If you had 12 PT's to take, which ones would you take

texvd1988

I am getting in a bit of a groove in terms of studying for this thing. I am finally picking off answers and my mind is growing to understand sentence structure as well as logic structure. With that said, I have had a pretty crazy study schedule, and am only going to afford around 12 PT's until the big kahuna in February.

February is going to be my first LSAT take, and if my current grasp of things continues, I think I may actually have something going (crossing fingers, because I am not testing but just doing random exercises and studying the curriculum intensely). OBviously, if I mess up, I am going to retake in June and September if necessary.

With that said, I will obviously know where I could be come the first few I take and BR. However, I want to make sure I have a grasp of exams that you guys feel were most challenging or best suited to prepare me for the current exam.

Which 12 would you pick?

danielznelson

If you're set on February, stick with the newest PTs, maybe PT67 and beyond.

12 is perhaps more than enough. With just under eight weeks left, I wouldn't do any more than that. I would also preserve some of the newest tests, should you decide to retake - you'll really want those leading up to any other impending test date.

Maybe take 65 and 66 now, leading up to the newer tests as you near the Feb. LSAT. It depends somewhat on your goal score/range and where you are currently scoring, but I'd try to save at least 7-8 of the 70s if the chance of a June and/or beyond take is a relatively decent one.

Specifically, I'd recommend running with something like this: 65, 66, 68, 70, 72, 73, 77, 79, in that order.

In this way, you'll gradually lead up to the most recent and thus likely most reliable material. Some of the PTs just mentioned have some standout material, others not so much. More importantly, you're preserving six of the 70s (including I guess PT 80) along with a few late 60s.

Don't take a fresh, never-before-seen PT a week or less before test day. There's honestly no reason for doing so. Your most recent take could maybe be a retake, where you won't likely get a score that will psych you out and will keep from getting stale in a full, five-section test. I highly advise you to take PT 79 (assuming you're operating with my proposed schedule) no less than a week-and-a-half to two weeks out. You then have about six weeks for fresh PTs. I think 8 is plenty in that time frame.

Alex

@vduran1988 said:
Which 12 would you pick?

If you're taking in February, I don't think taking 12 tests in the next 6 weeks is the best strategy. So I probably wouldn't take 12. I would focus on taking one a week and drill my weaknesses.

So I would choose the 6 most recent. This way you don't burn through all the most recent material in case a retake a needed.

However, if you are dead set on taking 12, then I would probably take the 6 most recent and maybe 6 from the 60s.

jennilynn89

Agree with @"Alex Divine" - Quality over quantity! I've personally always been very worried and aware of burnout. I don't know what your work schedule or personal life schedule is like, but be kind to yourself when you study. Burnout is super real. I've been there and it sucks!

I'd also recommend taking 6 PTs (1 each week) and then BRing the PTs to the core and drilling your weaknesses like nobody's business until your next PT.

When I started studying I'd take a bunch of PT's back to back, but realized that I'm not BRing right and that I'm not actually retaining anything. Slowing down to just one PT a week and really focusing on why I'm getting certain questions wrong and figuring out that gap has really helped me increase my score.

Best of luck to you!!

texvd1988

This is pretty interesting, and not the response I expected. I thought 12 was going to receive laughter from some of you guys (is a non-offensive way haha) since it is so short on the huge amount of PT's out there.

What I am gathering from all of you is that it is much better to take an exam or two a week ( at most) and focus the remainder of your time on pure BR and drilling to drill down on things you messed up on during the examination.

That's pretty intensive. So, if I were to take a one PT week, does the following schedule make sense?

M: PT/ BR
T: Finish BR if remaining, begin curriculum on weak points
W: Curriculum with drilling
Th: same
Friday: off
Saturday: Curriculum with drilling
Sunday: Curriculum with drilling

If I have a two PT per test schedule:

M:PT/ BR
T: Finish Br, curriculum and drill
W: Curriculum and drill
Th: PT/BR
F: Finish BR/ curriculum and drill
Sat: Off
Sunday Curriculum with drilling.

My work schedule is M-F from 7 am to 2 on Tu, We,Fr and 7am to 5pm Mo and Thu.

I normally begin studies immediately after 5/ 5:30 until around 1030/ 11 so if I were to do a PT, I would need to start BR immediately after the exam. I know it's not preferred but this is as efficient as I have been.

texvd1988

@danielznelson said:
In this way, you'll gradually lead up to the most recent and thus likely most reliable material. Some of the PTs just mentioned have some standout material, others not so much. More importantly, you're preserving six of the 70s (including I guess PT 80) along with a few late 60s.

