Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Categories
- 33.4K All Categories
- 28.1K LSAT
- 17.1K General
- 5.2K Logical Reasoning
- 1.4K Reading Comprehension
- 1.7K Logic Games
- 70 Podcasts
- 191 Webinars
- 11 Scholarships
- 194 Test Center Reviews
- 2.2K Study Groups
- 112 Study Guides/Cheat Sheets
- 2.5K Specific LSAT Dates
- 31 November 2024 LSAT
- 18 October 2024 LSAT
- 9 September 2024 LSAT
- 38 August 2024 LSAT
- 28 June 2024 LSAT
- 4 April 2024 LSAT
- 11 February 2024 LSAT
- 22 January 2024 LSAT
- 38 November 2023 LSAT
- 43 October 2023 LSAT
- 14 September 2023 LSAT
- 38 August 2023 LSAT
- 27 June 2023 LSAT
- 30 Sage Advice
- 5K Not LSAT
- 4K Law School Admissions
- 13 Law School Explained
- 10 Forum Rules
- 641 Technical Problems
- 286 Off-topic
Related Discussions
1 Like
How to study for the 3rd Retake???
dictronic110
Alum Member
I dreamed about getting a JD in the US before I came here but I didn’t dare to even look at a LSAT question because I wasn’t that confident in English. I came to the US for an LLM degree in 2013 and purchased 7sage ultimate course one week after graduation in May 2014.
My diagnostic was an untimed 159. I went through the curriculum in June and started PTs in July. I did 3 PTs a week. At first I would do 5 sections, then 6 sections, using old tests as experimental sections. On non-PT days I would also drill individual sections from old tests. I always BR.
My first 14 PTs were in the low 160s with the highest being 169. But the last 2 (PT 48 & 49) I got 159. I knew I burned out. I took a one-week vacation, after which I went through the RC/LG part of the LSAT Trainer in a week. I then took PT ABC in the following week. I got 170, 167, 166 respectively.
In September I started doing PT 50s and I was in the low-mid 160s during PT 50-55. I thought it was because the PT ABC were relatively old, so they were easier. But as I got used to the newer tests, I could see incremental improvements to mid-high 160s in PT 55-60, with 2 low 170s.
In October I scored 5 170s consecutively, the highest being 175 in PT64. I then started redoing older PTs, where I usually did 2 PTs back to back in the morning and another 1 in the afternoon. I drilled some sections from the latest PTs, rather than on their entirety. I did the rest PTs in a library with my study buddy. At this stage I would do the PTs at various places, including my desk, library, coffee shop, supermarket and so on. But I only had 5 170s out of my most recent 10 PTs, others being mid-high 160s.
When I went to the test room in December, I had done all 78 available PTs (PT 1-73, ABC, June 07, Feb 97). But the test didn’t go so well. I usually had little trouble with LG but for some reason the last two games were just so weird to me that I literally thought about cancelling during the first section. I barely finished them in the last second. I had two RCs with the scored one being the fifth section. I had trained myself intensively but I felt exhausted during the last section. I felt that I rushed and had difficulty understanding.
I didn’t study during the waiting month and got 169, with -1 in LG, -6 in RC and -3 in each LR. I decided not to apply for the cycle and retake it in Feb. I bought Manhattan Guides for RC/LR and several Cambridge packages (weaken/strengthen/ RRE, etc).
I had a part-time job but I thought it was OK. Since I had BRed before, so I would just circle the questions that I thought worthy of going through again after the drill. I still redid maybe nearly 30 PTs in January. Sometimes I would do 100 RRE questions and 8 humanities passages in a row.
The Feb test went OK, though there were some questions I wasn’t sure about and I felt I rushed the RC too (again the fifth section). Another 169. I know that I’ve made quite some progress in the test and it may well be that 169 is my potential on the real test. But I want to take my last chance.
I had thought the LSAT as mental heavy lifting and tried to train my mental muscle accordingly. However, upon reflection, I made my biggest improvement in BR and the curriculum when I would just focus one question type.
I think I need to hone my fundamentals again, rather than stressing repetition and quantity. My initial strategy for June is that I go through the Trainer and Manhattan Guide for LR/RC again, but really slowly and carefully. And I need to set stricter time limits for redoing PTs, 32m or 30m per section.
Another problem for me is that redoing PTs and the real tests were so different for me. I got used to getting 180 in redoing familiar PTs, though I would try to force myself to go through the processes even in redoing. But the unfamiliarity in the real test just made me very uncomfortable. I’ve practiced skipping questions consciously and thinking fast. But I found my brain couldn’t think slowly and deeply enough to tackle some hard RC/LR Qs during the test. It was being “conservative”. I wonder how I can find certainty in a test which is designed to let me experience uncertainty. How can I improve?
