Confused about how often I should take a PT?

azpollac-1

I just started the curriculum and see that a practice test is coming up, but do not see another test for a while. How often should I be taking a practice test while working through the curriculum?

Mike_Ross

Hey! I get so many questions about this and I think it's important to add some perspective, at least to resist the urge to"take a PT every week".

Firstly, if you are still in the CC, focus on completing it first. The goal at this stage should be to learn the LSAT.

Once you are done with the CC, should you go straight to taking PTs? Definitely not--at least not as a way to consistently improve.

If the community considers that a hot take, let me offer my reasoning:

PTs are always a reflection/snapshot of your current proficiency. They are not a way to practice improving your fundamentals, etc. The best analogy I can offer is this: Do sprinters train for races by simply running a race once/twice/thrice a week? Absolutely not. Instead, they would train short distance sprints, run drills, worry about stride length, their breathing, nutrition, etc. Similarly, with the LSAT, you should focus on getting good at the fundamentals before worrying about PTs.

That said, I recommend the following:

1) Complete the CC
2) Work on learning and applying the fundamentals of each section through untimed work
(E.g. Types of games, types of LR Qs, how to apply the memory method in RC, identifying LR Flaws, knowing how to diagram games, knowing how to diagram lawgic, universal quantifiers, learning the valid/invalid LR argument forms, etc)
3) Eventually, once you have got the fundamentals down work on untimed sections to see if you are comfortable applying them on a whole section
4) Transition to timed sections
- Do this if you are consistently hitting your target scores on untimed sections
- why? b/c your untimed scores are your theoretical maximum and your goal will be to close the gap b/w your timed and untimed scores
5) Relentlessly BR and Review your timed section work
6) When you are consistently scoring w/n your target range, THEN transition to PTs 4-8 weeks leading up to test day. (this range is wide b/c it varies according to comfort level)

Hope this helps whoever is reading!