Need some advice, folks. I appreciate your honest feedback.

rcscoggins

I work a full-time job and life has a habit of getting in the way of my law school dreams. I've been doing this program regularly since last October give or take and have had a series of setbacks. Right now I still have about 25% of the curriculum left to cover before the June LSAT. I was blowing though the curriculum pretty quickly until I hit the games section.

A one hour problem set lesson takes me 2-3 hours, usually. I just legitimately suck at games and see very little improvement with them, that is about as honest as I can be. I study about 3-4 hours a night, 4-5 on the weekends. BR'ing a game set is a huge commitment for me. It is depressing to watch what minimal progression a full night of studying does, but to know I have so much more to progress through honestly makes me rage quit my study sessions.

So, I need some advice. For reasons I don't feel like disclosing, I have to be in law school by fall of 2017.. I want to take the June LSAT and games are the only thing I have left. Should I just start doing prep tests and reviewing the rest of the curriculum in my off time? What other courses of actions would some veterans or others who have been in my shoes recommend?

Also one last question. For those of you that may have completed the program like I have been having to do (kind of spread out over a longer period) what was your strategy for condensing and reviewing the material you were rusty on? I know it all builds on each other but I know I have definitely forgotten some stuff. I appreciate any suggestions you have, thank you.

Cant Get Right

I wouldn't burn any prep tests until you're comfortable with games. Use PTs 1-35 for drilling materials to keep fresh on your RC and LR skills, but save everything beyond that for timed, simulated tests.

I think your best starting place is delaying your test. You can take it in the fall and still make even early admissions. For June, ideally, you should really be through and comfortable with the curriculum by now.

I'll leave the advice on the Logic Games to others, there's a lot of folks on here who will be much better with that. But these two pieces of advice are things basically everyone who knows are going to tell you.

stepharizona

@rcscoggins said:
For reasons I don't feel like disclosing, I have to be in law school by fall of 2017..

Ok that is ok, but you can still make the Fall Cycle with a Sept, Dec or even a Feb (although not advisable) LSAT test.

Everyone moves at their own pace, so take your time.

@rcscoggins said:
I just legitimately suck at games

What is the area of games that gives you the most trouble? Is it diagramming? Rule? A certain type of game? What study resources are you using? Have you tired the foll proof method for games?

@rcscoggins said:
Should I just start doing prep tests and reviewing the rest of the curriculum in my off time?

No, I wouldn't yet. Finish the curriculum first and use the early PTs for drilling (the PTs below 35 are considered early). There is still a lot of time before you have to start doing PTs and you might want to consider pushing back from June. You want to take the LSAT when you are ready for it, not because you may have already registered.

@rcscoggins said:
For those of you that may have completed the program like I have been having to do (kind of spread out over a longer period) what was your strategy for condensing and reviewing the material you were rusty on?

I kept a notebook of notes as I went through each area. I read that to refresh my memory. I also go back through the curriculum as needed when I see a weakness on a PT.

Try to give us some more information and I am sure the community will be able to give you some solid advice on how to handle your situation.

rcscoggins

Thanks everyone for the advice, I really appreciate it.

I would agree @Can't Get Right At this point I should delay my test. I have butchered a test before and time is a better solution than haphazard attempts.

Both you and @stepharizona mention using 1-35 as drilling material. How do you do this? Do you mean taking the whole tests while I am trying to master games or reviewing critical sections I am rusty on piece by piece?

@stepharizona as far as games go, I am not sure where to begin. I seem to do better in games where formal logic is a core piece of the game, such as when you have to chain everything together. I am probably strongest in basic sequencing games as a result. I have an issue of knowing when to draw out multiple game boards. I think overall, I am just slow at making inferences, or slow in general. Some games (albeit a small few) I can get -0 on if I take my time with them, but it seems like a pointless confidence boost because spending a half hour on a game just reminds me that it won't fly during the test. Most of the time I am unable to finish new games. I get stumped and after 20 or 30 minutes of working on it and make no progress, so I usually end up watching the video to see what it is I'm doing wrong. I feel like I leave my games in little boxes, as in I see each game and it's inferences in that specific game, but when I do a similar game it doesn't seem similar to me, and I don't make similar inferences in that game, if that makes sense.

I have been doing the full proof method for awhile now and have seen some great progress but now I am at a point where I feel that I am just memorizing the games rather than really learning from them. Also working full-time I feel limited because I basically have from 6-11 to study and then I'll get up around 5 and work out, and study a little more until I go to work. More or less in all that time that's only a few game sets for me.

MrSamIam

Looks like whatever advice I had to offer, has been offered. To answer your question, regarding drilling:
There are two ways to drill:
1) By question type (look for the question type you are interested in drilling, circle those questions, and do them)
2) By section (just pick a section, and drill it).
I like to treat drilling like I would a mini PT. I give myself 35 minutes to drill the section. Then, I BR it (unlimited time).

You're probably memorizing both the games and the inferences...the latter is important. Even if it feels like you're doing well on the games due to your memorization of the games, so long as you are memorizing the inferences and remembering how you got to them, you're on the right track.

stepharizona

@rcscoggins said:
Both you and @stepharizona mention using 1-35 as drilling material. How do you do this? Do you mean taking the whole tests while I am trying to master games or reviewing critical sections I am rusty on piece by piece?

This is usually done by just doing the games section. You can also drill the other sections for mixed practice and also for adding a 5th section to PTs as you get closer to your test date.