Am I studying too much?

UBC Hopeful

Some may laugh and think "practice makes perfect", but I feel this exam has the tendency to catch up to people who have submerged themselves into the exam and get to their heads like a nasty Criss Angel. I started studying at the beginning of May, working through the program during my summer. August 1st hit and I had only written 1 PT (at the beginning of the summer). I postponed till December because I didn't want to rush, and I had a goal of writing at least 10-15 exams before Sept24. Not being ready scared the shit out of me and I vowed to not let that feeling come back in November, so come Sept.1 I sat down with 30+ purchased exams with the goal of completing them all before December. I'm already a student at McGill university, but I've planned it out to write 2-3 (hopefully 3) exams a week. Obviously it sucks not being able to go out and get shitfaced with my friends on a Tuesday, but this exam is my top priority! So i ask: is doing 3 exams a week until Dec a bad idea if I can stay on top of all my other school work? .

Lsatbreakingnews

Try and do three a week. If you only hit two thats alright too. Also if you reach december and are behind on prep tests maybe try and do more of the recent ones (but save some also for a re-take).

pomegranates

I want to say doing 2 a week is good as a student, say Wed. & Sat. (to mimic the real one), just so you avoid burnout towards November. Also, that way you'll have leftover PTs from the 30+ you bought, which you can use to drill specific question types that you consistently miss on the "real" PTs that you do. If anything, you can start with 2 and then as you feel you can handle more, move up to a more rigorous 3.

Cant Get Right

Don't worry so much about quantity. It would be way better for you to do one a week and really take the time to learn everything it has to teach you. As you improve, you'll be able to move quicker, but especially when you're first starting out I think it would be really detrimental to try and take so much on. The problem with your schedule is you haven't factored in time for everything that needs to happen between PTs. It's not just BR. Once you've done the PT and the BR, you're not done. Now you have to respond to what that data tells you. So if you go -10 on LG, you need to work on LG before you PT again. If you don't finish LR, you need to develop a better pacing strategy before you PT again. It's not enough to PT/BR, you've got to address the weaknesses they expose. By trying to manage 3/week while balancing school, I don't think you're going to be able to get much out of them. Don't think about how many PTs you take, focus more on how much you're getting out of the ones you do take. If you can get 100% out of 15 PTs, I promise you that is going to be way more valuable than getting 80% out of 30.

Alejandro

I would calibrate between 2 and 3 PTs a week. If you can handle 3 then go right ahead! Just make sure you do proper BR and you give yourselves a few "rest" weeks where you only take two PTs once in a while.

pomegranates

what @"Cant Get Right" said!! truth.

MrSamIam

@"Cant Get Right" Pretty much covered it all.
3 exams/week seems a tad too much. However, if you can honestly say that you're able to handle it + your school work + life + NOT burning out, than by all means. However, as many will tell you, said schedule seems like a recipe for burnout.
Focus more on quality, not quantity. The reason I never recommend 3 PT/week is because I simply can't imagine someone being able to do 3 PTs, BR them thoroughly, then drill sections/questions that need drilling...all in 1 week.