February takers check-in

zhenders

3 weeks away how's it going, February takers? Feeling good? Report!

rand904-1

Not even done with the program yet! God help me!

Jaguar007

I know right? I finally had to SKIP A FEW LESSONS cuz every week Im like okay I Will finish all the lessons this week and start the PTS guess what its already freakin mid Jan and I was still doin the damn lessons which I happen to love too!
So I finally made the hard decision to dump them and start the PT
Did two so far scoring really shitty 155 - NEED TO HIT 160 before the test
and I am buying the LSAT 71 today am excited about that - how are you guys feeling?

iiiSpoon

75% done with course, spent all weekend understanding all the inferences drawn from in/out games. Anxiety level high. Wish I had started 7Sage last summer so I don't have to do what I am doing right now, that is go to school while study for LSAT. I hope we all get the score we need to get into the law school of our choice.

zhenders

Best of luck everyone keep hitting it hard. If you're having even a moment of motivation difficulty, just remember that every hour that you study could literally pay you big bucks.

Hit those PT's!

marryam_k

Dying.

LSATisland

I'm not taking the LSAT, but I took it in December so I can relate. Don't worry too much. My original plan was to go through all the recent Preptests, but as the date approached I realized it wasn't to be. I did a few of the PT60s. Remember all the work and time you put in. The last few weeks are important, but also trust the huge prep till now; be confident that it will pay off. Some anxious thoughts are inevitable, and I had them too, but develop a reassuring response to it.

At the very least, don't die. That would suck.

ENTJ

Your sagacious words know no limits torah.

LSATisland

I never recommend the dying approach to the LSAT.

ENTJ

Hahah. Unless you are the phoenix rising from the metaphorical ashes.

mvallani8

Good luck friends!

Just about to start a PT now!

iiiSpoon

Crush it, mvallani8!

LSATisland

Ya, I guess

Eugene Gladsky-1

Was gonna take it in Feb, now pushed it back to June. JY is correct. Take your time ppl!

J_Roll0_0

Good luck everyone!!! Study, study, study!

higdon37

I look at the calendar each day and wonder where the time has gone. I had a several month break from studying and then returned in late December to begin studying for the Feb. LSAT. Wish I would have not taken that break now!!

LSATisland

It's amazing how the LSAT grasps so much time. Just doing one PT with review can be around 3/4 hours. When I was prepping, time would skip around so quickly. It would be light outside, put in some LSAT time, and suddenly the day was over.

Sometimes the breaks are beneficial. The rest can restore fatigue and prevent burnout. I also find some time off can let the ideas sink in and take root. Maybe the break you took was helpful in the long-run.

marryam_k

Yeah, it takes me an entire day to do a test and review, sometimes even two. If this is what's happening now, I'm having serious doubts about whether I even want to go to law school. These last weeks are gonna be pretty agonizing. Btw guys, any tips on falling asleep the night before?

zhenders

Melatonin, Marryam -- it seems to be the thing most highly recommended. Try it once or twice before then though, to make sure you know how you react to it.

I definitely hear you all on how life consuming this test is. Few nights ago I was trapped in a sequencing game all night long. Kept waking up and falling back asleep into it. Awful.

On the other hand, at least this test is interesting. We could be studying for months for the GRE (been there, done that. Not fun.)

ENTJ

@marryam_k: I'm finding meditation to be really helpful. Let me emphasize, I'm not trying to unravel the secrets of the cosmos via meditation. Rather, I'm finding myself less stressed and a lot more focused after meditating 15 minutes a day. Two things that are critical to success on the LSAT. Keep your morale up and good luck.

iiiSpoon

marryam_k: in my opinion, sleep early because the first time I wrote the LSAT, I planned for 8 hr night sleep; but because I was anxious all night, I ended up rolling around in bed for 2 hours before succumbing to it, which made me tried and grumpy on the next morning. Get to bed early to compensate anxiety keeping you up for an hour or two, or three... Furthermore, if you are living with siblings or friends, note that trying to go to sleep when they are watching tv on high volume or when they decide to take a shower (which if unfortunately is next to your room) will make the process all that much worse. By sleeping early you can avoid trying to sleep with all these distractions on, or you can inform them in advance of the importance of you getting a good night sleep on Feb 7, and pray they respect it.

