Have you found that doing two full practice tests per weekend is doable?

louise.jesse

I work full time. I've been studying for a long time now, but I've only taken 5 practice tests. I realized halfway through pTing that there were some basics that I had not mastered.

I want to take in February. I want to take a lot more practice tests but I work full time and it's simply not realistic for me to take them during the week. So I guess the only way to take as many as possible is to do two full, timed tests per weekend. If I do this, I can squeeze in 12 tests as opposed to 6 before the real test date.

I am just curious as to whether anyone here has done that. Two per weekend sounds fine to me, but I am afraid that two in a row will be too much? But maybe I'm being crazy. I know some people do one per day, so two per weekend shouldn't be too much.

Leah M B

It is a lot, but more so because you need time to review the tests. I did one PT on saturdays and then spent sunday reviewing it. During the week, I did timed sections, usually at least 1 per day. That adds up to being at least 1 more full test per week. If I tried to cram 2 whole PTs into a weekend, I don’t think I would have had enough time to review it thoroughly, and the review is as important (or really more important even) as the actual test.

A full timed PT in one sitting is really just to gauge where you are and to get used the timing. The real work and improvement is done during review, so it’s really important that you don’t skimp on review in favor of extra timed PTs.

tylerdschreur10

One hundred percent agree with @"Leah M B"

My study schedule was Full PT on Sunday, blind review monday and Tuesday, 2 timed sections with review wed and thurs, Friday off, 3 timed sec with review Saturday.

It worked really well. Blind review is where 90 percent of improvement happens, so this is key. You benefit more if you review shortly after your timed attempt. So I think back to back PTs could be inefficient, unless you think you can review a PT the same day you took it, which is unlikely without burnout.

tylerdschreur10

Addendum to above ^^

The only reason to force in extra PTs as opposed to timed sections is if you're worried about stamina. Timed sections are just as good for timing and material, but you do lose the realistic effect of doing RC after 3 hours of testing.

However I think taking timed sections after a 10 hour work day definitely helps with stamina, not the same, but it's something shrug

Seeking Perfection

It is not too much, but as @"Leah M B" said, most of the time is in the review.

I did two PTs a weekend, but not one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Instead I did two back to back on Saturday. Instead of taking a break after three sections, I took the whole 4 section test then the break then another 4 section test. This process takes about 5 hours. 2 hrs and 20 minutes for the first PT, the break of 15 minutes like the real LSAT, and then another 2 hrs and 20 minutes of PTing. I tried to center this 5 hours about the same time as the real test so I started about an hour earlier than my test time in the morning.

Afterwards, I would eat and rest or do something else for an hour or so. I then took however long was needed to blind review both tests. This made for long days, but I wanted my score and you can't score it until you finish the blind review(or it won't be blind). If I hadn't been scoring in the 170s I think my blind review would have sometimes stretched into Sunday. Of course, that would be fine because I used my Sundays to rest to prevent burnout. You could get that rest and relaxation in after blind reviewing on Sundays.

There is also the added benefit of not having to worry about getting tired on the little five section real test. As such, this is the practice testing strategy for someone who wants to still be alert for the totally unimportant LSAT essay at the end of the real test.

LastLSAT

@"Seeking Perfection" Thanks for posting this method! I'm definitely going to try it out as I get ready for my retake in Feb., now that I'm transitioning from full-time study to a full-time job. Sounds like it really builds stamina!

louise.jesse

Ok guys! thank you for all of your suggestions. This helps. I did not think about the difficulty of reviewing in that amount of time - seems like I should do one full test per week but then do timed sections as well.