I had a bunch of different guides ordered from Amazon, but then found 7Sage and found it to be far superior.
However, I frequently see conversation on here about other resources.
My question: Is 7Sage your sole study resource, or do you also use books from other companies? If so, what did you opt for?
Thanks!
J.
Comments
I shares someone's account for a while and I really didn't see how using 7sage alone would be beneficial. I think 7sage is great way to be quicker and reduce time. They are great with LG but as for LR and RC I think using other materials is a must.
On the first round I made the mistake of doing everything on the computer. When I got to the test everything felt foreign even though I had studied for 4 months. I'm not making that mistake again.
ETA: @emli1000 is incorrect re: all 165+ scorers. Some certainly do use multiple methods; some don't. It's all about getting a feel for what's working for you, recognizing what's not, and making adjustments based on that info.
I would work through the 7sage curriculum and see how far that takes you. Maybe after the end of the curriculum, all you need is additional practice. On the other hand, maybe after you're finished, you are still getting those dang necessary assumption questions wrong. That's when I would turn to other resources to see if they address tackling a specific question type a different way. Like @ddakjiking mentioned, Cambridge packets are pretty invaluable for drilling purposes so I'd definitely recommend that.
1. People learn differently, and different ways of expressing material will resonate with different people.
2. LSAT prep companies likely create their material for the "average" LSAT taker.
Let's do the math, and please accept the premise that one should teach material differently based on how advanced one's knowledge of a subject is (i.e. you'd teach english or math differently to a college student than you would a middle schooler).
-In 2013-14, about 100,000 people took the LSAT
-Let's assume about 50% of them take some type of course or material.
-The 50th percentile test takers get around the low 150s. If a prep company creates material that is suitable for the average test taker +/-, say 20%, then they'd be capturing the middle 40th percentile, which is 40,000 people per year.
-Let's say they have 5% market share and their average revenue per customer is $349 (7sage's LSAT Premium package).
-That's about $698,000 per year. After cost of developing the program, overhead, taxes, etc., that's not a ton of profit for reinvestment/expansion.
If we run a similar analysis except assume they only target the top 10th percentile (164+), then the relevant revenue number would be $174,500. I know this doesn't include people who take courses but don't take the test etc., but it provides an idea of the numbers.
In other words, prep companies likely create their material with the goal of pushing you from a low 150 to maybe a mid 160, but don't necessarily tailor it to cause a jump from a mid 160 to a mid 170. People who want to do that are simply too expensive. The end conclusion is this: if you want to do a jump from a mid 160 to 170s+, you'll likely need to customize your learning by either coming up with methods that work best for your particular style, or mix and match course content until you figure out a combo that works for you.