Do I need to take every PTs before taking LSAT?

cat_kimball

Hi guys,

I'm new to 7sage. Although I've had an account for awhile (free trial), I finally bought the ultimate course level a couple of weeks ago. My biggest problem is timing. In my diagnostic test, I was barely finishing half of each section on time; but with BR, I increased by score by 16 points.
I'm still working on the curriculum, but I was wondering if it is recommended to go through every PTs before taking the LSAT? If you didn't take every PT, how many did you take, and did you feel like you took enough PTs? Do you have any advice for determining when you are ready to take the LSAT?

jmarmaduke96

I most certainly would not recommending taking every PT before your LSAT. If nothing else, in case you need a retake you want to have some fresh material to work with. I don't think that there is magic number of PTs either.

The number of PTs that you want to take depends on a number of things. First, how much time can you devote to BR? You don't want to take PTs for the sake of taking them if you don't have the time to do proper BR between takes. Second, what is your goal score and how far off of it are you? If you are only 5 or 6 points off of your goal score, you probably won't need as many tests as someone who is 20+ points off of their goal score.

Honestly, the best answer is to continue taking PTs with good BR until you have a 5 PT average score that is roughly what your target score is. At that point, you are probably ready to critically evaluate yourself and your performance to see if you are ready to take the real thing. In my experience, it took me about 30 PTs to get my score roughly where I want it to be. Obviously, that won't hold true for everyone, but it was my experience. I hope this helps!

lexxx745

It took me around 60 PTs to be PTing where I want, but granted, Ive pretty much done every PT from 1-45. Which means like idk maybe if I didnt do 1-45 but did all the recent ones woulda hit my goal score sooner?

jmarmaduke96

@lexxx745 I suppose I should have mentioned that as well. I did about 30 full length PTs, but I also did all of the LG and RC sections from PTs 1-35 and most of the LR as well. So when I include what I have taken as just timed sections, the total volume is probably approaching 70 PTs worth of material.

cat_kimball

@jmarmaduke96 I am definitely setting aside time to BR. I haven't taken another test since the diagnostic, since I'm still going through the curriculum; but I do BR all of the practice quizzes I've taken. I will probably need quite a few PTs since I'm 20 points from my goal. Anyway, thanks for the advice, and it definitely helps.
@lexxx745 What do you mean regarding the recent tests could have helped you reach your goal sooner? Are the recent tests considered to be harder?