PTs vs. Cambridge

shine.on.me

Hello,
I have what I feel is a silly question. I'm about a month into my 7Sage course; I'm on the Logic curriculum and I finished MSS questions last night. I'm prepping for a retake, so I know MSS questions have been a problem in the past. One thing I love about 7Sage is they get straight to the point. Thanks to the simplicity, I'm more accurate on MSS questions than I was. However, I'm not where I want to be in terms of accuracy or timing. And I feel like a similar pattern will emerge with other question types as I move along. I need more problem sets and drills. I have the premium course but I am planning on upgrading to Ultimate today. I have PTs 36-74. But to get more drills I've either got to delve into more PTs or the Cambridge packets. I've learned that is cheaper to purchase the books with the sets of PTs from LSAC/Amazon than it is get a Cambridge bundle for all LR question types. I guess what I am getting at is what are the benefits of question type training? Are there any other benefits to using Cambridge? I could probably to a certain extent classify the questions myself if I went with the PTs but I'm worried of the daunting task that would be. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

jdawg113

a lot of people tend to use the Cambridge (I mean do you think doing the sets from lessons are helpful-thats a tiny version of Cambridge packets kinda) so its more up to you if you feel theres certain types you really need work on then Cambridge might be a better way to go

shine.on.me

OK. I feel like the question sets are helpful but I also have a bad habit of either not reading or glossing over the question stem. I feel like my brain is saying "we know what type of question this is from the type of problem set, so we won't bother with reading the question stem." But that won't work for game day. The problem doesn't seem to be as bad when I do full sections or PTs. At the same time, I feel like there are definitely particular question types where I need work for accuracy and timing when I am fine on others. I really think either PTs or Cambridge would be effective perhaps even using both to some extent.

emli1000

If you upgrade to the Ultimate package you'll get additional practice sets. I thought about Cambridge but with this package I feel that I am able to see the pattern on each section and understand what it is that I am required to do. Also, BR will help a ton! I think BR is the most crucial part in preparing for the LSAT. I am also planning on taking at least 30 PT from now until the June LSAT.

ddakjiking

IMO, with the ultimate package, you still won't be able to access all the older questions compared to the Cambridge.

and @shine.on.me It's recommend that you do both Cambridge drilling and PT'ing. The conventional timeline is that you drill Cambridge as you go through the 7Sage lessons. Only when you're done with the curriculum you can slowly ease your way into full PT'ing.

shine.on.me

Thanks everyone. I think I am going to do both PTs and drills.

I agree with you @ddakjiking that I would have older test questions with Cambridge which I think would be a benefit.

@emli1000 I upgraded to Ultimate today and there are more problem sets. But I feel like in some question types I will need additional drilling.

blah170blah

I also think doing timed sections will help you with timing and getting into the habit of always reading the question stem. I remember when I drilled too much, I ran into the same practice of not reading the question stem hard enough.

brna0714

If you decide that you still want to drill some of the questions types without buying the Cambridge packets, you wouldn't necessarily have to categorize questions yourself. At least some of that work has been done for you. Check out http://lsathacks.com/guide/logical-reasoning/questions-by-type/

Hope that helps!

emli1000

I agree with @blah170blah!

Also, another thing that has help me on a certain question type that I continue to miss on certain PTs/BR is that I will print those questions out and re-do them. I take a similar approach like the fool proof method. I noticed that this is time consuming but I've learned that it has taught me how to better approach that question type. I've also seen improvement that way. So when I'm taking another PT & I'm confronted with a similar question type I know how to approach it since I've already learned the basics in the course, I've seen it on PTs, and BR but I've also reviewed them again a couple of days later. Sometimes, I will print out some of the practice sets from that category and re-do them.

shine.on.me

I agree completely with @blah170blah I think that doing timed sections will help me read the question stem more effectively and help with timing. So far, I've been doing the 7Sage sets timed and then Blind Reviewing them. Then checking answers and reviewing extensively any questions I had problems with even if I got it right. I review it if I had a difficult time arriving at the answer. I've been averaging about 7/10 on timed runs (mainly because of running out of time) and about 8 or 9/10 on BR. I've seen timing improve and I'm getting more accurate. One thing I've noticed is I am definitely able to see more clearly why answer choices are wrong. But I am worried about glazing over the question stem. And yes I know 10/10 would be better. But we learn from our mistakes.

@emli1000 I think using the method similar to the fool proof method and redoing problem sets is a great idea.

@brna0714 thanks for that. I did some research myself as well and if I decide to do question type training categorizing has been mostly done for me. :-)

Today, I upgraded my 7Sage course to the Ultimate so I now have those problem sets and games (LG is my strength, my biggest issue is timing). I purchased one question type set from Cambridge to get a feel for how Cambridge works. And also purchased a book with a set of PTs (29-38 I think). After skimming Cambridge, my initial thoughts are that doing sections will work better for drilling with my schedule, problem areas, and learning style. I plan on only using question type training if I am having particular trouble with a question type after going through the lessons and 7Sage problem sets. All I can do at this point is take it a day at a time. Thanks everyone.

jonesthad09

The Cambridge question sets has helped me improved a lot.