1 year study plan advice?

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  Seeking Perfection Alum Member

  March 2018 4428 karma

  Well to start with you should know a little bit about the test.

  There are three section types: logic games(analytical reasoning), logical reasoning, and reading comprehension. There will be 5 sections on your actual test. There will be two logical reasoning sections, a reading comp section, and a logic games section. There will also be an unscored experimental section which could be any of those types. You won't know which section is experimental. The sections average somewhere around 25 questions a piece with reading comp usually a little longer and logic games a little shorter. Each section is 35 minutes. This makes for around 100 points on the test.

  Your raw score (however many questions you get right out of the roughly 100 question test) is then converted to a scaled score between 120 and 180. This conversion makes it so all the LSATs are approximately equally easy to get any given scaled score on. If the LSAT is particularly easy they will adjust for this in the scale and a higher raw score or fewer misses will be allowed to get a given scaled score. Additionally, the tails of the distribution are very drawn out. Only about 1 percent of people get between a 172 and a 180 on the LSAT, but those people's scores are spread out over 8 points of difference on the test. The other side of the distribution is the same so very few people score between a 120 and a 130 on the LSAT. The center of this distribution is roughly 150(it might be more like 154 or something). These are smart college educated people planning on attending law school. So if you start off with a score at or below 150, it isn't a sign that you are in anyway unintelligent.

  Nonetheless, a mediocre score on the LSAT is something you have to overcome. This is because of the nature of law as a field and of law school admissions. First of all, the income distribution of lawyers is very bimodal. There is a large group of lawyers who work for big law firms in big cities and earn a starting salary of around $180,000 a year. The rest of lawyers' salaries are generally clustered around a salary of about $60,000 a year which doesn't take you very far in a rural area let alone a big city. Sadly, the price of most law schools reflects the higher potential salary rather than the low one. Law school usually is about $50,000 a year in tuition and is often higher now. If you are paying that much, you need the $180,000 a year Big Law job at least for a while to pay off your debt. Unfortunately, there are about 14 law schools in the country which give you a better than even chance of landing one of these jobs. These are the Top 14 law schools. You really want to position yourself to at least get into one of these schools. You might choose to take a scholarship at a slightly lower ranked school instead of going to one of these schools, but probably at least need an acceptance at one of them to get the leverage to get a scholarship which would make law school a financially good choice. Depending on your GPA we are probably talking about an LSAT score approaching 170.

  Getting this score could be quick or it could take years. I started at 168 and got a 172 a few weeks later. I still found it worthwhile to study longer for a retake since every point counts for acceptances and scholarships though. That high of an initial score is not the norm even among those who ultimately score highly. Usually people need to improve on all three sections of the test. The only way to find out where you are starting is to take a timed diagnostic practice test. Don't worry if it goes poorly. You are taking it to tell you what to study.

  The most easilly improveable section of the LSAT is logic games. Thankfully for me, it was my main weakness. This is true for many people since it is a totally different type of question than you will be used to from undergrad. That means there is room for relatively easier improvement than the other sections. The main study approach is to do tons of logic games and watch explanation videos of how to do them. You want to do each game until you have entirely memorized how to do it. You will eventually recognize common game types and how to do them. This is where I would start my prep if I were you. Purchase or obtain copies of at least the first 35 LSATs. These are what you will drill on. Photocopy or print at least 4 copies of the logic games from each test (10 is recommended, but if you are picking them up faster you may be able to cut back to 4). Then you take each game and foolproof it in order. After you do the game however long it takes, watch the explanation. Then try it again. Repeat until you can do it in the recommended time and remember all the inferences made in the setup. Then move on to the next game. There is more on foolproofing at the link below. Luckilly for you, 7sage made all of its logic games explanations free. This should take 2-3 months unless you have a lot of time to devote and are really good at games naturally.

  https://7sage.com/how-to-get-a-perfect-score-on-the-logic-games/
  https://7sage.com/logic-game-explanations/

  Once you have done this foolproofing process with the first 35 tests of logic games and basically perfected logic games to the point where you can refularly do a whole section of 4 games in 35 minutes with 0 or 1 mistakes, it will be time to move on to the other sections.

  I think you will both have a better sense for the magnitude of your task then and be better prepared to guage how long preparing for the other two sections will take. I also believe that if you are anything like me, these free logic games explanations will convince you that 7sage is the best resource for LSAT prep. At that point you should select a course based on your needs and how long you think you will need it for. (Powerscore is probably among the best resources as far as books go for logic games, but 7 sages explanations for logic games are free and are better as well as more expansive than the Powerscore Logic Games Bible. I didn't need help in the other sections as much, but would guess the same is true for them).

  During this potentially long process(it was by far the longest test prep I have ever put in and I had an unusual knack for it), you should be careful to protect your GPA. If you ever feel like the preparation is too much back off and focus on your classes. Law schools primarilly care about your LSAT and your undergraduate GPA. However you can take the LSAT after school is over if you need the time. Most law schools actually prefer candidates with a few years of work experience. You can always study for the LSAT while getting that experience.
• gaflparalegal Alum Member

  March 2018 133 karma

  Seeking Perfection- thank you for posting this. I had the same question!! Very helpful.
• Seeking Perfection Alum Member

  March 2018 4428 karma

  @gaflparalegal said:
  Seeking Perfection- thank you for posting this. I had the same question!! Very helpful.

