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I have learned so much already, however, I know my best is yet to come.
Pros:
7Sage is truly amazing!
The Casio watch J.Y. recommends rocks during actual testing (I think that is why the price is up to $19.92, yes .92 that is odd right, at the store – but I can tell you it is worth every penny)! While they had a clock in the test center, I would have had zero chance trying to follow it during the live sections. I don’t think I would ever want to test without it – thank you J.Y.!!!!
I believe I scored exactly in line with how I was prepared – nothing caught me off guard – I felt great about my strong sections and struggled in my weak ones.
Understanding where my weak sections are actually fueled my confidence while I struggled through them if that makes sense. In other words, I knew what I didn’t know therefore it did not shake me at all while testing.
Cons:
Here is where I need your help –
I am determined to score a 160+ in June (I have been currently scoring in the low 150’s). Do I just start the course over from the beginning and try to deepen my understanding of all of the fundamentals, or, do I focus on the lowest hanging fruit which for me is by far Logic Games (this is my worst section every time and it is not even close).
I appreciate this community so much – thanks for taking the time to help someone that has been asking a ton of basic questions – I hope to pay it forward someday (after my second test of course, lol)!
Comments
If you feel like you are adept in the fundamentals, then I don't see why it's necessary to start from the very beginning of the CC. I think if you feel like you have a solid foundation, all you need to do is practice. Practice, practice, practice.
However, if you see that you are tripping up on recognizing key logical indicators, or mixing up bi-conditionals, or forgetting how to approach Necessary Assumption questions, then revisiting those fundamentals would help.
Otherwise, imo you just need to practice. Especially in LG. As I'm sure you've read, LG is the easiest to improve. It's by far the most unfamiliar but it catches quite easily once you foolproof enough. I hated LG and it was my worst section for most of my early practicing but now it's my best (up until Feb. LSAT though..).
As you practice, take note of things that you are tripping up on. Then revisit those areas in CC. I just feel like it would be a waste of your time do CC all over again blindly. Practice, foolproof, note your weak spots, go back and revisit them in CC, practice again, repeat.
Good luck! And while I commend you for starting round two today, make sure to give yourself a little break post-Feb LSAT. You don't want to burn out. You deserve to relax a little Good luck !!!
@kshutes13 I appreciate it - this sounds like great advice. I do feel as if I am pretty solid on the fundamentals and just need more practice on the other sections. Logic Games is the one area where I still get totally lost especially if I don't understand the format within the first few seconds. I am consistently missing a ton of these questions and believe that is the section that can get me to 160. I think J.Y. might be correct (shocking I know) - the only way to improve in these areas is to print 10 blank copies and rework them over and over until you have them memorized. Did you find any other tools (such as LSAT LG Bible) useful?
I would say to go through at least the core curriculum again if you are scoring in the low 150's. Mastery of the core curriculum and fundamentals within would get you to a 160. I found the core curriculum especially useful for LR, so maybe if you don't wanna do the LG/RC parts you could just follow along all the videos for LR again and map out all the conditionals until you can do the hardest ones in your sleep. There is no better source for LR on the internet than the 7sage core curriculum.
Print out LG and practice, practice, practice... and for RC, start reading difficult materials with a dictionary on-hand in topics of science/ law / art for complete understanding. Practice writing 2-3 word summaries for paragraphs and read for structure.
Just so I'm clear, it sounds like you've been through the whole CC at least once, right? Have you watched @"Cant Get Right"'s post-CC webinar? It's so great - this will give you a lot of ideas on how/what to study: https://7sage.com/webinar/post-core-curriculum-study-strategies/
I personally think just going through the whole CC again isn't necessarily the best step. I think it's better to re-watch sections as you work through specific issues or have questions. And if you haven't foolproofed the LG set of games from PTs 1-35, that is a fantastic place to start. Absolutely, just repeating the games over and over again is really helpful.
So I would start there and work hard on LG, because I do think that is the lowest hanging fruit. You can either focus on that exclusively for a while, or I liked to split it up and do foolproofing a few days a week with LR or RC drilling in between. Drill, BR (thoroughly, slowly BR), and drill some more. That's the best way to improve for LR and RC.
Hope that helps, definitely check out the webinar!
@"Leah M B" I really like that approach. I will check out the webinar tonight - thank you!
Since you say you are not good at LG, I recommend foolproofing the Logic Game Bundle (PT1-35) using Pacifico's Logic Games Attack Strategy: https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/2737/logic-games-attack-strategy/p1
This strategy got me out of 150s. (I was stuck in low 150s for a long time!)
@akistotle Sounds like a great strategy - I am definitely stuck there (low 150's) and am going to have to break through with LG if I am going to get to a 160. Seems like there will be no substitute for just foolproofing all of the games. I made my 10 copies this morning and am ready to get started.
Deepen your foundations by redoing the course. As you are doing so, you can drill games. Drill the game types that you struggled with the most and also work on those you are strong in so that you can finish those even quickrr
As other people have said, there are benefits to improving on the fundamentals. There's quite a few small things that end up making a big difference and one great thing about the CC is we have so much flexibility to jump between different levels and objectives.
How recently did you go thru the 7sage course? Did you take thorough notes? Personally I scored just under 160 this past June after having gone thru the CC last year and I did not take notes and did a poor job of studying. I am redoing the CC now, taking notes, and writing out explanations for all of the LR problem set questions which I blind review. I am finding it very helpful and I am understanding LR much more clearly now. If you went through the CC very recently, I think it might feel very frustrating to go through it all over again, although it would likely be beneficial, as you'll know now which parts of the CC you need to focus on.
I went through the CC in the last four months, however, I think knowing what I know now I would definitely approach it much differently. With approximately four months to go I want to be very strategic this time around. I am definitely targeting a 160 in June!