Quit My Job to Study for the January LSAT. Help!

danieldxd90

I recently finished watching most of the 7Sage CC. My first PT after watching the videos, my score dropped to a 146. However, my blind review score was the highest that it has ever been (163). Clearly I need to gain more understanding of the test and improve under timing. But how should I go about achieving this in the most efficient way?
https://i.imgur.com/Ity7qpD.png
Extensive Drilling?
Practice Test Everyday?
Rewatch videos?

I'm on leave from my job until I take the January LSAT, please leave feedback as to productive study schedules that can fill up this time and close the gap between timed test/BR.

PrepTest 52 -10 LR -12 LG -15 RC
Blind Review -6 LR -1 LG -7 RC

_iamnw96

I would do individual, timed (35 min) sections frequently (i.e. at least once a day, if not twice). Then do a thorough blind review.

I would drill the LR/LG question types that you get incorrect most often.

RC is a tricky one, because for me I had to do about 20 to 30 full, timed RC sections over a period of weeks to see improvement - but that was also my weakness so that's just based on my personal experience. The biggest piece of advice I would give is: (1) Consistently do 35 min timed sections and thoroughly BR and (2) Make sure to home in on your weakest question types

kilgoretrout

drill logic games. i wouldn't take a practice test every day as you need time to blind review it and then improve on whatever information that test gave you.

EagerestBeaver

Do not take a practice test everyday. You will run out of PTs and not put the effort into reviewing which is where the learning comes from. Your BR score is at its highest, that means the learning is working. You need at least 5 more PTs before you really know what is up with your abilities to get a better gauge of your new level. If your BR is improving, you are on the right track. The timed result is the last thing that comes together. It is very frustrating, I know, to trust the process, but keep putting that emphasis into the BR process even if it takes several hours.

lethal_bacon

I agree with the comments above! If your BR is the highest it has ever been, that's exactly where you want to be. That means that after the CC, you understand the content of the test more than ever before. Some of the work you put in after CC is refining/honing your skills to get even fewer wrong, but the vast majority (at least in my experience) of post-CC studying is improving everything beyond the actual content of the test. In other words, after CC you're mainly working on timing and the feel of the test itself.

For me, the only thing that has significantly improved my score across the board has been repetition plain and simple, but always emphasize quality over quantity. I would never necessarily recommend a PT a day. It sometimes takes me a full week to earnestly review a PT and do an autopsy on what went right and what went wrong. I find that if I give myself ample time to review a PT, I seldom make the exact same mistakes again.

You can always push your test date back if you feel like you aren't where you want to be yet. I used to hate getting that advice, but I realized that if I wanted to score high, it was going to take time. Plus this is a great time in the cycle to postpone, unless you still wanted to apply this year.

If you have your heart set on Jan, it's still great news that you have time off work. I'd personally PT as much as possible AFTER doing some individual timed sections. Once you get the hang of single timed sections, it's much easier to jump into the entirety of the test and all of its timing nuances. Plus, it's far more approachable to start BR-ing with individual sections than the whole test. For LG and somewhat for RC, I found that the main thing that worked for me was drilling, drilling, drilling. LR was a little more diverse in how I could study and improve (repetition helped, but also reviewing what each type of question was specifically asking of me, solidifying good habits like separating premise and conclusion, etc.).

Hope that helps! Good luck!!