Should I Not Do Any PTs Until Finishing CC?

ozymandias1303

So, I want to take the July 23rd LSAT which is in roughly 5 months. I would like to get a 170. Received a 155 on the December 2017 LSAT, and am waiting to see what my score on the February 2018 LSAT was.

Doing lots of PTs is a tip that I have heard consistently on how to get a higher score. However, the time I spend doing PTs (and then blind reviewing at least the LR section) is time away from the CC - as of 02/24/18, I am only on the MSS section of the LR section of the CC, so very, very early on.

I keep going back and forth on what would be more advantageous, and would appreciate some advice on whether I should:

1) continuing to do PTs between now and July 23rd, while making my way through CC

or

2) do CC first, then do PTs.

I believe option 1 will have me do more PTs between now and July 23rd.

As an aside, I did a prep test the day before the February 2018 one and got a 141, which really makes me think that my 155 in December was just a stroke of luck. So I am interested in taking the path that will maximize my chances at a 170 (or as close a score to that as possible).

To add to my "case," I have done the RC & LR Bibles, and have done maybe half the LG Bible.

Seeking Perfection

It seems like you probably already have done enough PTs to roughly know your strengths and weaknesses. Therefore I wouldn't do any more during the Core Curriculum. You already know which areas to spend the most time on during the CC(whatever your comparative weaknesses are).

Once you finish the CC, I would start adding one or two PTs and thorough blind review in alongside whatever drilling you find that you still need to do after the core curriculum.

Most people aiming at 170s end up doing at least a month or two of mostly foolproofing logic games aiming to get their logic games average mistakes down to between -1 and 0.

They also drill whatever their weaknesses are in LR and revisit those areas of the core curriculum.

Many also experiment with different strategies in reading comp although the Reading Comp section tends to be hardest to improve.

Sami

@ozymandias1303 said:
So, I want to take the July 23rd LSAT which is in roughly 5 months. I would like to get a 170. Received a 155 on the December 2017 LSAT, and am waiting to see what my score on the February 2018 LSAT was.

Doing lots of PTs is a tip that I have heard consistently on how to get a higher score. However, the time I spend doing PTs (and then blind reviewing at least the LR section) is time away from the CC - as of 02/24/18, I am only on the MSS section of the LR section of the CC, so very, very early on.

I keep going back and forth on what would be more advantageous, and would appreciate some advice on whether I should:

1) continuing to do PTs between now and July 23rd, while making my way through CC

or

2) do CC first, then do PTs.

Definitely the second option. No point in doing PTs if you haven’t gone through the CC. Going through the core curriculum equip you more to parse through LSAT.

I honestly think this idea of taking as many PTs as you can is way overrated. Most of the gains in score come from drilling and blind reviewing. PTs are a way to see if addressing your weaknesses through drills was effective and what’s the next weakness you should work on.

I believe option 1 will have me do more PTs between now and July 23rd.

Correct. But more PTs doesn’t translate to improvement. So many people waste fresh takes before realizing this.

As an aside, I did a prep test the day before the February 2018 one and got a 141, which really makes me think that my 155 in December was just a stroke of luck. So I am interested in taking the path that will maximize my chances at a 170 (or as close a score to that as possible).

Having scores in 150s signifies that a lot of work needs to be done in improving fundamentals. So take your time with core curriculum. Start slow with PTs with a focus on using them to figure out your weaknesses.

Also, is it possible for you to push back your test if you are not ready? Instead of forcing yourself to take the test in July, wait till you start scoring close to 170s before registring. On average it’s long and arduous process to make that many gains in score. As long as you keep your focus and keep making gains between PTs, you will get there.

Seeking Perfection

@Sami said:

@ozymandias1303 said:
So, I want to take the July 23rd LSAT which is in roughly 5 months. I would like to get a 170. Received a 155 on the December 2017 LSAT, and am waiting to see what my score on the February 2018 LSAT was.

Doing lots of PTs is a tip that I have heard consistently on how to get a higher score. However, the time I spend doing PTs (and then blind reviewing at least the LR section) is time away from the CC - as of 02/24/18, I am only on the MSS section of the LR section of the CC, so very, very early on.

I keep going back and forth on what would be more advantageous, and would appreciate some advice on whether I should:

1) continuing to do PTs between now and July 23rd, while making my way through CC

or

2) do CC first, then do PTs.

Definitely the second option. No point in doing PTs if you haven’t gone through the CC. Going through the core curriculum equip you more to parse through LSAT.

I honestly think this idea of taking as many PTs as you can is way overrated. Most of the gains in score come from drilling and blind reviewing. PTs are a way to see if addressing your weaknesses through drills was effective and what’s the next weakness you should work on.

I believe option 1 will have me do more PTs between now and July 23rd.

Correct. But more PTs doesn’t translate to improvement. So many people waste fresh takes before realizing this.

As an aside, I did a prep test the day before the February 2018 one and got a 141, which really makes me think that my 155 in December was just a stroke of luck. So I am interested in taking the path that will maximize my chances at a 170 (or as close a score to that as possible).

