone has any tips on how to dial in and focus better on practice exams and to alleviate testing anxiety. I am sitting for the July exam and any advice would be helpful! Thanks in advance!

I realized you can only use photos from the last 6 months, so I have to retake mine. How long do I have to upload a new one?

Does anyone know why we cant choose multiple questions (specific ones) to do in the question bank?

Hi! I'm struggling with the fool proof method! basically with how to actually start doing it, structure, and to get the benefits from it. etc.

This was a difficult question about dinosaurs, fossil evidence and their argued relationship with reptiles. Many users chose AC D) but E) is correct. I can't seen to figure out what the "two present-day" phenomena are, can anyone help a gal out? THANK YOU

Admin note: edited title

Does anyone have any recommendations for specific laptops or features or things to avoid when buying a laptop for school?

Thanks!

Can you all take a look at this PT. I don't understand it all and I am getting aggravated, please.

Admin note: edited title

https://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-june-2007-section-3-question-11/

Hi,

I am due to take the July LSAT and I'm beginning to get so discouraged. Unable to afford the traditional study websites, I've chosen to self-study (like I'm sure many of you have) using 7Sage, Kahn, and books. The problem is, I'm terrible at this. I've never been a good test taker but the LSAT is in its own league of how terrible I am. My diagnostic was 140, my next test tonight was 139. I was hoping to at least get 168 when it's time to take the actual test but Idk how if my score is going down even though I study everyday. Idk what to do to get my score up besides keep studying but I feel like I'm doing it wrong. Any advice?

I was wondering whether J.Y. plans to have the June 2019 video explanations available before the July 2019 exam? I was hoping to take the PT but would love to thoroughly review it before the July test.

would some one please help me understand how to properly translate answer choice E into formal logic? i have some idea from the discussion in the video explanation, but im having issues identifying the cues that led to these translations.

Admin note: edited title

Hi all! So I'm starting to organize all the paperwork I will need to ask professors for letters of rec from my undergrad. I graduated in December 2016... which was a while ago.

I want to ask three professors. One professor who I took two courses with in Fall of 2015, and two others, one in 2015 and one in 2016. How do I go about starting an e-mail to professors I haven't seen or spoken to in a while? All advice is appreciated! thank you so much!

I have taken the LSAT in June 2018. I scored a 142. I was devastated that I achieved such a low score. I took a sabbatical from studying. I am practicing and studying now. I do not know if I should hire a take another LSAT prep class, use a web site like 7sage for self study, or hire a private tutor. I do not know if I should hire get disability testing for testing accommodations. I do not know if I should just apply to law school with my score. I do want to re-take the test, for a better score. So many questions in my head, so little time.

Hi everyone!

I was browsing through the "How to study for the digital" discussion and saw it was mostly format related questions... I haven't seen discussions on how people are adapting to digital so thought I might get one going. I have written Nov 2018, March 2019 tests (both 161 lol) so definitely required some adjustments!

I have taken I think 5 PTs using the digital tester and feel like I've developed my "toolbox" of techniques. My scores are currently in the upper 160s/lower 170s... I think one of the main reasons I've seen this jump is because the digital tester has allowed me to gain about 5 mins per section. Would love to hear others' tips + tricks as well!

(PS -- Thanks to the 7Sage team for all their work on the digital tester!! I am using an iPad and Apple pencil and it works beautifully!!)

7/15/2019 edit after my experience on July 2019 digital test

Get psyched!

I was anxious when I realized July might be digital. But I forced myself to feel excited about it and I got over my anxiety a lot quicker than I thought I would.

Use highlighter for segmenting LR stims

I used to break up LR stims by segmenting them with pencil / marks. Not being able to segment the stim was what I feared most, but now I use the orange highlighter to segment the passages by marking the period or the space between words. It actually works so much better than my pencil marks because the orange pops.

womp womp, the real digital won't let you highlight only spaces. I used the red highlighter to highlight the conclusion of the argument and focused on that and used the yellow highlighter to highlight key/relevant premises (but only when I really needed to/for complicated stims... for me, highlighting conclusion was usually enough).

