Thoughts on how to tackle PTs...

amw26

Hi everyone,

I'm not sure if anyone has encountered the situation I am in but I'm sure you all will have some helpful input regardless! My cold diagnostic before studying was a 138. I recently took the June 2016 test and scored a 156. I was PTing around 156-161 prior to the test so accounting for the test day nerves, the score sounds about right. I studied for about 5-6 weeks through the Powerscore bibles so I guess it was an okay score. Also used the 7sage LG video explanations on Youtube and the RC seminar by Nicole Hopkins. I wasn't aiming for a very high score regardless (my mistake), rather I just wanted to get a feel of the testing situation so that my nerves for the second time around would be a little calmer. Breakdown of the June test:
RC : -13
LR : -9
LG: -2
LR: -9

Unfortunately I wasn't very smart about my studying (hadn't really stumbled onto the 7Sage forums yet and was just clueless about how to study) and ended up completely burning through preptests 29-79... My problem now that I am retaking in Sept is that I don't have any more recent preptests to go through. I am currently about halfway through the 70% done with the CC and I feel I have a better grasp of understanding the LSAT than I did for the June test. But I haven't taken any preptests yet so I'm not sure how I will perform on a timed test. So far, most of the questions that are given in the CC w/video explanations - I've been getting them right, though I don't know if this may be because I can recognize the familiarity of the questions (I haven't done the problem sets at the end of each lesson.. saving these for the end)

I am aiming for at least 163-164 (ideally, I would really love something above 165+ but given the time constraints, I am wary that this is achievable for September). Also, December is not really an option as I have a full course load for September and I don't think I would be able to manage all of that together.

Do you guys have any tips on how to proceed after finishing the CC? I think I will try preptests 1-28 and probably redo the more recent ones (65-80), but I'm a little cautious as to how accurate the scoring would be considering I would be slightly familiar with the answer choices already. Also, any tips on RC? It's a little ironic... during the beginning of my studying I was scoring around -5-6 on RC..

Thanks everyone!

Alex

@amw26 said:
Hi everyone,

I'm not sure if anyone has encountered the situation I am in but I'm sure you all will have some helpful input regardless! My cold diagnostic before studying was a 138. I recently took the June 2016 test and scored a 156. I was PTing around 156-161 prior to the test so accounting for the test day nerves, the score sounds about right. I studied for about 5-6 weeks through the Powerscore bibles so I guess it was an okay score. Also used the 7sage LG video explanations on Youtube and the RC seminar by Nicole Hopkins. I wasn't aiming for a very high score regardless (my mistake), rather I just wanted to get a feel of the testing situation so that my nerves for the second time around would be a little calmer. Breakdown of the June test:
RC : -13
LR : -9
LG: -2
LR: -9

Unfortunately I wasn't very smart about my studying (hadn't really stumbled onto the 7Sage forums yet and was just clueless about how to study) and ended up completely burning through preptests 29-79... My problem now that I am retaking in Sept is that I don't have any more recent preptests to go through. I am currently about halfway through the 70% done with the CC and I feel I have a better grasp of understanding the LSAT than I did for the June test. But I haven't taken any preptests yet so I'm not sure how I will perform on a timed test. So far, most of the questions that are given in the CC w/video explanations - I've been getting them right, though I don't know if this may be because I can recognize the familiarity of the questions (I haven't done the problem sets at the end of each lesson.. saving these for the end)

I am aiming for at least 163-164 (ideally, I would really love something above 165+ but given the time constraints, I am wary that this is achievable for September). Also, December is not really an option as I have a full course load for September and I don't think I would be able to manage all of that together.

Do you guys have any tips on how to proceed after finishing the CC? I think I will try preptests 1-28 and probably redo the more recent ones (65-80), but I'm a little cautious as to how accurate the scoring would be considering I would be slightly familiar with the answer choices already. Also, any tips on RC? It's a little ironic... during the beginning of my studying I was scoring around -5-6 on RC..

Thanks everyone!

Hey, Welcome!

I'm glad to hear you know you can do better and are retaking. That increase in less than 2 months is great and shows you have the potential to reach for that 165 range.

