Is this achievable or am I insane?

Hishaam Shah

Hi guys,

I am registered for the July 13th LSAT. (Today is May 27th). I am contemplating whether or not I should invest into the 7Sage course. According to the Study schedule generator, I would have to work 134 hours per week. There is a total of 168 hours per week. Assuming I sleep 7 hours per day that gives me 112 hours per week. Which seems impossible. However, I have been self-studying since August of 2019 and my score increased from my cold diagnostic of 147 to my most recent being a 160. I have also did the powerscore bibles on logical reasoning and logic games. I want to maximize my score as much as I can and I find the 7Sage course breakdown one that I could productively follow rather then just doing preptest over and over and not seeing much improvement.

Would it be a good idea/possible for me to finish the entire course by July 13th given that I have a moderately advanced understanding of most topics in the course but I feel relearning them in a different way will help me become more effective at the LSAT. Or is that just wishful thinking and I should just continue doing preptests and reviewing. Moving my test date is something I do not want to do as I am planning to apply to Canadian law schools for the fall of 2021 which opens up this coming summer.

jeff.wongkachi

IMO if you have to do July 13, then your better bet is to do PTs, evaluate weak points, and look at the CC for specifically those areas.

Ideally though it's probably better to reschedule the test if you can. The theory is undoubtedly important, but being able to apply that theory consistently and at a good pace takes a long time for most people.

Hishaam Shah

@"jeff.wongkachi" said:
IMO if you have to do July 13, then your better bet is to do PTs, evaluate weak points, and look at the CC for specifically those areas.

Ideally though it's probably better to reschedule the test if you can. The theory is undoubtedly important, but being able to apply that theory consistently and at a good pace takes a long time for most people.

I totally understand what you are saying however, the section where I struggle the most with is logical reasoning. I typically get 1-3 marks off Logic games, Reading comp I have been recently get 3-5 marks off of timed sections, but logical reasoning is very inconsistent where I get anywhere from 3-9 marks off. When I review those sections, 2 of those marks are typically ones where I should have gotten and the rest are ones where I am able to narrow it done to two answer choices and always seem to pick the wrong one. My thinking is if I am able to complete the theory portion of logical reasoning even just that, I feel like I could close the gap and become consistent with logical reasoning since I feel strongly in logic games and reading comprehension. Also theres the point of I did Preptests 29-38 logical reasoning sections timed and I noticed that trend of consistently sometimes getting 21/24 and other times totally going the opposite way of 16/25. I have heard from people (including 7Sage) to not waste preptests and I feel doing just preptests would be a waste especially because I am not improving.

kilgoretrout

I feel it would be a waste of your time to go through the whole CC. i am also registered for the july 13 test and at this point i am finishing up reading comp and starting the prep tests. i think your best bet would be to continue doing prep tests and trying to solidify/raise your score instead of going back and sifting through lessons that may be really basic for you now. if your worst area is logical reasoning, it may help to review exact lessons that cover what your weakest points are.

taschasp

I agree with others that for the most part, you should focus on taking and reviewing PTs. But in terms of the CC, for each subject I'd just recommend watching the initial video plus a few example videos to see if there's anything new for you to learn.

E.g. for Parallel Method of Reasoning, watch the "How to Approach Parallel Method of Reasoning Questions" plus several of the first "PM Question" videos. Don't watch every single PM Question video, and don't do all the drills -- maybe skip to one of the middle problem sets if you want to practice them if you think the videos helped you consider a different way to approach the problems than you had before.

Granted, if you discover through that process that--let's say--you were doing sufficient assumption questions completely wrong and you need some more practice, then sure, you can always watch more videos and do more drills (i.e. do more of the CC).

fariah.t

Hey! I'm working through the LR part of the 7sage course right now. The study schedule they create for you includes you doing all of the Prep Tests and all the practice problem sets/quizzes (Hence, the 800+ hours of course content). I believe the actual core curriculum for LR is probably around 125 hrs worth, which is technically possible to complete in under a month. Now if it is a good idea, well personally I would say that it takes time for the material to absorb and become second nature so it is not ideal to rush through it. But at the same time, only you know yourself and maybe spending some time reviewing the theory and core logic for LR will be beneficial to you

Goodluck with your studying and with the July LSAT!

sk144404

I personally believe 7sage is a worthwhile investment - the Core Curriculum is 215 hours however when you start to exclude the drills that number drops down to ~100 hours. Seeing that you have 47 days left (unless LSAC makes it a flex and pushes it back a week) you could definitely spend 5 hours a day for 20 days (staggered) and complete the lessons and then go back and review as necessary. My advice would be to take a few PT's on 7sage your first week and review your analytics so you know what to prioritize.

