Suggestions for where to focus on studying

PPPPreme

Hi, first post here!

I am taking the LSAT in September, and have been studying for a couple of months now. Currently, my highest PT score has been a 158. My goal is most definitely 170s.

On my last PT, I got a 157, with a -7 LR, -11 LG, -7 RC and -3 LR. I haven't really studied LG much and haven't studied RC at all. as evidenced by my score. I've been focusing on LR thus far, and have improved my scores a decent amount. I'm also further encouraged just because 6 of the 7 LR questions I got wrong on the first one I had to guess because I ran out of time. On the second LR section, I had to guess on 2. So I'm just working hard on getting my time a lot quicker.

I'm studying around 5-6 hours a day, 5 days a week, and then a PT once a week.

I am enrolled in the PowerScore in-class program, which starts July 17. I wanted to improve my score as much as possible up till then.

Any suggestions for studying, etc.? I've used the PowerScore Bibles so far, with 7sage YouTube stuff for further clarity. Should I be taking more PT's? Should I be studying less? Should I focus on LG for a bit?

Just wanted a bit of direction in regards with this.

Ohnoeshalpme

I think that for those of us with the luxury to study this exam 4+ hours a day, the 4-5 hour per-day mark is solid. I also agree that you need at least 1 day off, but two days might be too much per week. I think over the next month or so you can self-regulate by doing 4 hours 6 days a week to 5 hours 5 days a week and see which you prefer.

I also think that you really need to fool-proof as soon as possible. If you aren't familiar with the method, it entails the following:

Print out the first 140 logic games from PT's 1-35. Take each game, one at a time, and try to solve it as fast as you can. Time yourself. When you are done, go to the 7sage explanation of this game and watch the explanation. Compare your time with the recommended time. If your time is over the recommended time, print out a fresh copy of the game and do it over again. Make sure that you are making all the same inferences that JY is making in the videos. Don't just memorize the answers and think that you understand the game. Repeat this process until you are under the recommended time for that game. Once you are under the recommended time for a given game, put it aside for one day. The next day, come back to the game and make sure that you can still complete the game in under the recommended time. If you can, set the game aside for a week and then come back to it. If you are still under the recommended time for that game, you can retire that game. Do this for every game from PT's 1-35 and you will DRASTICALLY improve your LG score. Most students end up with a consistent -3 or less after doing this initial fool proofing. For you, I would recommend that you fool-proof 2-3 full games each day. This way, you'll have about 4 games to go over from previous days or weeks in the morning, and then you'll have 2 fresh games in the afternoon. You should be able to finish the whole set in about 3 weeks.

After this, you can start taking practice tests again. 1 per week is a great number for someone in your situation. Because you are taking in September, I recommend that you take your test on Saturday morning at the time when the test will be held. Get used to taking the test at this time and on this day. After each PT that you take, spend the following week searching for ways to reconcile your apparent mishaps. Maybe you missed a few Necessary Assumption questions. In that case you would drill necessary assumption. Whatever it is, you need to be focusing deeply on your weak areas after every PT.

The final thing that I will say is that you need to Blind Review. If you don't know what this is, it basically means that once you finish a PT, you need to go back to the beginning and re-take the test without any time restrictions. Get to 100% certainty for each question before moving on. Write out explanations for why you are right. This part of the process is probably the most important for you to realize where your weaknesses lie.

There is so much more to this whole LSAT game that obviously can't be covered in a single post, but if you can afford it I highly recommend that you enroll in the 7sage starter edition. It goes into way more detail about the whole process and I can guarantee that you will drastically improve as a result.

Good Luck

PPPPreme

Thank you so much for the in-depth response, it is truly appreciated.

Also, to clarify, I don’t take two days off. I meant to say that on one day all I do is take a PT and take some time going over it, so that day is slightly shorter. I go M-F studying, Saturday PT, Sunday a rest day, in honoring of the Holy Sabbath.

Also, I love this foolproofing idea and will begin that at once.

Additionally, I am going to try to see if I can enroll in the 7sage program. It’ll take some time to obtain the necessary funds, but it sounds like it will be undeniably worth it. Thanks again for all your help.