New here, Looking for some advice when it comes to PTs

Leo Messi

Hi,
I have taken number of PTs before. I scorerd 139 on my diagnostic and then spent couple of weeks self-studying and managed to average 149 in the two PTs that I took afterwards. Now, I started my membership with 7Sage (LSAT stater) few days ago and so far it has been good. However, I noticed that I won't be able to finish all of my study schedule (core curriculum, etc) until at least a month from now. So, I was wondering about whether I should wait until then to start taking PTs again or should I just take some while studying the core curriculum?
P.S: I am planing to take the LSAT in September.
Your responses will be much appreciate it.

LSATisJustLikeDarkSouls

It's generally a good thing to treat practice tests like precious ambergris or gold or like how golum treats his ring. I'd say wait until you finish the CC before you do anymore. You probably wont hurt yourself by taking a few during your CC but, if you get in the habit of slamming down PTs and aren't happy with your score in September and decide to wait an entire cycle before retaking and only have like 20 PTs to last you a year, you can put yourself in a really tough spot.

Point is the practice tests are a finite resource and are the only genuine way to practice for this test; do not just take them unconsciously.

Ohnoeshalpme

Wait until after the CC to take PT's.

Inevitably, part of the PT process is to become comfortable with the timing of the test and to become comfortable with the length of the test. What is more important than these, however, is the content of the test. Fundamentally what PT's should reveal to you are your weak areas. You are expected to respond to these areas in between practice tests. The central idea of the CC is that it helps you to develop many of the skills that are necessary for success on this test by front-loading them. If you take a PT during this front-loading process you're just confirming to yourself that there are a lot of study areas that you have yet to cover.

I also think that doing a redacted version of the CC is possible for some students who face a constricted time frame. It sounds like you have a little less than 3 months to prepare for the test and you're scoring around 150. If you want to score in the 170's I have to tell you that this is going to be incredibly challenging, even if you plan on studying 30+ hours a week. If you are shooting for 160 or 165 or 170, the plan for you is going to be quite different. The study goals of a student looking to score above a 170 are vastly different from a student looking to score above 160. 170 scorers can miss around 11 questions on the entire exam but a student looking to score a 160 can miss around 29 questions. Therefore the preparation for each student is going to be different. A student who wants to score a 160 can often skip all of the challenging questions but pick the low hanging fruit, and fool proof logic games. If you want to score at the 170 mark though, you can skip only a few if any questions and your accuracy needs to be much higher than a 160 student's accuracy. The speed and detail required for a 170 demands more practice time and exposure than a 160.

A final note, you should be hoping for as high of a score as you can reach but it's important to design your study schedule for you and it is equally important that you modulate your expectations.

JustDoIt

@Ohnoeshalpme said:
Wait until after the CC to take PT's.

This, but make sure you don't rush through the CC to get to the PT's. It is much better to take your sweet time learning the material than to rush and get to PT's. I rushed and ended up being no where near where I wanted to be. So I had to go back through the curriculum...so don't be me! Also, it is okay if you don't take the test when you like. I thought I would be going to law school three years ago. But those three years were actually the best thing I could have done for both my future and my well-being. Don't rush the process! Let it happen