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Related Discussions
Restarting after a long break
Has anyone here ever come back to LSAT studying after a long break? I'm talking, several months. I'm definitely rusty and it's kind of freaking me out at the moment.
I took the December test (Dec 2), and then set everything aside. Took a PT once in January just to test the retention and I got the exact same score as I did on the December test, so I felt pretty good about retaining things. Then focused on applications, life, etc. Now that I made the decision to retake and reapply, I'm back to studying and planning on retaking in June (and maybe September) to try to boost my score a bit.
I took a PT cold a couple weeks ago to see where I'm at and scored a couple points lower. Not a huge deal, but I bombed games (-7 instead of my average -2ish). Did about my average on LR and surprisingly well on RC to balance the LG. My BR was terrible though. It was higher than the PT score, but a full 5 points lower than I BR'd any test since like middle of last year. I tried not to panic and have been working on foolproofing LG to try to shake off the dust. Attempted a full LG section last night though and bombed again even harder - didn't even get to the last 2 games. Now I'm really trying not to freak out.
So my assessment is: I've definitely lost my edge on LG. And while I've been scoring ok on LR, my BR of those sections hasn't been nearly as good. Not doing so hot at correcting my mistakes.
Has anyone been through this? Any advice? Any help keeping me from having a panic attack? haha.
Comments
I don't really have any advice, but can say I admire you. I don't think I have it in me to go back to the LSAT again. As much as people have told me to re-take, I just don't think I can haha
I think you just need to shake rust off and it'll come back. I don't think it's something you can truly and permanently forget!
I didn't take a months long total break, but I fell into a really light study routine from November through January. Same thing you described happened. My LG score plummeted when I came back to timed sections (went from -0/-1 to as low as -7). Really freaked out for a couple of weeks, but finally hunkered down and went through my packets of games by type again. After a few weeks of grinding it out my LG score was back. If you did it once you can do it again!
I came back after deciding to finish undergrad. While I'm nowhere near your scoring, just give it time. After studying something for this long and intently, it would be hard to get rid of. It's natural to panic a bit, but remember the test isn't tomorrow haha! You'll shake the rust off and be back running in no time!
If you could get the logic games once you'll get them down again and it will be much quicker this time.
You learned it once, so you can definitely learn it again! And while you may be rusty, you're still further ahead than when you first started, meaning you can only get better.
I've studied for the LSAT in two distinct chunks: one was for around 6 or 7 months leading up to the December 2017 test, a month long break for exams and finals, and again since January until now (with a month long break for final papers and exams from late March to early April). I also had these feelings of rustiness and self-doubt when I returned to practicing, on both occasions. But what I've realized is that these feelings are just that, feelings; I'm actually better at some things I was struggling with before (like maybe you are, with your higher RC scores).
End of the day, the more time you spend with this material, the better you'll do. And now that you've taken some time off, you can come back to the subject matter with a fresh perspective.
@"Leah M B"
I was in a similar position as you when I came back to studying after the December LSAT and 2018 admissions.
Rather than doing full PTs or timed LG sections, how about doing separate drills on sequencing, in/out, grouping, mixed? You probably don't need to learn it all over again, so it would be good to just separate out and clarify LG by each type.
I took a full-fledged six month break to finish up my undergrad! I hadn't fallen back to my diagnostic score during that break but I definetly hadn't retained everything. Although, I didn't really learn much the first time around, so we're different in that sense because from what I've seen you were really active in the community and did make great gains.
The good thing about the break is that you've probably unlearned any bad habits you had. I'd say take deep breathes and don't panic. It's like getting an injury and taking time off to heal. When you start up again you're not going to be where you were pre-injury because your muscles have loosened but you can definetly build it back up again.
The last thing you want to do is push yourself to prove that "I got this," bomb and then panic even more. Try going through the curriculum for LG again, starting off with the simple sequencing games, keep a tab open on your browser of the conditional indicator flashcards. You don't want to jump in the deep end right away because it'll be counter-productive. Go through the grammar lessons, argument structure. You want to build your intuition up again so that this stuff becomes second-nature and you don't have to think about it, especially for LR. I'd reccomend lightly going through the CC to get a refresher on everything, some easy problem sets to build your muscles up again before doing more PT's.
Thank you all for the encouragement and advice! Good to hear experiences from a couple others who have felt this way too. Ugh. Really disheartening to feel like I've taken a few steps back. But going to try to keep focusing and hopefully it will all come back.
The good news is, you retained everything but the LG! The easiest to improve on by far, I think you'll be ok
You probably just got in your head about them. I think you'll be fine after a few more PTs!!!
This last semester was pretty challenging for me to maintain a good gpa so I took significant focus away from the LSAT. I guess that i'd call that a break. I still did 4-5 hours a week but nothing that intense. I'm transitioning to full time for the next 4 months to compensate for the months I lost this semester. Not sure how it will go though
Definitely me as I underwent treatment. The best thing you can do is take the time to relearn any areas you seem rusty in and of course review everything else before moving on. It might take more time but it's necessary to move ahead. You can do it.