Use highlighter for marking potential answer options

The "eliminate" option is super helpful, but I found making highlight marks on the answer options that are potentials help my eyes focus on the contenders a little better than when I only eliminate answer options.

https://i.imgur.com/kSI5f78.png

Marking up RC

I use the memory method for RC. I use a highlighter to highlight any information I think I would need to remember.

If it's a particularly complicated passage with 2 ideas/views/theories/etc. in the passage, I use one highlighter to mark up things related to group 1 and the other highlighter for group 2.

I also use alternating highlighter color to highlight the first word of each paragraph so that I can easily distinguish paragraphs.

In my scratch paper, I jot down the paragraph # along with 1-2 key words about that paragraph. Since you can't see the entire passage in one view, mapping the passage out like this is super helpful in getting me to the right place in the passage quickly, esp for paragraph references (e.g. "What is the purpose of the third paragraph?")

Fold scrap paper in half, hot dog style

My middle school math teacher was very insistent on us folding our papers in half to create 2 columns and completing assignments with our work flowing from left column downward, then right column downward (if that makes sense...) It helped stay organized and efficiently used the space, especially on unlined paper. 20ish years later, I still do this with any kind of scrap paper note taking, and it's been helpful for me on the LSATs as well. Since the space is narrow, it helps me write straighter and groups notes into a smaller surface area so when I'm looking at my paper the notes come into single view. When I make a mistake, I just cross it out and continue underneath. I only put a single line through it JUST in case it turns out I didn't make a mistake so that the notes are still legible. I can rewrite it quickly (or just refer to it) without spending extra time trying to figure out what I had written.

Knowing exactly how my scrap paper will flow has taken the guesswork out of where I'm going to write, and taking out that guesswork I think has been impactful in my race against time.

PS -- for LG, I fold the paper so that the right column is slightly larger than the left. I'll write the game board on the right column and do questions on the left.

LG scrap paper use example

https://i.imgur.com/yj5biTc.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/3ucjcQm.jpg

Clearly mark everything on scrap paper

I clearly number all the notes I take. When I'm done with a question I draw a horizontal line that separates it from the next question. If feel confident of my answer, I draw a single, large diagonal line through that section of notes. If I'm NOT confident of my answer and feel like I'll come back to it, I circle or star the question number prominently.

Practice solving problems with 1:30 timer countdown

I LOVE that there's a built in timer, but at first it was terrifying, especially towards the end. I freaked out when the clock turned red at the 5 min mark and panic heightened especially after the 2 min mark. Knowing that I generally average a little over 1 min/question, I knew that it would be critical for me to keep my cool at the end, especially if I'm actually solving a new question and not reviewing. I set a timer at 1:30 and just trained myself to "be normal" as I watch the timer countdown. I developed an awareness of what it feels like watching the countdown at the 1 min mark, at the 30 second mark, 15 second mark etc... basically, I realized that 30 seconds is a lot "longer" than I thought (also, planking for 30 seconds feels like 30 mins haha). Anyways, a calm 30 seconds vs. panicked 30 seconds can be the difference between -0 vs. -4

Simplify your mark ups (added 5/24)

This technique may be more suitable for those scoring 160+ who have a fairly strong grasp of the LSATs.

When I was preparing for paper LSATs, as my skills grew, my passage mark ups became simpler: I underlined things or segmented sentences using / marks. Since on paper, I really only used 1 type of mark-up (lines), I have been able to translate that into digital using only 1 highlighter tool. I gave myself about 6 LR sections to adjust any time I made a change before making a judgement call on its effectiveness.

When I learned the digital tester would include multiple highlighting options, I was excited at first. Then I realized that switching among the different functions is somewhat time consuming. I tried my best to find a mark-up technique that uses only 1 highlighter tool.

If your paper test mark ups have been fairly complex (on average, you use 3+ types of symbols like brackets, underlining and circling), try simplifying it by evaluating which kinds of mark ups are absolutely vital to the way you process information. You may find that there are some marks you make more out of habit than necessity.

Anyways, these are some tools I've developed for myself to prepare for digital. I'll post a pic of examples of LR passage mark ups soon.

Would love to hear tips and tricks from others as well!

Hi Everyone-

I have struggled with NA questions a lot and found an approach that for me has been a bit more intuitive and grounded in an understanding of how LR questions are made and would like to share it. I am hoping this helps people like me who have struggle (and apologize if anyone else has already posted this)!

