Should I Drill From Cambridge Packets while doing the Core Curriculum?

Alex

I just realized that I don't know J.Y.'s/7Sage's philosophy on this...
I have all the Cambridge Packets pdf. from tests 1-38 for LR, RC, and LG and am wondering how to best utilize them.

Should I drill from the Cambridge packets while going through the CC or should I do them during my PT/BR phase?

If I should be doing this as I go through the CC, how many of each is recommended? Some packets have 200+ questions and others about 50, so wondering how to best allocate my time and questions.

Thanks!

Darth Jurist

Given that you are using the Starter package, I would try to save a majority for drilling purposes when you are in the PT phase. The Starter packeage has the fewest problems sets to go with the curriculum so it would be wise to save the meat of your pdf's for later.

That's not to say you can't take an extra 10-20 of the easy questions from the packets to reinforce some of the curriculum while in that phase. If you want some extra MSS practice or maybe PAI or whatever seems like it needs special attention, yeah take some Cambridge questions and reinforce your core skills. If you upgrade to U or U+, I would say go HAM with the Cambridge packets whenever you want. Chances are you will see some repeats from the curriculum problem sets, so all the more reinforcement, and core skills, the better.

Alex

@"Darth Jurist" thank you! I will take that advice I think. I was toying with the idea of upgrading to the Ultimate +, but I doubt I'll be able to afford it...Rent in NYC is too damn high, lol.

So you would say just get through the CC and then begin PT'ing and use the Cambridge Packets to drill any weaknesses then?

annannann

@"The Talented Mr. Divine" You can always upgrade! I started with the Starter and upgraded to the Ultimate+ two weeks ago. If you email Dillon, then he'll give you the extra months as well!

Alex

@"Ann California" Really!? Well that makes the decision much easier. If I can scrape some extra money together I will definitely upgrade to Ultimate +

If not, I guess I'll have to make due with the Cambridge Packets. I really want the ultimate so I can review my tests in detail, so that actually sounds awesome, especially knowing I'll get the extra months

inactive

@"The Talented Mr. Divine" said:
If I can scrape some extra money together I will definitely upgrade to Ultimate +

Yup! And you only pay the difference.

Let me know if you upgrade so I can add on the extra months, since upgrading only gives you +1 month per upgrade level instead of the whole shebang.

Alex

@"Dillon A. Wright" OH man! That is so freakin' awesome and makes me so happy. Thank you much...My birthday is coming up and I think I am going to ask for an early present: LSAT Ultimate + Best birthday ever, haha

inactive

@"The Talented Mr. Divine" said:
My birthday is coming up

bjphillips5

@"The Talented Mr. Divine" where were you able to obtain the cambridge packets??

Alex

@bjphillips5 I was pretty active on top-law-schools.com back earlier this year, and I was asking around for some LSAT prep advice before I began studying this summer, and everyone was talking about how the packets/tests in pdf. format would no longer be available. So I bought all the tests and the packets in pdf. format. I do think you can still get hard copies off of Amazon, however I think they can be quite expensive. You have the ultimate + anyways, so I don't think you're missing much if anything. I think the Ultimate + package on here probably has more.

leejaylee

Cambridge packets helped me understand the basics of each question type. However, I have realized the questions may differ a little bit as you get to the 50+ PTs.

I used them for drilling. Personally, I thought a lot of the older PTs (before 30) had longer stimulus questions, but more distinct answer choices. In the beginning, when I was getting used to the questions, I didn't time myself. When I timed myself, I'd rush things because clearly, I didn't fully understand what I was looking for.

After my natural senses got faster over time, I started timing myself. Another method is to just time yourself, but don't worry about how long it takes.

In conclusion, use the older PTs to help you understand the different question types and tricks the LSAT uses. Ultimately, you want to use the Newer PTs (40+) as a measure of what you have learned

stepharizona

I would actually work on the cambridge packs when you're doing drills from 7Sage by type. Not the entire packet, or all of them at one time, but the better packages include more drills and you have them in the cambridge packs (in theory).