As far as for how to proceed after the CC, this webinar by Sage @"Cant Get Right" breaks it all down beautifully. https://7sage.com/webinar/post-core-curriculum-study-strategies/

I think your idea about utilizing the earlier PTs you haven't seen yet is wise. Also, redoing tests is a great way to learn. I actually would recommend it. Like you said, you just have to be wary about putting the same amount of stock into your scores on them as you would a test you've never seen. There still very useful for learning and improving, and that should be the goal anyway. The only score that matters is what you get back on grey day....

Tips for RC: The newer tests tend to have less textual support for the correct answers I find. So when you first started on PT29 presumably, even with little practice, you could look back and find many of the correct answers. Now, at least to me, it feels like this practice will leave you missing more than on the old tests.

To be honest, I've just put my faith in 7Sage's memory method and learned that the LSAT only has a finite number of ways to make the wrong answers look right on RC. The LSAT Trainer is also a good supplement for helping with RC. It gives a complementary look into RC strategies that include how the test is designed to trick you.

My personal tips are as follows:

It's more important now than ever to learn to read for structure as opposed to details. You need to create a mental map of the passage in your head by visualizing the passage as you read.

My general approach to the questions is I go in two sweeps. First sweep, I aim to eliminate 2-3 answers from my memory, and then return to passage for textual support as needed. When you’re going back for textual support, use your mental map of the passage to guide you so you’re able to quickly figure out where the information is, or remember what it said. You want to avoid just returning to the passage to look for answers without knowing where to look.

Pre-phrasing your answers is also just as important in RC as it is in LR. For example, if you see a main point question, you should be able to pre-phrase it and not have to be wasting valuable time looking back at the passage to figure it out.

Lastly, when choosing between answers answer look for key words/quantifiers/language that is too strong. They want to make the answer look as familiar as possible; a common way is using exact language from the passage but including a single quantifier or changing a single word that then makes an otherwise correct answer wrong. So keep these things in mind as you tackle RC.

Seeking Perfection

I'm fairly sure that the core curriculum videos and the problem sets mostly draw from tests 1-35 in order to leave the others free for practice tests. Therefore, I doubt taking tests 1-30 will be all that much more useful to you than retaking the newer tests.

I think either using the newer or older tests your main (unique) problems will be getting timing down perfectly and getting a reasonable estimate of your likely score since you will already have exposure to the test. Hopefully, you already have some sense of that. However, PTing and blind reviewing should be just as effective for increasing your actual skills with old tests as new ones since the blind review focuses on making certain that you have a reason for every right answer and a reason against every wrong answer. This helps even if the test is one you were already exposed to.

To put it concisely, I would study essentially the same way you would have if you hadn't taken the PTs already with the caveats that I wouldn't expect your PT scores to be representative of your actual test and you need to pay special attention to timing on the real test.

One way to account for the familiarity advantage in timing on used PT's might be to give yourself a little less time on each section. The 7 sage proctor offers this as an option. This way you will get more time than your are used to on the real test when you need more time since you are not already familiar with the questions and they will take a little longer.

As far as reading comprehension advice I don't have much since I started out scoring well on the section (probably as a result of reading for fun all my life and the heavy reading in one of my majors, Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy).

That said, you mentioned a heavy course load as a reason not to take in December. Especially, if the course load is heavy on dense reading, but even if it is not I don't think that you should dismiss retaking in December.

Retake in September after heavy studying. If you are not satisfied with your score simply retake a PT or two every weekend and review them between the Octobet score release and December. I would recommend this for the following reasons. First, lots of times people's jumps in scores come after a break. Second, natural variation means that some tests are just going to end up higher than others. If your September test isn't at your personal high end you might as well see if the December test is. Third, you may do sone reading in your course work which could help on Reading Comprehension or could take up the habit of reading some journal in your free time which could attain the same effect and help prepare you for the reading in law school. Finally, one way in which studying for the LSAT helps is to literally change your brain structure. This change, especially if you still take a few PT's, is unlikely to reverse between September 16 and December.

Good luck!