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Is PowerScore necessary?
Did I Stutter
Member
Hello friends!
Since joining the 7sage community a short while ago, I have been seeing the power score books mentioned a lot.
Are they necessary? Will I be at a disadvantage if I don't use them?
This is not my first time studying for the lsat. I have used other prep courses before and have also self studied with the LSAT trainer (which i loved). So, I'm just curious because since I have the ultimate+, I already have access to all lsat questions so I'm afraid to bother investing in the powerscore books if i don't really need them.
Comments
Nah. I started with Powerscore and read the LG book. I ended up honestly more confused than where I started. I find 7sage to be significantly better. Many people also think the trainer and 7sage are complementary, so that's a good combination to have. You really don't need anything beyond 7age IMO, but some materials sometimes click better with people than others. But if you like the trainer and already have 7sage, I wouldn't add anything else.
No, especially since you meddled around with at least two prep courses and the Trainer. Taking a proper prep course is more than enough to get you equipped to tackle the LSAT. And you had the Trainer. They all point in the same direction. So do the Bibles. So does 7Sage.
Stop theorizing. Start practicing. Get your target score.
I wasted a lot of time with the PowerScore books. 7Sage is way better.
You will be at a disadvantage if you DO use them, haha. Their LR is actually okay, but the LG and RC are just terrible.
It's not necessary nor is it sufficient.
powerscore is a pain to get through but it does sort of help. with the logic games it helped me break down the games. in my opinion the logical reasoning PS book is overly complicated. 7sage is more user friendly.
It certainly isn’t necessary, but I think the LG and LR bibles can be helpful. I liked the LG bible a lot and I think it helps with the fundamentals. However, I found that powerscore focuses way too much on making inferences up front and 7Sage is a strong advocate for splitting the game boards. I felt like when I started to find a nice balance between the two I began dominating the LG section. 7 sage’s videos were super helpful though and obviously you don’t get that with the Bible. I also thought LR was worth going through and if you are looking for some mechanistic ways to solve certain problems it’s not bad. If you are already very familiar with the LSAT and have gone through other courses you probably won’t really get as much out of it though. I mean at the end of the day it kind of depends on how you like to learn and study. If you like to see a ton of material and pick and choose what you want and you have some time then it might be worth going through them. However, if you think excess material is just unnecessary and potentially more confusing when you could just focus on mastering one method then maybe just stick with 7 sage. I know people who have had success with both ways.
I purchased all three PowerScore bibles; personally I thought it was more confusing than helpful. The bibles over-explained many concepts and didn't provide enough practice problems, which I think is just to entice you to purchase their workbooks (a completely different set of books).
I signed up for 7Sage after hearing great things about the course, and I can see why. The lessons are much more clear, and the practice far more abundant on here. Since you're an Ultimate+ member, you'll have more than enough content to go through and practice with on 7Sage!
Powerscore sucks, don't use them. I read 80 pages of their LR book and threw it in the trash. Why you ask? Because they use weird tricks instead of teaching the basic underlying logic, and I hated their explanation of MP and Weakening questions.
This made me laugh out loud. And it was loud.
I like to think of the LSAT as a process to re-wiring your brain. The more you are exposed to the LSAT, the better. From my experience, I have taken a Bruce Lee philosophy to the LSAT. Take what you can use and discard the rest.
Some people have done very well with only the Bibles, some people find them confusing. It depends on your learning style and the ability to process technical language. Since you have Ultimate +, I do not suggest to spend more money for the Bibles.
I started with power score last June and ended up with a 161 in November. Signed up with 7sage after November and ended up with a 166 in Jan. Getting into the flow with all the 7sage tactics and am averaging 168-170 now as I get used to the methods JY preaches.
For me powerscore gave a good foundation for understanding the LR material, 7sage gave me the tools to become a master at it.
With respect to LG 7sage is by far superior to powerscore. RC is a wash because the low res method doesn’t really work for me but that’s personal preference imo.
Thank you everyone!
I just happen to take out the LG Bible from the library for a spin.
They REALLY lost me when they started going on and on about making all of their "not laws". It is much more intuitive for me to try to make "worlds", to quote another LSAT trainer" and just eliminate having to look through a list of "not laws" before placing variables.
