Tracking Progression

chrijani7

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to gain some insight on how others are tracking their progress. I currently use a pretty old school method, simply pen and paper (agenda) to keep track of what my goals are to get done each day, what I actually end up completing, how many hours I put in, and additional comments for notes or reminders.

What do you guys use to keep track of your studying? I know there are LSAT analytics or other excel based methods for PT tracking, but what about for those who aren't at the PT stage and would like to keep track of how many hours they spent drilling per week with notes maybe explaining why 1 session was longer than another. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else does.
PS: if anyone has a great online/excel based method for this type of tracking, would you be willing to share it?

Thanks,
Christian

vandyzach

Have you taken a PT yet, or are you just drilling individual problems/sets/games? When you take a PT, 7sage has some AMAZING tools to help you see where you're at and what you need to improve on.

chrijani7

Yes I am familiar with the tools on 7sage and I have taken a few test. But, for the most part I am concentrating on lessons and drills and would like to keep track of my progression, notes, and amount of time/effort committed. The paper and pen method is working for me, because although I track all the information, I never go back and check it. I feel like excel or something would be better for me to quickly refer to it, so I might make one of those to keep track going forward, but I just wanted to see if anyone else had any unique ideas.

vandyzach

Oh ok. Here's what I have found that may help you (it probably won't but we'll give it a shot anyway):

I have found that keeping track of the things you are talking about to be less important than you may think. The LSAT is a skills test. Some people naturally have the skills needed to do well. Some people, like me, do not have them naturally (so that's why we're working so hard studying!). What I focused on is sharpening my skills (identifying the conclusion, finding the gap between the premises and the conclusion, diagramming formal logic questions, reading for structure on RC, being able to notate rules correctly in games, etc.) rather than a checklist of the drills and thing that I have done.

This probably doesn't help you at all, but I thought I would at least share with you my perspective- that keeping track of those things, in my opinion, is not as important as most people think it is.

Anyone else with a different perspective want to chime in? Someone that has kept track of their studies like Chrijani is talking about?

anne2hoang

@vandyzach
I feel the same way. I don't keep track of my progress either.

I keep doing blind review until I get a perfect score. What is important to me is that I understand why I got wrong answers wrong, and also why I got right answers right. By doing blind review, I am able to pinpoint my pattern of errors. I don't move on to a new section, until I can reach a perfect score under timed conditions. My reasoning is that if I do not correct my current mistakes, chances are I will repeat the same mistakes. When redoing the same section, I will notice subtle details that I had previously overlooked. I end up discovering a faster way to solve a difficult problem. And there is almost always more than one way to eliminate the same answer choice.

I don't follow a strict curriculum. Mine is basically "If I find a weakness, I need to fix it." Tomorrow's lesson is dependent on the errors I make today.

alwaysusan

Sometimes studying for the LSAT exams feels exciting, interesting, and delicious like sipping a fine wine. Sometimes it feels like the dry headache of mixing cheap wine, expensive scotch, and draft beer.

ENTJ

Interesting analogy Susan. I actually liken LSAT studying to smoking. The first few times makes you want to vomit--but then you get addicted...

vandyzach

Susan when I read your post, I immediately thought, "This is a great example of the "combination flaw" in LR. I like cheap wine, draft beer, and expensive scotch, but that doesn't mean that I like all the combination of all three of these together. Oh, LSAT lol.