I did that when I was in the Starter and it worked well. Now, you wont have access to the explanations like in the Ultimate, but youll have exposure to the problems and if you drill up 38, youll have those explanations. .

Alex

@stepharizona Thanks! That is sort of what I was planning to do. When you upgrade to the ultimate or premium how many drill questions are you given to do at the end of a lesson?

stepharizona

@"Alex Divine" said:
When you upgrade to the ultimate or premium how many drill questions are you given to do at the end of a lesson?

You can sort of check this with using the "locked" feature on the syllabus. The Cambridge packs give you more, because it s 1-38, I am not sure how many questions there are, or explanations that go along with them.

Alex

@stepharizona Ok! I just checked, so many cool features I am still learning about this place! Thank you

Darth Jurist

@"Alex Divine" said:
So you would say just get through the CC and then begin PT'ing and use the Cambridge Packets to drill any weaknesses then?

Yes, with one caveat. If you are in the CC and find yourself really stumped by a certain question type (let's say weaken, for example) and you have run out of problem sets to work with but really want some extra practice, then crack open the Cambridge PDFs and do some of the easy questions from the packet for extra practice (I believe that Cambridge orders all of their questions from easiest to hardest). This will help you to truly 'master' the core skills necessary for the PT phase.

Remember this key conditional statement while in the curriculum phase:

If I am ready to begin taking timed PTs, I have mastered the core curriculum.
(i.e. don't rush through the curriculum to get to the PT phase faster).

Take your sweet time and get good at these questions. Worry about the speed and time management of PTs later. If you have to dip into your Cambridge packets to help get to that point, so be it. Those are some meaty PDFs, so I doubt you will have any issue of having enough drill material available. Even if you do an extra 20-30 questions per question type while completing the curriculum, you will still have a wealth of extra questions.

By the way, welcome to 7Sage friend!

Alex

Thank you @"Darth Jurist" That is exactly what I was wondering. That makes a lot of sense actually. I think I will do 10-15 of each question type after each lesson. And more if I feel particularly weak on a question type. It looks like I missed a lot of strengthen and S.A. from my diagnostic, so once I get to those I will probably drill some of the easier ones.

I appreciate the welcome! I am really loving the CC so far and the community on here is such a breath of fresh air coming from TLS. I like TLS, but the sense of support and community on here is just amazing. I will be around here for a long, long time

Seriousbird

I also have the Cambridge LR-RC-LG 1-38. What I do is follow the 7Sage lesson and as HW I do the resulting Cambridge LR by type, LG, or RC as drills. I also looked at the curriculum so if a question is broken up in several lessons, I divide my questions so I can do them with the lesson.

I also never do more than 40-50 questions at a time in one sitting. I like to do 25-40 questions at a time. I noticed though that the Necessary Assumption lesson is only in one lesson and not divided up so I might try to get 100 of those questions in one day, and the other 100 over a few days. I find a big difference in understanding of LR (my main reason for upgrading from Premium to Ultimate+) is by completing all the questions with the respective lesson. Also, for any LR question I have trouble with, I erase all my answers, explain why each wrong answer is wrong and why the correct one is correct, and put it in a notebook (I call it my LR notebook), at night before going to sleep I review these questions, I also take the notebook with me if I am on the go so I can review the questions in any free time that I may have.

I found I had a lot of trouble with MSS questions, so I spent ~2 months going through the lessons, redoing the lessons, doing the questions. After awhile, I began seeing patterns within the question type, and correct and incorrect answer choices.

TLDR I think supplementing the 7Sage curriculum with Cambridge packets is really a great decision and I highly recommend it.

Alex

@sweetsecret Thanks! I feel like it was a good decision getting them before they were banned by the LSAC. I think I am going to implement them in after every lesson to reinforce what I've learned. The starter course is amazing, but I guess it doesn't have as many practice questions after each lesson. So having the packets will help offset somethings I might be missing out on.