Are there different methods of solving the LSAT questions?

Webby_Songdo

Hi everyone,

My name is Ken. I started aggressively using 7Sage since April, 2021 as I approached my master’s program graduation. I realized that different methods exist in how to solve these LSAT questions, and I was wondering if any of you could share your thought on this thread because I am interested in hearing more. Before I begin, I truly appreciate you for reading this discussion, as I understand that your time is valuable. Furthermore, if you do respond and put in your two cents, I even appreciate you more for sharing your thought on behalf of this matter.

Let’s begin.

My understanding is that we have different texts and online platforms to study for the LSAT. I learned from working with different LSAT tutors within South Korea that many uses the PowerScore Bible series. Some discussed in the 7Sage platform that they have tried using the Blueprint platform.

Upon doing a few diggings online and speaking to these Korean tutors, I realized there is no “one” way to approach in mastering the LSAT. Let me give you a further detail on this.

The first tutor I had was a relatively young recent college graduate. She went to Columbia for her bachelor’s and got 176 on the LSAT Flex. She got accepted at HLS. She shared that she used the Cambridge LSAT and PowerScore Bible. She told me she used 7Sage to study for the game section.

The second tutor I had was in the last semester of college. She was a student at Yonsei, and she scored 170 on the LSAT Flex. She said she only used the PowerScore Bible series to study for the test.

The third tutor is this sensei I just exchanged an email with without any consultation fee. He recommended me to use the 7Sage Core Curriculum. He told me he was scoring 178-180 on PTs until 40s and the score dropped significantly as the PTs reached 60-80.

Based on this experience, I realized I should choose which method I would like to learn from. These tutors were charging $50-$80 an hour, and it seemed inefficient for me to just hire one of these tutors and learn how to solve different sections from the LSAT, as I would need to spend a few thousand dollars to learn the skill. In conclusion, I decided that I should spend as little money as possible while still acquiring this practical LSAT question solving skills.

I mapped out that I should use 7Sage, LSAT Trainer, and Loophole to study for the LSAT. 7Sage is only $70 a month with benefit of being able to ask any LSAT-related questions on the discussion forum. The price for LSAT Trainer and Loophole combined was only $80. In sum, I believe using these two texts and platform are the most economical way to study for the LSAT.

Could you please judge my thinking?

Excellent.Fondue

7Sage is a great resource. I would personally also recommend the PowerScore LR and RC Bibles. I would definitely start by self studying, but once you've reached a certain level, or if you simply feel like you learn better going over problems with someone, then a tutor can be a good investment. Alternatively, you might also find that you don't need to work with a tutor at all, but in this case I think you need to rely more on analytics/data and be introspective regarding your weaknesses, goals, timeline, etc.

Obviously the less money you have to spend on this study process, the better. But I would also say that the money that you spend now on the LSAT or on the law school admissions process can pay off down the road in terms of the schools you get into and the scholarships you might get at those schools, in addition to income you make after graduation from law school.

Webby_Songdo

@"Learned Astronomer" said:
7Sage is a great resource. I would personally also recommend the PowerScore LR and RC Bibles. I would definitely start by self studying, but once you've reached a certain level, or if you simply feel like you learn better going over problems with someone, then a tutor can be a good investment. Alternatively, you might also find that you don't need to work with a tutor at all, but in this case I think you need to rely more on analytics/data and be introspective regarding your weaknesses, goals, timeline, etc.

Obviously the less money you have to spend on this study process, the better. But I would also say that the money that you spend now on the LSAT or on the law school admissions process can pay off down the road in terms of the schools you get into and the scholarships you might get at those schools, in addition to income you make after graduation from law school.

Sounds good! Thank you so much!

Forever Addicted to Coffee

@"Learned.Astronomer" said:
7Sage is a great resource. I would personally also recommend the PowerScore LR and RC Bibles. I would definitely start by self studying, but once you've reached a certain level, or if you simply feel like you learn better going over problems with someone, then a tutor can be a good investment. Alternatively, you might also find that you don't need to work with a tutor at all, but in this case I think you need to rely more on analytics/data and be introspective regarding your weaknesses, goals, timeline, etc.

Obviously the less money you have to spend on this study process, the better. But I would also say that the money that you spend now on the LSAT or on the law school admissions process can pay off down the road in terms of the schools you get into and the scholarships you might get at those schools, in addition to income you make after graduation from law school.

