Best study strategy for approaching LSAT

gsantoro2003

So I’m getting ready to take the October LSAT and I’ve realized I’m not even close to ready. My entire time drilling, I’ve only ever done LR. I’m in a bad spot. I’ve barely touched on RC but I am hoping my stride for mastery of LR will help my skills on RC. I suppose this leads me to ask what is my best strategy to getting prepared for this test? How many questions should I be drilling per day? To add to the frustration, I’m not sure I’m getting much better at the question types that I most struggle with. I’ve only done a few practice tests since I feel like drilling would be more effective because it’s targeting my weaknesses. Any advice is appreciated.

nicksmolichh

Hey, I made the mistake of taking it before I was ready last year. I REALLY recommend signing up for the November LSAT!!!!! What I wish I did was study as much as I could for the October LSAT, take a couple days of rest, then go back to studying for the November LSAT. This way you have 2 chances to get a higher score and the first time you take it isn't nearly as stressful as you anticipate it being now.

tlpalmer98

Are you using the blind review process for your drills and PTs that has been outlined in the curriculum? This lets you go back and look at every question after you finish so you can take a second look without the time constraints to see if you think you chose the right answer.

The hope is ideally that you should be able to catch most, if not all, of the mistakes you made in your drills/PTs in blind review. This tells you that you have the fundamental building blocks in place to understand why a right answer is right and the wrong answers are wrong. If this isn't clicking, you are probably better off carving out more time in your day to revisit the curriculum and rewatch some videos. I make it a point in blind review to point out at least one reason why EVERY wrong answer choice is wrong. This is a serious time commitment but has been so helpful.

Timing is, of course, an issue that all of us deal with and just have to rely on practice and repetition to help us speed up. Especially with RC. Overall, the consensus advice that I see online is the only way to get faster at these is just to do more of them. Also, get better at translating abstract concepts into real world examples as you read to help yourself from getting bogged down in a particularly dense passage.

Mastering this test is a SERIOUS time commitment. I would highly advise you to not take the test before you are ready if you can help it. I initially intended to sign up for the September LSAT, and being honest with myself and pushing my test back a month was, by far, the best decision I made. I have been studying since mid-June and I am only now starting to feel prepared to kick my PTs and drilling into high gear to get ready for the October LSAT.

As someone else suggested, sign up for the November test as a backup as well. As an October test taker, I will be doing the same!