PS: I read that the day before, if you were to study, it should be light so you do not burn out for the day after; anyone have an opinion on this?

LSATisland

Marryam: Well, at least two days allows you to review thoroughly. I don't know how many hours you're putting in per day, and understand it's tiring, but it's good practice.

As for the night before, it probably depends on each person's sleeping habits. The night before, I tried going to sleep around 9, if I recall correctly. I made sure to shut off my phone. It took a bit for me to fall asleep. I think it's important to develop a response to thoughts of panic. As you lie down the night before, tell yourself that you have practiced enough and are ready for the test. View the test as an opportunity, even eager for the next morning. Hopefully, your mind will relax enough for sleep.

Zhenders: I remember the Logic Games dreams. There was that feeling of being trapped, but I actually looked at it as Prep. I thought it might help me get faster at making those inferences.

LSATisland

TTS: I didn't study at all the day before. I even (tried) forbidding others from discussing the LSAT. I was following the accepted wisdom that the Prep the day before would not help much anyways. I did doubt that line of reasoning, and thought that maybe it would help to be in LSAT mode.

In any case, I took the day off. Watched sports. It was a relaxing day, and I feel that it helped a lot.

mvallani8

In preparation for the December LSAT I was super unhealthy in the sense that I took 0 breaks and was locked in my room from the morning till midnight, doing one practice test every day. This got me so worked up the day before and I got maybe 3 hours of sleep.

It's safe to assume that I bombed the test haha. This time around I'm being much healthier, taking breaks and instead of doing one test a day I alternate between drills and tests. I also take one day off a week to spend time with my boyfriend/friends/family. What also helps is yoga. I'm taking a couple of yoga classes a week to relax myself and I already see the progress!

Take breaks and get rest everyone!

zhenders

I'll tell you this -- I know that if I don't do something, I'll have trouble sleeping. Not anxiety, just excitement.

I'm going to go on a long run, or hit the gym extra hard or something -- I want my body to be so tired that I can fall asleep at 8. We shall see

Torah, gosh I wish I could have felt that way about tht dream :-P but not, alas, this was just a nightmare. I was physically stuck on a linear sequencing game without a solution. No fun :-P

LSATisland

I guess if I was just a variable in the dream instead of the one moving them around, it would have been worse. But a sequencing game with no solution? Man, you got a bad PT that night.

nordeend

Just scored in the 155 percentile on a PT and I got two more weeks! Give it it ALL you got and then you can chill...

Jaguar007

OMG ME TOO!! I SCORED A 152 THEN 155 THEN 157 YESTERDAY! I neeed to hit 160!!!!!! Keep me posted nordeend for motivation

zhenders

Keep it up, guys lookin' good for February.

LSATisland

Keep up the good work, guys.

jamiewong107

I'm right there with everyone. We have two more weeks, with focus those 150's can easily be changed. If games is a weak point focus there, or logical reasoning as this is where most people can improve more drastically. Good luck all!

LSATisland

I definitely agree to focus on the weaker points. But I think LG, not LR, has the most potential for growth.

I've said this many times in this forum, the LSAT has fundamental things which are repeated in each test. In LG it is the easiest to see, and the easiest to master, because there are limited variables.

zhenders

Yep, agreed. All sections can be improved, but with dedicated drilling and following these (7sage's) methods, LG can get to near perfect pretty quickly.

jamiewong107

Whoops, just to clarify.. Yes, I indeed meant that Games and LR can be improved the most. With Games having the most potential for improvement as pointed out by J.Y in the beginning of the RC section. Good luck all!

jamiewong107

BTW LSAT island is the best stinking screen name because that's exactly where I feel like I am. Sadly, I like it.

LSATisland

Thanks. That's good, at least for the LSAT. It requires a degree of isolated dedication.