  Thanks, the one place where I may have sort of diverged from the consensus is that others may recommend getting a 7sage course earlier before the foolproofing. This would make the part of the core curriculum which deals with logic games breaking down the games by type more useful than if you foolproof before getting a course.

  But I think rather than use limited money on other resources like the Powerscore books, it is good to see how beneficial 7sage can be by using the free games explanations.
• vivvivcc Member

  March 2018 9 karma

  Seeking perfection- thank you so much!
• westcoastbestcoast Alum Member

  March 2018 3788 karma

  Great breakdown! This should be on the first page on all the law school forums.

  @"Seeking Perfection" said:
  Well to start with you should know a little bit about the test.

  There are three section types: logic games(analytical reasoning), logical reasoning, and reading comprehension. There will be 5 sections on your actual test. There will be two logical reasoning sections, a reading comp section, and a logic games section. There will also be an unscored experimental section which could be any of those types. You won't know which section is experimental. The sections average somewhere around 25 questions a piece with reading comp usually a little longer and logic games a little shorter. Each section is 35 minutes. This makes for around 100 points on the test.

  Your raw score (however many questions you get right out of the roughly 100 question test) is then converted to a scaled score between 120 and 180. This conversion makes it so all the LSATs are approximately equally easy to get any given scaled score on. If the LSAT is particularly easy they will adjust for this in the scale and a higher raw score or fewer misses will be allowed to get a given scaled score. Additionally, the tails of the distribution are very drawn out. Only about 1 percent of people get between a 172 and a 180 on the LSAT, but those people's scores are spread out over 8 points of difference on the test. The other side of the distribution is the same so very few people score between a 120 and a 130 on the LSAT. The center of this distribution is roughly 150(it might be more like 154 or something). These are smart college educated people planning on attending law school. So if you start off with a score at or below 150, it isn't a sign that you are in anyway unintelligent.

  Nonetheless, a mediocre score on the LSAT is something you have to overcome. This is because of the nature of law as a field and of law school admissions. First of all, the income distribution of lawyers is very bimodal. There is a large group of lawyers who work for big law firms in big cities and earn a starting salary of around $180,000 a year. The rest of lawyers' salaries are generally clustered around a salary of about $60,000 a year which doesn't take you very far in a rural area let alone a big city. Sadly, the price of most law schools reflects the higher potential salary rather than the low one. Law school usually is about $50,000 a year in tuition and is often higher now. If you are paying that much, you need the $180,000 a year Big Law job at least for a while to pay off your debt. Unfortunately, there are about 14 law schools in the country which give you a better than even chance of landing one of these jobs. These are the Top 14 law schools. You really want to position yourself to at least get into one of these schools. You might choose to take a scholarship at a slightly lower ranked school instead of going to one of these schools, but probably at least need an acceptance at one of them to get the leverage to get a scholarship which would make law school a financially good choice. Depending on your GPA we are probably talking about an LSAT score approaching 170.

  Getting this score could be quick or it could take years. I started at 168 and got a 172 a few weeks later. I still found it worthwhile to study longer for a retake since every point counts for acceptances and scholarships though. That high of an initial score is not the norm even among those who ultimately score highly. Usually people need to improve on all three sections of the test. The only way to find out where you are starting is to take a timed diagnostic practice test. Don't worry if it goes poorly. You are taking it to tell you what to study.

  The most easilly improveable section of the LSAT is logic games. Thankfully for me, it was my main weakness. This is true for many people since it is a totally different type of question than you will be used to from undergrad. That means there is room for relatively easier improvement than the other sections. The main study approach is to do tons of logic games and watch explanation videos of how to do them. You want to do each game until you have entirely memorized how to do it. You will eventually recognize common game types and how to do them. This is where I would start my prep if I were you. Purchase or obtain copies of at least the first 35 LSATs. These are what you will drill on. Photocopy or print at least 4 copies of the logic games from each test (10 is recommended, but if you are picking them up faster you may be able to cut back to 4). Then you take each game and foolproof it in order. After you do the game however long it takes, watch the explanation. Then try it again. Repeat until you can do it in the recommended time and remember all the inferences made in the setup. Then move on to the next game. There is more on foolproofing at the link below. Luckilly for you, 7sage made all of its logic games explanations free. This should take 2-3 months unless you have a lot of time to devote and are really good at games naturally.

  https://7sage.com/how-to-get-a-perfect-score-on-the-logic-games/
  https://7sage.com/logic-game-explanations/

  Once you have done this foolproofing process with the first 35 tests of logic games and basically perfected logic games to the point where you can refularly do a whole section of 4 games in 35 minutes with 0 or 1 mistakes, it will be time to move on to the other sections.

  I think you will both have a better sense for the magnitude of your task then and be better prepared to guage how long preparing for the other two sections will take. I also believe that if you are anything like me, these free logic games explanations will convince you that 7sage is the best resource for LSAT prep. At that point you should select a course based on your needs and how long you think you will need it for. (Powerscore is probably among the best resources as far as books go for logic games, but 7 sages explanations for logic games are free and are better as well as more expansive than the Powerscore Logic Games Bible. I didn't need help in the other sections as much, but would guess the same is true for them).

  During this potentially long process(it was by far the longest test prep I have ever put in and I had an unusual knack for it), you should be careful to protect your GPA. If you ever feel like the preparation is too much back off and focus on your classes. Law schools primarilly care about your LSAT and your undergraduate GPA. However you can take the LSAT after school is over if you need the time. Most law schools actually prefer candidates with a few years of work experience. You can always study for the LSAT while getting that experience.