-We know that for Necessary Assumption questions, the premises given do not, by themselves, justify the conclusion reached.

-However we know that the author believes that their premises DO justify the point being made.

-The author, in going from premise to their conclusion, has made assumption that they believe warrants the conclusion, but we know whenever an assumption is made it is dangerous, because it represents a flaw in the argument.

-However, for NA questions, you want to study the relationship between the premises and conclusion carefully and see what the author is assuming to get from his/her premise to the conclusion of their argument.

-Then, with the assumption you have, you go into the answer choices looking for an answer choice that allows the assumption to hold (this also works for bridging NA because the author is assuming for example, that from A-->C we can conclude A--->D, so we would have to say that it is the case that C is somehow indicative of D).

For example, from the June 2007 PT section 3 question 11

Premise: Feathers from 1880s have half as much mercury as living birds from same species

-Mercury is derived from fish eaten by bird

C: Mercury levels in saltwater fish are higher than they were 100 years ago

This is a cookie cutter NA question in the sense that they give us a phenomenon and something to do with that phenomena, and then conclude that that thing is the only way the phenomena could have occurred. In another sense, that nothing other than fish could have influenced the Mercury levels. This is the authors assumption, and we go in to the AC's looking for something that would affirm (protect) the author's argument

E is correct because it allows our assumption to hold- that other things did not influence mercury levels by telling us that the process used to preserve the birds did not influence drop in mercury level the premise tells us about. (Making it more likely that seabirds are the reason there was less mercury in the older birds)

When you look at every other ac, you can see if has nothing to do with the assumption and so you can get rid of it. This has helped me go faster and understand that the LSAT is all about understanding the gap between the premise and conclusion, and how this helps you go a lot faster!

Hope this helps you all!

Nicole

Hi all,

I'm trying to keep my motivation about deciding to go for law school and I have a strange question:

Are there fields of law where you don't spend >50% of your time reading? One's that keep you away from a desk more or end up being more interpersonal rather than solitary in nature?

I am not a huge fan of reading in general, I have a reading disability and it's very taxing to do for long periods of time.I know that will mean Law School will be horrible but I'm prepared to do that if the pay off is a job I like. Everything outside of the reading makes me feel like I'm a good fit for the degree. I am aware reading is a necessary part being a lawyer, but if my job was almost all reading I don't think I could do it.

I am currently most interested in Public Defense or possibly some kind of Policy Council. Are there other fields of law you think I should look into?

I'm not trying to make money, mostly just trying to do public interest kind of stuff/stick up for the little guy.

Just as the title says... when I go to resources I can only see an option to take the test digitally. I would rather have them saved as a PDF on my computer so I can go back to them and print them at a need be basis.

In case this helps anyone: As we approach the June exam, I wanted to share the 2 most helpful things I've realized lately ~ and will be drilling into my head every day because I'm close, but I'm still not there.

(1) In LG, if panic ensues, do NOT read a question over and over again waiting for it to magically become less mysterious or easier. The questions should never need to be read again. If it looks like none of the answers are right, guess what? That's your safety net being triggered! It ALWAYS means it's time to go back to the setup. Read the RULES over and check them against your setup. If you haven't split, do it. If you split but you didn't ask, "Who's left?" and account for every game piece, do that. Yes, even the floaters, especially the floaters. Account for them. Draw it all out so that every piece is staring at you in the face within all possible worlds. Bam. Then, try the questions again.

(2) Applies to the whole test: You know that moment where no answer choice is clearly speaking to you, and you lower the bar and think, "Oh, this sounds like a good answer. It's not exactly right, but it's probably good enough and I'm probably just missing the reason why it's the right answer." ??? DON'T do it. It's almost NEVER the right answer. You're missing something about the relationship between the premises and the conclusion or you've misread or misunderstood exactly what the question stem is tasking you with. Skip the question and give it another go in Round 2.

Sorry for all of the shouting, but I'm shouting at myself so that my future self (starting now) will freaking listen.

how the f*ck am i supposed to get these hard LR questions right??? they take me like 10 mins to figure out and i STILL get them wrong lmao