New member

montreanat

Greetings everyone I'm Monty. I attend Bethune Cookman University as Criminal Justice Major. Next semester will be my last semester as a junior I'm now trying to figure out how to overcome passing the LSAT with a good score .I recently start studying for the LSAT an have a few questions. How did most of you manage to study with distractions around you? Moreover, how long did you study or have you studied where you were confident to take the test ? I'm looking forward to hearing great responses.

runiggyrun

Hi Monty,
Welcome to 7Sage!
You'll get a great variety of responses from "seasoned" members, so pick whatever suits your current situation and aspirations. No two people are alike, but you'll find someone whose experience resonates with yours.
Depending on your diagnostic and your target score, you can expect to spend anywhere between 6 months and 2 years studying (I'm sure there are success stories outside of this range, but longer might cause you to lose focus and shorter will probably not fully exploit your potential).
I've been studying since last October, and I'm registered to take June, so 8-9 months for me. The first 3 or so were dedicated to fundamentals (such as going through the 7Sage curriculum, or any other study method of your choice), and the remainder were mostly PT's, Blind Review (BR) and drilling my weak spots (which for me meant drilling LG sections every day).
Now, for the logistics - I have a full-time job and a family, so the LSAT had to fit around that.
I do the reading portion of studying and some Blind Review on my train commute (it's not long enough for anything more substantial).
I listen to the videos with headphones in the evenings while the kids are playing together or watching their cartoons and I do drills either in my breaks at work or here and there at home (usually also while the kids watch some movies - I know, that sounds like a lot of movies).
I'm a big fan of headphones to cut out distractions - just don't use them for PT's, since they are not allowed for the actual test.
For PT's I've had good luck with using an empty conference room at work and doing them after I finish work in the evenings, but somewhere like a library would work great as well. If you want to practice with some distractions around, you can also try a quieter coffee shop.
Good luck, and don't forget to have some fun!

jennilynn89

Hi Monty!

Welcome to 7Sage! I started studying for the LSAT a little less than a year ago, and I really like studying at Starbucks (or any local coffee shop) or Panera. Sometimes its quiet, and sometimes its a little louder. I find that practicing in environments that have some noise disturbances equip you to train your mental focus on your study material only, so that you learn to tune out the outside noise and sharpen your focus.
Whenever I took practice tests I tried to do so in the library of my university (we have a silent floor).
I tried studying at home for a while and it did not work for me at all. I always got way too comfortable and would end up having a "Netflix break" that turned into a marathon for the rest of the night. But that's just me. Being outside of my home (where I'm safe and comfortable) is much more motivating to me.
Good luck with everything!

Cant Get Right

Hey Monty, I think @runiggyrun and @jennilynn89 gave you pretty thorough responses. Just to add my experience, I’ve been studying for about a year now and will be taking in September. I agree with iggy that your target score is a huge factor in how long a process the average test taker can expect this to take. It’s a brutal test, and if you’re aiming for 170+ it’s quite a process. The good news is you don’t have to be a genius to conquer it. Being a genius certainly wouldn’t hurt, but LSAT to me has seemed more of a test of disciplined worth ethic than intelligence.

More generally, there are some common LSAT mistakes you have a great opportunity to avoid since you are just starting out. I’ve made every one of them. Don't be like me. Here are the top four things I wish someone had told me at the beginning of my LSAT studies:

1. Taking the LSAT before you’re ready: Just say no. You only have three shots, and the stars will not align on test day to allow you to outperform your Practice Test performance. In fact, most people experience a test day penalty and drop a few points from their PT average. Don't take the LSAT before you're ready.

2. As kind of an extension of 1, don’t pick a test date and tell yourself that that’s when you will be ready. The LSAT is a monster and the process of conquering it takes a long time and is different for everyone. You are only ready when you are ready, and the test administration dates are largely arbitrary as far as your studying goes. Don’t let a test date dictate your readiness. Let your readiness dictate your test date.

3. Don’t take PT’s until you have mastered the fundamentals. These are the most precious resource at your disposal, and if you are still hammering out the basics you are wasting PTs if you attempt them.

4. Start with 7Sage. Some of the books are great, many of them are garbage. None of them are as good as 7Sage.

Good luck! And don't let your GPA slip by neglecting classes for LSAT!

BruiserWoods

@"Cant Get Right" said:
don’t pick a test date and tell yourself that that’s when you will be ready.

preach it louder for the people in the back (by "people in the back" i actually mean me a year ago)

Sprinkles

@jennilynn89 said:
a "Netflix break" that turned into a marathon for the rest of the night.

I'm way too familiar with this.

TheCubicleEscapee

Hi Monty!

I am new here too & believe me you are in the right place. Everyone here is so helpful, I am just now starting my study journey and have already asked so many questions. I can assure you there are good people here that have the answers to ANYTHING and I do mean ANYTHING you can think of! Good luck! I majored in CJ from Sam Houston but I graduated a decade ago. ha! #Random fact of the day.

Not Ralph Nader

Hey Monty you are really lucky to start with 7Sage it will save you tons of money and time. I have been studying for little over 7 months (only 4 months with 7Sage) these are my suggestions:

1- Protect you GPA it will be written in stone and you don't want to ruin it.

2- There are no silver bullet do not look for one (LSAT demands ridiculous amount of practice)

3- Use the discussion forum and watch the webinars; it is like having a personal tutor

4- Before taking the exam ask yourself and no one else "can I live with this score?" nobody not even your family can fully understand what is it like to study for this test.


Best of luck with your studies

MrSamIam

Hey Monty! Welcome to 7Sage, and congratulations on taking your first step towards a career in law.
I have been studying for nearly a year now. I started studying during my Junior year in college...if you could even call it "studying." From my Junior to Senior years, I would do a few LSAT problems every week. It wasn't until I graduated that I actually started focusing most of my time and energy on the LSAT.
I'm still not at the point where I feel confident enough to score in the 99th percentile, but I feel that I am getting there. That said, I'm hoping to be ready by September, but preparing for the worst.

Regarding distractions: Either get rid of them, or avoid them. I find that studying at home seems impossible. So, when I can I drive down to my local library or alma mater to study there.
I've told my friends and family that I am focusing on the LSAT, so they know not to invite me out every weekend - which isn't a problem since they still keep in touch.
I also left a toxic relationship, as staying with this particular individual proved to be more of a problematic distraction than anything else - I won't go into details.

My point is, you don't have to change your life around completely. However, until you are admitted to your dream school, your life should revolve around the LSAT and your applications. Go out and relax every once in awhile, but don't get too distracted.