Sorry for the long post. Hope it’s not so confusing. I know this is an amazing community and I’ve got a lot of help and motivation from it. I truly appreciate any advice and suggestion. Thanks!!!
My diagnostic was an untimed 159. I went through the curriculum in June and started PTs in July. I did 3 PTs a week. At first I would do 5 sections, then 6 sections, using old tests as experimental sections. On non-PT days I would also drill individual sections from old tests. I always BR.
My first 14 PTs were in the low 160s with the highest being 169. But the last 2 (PT 48 & 49) I got 159. I knew I burned out. I took a one-week vacation, after which I went through the RC/LG part of the LSAT Trainer in a week. I then took PT ABC in the following week. I got 170, 167, 166 respectively.
In September I started doing PT 50s and I was in the low-mid 160s during PT 50-55. I thought it was because the PT ABC were relatively old, so they were easier. But as I got used to the newer tests, I could see incremental improvements to mid-high 160s in PT 55-60, with 2 low 170s.
In October I scored 5 170s consecutively, the highest being 175 in PT64. I then started redoing older PTs, where I usually did 2 PTs back to back in the morning and another 1 in the afternoon. I drilled some sections from the latest PTs, rather than on their entirety. I did the rest PTs in a library with my study buddy. At this stage I would do the PTs at various places, including my desk, library, coffee shop, supermarket and so on. But I only had 5 170s out of my most recent 10 PTs, others being mid-high 160s.
When I went to the test room in December, I had done all 78 available PTs (PT 1-73, ABC, June 07, Feb 97). But the test didn’t go so well. I usually had little trouble with LG but for some reason the last two games were just so weird to me that I literally thought about cancelling during the first section. I barely finished them in the last second. I had two RCs with the scored one being the fifth section. I had trained myself intensively but I felt exhausted during the last section. I felt that I rushed and had difficulty understanding.
I didn’t study during the waiting month and got 169, with -1 in LG, -6 in RC and -3 in each LR. I decided not to apply for the cycle and retake it in Feb. I bought Manhattan Guides for RC/LR and several Cambridge packages (weaken/strengthen/ RRE, etc).
I had a part-time job but I thought it was OK. Since I had BRed before, so I would just circle the questions that I thought worthy of going through again after the drill. I still redid maybe nearly 30 PTs in January. Sometimes I would do 100 RRE questions and 8 humanities passages in a row.
The Feb test went OK, though there were some questions I wasn’t sure about and I felt I rushed the RC too (again the fifth section). Another 169. I know that I’ve made quite some progress in the test and it may well be that 169 is my potential on the real test. But I want to take my last chance.
I had thought the LSAT as mental heavy lifting and tried to train my mental muscle accordingly. However, upon reflection, I made my biggest improvement in BR and the curriculum when I would just focus one question type.
I think I need to hone my fundamentals again, rather than stressing repetition and quantity. My initial strategy for June is that I go through the Trainer and Manhattan Guide for LR/RC again, but really slowly and carefully. And I need to set stricter time limits for redoing PTs, 32m or 30m per section.
Another problem for me is that redoing PTs and the real tests were so different for me. I got used to getting 180 in redoing familiar PTs, though I would try to force myself to go through the processes even in redoing. But the unfamiliarity in the real test just made me very uncomfortable. I’ve practiced skipping questions consciously and thinking fast. But I found my brain couldn’t think slowly and deeply enough to tackle some hard RC/LR Qs during the test. It was being “conservative”. I wonder how I can find certainty in a test which is designed to let me experience uncertainty. How can I improve?
Sorry for the long post. Hope it’s not so confusing. I know this is an amazing community and I’ve got a lot of help and motivation from it. I truly appreciate any advice and suggestion. Thanks!!!
Comments
Or maybe I need to read books more extensively to really build up my abilities? What do you think?
I think going over some books might help a little bit depending on how you are with fundamentals.
idk how much a tutor will do for you at this point in your prep but many do a free consultation/15-30min session so you can see if you think it would help
I feel like there was something else but cant remember so will post if I do lol
@rachelHaw Thanks for your info about tutors! But where do you think the tutors would be particularly helpful? If it's just for explanations, I could easily go to 7sage for LG and Manhattan forum for RC/LR.
@emli1000 I've BRed all available PTs once. But still I haven't done enough. I really hope they could disclose the Feb test so I know where I went wrong. Thanks for you suggestion!