Feb LSAT with accommodations - need advice

lostinlsat

Hi Everyone,

Brand new here but needed advice from this community.

I suffer from a chronic illness due to which I have been granted 50% extra time in each section of the Feb 2016 LSAT. So I will get 53 minutes per section rather than the usual 35 minutes.

I recently got really sick which forced me to drop everything and just focus on getting better. Now that I am a little better, I am just beginning to start studying for the LSAT. I know 3 months isn't that much time to prepare for the exam, however, I was wondering what the best way to prepare would be in these 3 months. Should I just dive into the PTs and do as many as I can or should I purchase and go through the 7Sage material and then do a few PTs at the end? I also work so it will be difficult to devote all of my time to studying.

Any advice would be great. Thanks for reading.

Pacifico

If you haven't been through any type of curriculum/book to teach you the test you absolutely need to do that first. Blindly PTing when you have no idea what the test is all about is a complete waste of time and resources if your diagnostic isn't already in the high 160s.

deleted account

I disagree with @Pacifico here, which is unusual. IMO, you definitely should start PT'ing ASAP. I don't think that theory is worth anything if you don't have a background knowledge of the test that is pretty comprehensive. What I would do in your situation:

1) Buy the book of tests from the 30's: The Next 10 Actual Official LSATs.
2) Take two of them before you start with theory -- this is using only older tests, so it won't harm your bank of study material. Also, those tests, even though they are numerically far back, are pretty similar to recent tests, especially in LR. LR is a little bit more concrete, RC is slightly easier and has no comparative, LG are weirder and a little bit easier to make the inferences.
3) After you have a decent knowledge of the test go through the curriculum. Do it steadily, but do at least one test a week while you are doing it. You need the IRL test experience in order to be able to understand what the theory is talking about.
4) Also work problem sets (maybe 30-40 questions a week) that focus on the test areas that you are weak based on your weekly test. You can tell this by tracking your scores with the 7sage tracker, which is an awesome tool that breaks out what questions you are getting wrong.

Pacifico

I just don't think you should be taking in February regardless. You should take a few months to go through 7Sage/Trainer and then start taking your time and a half four section PTs to go and crush the June test. With time and a half you should be maxing your LG and really be in a good position to hit above 170. Getting extra time is very difficult to do and I would recommend not wasting that opportunity by then rushing into the test.

shainabarber

Does anyone know if tests administered with accommodations are flagged so schools and admissions counselors know you received an accommodation during testing? I've considered filing the paperwork to see if I would qualify for an extra time accommodation, but probably won't if it would be known by admissions departments.

Pacifico

They used to flag them but then they had to change it because it was discriminatory so there is nothing to lose by getting accommodations now.

shainabarber

Thanks @Pacifico. Good to know and gives me something to think about.

lostinlsat

Thanks @Pacifico and @josephellengar...great advice. I have already purchased a significant amount of LSATs. I plan to start with 7Sage asap. I probably will end up pushing my LSAT to June and apply for the 2017 cycle.

@shainabarber , if you have any questions about the accommodations process, please let me know.

nicole.hopkins

@lostinlsat said:
I probably will end up pushing my LSAT to June and apply for the 2017 cycle.

Yay! June or October!