For those of you who took a diagnostic at the beginning...

Gunningfor121

How much did you improve on the first test after finishing the core curriculum, and how much did you improve after doing several more full tests? It seems like the bulk of improvement actually comes from blind reviewing full PTs and not from just completing the core curriculum.. Thoughts?

Habeas Porpoise

I definitely think improvement comes from BRing and learning from your mistakes, but the core curriculum is an important foundation, as is fool-proofing for LG. I believe timing strategies also play a part once you start scoring 160+.

Personally, I got a 147 on my diagnostic. I really struggled with the test and ran out of time consistently on every section. My breakdown was -14 LG (brute-forced my way through the first two games before running out of time), -10 and -14 on LR, and -8 on RC.

My first test after the CC, I got a 160 with a BR of 165, and the breakdown was -6 in LG, -8 and -9 in LR and -3 in RC. I'd never learned formal logic or argument structures, so I know that made a huge difference, along with the entire games curriculum.

Subsequent PTs were all high 150s/low 160s with BR in the low 170s. Now, eight months and 26 tests later I'm PTing in the high 160s with my BR in the mid-high 170s. My progress has been really up and down, but I always make sure to BR. I also flag questions that I find tricky or difficult, and go back to them occasionally to try and see if I have a better understanding of the underlying concepts. I also finished foolproofing 1-35 over the past months, and continue to foolproof games I struggled with in-between PTs.

demiiisodaaa

@"Habeas Porpoise" can I ask how long it took you from PT'ing in high 150s/low 160s to PT'ing in high 160s?

doyouevenLSAT

there are some webinars of people and their journeys: https://7sage.com/webinar/

they generally discuss what they did, what they would change, materials used, and describe their timelines.

https://7sage.com/webinar/davids-six-tips-on-doing-it-right/
https://7sage.com/webinar/our-89-point-increase-story/
https://7sage.com/webinar/154-to-173-a-tale-of-logic-and-games/
https://7sage.com/webinar/my-18-point-increase-story/
https://7sage.com/webinar/lsat-prep-for-170-plus/

studyingandrestudying

Also, the AMAs on the 7Sage YouTube channel are helpful.

Habeas Porpoise

@demiiisodaaa said:
@"Habeas Porpoise" can I ask how long it took you from PT'ing in high 150s/low 160s to PT'ing in high 160s?

I scored for the first time in the mid-160s a little less than two months after the CC. After that I've been consistently averaging in the high 160s (with the occasional low 170s score and low/mid-160s scores).

Seeking Perfection

People usually have a little jump just from the CC. I didn't, but I had already taken the test.

The CC shows uou how to do any LSAT question, but you have to practice to get good at them.

Cant Get Right

It sounds like you’re half asking if it’s okay to skip and skim your way through the CC. If I’m not completely misinterpreting that, the answer—assuming you’re hoping for meaningful improvement—is absolutely not. The CC is what gives us the background we need in order to use the PT’s as effective tools. Otherwise, a PT is really just a shot in the dark with no viable means of understanding or correcting our mistakes.

So maybe most of the improvement does happen in the PT’s for many people, but that’s only happening after taking the time to learn the fundamentals. I think that for most of us, the more carefully we go through the CC, the more quickly we can improve in the PT’s.

jkjohnson1991

@"Cant Get Right" would you say if you are an ultimate plus user, that you should leave a problem set or few unfinished for practice later? Or would you just recommend finishing them all and using PT’s for your practice drilling. For example the Flaw and NA question types, there are like 20+ problem sets. Did you do them all before you started PT’ing? I just felt like if I feel pretty confident on those question types then maybe I should leave some unfinished in case I want more work on those down the line?

Cant Get Right

Yes! That’s an excellent point @jkjohnson1991 . Once you’re comfortable with a concept, save the remaining problem sets! Especially early on in your PTing, you’ll likely be returning to the CC fairly frequently. When you do, they’ll be good to have!

Gunningfor121

@"Cant Get Right" are there video explanations to all of PTs 1-35?

Cant Get Right

@"David Bennett" said:
@"Cant Get Right" are there video explanations to all of PTs 1-35?

For LG and RC, yes. For LR, there are only explanations for 17 and up. I think PT's 1 to 16 will come eventually, but there's a lot of really weird stuff that isn't entirely relevant to the contemporary test, so there would have to be a lot of caveats and disclaimers. That makes it of relatively limited use.

Leah M B

I think my PT went up just a couple of points after finishing the cc. I think really, the cc lays the groundwork, but it is indeed the drilling and BRing post-cc where you make the gains. That seems to be pretty typical. You need the foundation in order to build off it, but it's also a practice-makes-perfect scenario. It's one thing to have the knowledge, and another to learn how to really apply it well.