PT Pacing

storm

Hi, all!

I switched to Ultimate + (7Sage got me, I realized I had to take the plunge to be able to really deep dive into the reviewing of PT's). I'm planning on taking the July '18 test date and think it seems feasible that I could work my score up to my goal by that date even though I work full-time.

Any suggestions on pacing of PTs/which PT to start on? It seems that nearly everyone has to take the LSAT twice (at least, the friends of mine all have), so I'm wondering if it makes sense to start further back and not aim to take up to the most recent LSAT before the July sitting? Ideally, I'll do July, get the score I want, and be done. So, I'm also wondering if I should instead set a minimum number of PTs I want to take and then work backwards from there (I'm thinking 35... The curriculum is saying to do nearly PTs 3X a week so that I come out at 48 PTs at the end of all of this and that seems too aggressive if I also want to ensure I'm doing quality blind review)?

Thoughts on this? I could start with PT 47 this week and do at least 2 PTs a week up until the exam date, which seems more feasible. This way I reach PT 82+ on time.

I'll also be doing PTs starting now, while still wrapping up the LG (then rc) portion of the CC. I'm decently solid in rc and can get to -0 or -1 in blind review of LG, so I think I want to start now to have as much time as possible getting used to the length of the test. Further, the actual PTs and blind review help me build more confidence and challenge me to push through mental blocks (aka, when I get a score I'm not super happy with) more consistently, which I think could be good for me.

Does this sound like a good strategy?

TexAgAaron

3x a week is a lot though and sounds like a good recipe for burnout, especially since you said you work full time. From the advice I've been given....quality over quantity. You need to give yourself plenty of time to BR and then drill your weaknesses. That being said, you definitely want to take plenty of PT's; just remember to BR extremely well because many of your gains will come from that. 1-2 PT's a week is what I commonly have seen.

Also, don't burn all of the most recent PT's just in case you have to take it again in the fall. I'm aiming for July as well so I'm about on the same track as you.

Hope this helps!

Seeking Perfection

Two a week sounds about good. For a lot of people skipping PTs works nicely. You take every other, every third, or skip every third PT.

You time it so you reach your newest PT as your last PT before the test. This ensures you get some experience on newer tests and save some newer ones in case you need to retake.

I also recommend foolproofing the logic games from tests 1-35 as the best way to get your actual scores to match the -0 to -1 blind review. When you find a weakness using the PTs it is a good idea to use drilling of some sort to work on it rather than just reviewing and hopping into the next PT.

Cant Get Right

Two PTs a week was a lot for me. Even when my timed average was deep into the 170’s, two was as aggressive as I could pace things. Early on, my PTs exposed so many weaknesses that I just didn’t have time to address everything with only three or four days. Late in my studies, few weaknesses were being exposed, but it often took enormous effort to address them. So just make sure the focus is on learning. If that means one a week, that’s excellent. If you can manage two, just as good. You have plenty of time, so there’s no need to cram them in.

As far as ordering, I’m a big fan of going in sequencing but doing only every third or fourth PT. That way, you’ll have several rounds through the PTs. Maybe plan for a full round per LSAT. So if you want to plan to test three times, take every third test: 35, 38, 41, 44, etc. Then if you need to retest, you can start from the beginning: 36, 39, 42, 45, etc.

storm

So smart to do every 3rd or 4th to make sure you can have several rounds progressing to more recent practice tests. Thank you both!

LastLSAT

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storm

@BagelBiter Thanks for affirming what was said above. Yep - I am comfortable with the possibility. If I am taking this many PTs, I should not need the one in-person exam to determine why everything went wrong. If I don't know my strengths and weaknesses by that point, I'd be concerned.

September or October will be my retake date. I plan on applying as early as possible in the cycle and work very late hours during Q4, so anything post-Sept/Oct would be too late for me to be able to actually dedicate time to the LSAT. Thus, the risk is higher of taking Sept and getting scores back than taking July and needing to retake in Sept/Oct.

