163-176

mmnhk4313

Couldn't believe my eyes today --- I scored multiple points above my recent practice test average!! I am so grateful for JY and the 7sage discussion/advice forums. Without this company, I don't think I would've stayed hopeful and dedicated through every studying plateau. Thank you a million.

sk144404

Bravo 👏 Best of luck in Law School!

lester_knopf

Congrats!! What was your prep like?

sickomode

congratulations!!!

mmnhk4313

@lester_knopf said:
Congrats!! What was your prep like?

I got a 7sage subscription in January with the intention of taking the exam sometime this summer. To be honest, my studying was inconsistent during January and February (maybe just 4-10 hours a week) because I am an undergraduate and classes had more of my focus at the time. I geared up much more in March, especially when my school went online and social life literally became illegal in the covid era. Studying became a 4-6 hour per day commitment after class to finish CC and then when my semester ended, I went full time for the last 1.5 months. The month before my test I did/fully went over a practice test per day, which most 7sagers say "don't do," but some friends of mine said was really helpful for them. I think if you're used to period of intense study/enjoy that, it's a helpful strategy, but if you find yourself prone to burning out, then maybe a different strategy would be better for you. I was averaging around a 171 before the test, but I definitely had an adrenaline rush on test day which gave me a lot of time to check my work (this is so helpful with LR because a lot of the time you just need to read something with fresh eyes and the answer will be clear). I think that is part of why I had a score jump (also weighting games more with flex probably helped me).

For specific sections: LG studying was smooth and satisfying after learning the boards. LSAC can only ask so many things and everyone can master this for sure! RC was fairly fine to start, except for those pesky "what would the author think" questions---but I think repetition and familiarity and fully engaged reading is most helpful there. I would definitely be sure to look at post-2009 tests for harder (or maybe just weirder RC) because I thought they were more doable in earlier years. LR was the hardest for me to actually see consistent improvement. That's where I plateaued over and over, but much like LG, something about conditional logic and seeing flaws in arguments clicked after enough time and effort (a lot of both). I drilled old questions in areas that required similar thinking (strengthening, flaws, weakening) until I changed my way of thinking. Mastering conditional logic also saved me a lot of time and mental energy for MBT questions (especially where there are long, intimidating paragraphs--those ended up being some of the easiest once logic was natural-feeling). Biggest thing is keep going even when you aren't seeing progress because you will!

Sorry this was so long; I got carried away (oops!), but I always thought it was helpful to see how everyone gets the results they want in a slightly different way.

lester_knopf

@mm said:

@lester_knopf said:
Congrats!! What was your prep like?

I got a 7sage subscription in January with the intention of taking the exam sometime this summer. To be honest, my studying was inconsistent during January and February (maybe just 4-10 hours a week) because I am an undergraduate and classes had more of my focus at the time. I geared up much more in March, especially when my school went online and social life literally became illegal in the covid era. Studying became a 4-6 hour per day commitment after class to finish CC and then when my semester ended, I went full time for the last 1.5 months. The month before my test I did/fully went over a practice test per day, which most 7sagers say "don't do," but some friends of mine said was really helpful for them. I think if you're used to period of intense study/enjoy that, it's a helpful strategy, but if you find yourself prone to burning out, then maybe a different strategy would be better for you. I was averaging around a 171 before the test, but I definitely had an adrenaline rush on test day which gave me a lot of time to check my work (this is so helpful with LR because a lot of the time you just need to read something with fresh eyes and the answer will be clear). I think that is part of why I had a score jump (also weighting games more with flex probably helped me).

For specific sections: LG studying was smooth and satisfying after learning the boards. LSAC can only ask so many things and everyone can master this for sure! RC was fairly fine to start, except for those pesky "what would the author think" questions---but I think repetition and familiarity and fully engaged reading is most helpful there. I would definitely be sure to look at post-2009 tests for harder (or maybe just weirder RC) because I thought they were more doable in earlier years. LR was the hardest for me to actually see consistent improvement. That's where I plateaued over and over, but much like LG, something about conditional logic and seeing flaws in arguments clicked after enough time and effort (a lot of both). I drilled old questions in areas that required similar thinking (strengthening, flaws, weakening) until I changed my way of thinking. Mastering conditional logic also saved me a lot of time and mental energy for MBT questions (especially where there are long, intimidating paragraphs--those ended up being some of the easiest once logic was natural-feeling). Biggest thing is keep going even when you aren't seeing progress because you will!

Sorry this was so long; I got carried away (oops!), but I always thought it was helpful to see how everyone gets the results they want in a slightly different way.

This is SO helpful! Thank you for sharing and I really appreciate the detail For LG, did you ever have trouble with timing? And if so, how did you improve your times?

mmnhk4313

@lester_knopf said:
This is SO helpful! Thank you for sharing and I really appreciate the detail For LG, did you ever have trouble with timing? And if so, how did you improve your times?

Yes, at first! I was really intimidated with the choice of "do I split the game board or do I not?" (if you don't know what splitting a game board is, it'll be one of the first topics in the games section of core curriculum) because I would waste time debating if a split would help me or waste even more time. I found that if you have the inkling of " eh, should I split the board?", you should immediately just go a split the board once, twice, even three times if there is a clear way. Usually, I found that it helped see inferences I otherwise would not have found. In the rare case splitting didn't help, the time wasted was never detrimental/still worth it. Other than that, the "full-proofing method" is great, and practicing random ones whenever you can is so useful for confidence.

J.Y. Ping

Huge improvement. Congratulations!