September and November LSAT Schedule

ksdenos

Hi guys,

I am registered for both the September and November LSAT and it looks like I will have just finished the lesson curriculum (not PTs) by the September test. This is with an average of 30 hrs of studying per week. At this point I am considering the September LSAT further practice and hope to be able to set realistic goals after it to shape the following two months of study. As I have continued through the curriculum, I have found some of the practice sets and lessons easier than expected. Does anyone recommend skipping through those lessons a bit rather than completing them in whole for the sake of time? I will have 5 PTs done by September if I stick to my schedule. I just don't know if I am spending my time wisely by answering all of the practice sets and watching every strengthening question video. I am wondering if I should just get the gist of question types, do more practice tests, and move on. Thanks for the help!

_oshun1_

there is no reason for you to take the September LSAT if you won't have time to take a single PT beforehand. you may as well take that day to just take a PT. also, you might not even be done with the curriculum by then. I took longer than the recommended time and that was with listening to explanation vids at like 2x speed. Do not skip do not skip do not skip! You are spending your time wisely by watching every single video. Unless your diagnostic was in the 160s, you do not understand the LSAT at all and you absolutely should take your time going through the CC even if it seems easy. I skipped a lot my first go at the curriculum and it got me nowhere (I had to redo the CC a year later). Just bc something feels easy to you once, does not mean that a month later when you encounter a similar question it will still feel easy to you. If something is easy, great, take your time to master it and understand the nuances and why it was easy for you. If it's a strengthen, figure out how to weaken. Figure out all the assumptions. Notate all of the referential phrasing. Often times, a question might seem easy, but you get it right for the wrong reasons. As in, you might have just misread the stim/stem., and just stumbled upon the right answer bc it's an easy question and the wrong answers were just obviously wrong. You can still get a question right by POE or luck and completely misunderstand the question. If you just skip or quickly go through it, you might trip up the next time you encounter a similar question. The point of the easy questions is for practice. You wouldn't skip past a stretching warm up before going for a run, just bc it's "easy."

With that being said, what is your goal score and what was your diagnostic? Bc you could get/stay in the 150s and not really implement proper study strategies.

MissChanandler

Agree with everything above. Even if you're applying this cycle, November would be okay. There is no reason to take the real test when you haven't even had time to PT yet. It's definitely worth it to be patient and get a higher score. You'll also feel WAY better about yourself/the test if you've had the time to really study and not feel rushed through the process. Also, I think that the practice sets tend to be easier than questions on full LSATs. On the real thing, they're not going to be sorted by question type so you have to be able to switch around and recognize what every question stem is asking you to do, which is harder than it sounds.

Late Not Never

I was feeling the same way...moving fairly easily thru the CC and scoring 98-99% on the LR practice questions. BUT...then I slammed into LG like a mack truck going 100mph and am having to go super slowly thru that section. Don't assume success at LR = success at LG. Be willing to cancel September if you aren't 100% on all sections.

Jaejaebinx

I'm sort of in the same situation as you, although I'm almost done with the CC except for LG which I'm finishing this week. I'm planning to skip the rest of RC (I went through a couple of them), and see where that takes me since RC takes a lot of time to complete (even though we both only have Premium). I plan to study a lot this whole month, which is hard, since I also work full-time, but I really want to take September since I'll be back in school in September, and it will be even harder to study then. I didn't skip any of the lesson videos, but I did skip some problem sets towards the end. Right now, I'm doing a PT a day + BR Saturdays and Sundays. I'm taking timed sections Wednesdays; one during lunch at work, and the rest when I get home. Then, I'm drilling LR or RC, and LG from different PTs during the other days.

To be honest, I wish I focused more on my problem area (LG) first. I can share my schedule with you, if you'd like. Good luck to us!

ksdenos

@Jaejaebinx said:
I'm sort of in the same situation as you, although I'm almost done with the CC except for LG which I'm finishing this week. I'm planning to skip the rest of RC (I went through a couple of them), and see where that takes me since RC takes a lot of time to complete (even though we both only have Premium). I plan to study a lot this whole month, which is hard, since I also work full-time, but I really want to take September since I'll be back in school in September, and it will be even harder to study then. I didn't skip any of the lesson videos, but I did skip some problem sets towards the end. Right now, I'm doing a PT a day + BR Saturdays and Sundays. I'm taking timed sections Wednesdays; one during lunch at work, and the rest when I get home. Then, I'm drilling LR or RC, and LG from different PTs during the other days.

To be honest, I wish I focused more on my problem area (LG) first. I can share my schedule with you, if you'd like. Good luck to us!

I would love to see your schedule! It's good to know someone else is trying for September without having more than 3-4 months prep.

ksdenos

@"surfy surf" said:
there is no reason for you to take the September LSAT if you won't have time to take a single PT beforehand. you may as well take that day to just take a PT. also, you might not even be done with the curriculum by then. I took longer than the recommended time and that was with listening to explanation vids at like 2x speed. Do not skip do not skip do not skip! You are spending your time wisely by watching every single video. Unless your diagnostic was in the 160s, you do not understand the LSAT at all and you absolutely should take your time going through the CC even if it seems easy. I skipped a lot my first go at the curriculum and it got me nowhere (I had to redo the CC a year later). Just bc something feels easy to you once, does not mean that a month later when you encounter a similar question it will still feel easy to you. If something is easy, great, take your time to master it and understand the nuances and why it was easy for you. If it's a strengthen, figure out how to weaken. Figure out all the assumptions. Notate all of the referential phrasing. Often times, a question might seem easy, but you get it right for the wrong reasons. As in, you might have just misread the stim/stem., and just stumbled upon the right answer bc it's an easy question and the wrong answers were just obviously wrong. You can still get a question right by POE or luck and completely misunderstand the question. If you just skip or quickly go through it, you might trip up the next time you encounter a similar question. The point of the easy questions is for practice. You wouldn't skip past a stretching warm up before going for a run, just bc it's "easy."

With that being said, what is your goal score and what was your diagnostic? Bc you could get/stay in the 150s and not really implement proper study strategies.

My diagnostic test was a 163. I am hoping to get a 165-168! After I posted this I ended up spending two full days on one concept (4 hour lesson) to really cement it, so I see where you are coming from. Financing the test isn't a problem for me which is why I initially registered for both. Given that I am studying full time through the November test, I figured it couldn't hurt to see what a real test will feel like in advance. I suspect I will come out from it with a better understanding of what I should focus on before November. I had planned on taking 5 PTs before the September exam. Do you think it would be beneficial to increase that number?

Again, I do not expect to take the September test and reach my goal. That's why I am also registered for the November test.

ksdenos

Thanks for the advice everyone!

_oshun1_

Oh if your diagnostic was that high then you could get to your goal in the next few weeks and could definitely get there by November. But with that diagnostic you may as well aim for a 170+.

Jaejaebinx

@ksdenos Here's a pic of my sched! I can't seem to make images work on this forum, so you'll probably have to click the link. https://imgur.com/a/Sk9qZtF