LastLSAT

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CantStopWontStop

That’s a good plan. But if you think a retake is possible, you might have to sign up for the Sept exam before you take the July exam. They are spaced only about 6 weeks apart. And you definitely will not have your score back before the Sept deadline has passed. Good luck and I hope you only have to take it once

Sami

I agree with @"Cant Get Right". Two weeks a PT was too much for me too. I think even thinking about how many PT's to take a week is the incorrect way of thinking about LSAT. Take then PT only when you have addressed all of your weaknesses on the last PT. So if that means 3 days, 6 days, or two weeks -It's the right call. Just don't think blind review is enough. There is so much more that needs to be done. So just make sure that you are getting everything out of that PT before you move on to the next.

@stormNYC said:
Any suggestions on pacing of PTs/which PT to start on? It seems that nearly everyone has to take the LSAT twice (at least, the friends of mine all have), so I'm wondering if it makes sense to start further back and not aim to take up to the most recent LSAT before the July sitting? Ideally, I'll do July, get the score I want, and be done. So, I'm also wondering if I should instead set a minimum number of PTs I want to take and then work backwards from there (I'm thinking 35... The curriculum is saying to do nearly PTs 3X a week so that I come out at 48 PTs at the end of all of this and that seems too aggressive if I also want to ensure I'm doing quality blind review)?

I would say since you have a lot of fresh PT's to randomly sort PT's 36 and up into four groups. This gives you ideally an equal amount of PT's from each category in each of your four groups. Then assign each group a test date like July, September, December, February. Ideally like you said, you may be done by July but you do not want that pressure on yourself. So take that pressure off and be ready just in case. A lot of people run out of their most recent PT's and have to take the test again. You do not want to be one of those people who only has fresh takes from 50 and below or none. It sucks and is easily avoidable. You may not need to ever touch those PTs in other groups and you will have plenty in your July group. I also do not think you need to do PT's in order in each group. Start with the lowest one from that group if you like but see if you can have someone print out a PT from that group without you knowing which one it is.

I'll also be doing PTs starting now, while still wrapping up the LG (then rc) portion of the CC. I'm decently solid in rc and can get to -0 or -1 in blind review of LG, so I think I want to start now to have as much time as possible getting used to the length of the test.

I think like others have said, you can really benefit from foolproofing LG. You want to go -0 on average on LG's. So take your time before you dive head on into PT's. Taking PT's in my opinion is overrated when compared to so much that needs to be done and that can actually really have an impact on helping you improve your score.

hawaiihi

I personally started with one PT a week. It was just so much nicer to have that kind of space to BR it fully and to review, and I don't think there was honestly a huge difference in my performance if I'd taken two a week.

If anything, I'm of the belief that it's not so much how many PTs you take each week as it is building stamina and getting good at each section. I kind of viewed PTs as just a way of checking in on my progress––the assumption being that a lot of the improvement was when I was working on sections individually.

Alex

I personally think taking tests eats up a ton of time and energy, and it's not really a good way to help you get better. Review is much more important than just grinding out PTs, which, without a bunch of accompanying review, is a pretty big waste of time and effort. The purpose of a PT is to get a snapshot of your weaknesses, so that you can spend time working on those weaknesses and working on your technique. Most of your improvement will not happen while you're PTing, it will happen when you review and drill things that, in your review, you find out needs work.

For those reasons, I think 1 PT a week is more than enough. If you're at your goal score already, taking more PTs won't help, the same way weighing yourself constantly won't help you stay at your goal weight. Similarly, if you're more than a few points off of your goal score, testing yourself a bunch won't help you get there any faster. You need to be spending as much time as you can improving between tests.

I also wholeheartedly agree with @sami that planning on taking a set amount of PTs per week is not an effective way of looking at it. You can't plan how long it will take to do all you need to to improve from your last PT. This is something her and @"Cant Get Right" taught me that has really shaped my prep.

I can't stress enough to the community how much my score has improved since I've given up PT'ing. I take a fresh, full PT maybe once every few weeks. That generally gives me a ton to work with. If you're not -0 on games - drill more games before taking another PT. If you're not -0 on LR, find out why, what q types you're missing, and review and drill those. Not -0 on RC, same - find out why and figure out how to get closer to perfection. Taking another PT until you've done those things is just an exercise in hoping to get lucky.

studyingandrestudying

Agreeing with the above. It's very important to use them wisely and get the fundamentals down before starting PTs, both for practical reasons as well as morale.