After you identify your weaknesses review the CC lessons for those topics/sections first then decide what else is worth reviewing - for example there is almost no point in reviewing the Logic Game lessons if you were consistently getting - 0 or -1.

The most important thing you can do given the time constraint is to do as many PT & BR as possible - hopefully you are able to find out sooner than later if it will be a flex because then you can take 3 section PT. I would shoot for taking 20 between now and test day but do not wait until you finish the CC. I obviously cannot guarantee anything, but if you do this I cannot see a reason why you can break 170.

Best of luck!

jessierong

I signed up for the 7sage course while I was in a situation similar to yours (registered for upcoming date and still needed to improve). Since I was already familiar with the fundamentals of the LSAT from some previous studying, I essentially went through the introductory videos for each lesson unit, watched 1-2 examples, and sometimes did a problem set if it felt like a weak area for me. I was able to get a good overview and understanding of the CC in a week or two this way. Then, I moved onto taking a lot of PT's, blind reviewing, and revisiting the CC videos/drills as needed.

I personally found the course to be worthwhile because the way JY explained his reasoning/methods was different from and a lot more intuitive than the way I had prepared for the LSAT before. Hope this helps. Best of luck!

wilson.hsu.1115

I was in a similar situation as you, I registered for June 28 (intl.) LSAT, and got 7Sage with about 8-9 weeks to prepare. Looking at those estimated timeline is not a good indicator, because it includes all of those practice questions (with BR method and review time included), and ALL of the available PTs (again with BR and review time included).

I have nothing else going on, so I am literally studying every single day (which sucks at times ngl...). I designed a 56 days study plan for daily studies, PT, and Drills. I have prioritized coverage over deep drills in my first pass, and left about half of all available PTs untouched in case I need to retake the test.

Following my plan, I covered the entire CC in 3 weeks, and took an additional week to consolidate on my missed concepts along with both Loophole and the Powerscore Bibles. Currently I'm PTing and Drilling on missed concepts and underperforming sections.

So far, I have went from consistently scoring mid 150s to now hovering around 167 in 5 weeks. I can definitely say 7Sage is worth it, and a 8-week timeline is doable, though definitely unadvisable. Whilst this is my certainly my case, and with LSAT moving Intl June exams to July Flex (so I have more time), I am still sticking with my original study plan.

In principle, I agree with others that a in-depth coverage of the CC is unadvisable. From my experience, however, with an approach that balances aggressive time management and coverage, finishing 7Sage's curriculum is achievable within 8 weeks.

rwilso22

@"wilson.hsu.1115" , how were you able to get through the CC in three weeks? Did you watch all videos, and complete all timed sets? I am planning to take the July LSAT (as my first LSAT test) but I am only beginning the strengthening questions section of the CC. I am worried that I will need to push back the test until August because starting next week I will only be able to devote about 20-25 hours of studying a week. I have noticed that I spend more time as I go through the CC than it predicts it will take.

wilson.hsu.1115

@rwilso22 Hey! Sorry, I just saw this. So with the CC, I watched all videos, but only took half of the CC timed sets (usually the first half), because I want to be able to come back later when I needed to drill a specific question type.

Now, with learning the content, I prioritized material coverage and understanding the course content, rather then immediately being able to replicate JY's logic every step of the way. This was because I personally don't learn well when it comes to replicating someone else's work, so I went with knowing how JY does it, and determine my own path a little later on during PT and question sets.

In your case, if you know for sure that you won't be able to devote almost all of your time to an intensive schedule, I recommend that you push the test back. The reasons are:
1) If you think you're not ready, then taking the test would not be reflective of your capabilities, and the results may not be the best motivation available in this process
2) The course intensity is high to begin with, making it more intense may damage your motivation, and that in turn may harm your preparation
3) The core curriculum is designed to be internalized and the content is supposed to serve as a stepping stone to practicing full timed test process, so if you want more time to finish the curriculum, I strongly suggest for you to give yourself that time!

The LSAT is hard, and going through the 7Sage Curriculum on a tight schedule feels like torture at times... But at the end of the day, its about learning the content and trying to do the best you can, so if you feel like the schedule isn't for you, its totally fine to just extend the timeline.

My 7Sage predicted timeline involves completing CC in 2 weeks, doing 9-10 PT per week after that, and somehow BR and learn everything there is to learn. I had planned on following the timeline exactly, but when I hit the end of LR, I knew it was not going to happen. Ever since, I have been revising my own timeline to make sure I stay motivated!

Anyhow, good luck in your preparation!! I think you have an idea of what works for you, just go for it!