Having scores in 150s signifies that a lot of work needs to be done in improving fundamentals. So take your time with core curriculum. Start slow with PTs with a focus on using them to figure out your weaknesses.

Also, is it possible for you to push back your test if you are not ready? Instead of forcing yourself to take the test in July, wait till you start scoring close to 170s before registring. On average it’s long and arduous process to make that many gains in score. As long as you keep your focus and keep making gains between PTs, you will get there.

Yes, why not change the goal from

170 or as close as I can get by July

to

170 by July or as soon as I can get it.

westcoastbestcoast

I have to agree with @"Seeking Perfection" here. 170 isn't a score that is guranteed nor is it a score that you can force into a certain deadline. Unless you have extraordinary circumstances that would prevent you from doing otherwise, I would focus on the 170 and not the date you think you should receive it.

Assuming the 155 was a score you got after extended study, you have a long road ahead of you for that 170. What were your weak sections. How is your score breakdown.

@"Seeking Perfection" said:

@Sami said:

@ozymandias1303 said:
So, I want to take the July 23rd LSAT which is in roughly 5 months. I would like to get a 170. Received a 155 on the December 2017 LSAT, and am waiting to see what my score on the February 2018 LSAT was.

Doing lots of PTs is a tip that I have heard consistently on how to get a higher score. However, the time I spend doing PTs (and then blind reviewing at least the LR section) is time away from the CC - as of 02/24/18, I am only on the MSS section of the LR section of the CC, so very, very early on.

I keep going back and forth on what would be more advantageous, and would appreciate some advice on whether I should:

1) continuing to do PTs between now and July 23rd, while making my way through CC

or

2) do CC first, then do PTs.

Definitely the second option. No point in doing PTs if you haven’t gone through the CC. Going through the core curriculum equip you more to parse through LSAT.

I honestly think this idea of taking as many PTs as you can is way overrated. Most of the gains in score come from drilling and blind reviewing. PTs are a way to see if addressing your weaknesses through drills was effective and what’s the next weakness you should work on.

I believe option 1 will have me do more PTs between now and July 23rd.

Correct. But more PTs doesn’t translate to improvement. So many people waste fresh takes before realizing this.

As an aside, I did a prep test the day before the February 2018 one and got a 141, which really makes me think that my 155 in December was just a stroke of luck. So I am interested in taking the path that will maximize my chances at a 170 (or as close a score to that as possible).

Having scores in 150s signifies that a lot of work needs to be done in improving fundamentals. So take your time with core curriculum. Start slow with PTs with a focus on using them to figure out your weaknesses.

Also, is it possible for you to push back your test if you are not ready? Instead of forcing yourself to take the test in July, wait till you start scoring close to 170s before registring. On average it’s long and arduous process to make that many gains in score. As long as you keep your focus and keep making gains between PTs, you will get there.

Yes, why not change the goal from

170 or as close as I can get by July

to

170 by July or as soon as I can get it.

ozymandias1303

Breakdown of said 155:

-8 on RC
-11 on LG
-19 on LR

The 155 is the score I got after a year and a half of very "half-assed" study. Went through the RC & LR Bibles, some of the LG Bible, and the CC's lessons on grammar and stimulus structure (which I legit think was the most valuable thing I learned before the test).

Seeking Perfection

@ozymandias1303 said:
Breakdown of said 155:

-8 on RC
-11 on LG
-19 on LR

The 155 is the score I got after a year and a half of very "half-assed" study. Went through the RC & LR Bibles, some of the LG Bible, and the CC's lessons on grammar and stimulus structure (which I legit think was the most valuable thing I learned before the test).

Well that seems pretty normal.

I think you are going to want to focus on foolproofing logic games 1-35 first after the Core Curriculum. Those 11 mistakes are definitely fixable. During this foolproofing time you could take maybe 1 PT a week and thoroughly blind review it.

Make sure you record how you do on different types of LR questions while doing these PTs(maybe record the number of mistakes per section per question type in an excel spreadsheet).

Then after you get your logic games mistakes down fairly low. You should start drilling the LR question types you are weak in. During this time keep doing PTs once a week or so to see how you are progressing.

Finally, you'll have to make some gains on RC. Hopefully the PTs with blind review help some. After that you can try doing passages with different techniques and see what works gor you. If you get regularly into the lower170s, I imagine it will look something like -0 to1 logic games, -4 or so on the two LR sections, and -4 or so on RC on average.

Cant Get Right

I agree with everyone above that PTs is not the way to go at this point. PTs feel faster because they return "results" in the form of test scores, but they're really a very poor substitute for targeted studying. They're an extremely blunt study tool, and scoring in the 170's requires a surgical approach. PTs are extremely important, you're just not there yet if you're going to take a real shot at the 170's. I made this mistake too, and I promise you it won't get you there.

I'd also add that I'm not big on The Bibles if you're aiming for the 170's. I think they're fine--arguably even great--for getting into the 160's, but the lessons and approaches are too broad for going much further (for those of us without extremely high diagnostics).