Early Early PTs - Should I drill them?

SherryS1SherryS1 Member
in General 477 karma
What are your guys' thoughts on drilling PTs 1-10 for anything other than LG? I just drilled one of the LR sections out of PT 5 and it seemed to me to have a pretty different feel than even a PT in the later teens. Curious as to the general consensus.

I picked PT 5 randomly because I was trying to leave the PTs after 34 whole and the CC appeared to draw more heavily from the early 30s/20s.

Comments

  • dennisgerrarddennisgerrard Member
    1644 karma
    you can drill the LG by type for 1-35(Cambridge package). that's what I do. also, the CC includes early games for drill if you prefer.
  • S.P. 170S.P. 170 Alum Member
    188 karma
    I did all the LGs from PT 1-20. And I wrote every other PT from 1-20, and BRed them. I found it helpful, but I'd prioritize the games. Doing the more recent full PTs is almost surely a better option.
  • SherryS1SherryS1 Member
    477 karma
    Thanks @dennisgerrard and @"S.P. 170"!
  • desire2learndesire2learn Member
    1171 karma
    It totally depends on how long you will be preparing for. If you are taking the LSAT in Feb I would not do all of the old ones. If you are taking it in June of 2020 I would definitely use all of them. Laying out a master plan from now until your write the LSAT will tell you everything you need to know.
    In terms of general priority, they are not super high but can certainly be of use, especially early as you learn the various question types and learn how to implement your strategies.
  • bjphillips5bjphillips5 Alum Member
    1137 karma
    I don't think you need to do them all. But I found drilling really early PTs LR useful. The questions are less clear cut and I think force you to be a little more flexible. It depends on where you are in your LSAT journey and what your skills are, but I found it to be really helpful.
  • SherryS1SherryS1 Member
    477 karma
    Thanks @desire2learn and @bjphillips5! Appreciate you guys weighing in :)

    For context, I've been studying pretty intensively since September. I wanted an early PT to practice more aggressive skipping with.
    But I found drilling really early PTs LR useful. The questions are less clear cut and I think force you to be a little more flexible.
    Yes! So interesting that you called this out. It was exactly that ambiguity that had me questioning whether it was worth drilling them. I did like that they got me out of autopilot though. It was similar to getting a random game - I was like, "wait, what?". Even the question stems were worded a little differently.
  • bjphillips5bjphillips5 Alum Member
    1137 karma
    @SherryS1 said:
    I did like that they got me out of autopilot though.
    Exactly! Especially with the latest PTs and tests, it seems flexibility and anti-autopilot are increasingly necessary.
  • JustDoItJustDoIt Alum Member ⭐
    3112 karma
    I also found drilling early PTs pretty useful. I still use them to try out new strategies, such as reading the conclusion first vs reading through LR stimuli normally. I've also done a majority of the RC passages from 1-35 as well and have used them work on reading for structure. But as alluded to earlier, determine your PT plan before drilling as best as you can. While it can be helpful, it will also reduce the total number of fresh PTs available to you.

    Hope this helps!
  • SherryS1SherryS1 Member
    477 karma
    I still use them to try out new strategies
    @justdoit Yes! Okay, that's exactly what I was hoping to use them for. I was a bit unsure after trying it out because the tests felt so different but it sounds like it's been a worthwhile tactic for you. Thanks for sharing!
    Especially with the latest PTs and tests, it seems flexibility and anti-autopilot are increasingly necessary.
    @bjphillips5 Truth :)
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