This is the basis for my advice as well. I found that for myself, the fundamentals of the LSAT could be grasped well by studying the core curriculum on the 7Sage. I also used Manhattan, Powerscore, and LSAT trainers and preferred the Manhattan books out of the three.

In addition to what's already said, I started working with tutors in January/February and saw significant improvements because we worked on the skills that are not explicitly taught by the aforementioned resources. For example, how to tailor the right timing strategy. How to schedule out timed PTs versus untimed work. How to periodize practices of LG, LR, and RC. What to look for when thinking about skipping a question/game/passage. How to get the maximum out of blind review. What PTs to save for timed work and what PTs to use up for practice. When to make certain critical decisions during the timed PT to maximize your score and etc... Not to mention getting the emotional support from tutors who have reached their target scores. These things seem inherently personal to the test taker and working with tutors helped me significantly improve on these specific things.

Cheeto Puff

Of course there are different techniques and strategies because people learn differently. I know some people who got into the 170s using the PowerScore Bibles alone and other who felt like they were only okay and sought other resources for help.

The same applies to 7sage, BluePrint, LSAT trainer, personal tutors etc... These resources teach similar/the same concepts but in a different way so it is up to each individual person to assess how they learn best and use the resource(s) that cater to that so you can make the best score.

For example, I am really enjoying going back and forth between 7sage and the PowerScore books because PowerScore is slightly more detailed but 7sage is more interactive and it brings the concepts to life while also keeping my attention.

Another factor to note is that some people read faster/slower, are good/bad test takers, had a high/low diagnostic, spent more/less time studying etc. These are all important factors along with whatever study technique/resource anyone uses that makes a big difference in the final score.

Webby_Songdo

@"Forever Addicted to Coffee" said:

@"Learned.Astronomer" said:
7Sage is a great resource. I would personally also recommend the PowerScore LR and RC Bibles. I would definitely start by self studying, but once you've reached a certain level, or if you simply feel like you learn better going over problems with someone, then a tutor can be a good investment. Alternatively, you might also find that you don't need to work with a tutor at all, but in this case I think you need to rely more on analytics/data and be introspective regarding your weaknesses, goals, timeline, etc.

Obviously the less money you have to spend on this study process, the better. But I would also say that the money that you spend now on the LSAT or on the law school admissions process can pay off down the road in terms of the schools you get into and the scholarships you might get at those schools, in addition to income you make after graduation from law school.

This is the basis for my advice as well. I found that for myself, the fundamentals of the LSAT could be grasped well by studying the core curriculum on the 7Sage. I also used Manhattan, Powerscore, and LSAT trainers and preferred the Manhattan books out of the three.

In addition to what's already said, I started working with tutors in January/February and saw significant improvements because we worked on the skills that are not explicitly taught by the aforementioned resources. For example, how to tailor the right timing strategy. How to schedule out timed PTs versus untimed work. How to periodize practices of LG, LR, and RC. What to look for when thinking about skipping a question/game/passage. How to get the maximum out of blind review. What PTs to save for timed work and what PTs to use up for practice. When to make certain critical decisions during the timed PT to maximize your score and etc... Not to mention getting the emotional support from tutors who have reached their target scores. These things seem inherently personal to the test taker and working with tutors helped me significantly improve on these specific things.

Thank you. I should finish 7Sage, LSAT Trainer, and Loophole first. If I need extra assistance, I should hire a tutor, too.

Webby_Songdo

@"Cheeto Puff" said:
Of course there are different techniques and strategies because people learn differently. I know some people who got into the 170s using the PowerScore Bibles alone and other who felt like they were only okay and sought other resources for help.

The same applies to 7sage, BluePrint, LSAT trainer, personal tutors etc... These resources teach similar/the same concepts but in a different way so it is up to each individual person to assess how they learn best and use the resource(s) that cater to that so you can make the best score.

For example, I am really enjoying going back and forth between 7sage and the PowerScore books because PowerScore is slightly more detailed but 7sage is more interactive and it brings the concepts to life while also keeping my attention.

Another factor to note is that some people read faster/slower, are good/bad test takers, had a high/low diagnostic, spent more/less time studying etc. These are all important factors along with whatever study technique/resource anyone uses that makes a big difference in the final score.

Right. I always thought there was only one way to solve the LSAT questions but we have different approaches in how to tackle these problems. I think I like JY Ping's approach the best because not only lessons interactive but are comprehensive, covering A-Z.