LSAT Trainer--Do I honestly really need it?

vanessa fisher

Hey everyone,
I'm wondering what people's opinions are for the LSAT Trainer. I hear a lot of people talk here about it being a complimentary book for 7Sage material, but I'm wondering how necessary it is. I've been using 7Sage for the past 7 months and planning to write in September. I utilize both the CC and also listen to all the webinars and read many of the blogs and discussion board comments here. With all that, I wonder if the LSAT Trainer is really going to add anything I haven't yet gleaned from the content available here. I mean if it is just one more thing to read to drive home some points I already know, or a slightly different way of looking at some questions, I wonder if it is worth the time and investment or if my time is better spent at this point just drilling and doing PTs and Blind Reviews till test day.

Any thoughts appreciated!

LSATcantwin

I got the trainer about a month ago because I was feeling very stuck. I read through it and it gave me a new perspective on things I already knew. I skipped the LG portion because that is a section I feel fairly comfortable with. With LR however, I think the trainer did help me to hammer down my ability to see the conclusion and support in the arguments made. I haven't really dove into the RC yet.

What I would say is;
If you feel comfortable with the materials you have right now, and do not feel stalled in your progress toward a higher score; then there is probably no need for it.

If you don't feel comfortable with where you are, and still feel shaky on parts of the test having a slightly different approach presented to you can only help. It might give you that kind of "Aha!" moment where everything starts to click.

I know this answer isn't very concrete but I believe it really depends on how you feel about the test. The way I justified it to myself was; I could spend $60 on Horizon Zero Dawn (video game) or potentially help me get into a T-15 law school. That $60 felt better spent on The LSAT Trainer.

Sami

@"vanessa fisher" said:
I mean if it is just one more thing to read to drive home some points I already know, or a slightly different way of looking at some questions, I wonder if it is worth the time and investment or if my time is better spent at this point just drilling and doing PTs and Blind Reviews till test day.

I have read the trainer and ultimately its not that different from 7sage, but its just not as comprehensive. I like 7sage better and keep returning to the curriculum here when I have issues I need to work out. It pretty much answers my questions and if I have trouble. Moreover, I am not afraid to post on the forum or ask questions to my friends here.

Investing in the Trainer depends on where you are scoring in your drills and PT's. Sometimes we need a slightly different way of doing something. But ultimately I believe sticking with one way that works is better. There are multiple ways to do something and you can get better at LSAT with all of them. But getting better at each of those tactics will take time and a lot of drilling. Jumping from one course to the other can lead to a situation where there are too many cooks and the dish is spoiled and you might get confused. I think because of that you are better of with just 7sage, especially if you are trying to test for September. If you run into any road blocks, feel free to ask for people's advice on 7sage. And if none of that works for you, you can try the trainer or a low coast 7sage tutor. But at this point, 7sage is pretty much sufficient in itself.

I hope this was helpful. Good luck with LSAT.

NotMyName

It mostly reinforces the fundamentals that we've learned here. It has some helpful tactics in games which aren't used as frequently here. I have it but haven't touched it since I started with 7Sage. There is a lot of value to be had in the book, but at this point in your prep, I have the feeling that it would not add much value for you.

Look at it this way, it doesn't sound like you are interested in it if it just reinforces your foundations. But if it provides a new lense to see the test through, do you really want to introduce that to your prep 8 weeks out? Not sure you have a lot to gain here. But then again, I haven't read the book in a while. Maybe some other user can share what they found really helpful in the Trainer.

Personally, I liked the Trainer's use of shapes to represent sub-categories in games. I also liked it's emphasis on reading for structure in RC. It offers a bunch of drilling sections for specific RC QTs which I remember being helpful.

Alex

@"vanessa fisher" said:
Hey everyone,
I'm wondering what people's opinions are for the LSAT Trainer. I hear a lot of people talk here about it being a complimentary book for 7Sage material, but I'm wondering how necessary it is. I've been using 7Sage for the past 7 months and planning to write in September. I utilize both the CC and also listen to all the webinars and read many of the blogs and discussion board comments here. With all that, I wonder if the LSAT Trainer is really going to add anything I haven't yet gleaned from the content available here. I mean if it is just one more thing to read to drive home some points I already know, or a slightly different way of looking at some questions, I wonder if it is worth the time and investment or if my time is better spent at this point just drilling and doing PTs and Blind Reviews till test day.

Any thoughts appreciated!