But then again, I'm all of 2 weeks into my studies so what do I really know?
Absolutely agree. The not laws get so ridiculous at a certain point you need to split the board or just realize where things can’t go in your mind. I only use not laws now when I think there is a key inference on where something can’t go or if it is a very small board. PowerScore really tries to identify every inference upfront and this strategy technically requires placing every applicable not law. I suppose it could work for some people, but this is something that I think PowerScore really abuses.
Powerscore is not bad to get a basic idea on how to do different question types. I used Powerscore for all three of the sections initially. But my understanding of how to actually solve questions only really solidified after watching JY's video explanations. Similarly for LR - I was -12/15 in LR with powerscore - with CC and JY's explanations it's started improving a lot more. Another useful resource for LR is LSAThacks.com .. check it out, if you find it to be of any use. As for RC ... I'm still trying to figure out what is the best resource for that one! Powerscore is just a basic framework / outline of how to tackle question types. Unless you don't drill and see explanations of answers, it won't take you very far.
I know this is three days late, but just in case you need more convincing. I'm on lesson 9 in the LSAT Trainer and it has SIGNIFICANTLY helped solidify what JY teaches on here. I tried to look at Power Score but it wasn't for me.
Agreed!I spent three months trying to use Powerscore before I started 7sage. I can easily say that the resources 7sage offers, especially for games, is unparalleled. Using Ultimate+ is all you will need.
I think it needs to be pointed out that posting this on the 7Sage discussion board is obviously going to get you responses that are biased. Posting this elsewhere, where your responses aren't solely from people who are in some away affiliated with 7Sage, is going to yield a less biased response. In other words, you're dealing with an unrepresentative sample here.
Go to a PowerScore forum and post the same question about 7Sage and you'll probably get a bunch of people saying the 7Sage style didn't work for them. The reality is, there are several efficient and knowledgeable prep companies that all, in my opinion, do an adequate job of preparing students for the exam. At a certain point it's just about ending up with one that appeals to your particular style.
Having said that, the answer to your question depends a lot on where you are in your stage of preparation and what score you're targeting. Reading the Bibles and doing their exercises could prove beneficial to you. Again, it depends on where you're trying to end up.
Exactly what @tat2142 said. A lot of us had tried other prep stuff (Powerscore, trainer, blueprint) that didn't work or wasn't sufficient so we're biased for 7sage. If you ask people on powerscore forum, I'm sure you'll find tons of people who the style worked for. I'd suggest sticking with the CC for now and focus on one method and mastering fundamentals. After that, you can try others to find different perspectives for an area you might be weak in that 7sage isn't helping you with. I know some people whose fundamentals from 7sage were supplemented by powerscore, trainer, etc. and others who just needed 7sage.
Yeah this was my big problem with the LG bible. They put so much emphasis on writing out every single inference that I would end up with like half a page of random inferences, didn't know how to properly connect them, and was just utterly confused. I think it actually made me worse at LG than my winging it when I did a cold diagnostic. After switching to 7sage, it became so much clearer to me how to chain inferences together, which ones were important, and ended up with much cleaner and more concise notes before diving into the game. Far superior, IMO.
I do think it's a good point that this board is obviously biased toward 7sage. But since OP already has Ultimate+, I think it's a waste of money to buy very expensive books in addition, without knowing yet if 7sage is all they need. I think it's best to only do 1 method at a time, and 7sage is a complete course that covers everything you need to succeed. If you get all the way through the 7sage cc and feel like you are simply not understanding things, then it may be good to look into supplementing. It is true that some styles work better for different people. But Ultimate+ isn't cheap, and I think it's best to stick with that until you really think you need a supplement. The question was not, "is Powerscore a legitimate method of studying for the LSAT that works for some people" but, "is it necessary to read Powerscore alongside 7sage." And to that question, I say: definitely not.
No, you don't need Powerscore. 7sage is superior.
Lol this post is funny to me because the way Dave (the author of the LR Bible) and JY suggest students approach weakening questions are fundamentally equivalent. Both suggest focusing on the conclusion and looking for an answer choice that weakens the amount of support the premises provide. I mention this because I find it amusing when people say certain companies are "trash" or "useless" when in reality, the ones worth their salt all suggest methods that will be helpful to some, or are essentially quite similar.