T's Progress Journal

LawAndDisorder

Hey 7Sage!
I am very excited to finally get started on my journey towards law school.
A little information about myself. Im starting 3rd year in September at a University in B.C., Canada and I'm double majoring in Finance and International Business. I thought I would post all of my results from the prep tests and problem sets as I go through so that future students could have something to compare too as I see many people asking questions about their baseline etc. Also if any current students have any advice or thoughts please share!

Cheers

T

LawAndDisorder

So I just finished the June 2007 Preptest and well it was an interesting experience to say the least. In total it took me around the recommended 12 hours to write and blind review the entire thing. I feel like I could have finished it faster since I watched the videos for the questions I got correct and incorrect but it was actually quite interesting hearing everything Y.J. had to say.

So here were the results!
Raw score: 62/100 = 151
BR Scores: 83/100 = 163

Oh yeah my goal for the LSAT is a 175, but I'd be happy with anything 170+. I am only planning on writing the exam in June or October 2016 so plenty of time to get to beast status!

nicole.hopkins

@tristanschmoor you are AWESOME for doing this!!! There is far too little transparency in the world of LSAT prep (high scorers tend to reveal their diagnostic scores only if they were above 165 *rolls eyes*). I hope the feedback from the community is a source of encouragement for you during this time.

One small piece of advice: this process might take a lot longer than you initially foresee. A lot of the people on this forum who have your desired score range in mind thought it would take a lot less time to get there than was actually realistic. Stay flexible, stay hopeful.

I look forward to following your journey!

LawAndDisorder

Thanks @nicole.hopkins!
Do you (or anyone reading this) have any recommendations as to how I should structure my study plan going forward? At first I was thinking of spacing everything out so that I don't run out of materials by October 2016 but I'd like to do as much studying as possible. Next summer I'm assuming I would want to leave at least enough prep-tests to do one a week along with an intensive review of the answers. This summer and next I will only be taking a few courses so I would feel comfortable dedicating 20 hours a week. During the fall and winter semesters this time will have to be cut down to at most 10 hours per week. So possibly a prep-test every 2 weeks or so just to stay 'in it'. But as you can probably tell I have absolutely no idea so any input would be much appreciated!

nicole.hopkins

Great question — paging @amanda_kw , who is out of town this week. She started with 7sage last July and can offer that longterm conservation of resources advice.

Here's some general advice.

—Drill the h-e-double-hockey-sticks out of 1-35. Take those guys as timed PT's if you really want extra timed practice.
—Take 36–60's-ish as full PT's (and join the BR groups ) and don't be afraid of retaking those.
—Reserve the last 10-or-so for your "final stretch"—to uncover final weaknesses and make sure you're 100% in shape to take the test when the time comes.

You definitely want to milk the earlier tests for all they're worth and keep a handful of the most recent tests uncontaminated for that final stage of study. If you take them more-or-less in order, by the time you get to those early 60's tests you shouldn't remember much from the earlier ones and can then retake them and have a pretty fresh experience.

amanda_kw

@tristanschmoor Hey - I have been doing this for almost a year now - but that's not what I expected. Good on you to take your time with the test.

DO NOT take a PT every two weeks at first. Despite how much you might want to/ are impatient to see how you're doing. You can take one of PT 1-35 if you really want the experience, but nothing beyond that.

Start out with 7Sage - do the whole curriculum. AND get the Trainer. Use the Trainer to supplement ideas you're having trouble with.

Then after about three months if you're done with that. You can take one PT.

After that BR like crazy, then go back to both curriculums and redo what you find challenging/ don't fully understand. Once you have the basics down, then you can move on to PT 36+ (probably after about 5 months.)

If you really want to take PTs - they should be 1-35 ONLY.

This is how I would have done it if I knew how much time it would take. After all of that I would start on PTs and group BR. I would include retakes as well of tests that you had a lot of trouble with.

This is the same advice you will find on 7Sage (telling you to finish the curriculum before PTs) - so it's nothing new, but I hope it helps to remind you to actually follow that advice. (because I didn't).

Take your time and let the ideas sink in. Honestly, I think time is part of the equation for a high score.

The only benefit to doing some of the 55+ tests are to see what the questions are like, because they do change a lot. But if you save 6 months or so before the actual test to do all the PTs - you will have at least 2 months dedicated to that new material so that should be enough.

nicole.hopkins

@tristanschmoor I like @amanda_kw 's idea about PT'ing 1-35 at first. This will get you in the swing of time pressure. That's a habit that you can gain from any era of tests, so why not cultivate it with the tests that you'll be drilling anyway?

LawAndDisorder

Thank you so much ladies! @nicole.hopkins @amanda_kw
I just bought the Trainer now and it should be here in a few days and I'll be getting the 1-35 practice tests as soon as this hole in my wallet gets filled in. So as a summary of both your information you suggest that I,
1. Complete the 7sage curriculum
2. Supplement with The LSAT Trainer
-specifically LR & RC sections because it seems 7sage has a solid stand alone method for LG
3. Take PT's 1-35 to find weaknesses and refer back to 7sage and The LSAT Trainer
4. Take PT's 36-74 same as above? (edit: with BR groups!)

It seems that you both think it would be beneficial to just take 1-35 as PT's rather than buy the grouped question packets from these tests. I like the idea of getting more practice under timed conditions so this seems totally logical. My question would be is there any real difference in how I should approach 1-35 compared to 36-74? It seems that for both I would take it timed, BR, mark, watch videos (36-74 mostly), find weaknesses & refer to those sections in both curriculums.

LawAndDisorder

Oh, yeah for any future students reading this heres what I got on the Problem sets for MP and MSS! Some weaknesses of mine are
1. Misreading the Stem/Passage
2. Not having done the Logic chapter yet hurt me on a handful of questions
3. Losing focus (lack of coffee)
4. Bringing in outside knowledge to the question (falling for traps)

Main Point Main Conclusion
Set 1
Raw = 8/10
BR = 9/10
Set 2
Raw = 8/10
BR = 9/10
Set 3
Raw = 4/4
BR = 4/4

Most Strongly Supported
Set 1
Raw = 9/10
BR = 9/10
Set 2
Raw = 8/10
BR = 10/10
Set 3
Raw = 8/10
BR = 8/10
Set 4
Raw = 7/10
BR = 9/10
Set 5
Raw = 9/10
BR = 10/10
Set 6
Raw = 3/4
BR = 3/4

amanda_kw

@tristanschmoor Sound good! Except when you say:

>It seems that you both think it would be beneficial to just take 1-35 as PT's rather than buy >the grouped question packets from these tests.

It's beneficial to do both. You can take the test in it's entirety to work on stamina and timing - 4 different sections with different types of questions - but do problem sets from these get better at types of reasoning for different types of questions.

You should approach them differently - 1-35 are practice only - do drills from these, look at passages, do time them, but don't worry so much about being exact - Just work to understand everything about them.

36-74 you should take more seriously - treat each of them like the real thing - use an analog watch and proctor. Don't bubble in answers if time runs out - and the use the BR method.

I think you will see the difference in methods change as you get closer to that. But for now focus on lessons and such - and you will adapt/ adjust studying as you go forward.

nicole.hopkins

@tristanschmoor said:
1. Complete the 7sage curriculum
2. Supplement with The LSAT Trainer
-specifically LR & RC sections because it seems 7sage has a solid stand alone method for LG
3. Take PT's 1-35 to find weaknesses and refer back to 7sage and The LSAT Trainer
4. Take PT's 36-74 same as above? (edit: with BR groups!)

I dig it! We look forward to having you on the calls