Take time off-will I forget "LSAT"?

Tina Cho

Hey---

I'm thinking to take some time off and concentrate on working...
I'm worried, if I leave from studying LSAT, will I forget about what I've learnt so far?
When I started to study again, how I can I catch up? Will I have to do the same work over again?
Should I keep studying for LSAT even for very short time per day? If I start to work full time, I'm sure it'll be really tired (especially the first few months) and not sure how much I can devote study...
I'd like to hear from someone who have experienced similar thing...leave&come back studying for LSAT.
How long did it take for you to catch up&what did you do?

Thank you!

Alex

How long of a break away from the LSAT are you thinking? And where are you PT'ing now on average? Essentially, how long you are away from the LSAT, what your skill level is, and your personal memory will dictate much of how much you may forget. If you're only taking a month or two off, I think you'd be alright. Possibly rusty, but nothing a few of weeks of prep wouldn't fix.

draj0623

I also think it depends on how long you are going to be taking a break. I studied in 2014 for a brief period before I found 7Sage this year. I started all over with the curriculum this year after taking a year off and it was a great investment of my time. Not much from my 2014 studies translated into this year of studying except for maybe some understanding of basic logic. Sometimes you need a break but starting over may be needed if you are away from it for too long (unless you have a mastery over the skills being tested).

Tina Cho

@"Alex Divine" @draj0623
Thanks,

I'm not sure how long yet...depends on the work amount I guess.
But if I will work full-time and take time off, it's gonna be at least months, possibly a year or two.
In this case, maybe I should not completely stop studying for LSAT but even like...30 minutes per day? Not sure how much it will help though...

Tina Cho

Oh regarding my studying level...
I feel I still have to practice LR and RC... if I will take time off, I'm thinking to do all questions from PT 1 and up but...not sure it's helpful. But thinking to review throughoutly...I did not review well and I think that's one reason I did not improve as I expected.

Alex

@"Tina Cho" said:
Thanks,

I'm not sure how long yet...depends on the work amount I guess.
But if I will work full-time and take time off, it's gonna be at least months, possibly a year or two.
In this case, maybe I should not completely stop studying for LSAT but even like...30 minutes per day? Not sure how much it will help though...

Yeah, not sure how much it will help. The thing is you may find yourself memorizing games or questions over such a long period of time. I think it might be worth maybe reviewing some stuff, making sure not to burn through material, when you have some downtime. I'd focus on mastering the fundamental and where ever your weaknesses were.

abisin1234

I 100% agree with Alex,

I think it depends on how long you will be away, if its a month or so you won't forget too much (in fact your knowledge may be solidified) but you will get rusty. If you are afraid of getting rusty this is the perfect time to use the strategies that people suggest to help improve your score.

-read publications like the Economist and American Scientist to help your RC and general reading capabilities.
-Do a logic game a day or so and repeat them ALOT until they come naturally.
-Master a logical flaw or your basic "when a sufficient condition is failed/triggered" a day or every so often.

I think these are painless things you can do to keep sharp and make some progress so when you come back to study full-time you don't have to start from scratch.

When I was studying full time, I always wished I could take a month to just learn one or two really important LSAT basics, and now you have the opportunity to do so.

Tina Cho

@"Alex Divine" @abisin1234

Thanks.
Sounds like if I really wanna improve I have to study full time (or close to full time) at some point...right?
Is it hard to work full time and take the test?

cam

I have stopped studying for 4-6 weeks on two occasions so far. Each time before the break, I was PT'ing at 159-160, and when I returned, I was PT'ing at 153-155. The area that dropped off the most for me was Logic Games. A month after resuming study, I tend to score back in the pre-break range.

I work full time (military musician) and I'm completing my undergrad via distance education while studying for the LSAT. What I do when the other parts of life get hectic is to keep at least some form of LSAT study in the mix, even if that means just an hour of mixed drilling when I wake up or over lunch. So far, it seems like the LSAT requires a pretty specific state of mind for me so that I catch the details within each question.

Alex

@"Tina Cho" said:
Thanks.
Sounds like if I really wanna improve I have to study full time (or close to full time) at some point...right?
Is it hard to work full time and take the test?

No problem!

It is hard because everyone is different. But it seems like for most people, studying is like a part-time (sometimes full-time) job. I tend to treat it like a part-time job and spend about 25 hours a week on prep. I work full-time at another job, and yes, it can be hard at times. I think it comes down to what you do for work. I don't feel like my job is very cerebral. Plus, I deal with numbers mostly and not arguments and ton of reading. So that helps me do better when I prep after work.

My ultimate plan is to take a leave of absence sometime next spring. I want to have a few months to just study full-time before I sit for the test in June/September.

Not Ralph Nader

@"Tina Cho" I think leaving LSAT for one year is not a good idea if you can study at least an hour a day for it. Last summer I had to go back to university and study full time, to increase my GPA. I was studying at least 8 hours a day for my university courses and only had one hour per day or even less for LSAT between my classes. I worked through the games from PT 1-35 and foolproof them which gave me a solid foundation in LG.

I think if you want to leave for a year and can manage to set a side one hour LSAT time per day not only you can get the games down, you can also go through the core curriculum at least once and when you come back to studying full time for LSAT you can finish core curriculum one more time which is a great way to solidify your understanding of fundamentals. This way you will not wast PT, and use your dead time. I think the most difficult part of studying for LSAT is starting it, you do not want to go through it again.

I hope this helps.

Tina Cho

@"Alex Divine" @"Not Ralph Nader"
Thanks,
Humm...actually once I start to work full time, I don't think I can have full study time for LSAT...
It will be working full time and study part time.
Good to know before I make my decision to take time off...or maybe not take time off in my case?
Anyways it sounds like very hard without devode full energy for studying for this test...

Alex

@"Tina Cho" said:
Thanks,
Humm...actually once I start to work full time, I don't think I can have full study time for LSAT...
It will be working full time and study part time.
Good to know before I make my decision to take time off...or maybe not take time off in my case?
Anyways it sounds like very hard without devode full energy for studying for this test...

Absolutely! However, to be honest, if you're working a full-time job, I think even setting 1-2 hours a day aside for prep will be a lot better than taking a complete year off from the test. I think Nader makes a good point that even if you just focus on logic games or something and slowly work through the 7Sage course that would be a net positive over time. I know of a few people who only studied ~12 hours a week or so for a year or two and then wound up doing quite well on the LSAT. One close friend of mine took this approach and she ended up with a 168. I'm pretty sure it took her close to two years, but due to life and working full-time, she was only able to study 1-2 hours a day. So I guess my point is you don't need to study full-time or even part-time hours to eventually do well on the LSAT. Especially if you have a year or two to prep.

On the other hand, though, I can understand how tiring it is to come home after a long day and begin prepping. And then there's life; friends, boyfriends/girlfriends, family, and other hobbies - all of which the LSAT may take time away from. I guess it just comes down to your ultimate life plan. I've always thought about it this way: Law school isn't going anywhere, and Barack Obama didn't graduate law school until he was almost 31, so I kind of make that a goal of mine, leaving me plenty of time.

Tina Cho

@"Alex Divine"
Thanks for the advice!
I know it will be hard cuz I remember when I did full time internship for a month I could not do anything but fell asleep after going back home so real full time work must be much more tired&hard...but will try to manage and find time for LSAT.