This was perfectly said actually and this thought process is what keeps me sane when I have to move a few steps back. Lol. 1+
Hey there,
I just want to stay I am right there with ya.
Like you, I took Dec LSAT. I applied late to all schools, and hardly got in anywhere. It is daunting to look at the 7sage curriculum and try to tackle it, AGAIN but it helps to know there are people like you also in a similar situation.
If anything, I wanted to say you are not alone and studying harder this second time around will pay off!
I took an entire month off during my preparation, so my rust wasn't quite as significant as yours may be, but it was nonetheless substantial. This was a source of anxiety at first but not for long. My advice is to really refocus your efforts when you begin--do everything that worked for you before, except try to be more exacting, more organized, and perhaps more creative in your skill application/studies. Try to take stock of ALL you do similarly to how you used to prepare and all you do differently. Through this, you may gain more insight into your routine, your strengths, weaknesses, and how you can adjust to improve.
tl;dr: You should be especially analytical of your LSAT approach in your return. This is a great opportunity for you to learn more about yourself and the way your brain works.
I’ve done it twice
The first time I was studying, I was a senior in college and I had to stop because I legit had a panic attack lol. So I needed to take some time and let life calm down because I was tackling way too much at once.
A year and a half went by before I started studying again. I took the LSAT, took a few months off again and I’m back at it.
I can tell you that it’s more of a mental hurdle because you feel rusty and discouraged and, for me at least, I worried I would have to put in the same amount of effort to catch up and re-learn. You don’t though. You pick it up back up, and I think the break actually gives you the ability to reapproach and have a better understanding.
My advice is to go over the basics of conditional logic, the question types, and the strategies. You’ll get the refresher you need and you’ll be reminded of the little details you may have forgotten. Make an outline or a cheat sheet to refer back to. And once you’re comfortable there just get back into practice tests and reviewing and you’ll be back to where you were in no time.
The most important thing is to be patient with yourself and to not get discouraged. That’s pretty much the most challenging part of picking it back up after some time off in my opinion.
Good luck!
I'm just restarting after a concussion... which, unfortunately, I'm still not fully recovered from. I took off from the end of November through the middle of last week. I did all of LR before my concussion, and I'm going to take the rest of May to relearn everything. I'm trying to not get discouraged, especially since a lot of what I learned is coming back to me pretty easily. In order for me to be less hard on myself, I have to go into it with the mindset that I'm just learning this stuff for the first time. If I happen to learn it quickly, I'm a badass. If I get confused, I never learned it, so that's ok!
Aloha Leah! I’m in a very similar boat, but I decided not to apply late, considered a Feb retest but then decided on June. Only to not look at prep material until two weeks ago. Now September is seeing more likely. It’s HARD to get back into the study groove. Also hard to even know where to start. I wanted to score higher than December, obviously, but it has me thinking I need to relearn any of my weak areas. I went -8 on LG in December when I was consistently -0/-1. And there are a few question types. I studied pretty hard for December so prep tests are limited, even full sections are limited.
I found I had to organize all my material, determine what preptests I have left to do fully timed, and what full sections do I have. Drilling is another issues all together. Creating a new complete schedule plan for myself helped with getting back into studying. I didn’t focus too much on scoring lower or blind reviewing worse, which I did. Instead I acted like that was my new “cold diagnostic” and I was going to raise that score like I raised my first diagnostic.
I’m still deciding between June and Sept, trying to not be as rigid as i was in December but just as diligent. You got this! And way to go with RC improvements!!
Definitely in a better position coming back.
The material is easier to learn each time around, and it becomes more intuitive.
Also, there is a learning curve, of how to work problems, as well as another on how to effectively review. These things stay at or near where you left off.
Having been through four periods of intense study, I believe test-takers are better off with three periods of five weeks of intense study rather than fifteen weeks straight through.
It settles in a bit during the down time.
I had intended to comment on this post for a while now but kept forgetting...
I took about 18 months off for an actual LSAT on which I scored a 170. I think I gave myself 2-3 weeks to do untimed PTs (tried to finish within 45 minutes though), one section at a time. For AR, I tried to nail easy sets first (like those lovely tiny linear games from the first 20 PTs) before seriously tackling comparatively harder ones.
No comment on BRing LRs, as that was before I found 7Sage.
Thanks everyone! It's so helpful to keep hearing additional perspectives. So glad to know I'm not the only one haha. It's probably just extra frustrating because I know I can do better than I am right now, but I need to be patient. Hoping that RC wasn't a fluke, maybe I just needed some space from it to gain better perspective. But some really good tips - I'm going to hold off on PTs until I'm feeling a little more confident. I'll try going through more of the problem sets and not a bad idea to maybe just do a full untimed PT. Work through all the material but with less pressure.
Thanks again, friends!