This is perfect and exactly what I wanted. I need tests that will catch me off guard since it is becoming seemingly regular that the current crop of tests have some bombshell game or passage in them.

@"Alex Divine" said:
So I would choose the 6 most recent. This way you don't burn through all the most recent material in case a retake a needed.

However, if you are dead set on taking 12, then I would probably take the 6 most recent and maybe 6 from the 60s.

That is my worry. I hate wasting the 70's but I am hoping that, if it comes to a retake, a couple of weeks off will place some of those exams out of memory so I can take them semi-fresh later on. Especially since my focus will be solely on PT'ing and BR if I have to retake.

@jennilynn89 said:
When I started studying I'd take a bunch of PT's back to back, but realized that I'm not BRing right and that I'm not actually retaining anything. Slowing down to just one PT a week and really focusing on why I'm getting certain questions wrong and figuring out that gap has really helped me increase my score.

Best of luck to you!!

Thank you!

That is perhaps my biggest fear. I often get stuck in a trap of feeling like I need to work more rather than just working for understanding. I am sure many people here have the same problem. After all, we are so used to just drilling things in our brains in college or other education. Still, retention is far more important.

xqr1s4f3ed

@vduran1988 I would make only one adjustment to your plan: make every Saturday a firm Practice Test day, and begin around 10am (roughly the time you will begin the actual test in February. Build your week around that most sacred of days. Test Day doesn't begin when you wake up; it starts on the night before (in this case, Friday afternoon and evening) with a calm mind, materials prepared, and a solid night of rest. I would strongly recommend against making Saturday a drilling day, as you are conditioning your mindset. Be a machine. Wake up every Saturday at 6:30, calmly prepare, and take a 5-section PT under test conditions. Then walk into your test center and slaughter it on Saturday February 4th, just like you did every previous Saturday.

(If you can swing it, take a few tests at the actual test center. I did that this last Saturday, went to the law school hosting my February test and took a timed PT in one of the empty classrooms. The psychological effect was enormous. As I walked out of the building, I visualized doing so in February, and asked myself: what between now and then is as important as complete peace of mind in that moment? Nothing.)

TheMikey

PTs 68+

Alex

@vduran1988 said:

That is my worry. I hate wasting the 70's but I am hoping that, if it comes to a retake, a couple of weeks off will place some of those exams out of memory so I can take them semi-fresh later on. Especially since my focus will be solely on PT'ing and BR if I have to retake.


That's just not how it works, my friend. Retakes are very helpful, but you can't ever use it the same way you would a fresh take. I'd HIGHLY suggest dedicating yourself to reaching a score and THEN sitting for the exam. You're doing it backwards IMO.

Doing 12 tests in 6 weeks is highly going to result in diminishing returns. You'll increase your score a bit, but the time is better spent doing 1 PR a week with BR and targeting your weaknesses afterwards while drilling. Also, make sure your LG is consistently as close to -0 as you can get it.

Cant Get Right

@"Alex Divine" said:
I'd HIGHLY suggest dedicating yourself to reaching a score and THEN sitting for the exam. You're doing it backwards IMO.

@"Alex Divine" said:
Doing 12 tests in 6 weeks is highly going to result in diminishing returns.

Yeah, this is my take on this, but it really depends on your goals. You've got to realize that the test is in 12 weeks and you haven't taken a PT yet. That's probably not good if you're aiming for, say, 160+. Depends on your diagnostic though.

I'd recommend taking PT 36 with a thorough BR. That will give you some idea of where you stand without burning a particularly valuable PT. With that information, you will be much better positioned to make this decision. If you're 20 points off your target score, you need to rethink either your timeline or your target score. If you're 2 points off, then that's obviously a much more manageable situation. But you can't make an informed decision here without some kind of a baseline.

texvd1988

I am about 15 points off of where I want to be in order to get into my top choice.

I am about 3 points away from where I need to be to get a full ride into a third tier school.


I have a feeling I can pull the 3 points. My decision will come after I do it or not. Do I want to hold off and fight for the best school, or do I want to take the scholarship offer.

We will see.

I have taken around 5 exams total prior to today's. Started out with a 150 and am now hovering around 157.

Alex

@vduran1988 said:
I am about 3 points away from where I need to be to get a full ride into a third tier school.

If you're already hovering around a 157, you absolutely have the capacity to a hit a 165. Do NOT go to a T3 school if you're capable of a 160+ LSAT score.