If you feel like you know what you need to know and now it is a matter of application/practice, then I would say you certainly don't need it. The first few chapters are posted free on the Trainer website if you want to see what you'd be missing... If I started with 7Sage, I highly doubt I would have ever used the Trainer myself.

tanes256

@"vanessa fisher" said:
I mean if it is just one more thing to read to drive home some points I already know, or a slightly different way of looking at some questions, I wonder if it is worth the time and investment or if my time is better spent at this point just drilling and doing PTs and Blind Reviews till test day.

Hey! 7Sage is a full LSAT course so anything you look at going fwd will be something you've already seen or something you already know. Ppl use the book for a different perspective if they aren't grasping something here. If you feel like you're good then,no, there's no reason for you to look at The LSAT Trainer. It's not necessary.

vanessa fisher

Thanks for the comments everyone, this is really helpful!

@LSATcantwin, @Sami @"Alex Divine" @tanes256 you've pointed out some good things, and also regarding some of your questions:

Basically, I'm not at my ideal score yet (I want to score in 170s), but I feel I understand most of the material. My biggest downfall is timing and keeping focused during reading. When I blind review, I consistently score in the 170s, but I'm not there in my timed tests yet. While I do definitely still come across questions that stump me and I have to really spend a lot of time with, most of the time I feel the reason I get an LR question wrong is because I missed a word in reading that was crucial (stupid mistake) because I get nervous under timed conditions. So I've mainly been focusing on timing myself on everything and getting used to being timed. I started also doing timed sections (rather than whole PTs all the time) because I found it less intimidating than confronting a whole timed test. I've also been back in regular meditation practice. Both have helped raise my score.

My strongest sections are LR and RC (although the reading comp in the 50s has been harder for me than previous tests). LG I still struggle with, but I'm doing the fool proof method and feel it is more about repetition than anything.

So all that said, maybe LSAT trainer isn't really necessary for my areas of weakness

NotMyName

So all that said, maybe LSAT trainer isn't really necessary for my areas of weakness

Yeah. Doesn't sound like it. Keep fool proofing games and training yourself to operate well under timed conditions. I have a tendency to make those focus errors as well (I think a lot of us do) and something that helps me is to "read with my pencil down"... circling keywords and underlining. It's not a markup strategy like some use in RC, it's just that the tactile aspect helps keep me tuned in.

Best of luck @"vanessa fisher" !

Sami

I think if your blind review score is in 170's, you don't need a Trainer at this point. Like you said, and I agree, you need to practice your section strategy - keeping focus, skipping, not getting nervous, having a good second round where you correct stupid mistakes made in first etc.

I like that you are doing timed sections to get over your nervousness for taking PT's and you are fool proofing games. I honestly think you are on the right track and you need to keep going and working towards closing the gap between timed score and blind review score.

The curriculum for the most part as well as the trainer is more helpful to increase LSAT knowledge and in increasing the blind review score. After that its mostly practice and working on a good section strategy to close the gap.

So keep drilling and taking PT's with blind review. You will do just fine

Alex

@"vanessa fisher" said:
Thanks for the comments everyone, this is really helpful!

@LSATcantwin, @Sami @"Alex Divine" @tanes256 you've pointed out some good things, and also regarding some of your questions:

Basically, I'm not at my ideal score yet (I want to score in 170s), but I feel I understand most of the material. My biggest downfall is timing and keeping focused during reading. When I blind review, I consistently score in the 170s, but I'm not there in my timed tests yet. While I do definitely still come across questions that stump me and I have to really spend a lot of time with, most of the time I feel the reason I get an LR question wrong is because I missed a word in reading that was crucial (stupid mistake) because I get nervous under timed conditions. So I've mainly been focusing on timing myself on everything and getting used to being timed. I started also doing timed sections (rather than whole PTs all the time) because I found it less intimidating than confronting a whole timed test. I've also been back in regular meditation practice. Both have helped raise my score.

My strongest sections are LR and RC (although the reading comp in the 50s has been harder for me than previous tests). LG I still struggle with, but I'm doing the fool proof method and feel it is more about repetition than anything.

So all that said, maybe LSAT trainer isn't really necessary for my areas of weakness

Yeah, you absolutely don't need it from what you've written here. If you can BR in the 170s, then keep drilling weaknesses and fool proofing games. The key to getting good at games is repetition for sure.

Meditation has also worked for numerous people

Good luck

vanessa fisher

Cool thanks everyone, I appreciate the thoughts and support.
I'll keep working on my drilling, and breathing (literally, I noticed a week ago that I actually stop breathing during timed sections LOL). And if I have more questions I'll definitely circle back. It's nice to have the community here