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LSAT - Help!
Hi everyone - I am new here.. I am planning on writing the LSAT in September. I did a diagnostic...wasn't great. I bought the PowerScore Trilogy to better study the materials and just joined 7Sage to better grasp everything.
I also work full time and am finishing my undergrad full time as well. I am a mature student and I hope to apply in November and get in for Fall 2020. I know it's a long stretch but I am motivated to at least have a shot at this.
Anyone please help and let me know how I can get started to better prepare myself? Thank you!!
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Hey! I would highly suggest 7sage. If you can afford the Ultimate or Ultimate+, that is the best way to go. I say this because I started with 7sage starter pack, which just gives you the easiest question types. On the real tests, I wasn't scoring as well on the harder question types. I realized I just wanted the exposure and access to all the different questions. This helped me so much. Depending on your diagnostic score, maybe we can discuss a more customized plan...so if you feel comfortable, please do share your section breakdowns!
This is what I would suggest:
DO COURSE CURRICULUM- ATLEAST Logical Reasoning FIRST
1) My biggest tips would be to just trust 7sage, do not use other sources because it will get confusing, and just take your time with the course. Communicate on discussions or ask questions under lessons!
2: Let's just accept that this is a hard test. It is going to depend on how you scored on your first diagnostic, how you score after you finish the CC, and then how much more you improve from there. Take your time with course, understand the lessons, take your own notes, and try to memorize the important stuff too! They have PDFs you can print off! Iwould suggest that keep studying for the LR and progress through that.
LOGICAL REASONING
The Logical Reasoning is a bit more challenging for me though. You want to make sure you don't skip through videos because the way JY explains the WRONG answers is so much more helpful than just getting the RIGHT answer right. You want to know why something is wrong, how that wrong answer could have been correct, and how it may be the correct answer in future logical reasoning questions.
LOGIC GAMES
3) After you have finished the course or atleast the Logical Reasoning....I would suggest that you start with logic games.
You need to do the basic logic lesson and advanced logic lesson. Once you understand the idea of "or" "Not Both" and others...then you can progress to the Logic Games! You need to make sure you go through all those logic games lessons and then start fool proofing. At the same time, keep studying for the Logical Reasoning.
Once you have finished the lessons of the Logic Games, you are going to print off the the logic games bundle which has EVERY game from tests 1-35. Now those games, you want to do atleast 1 game EVERY DAY. Make piles, time yourself, repeat the ones you miss, continue the next day, and don't stop. The piles get bigger, it gets frusterating, keep watching the videos, and you will be fine.For the logic games, I swear it will just click because they just are repeated over and over.
4) Once the LR is done, the logic games are still in process, then just take a breath and take your first Preptest after the course. I know you haven't done the Reading Comp, but honestly just take the test and see how much you improve. This gives you more of a rubric to go off from because you learn what areas you're still weak in. This time you DRILL those areas, such as flaw quesitons or strengthen questions. You will get better slowly. Don't forget to BR all of these (you'll learn what that is in the course).
With the Pts, you want to make sure that are BR'ing correctly. You want to make sure you don't skip through videos because the way JY explains the WRONG answers is so much more helpful than just getting the RIGHT answer right. You want to know why something is wrong, how that wrong answer could have been correct, and how it may be the correct answer in future logical reasoning questions.Depending on your weak areas that you will find in analytics, you could then target those certain question types and drill those sets!
5) Logical Reasoning/ Drilling:
Depending on which areas you think you could improve in after you take the test, I might suggest that you do some timed sections of LR and RC. This will just get you a bit more experience with the test. Make sure you continue to foolproof the games because they always do need practice. It may even be helpful to do "confidence drills" which is something that is mentioned in the post CC videos, if you've seen those. I feel like that could be helpful to just time yourself in a section and try to see how many times you're getting it right on first insticts.
EXTRA TIPS FOR LOGIC GAMES
Logic Games FoolProof BINDER TECHNIQUE
Once you have finished the lessons of the Logic Games, you are going to print off the the logic games bundle which has EVERY game from tests 1-35. Now those games, you want to do atleast 1 game EVERY DAY. Make piles, time yourself, repeat the ones you miss, continue the next day, and don't stop. The piles get bigger, it gets frusterating, keep watching the videos, and you will be fine.
Basically, I decided to print off the logic games bundle which was like all the games from PTs 1-35. I also added to the binder if I did a PT and would just put the games into the binder afterwards. I’ve been using google sheets to track my time, how many I got wrong, what date I first took the test, and more. If I got it wrong the first time, it goes in the second binder which is for more practice. If I missed questions, I would highlight it in red. I highlight in yellow if I had timing problems or if I’m just not 100% confident in the game and got lucky. I move those games to the second binder.
So, I’ll do like 10 PTs, move games accordingly to the second binder, redo the games, and see if there is improvement. If there is improvement, I move the games in the yellow tab for “practice”, but if I still suck…they stay in the red tab.
Usually, I just try the game, time myself, and step away from it. I will try to finish atleast 4 games. Then, I look over the games once more and decide if I want to stick to the answers or not. Which is sort of my BR, I guess. Then, I check the games! For the logic games, I swear it will just click because they just are repeated over and over.
This gives you more of a rubric to go off from because you learn what areas you're still weak in. This time you DRILL those areas, such as flaw quesitons or strengthen questions. You will get better slowly. Don't forget to BR all of these.
Now as you're studying, drilling, doing logic games, then start the RC and just try to see how JY does it. Look at different strategies and implement those. Depending on that, you want to take the test and keep BRing, then taking more tests! I went from a 144 (i think? maybe 143? idk) to a 162-165 in about 3.5 months. I am still studying and trying to take my time with the course, and am hoping to get a 170+ by July. I think you can get into the high 60s or even 70s, but it's going to be ridiculous amount of work! It will all be worth it though!
OVERALL- START WITH THE COURSE. GET THROUGH LR, WORK INTO LG, TAKE A TEST, FIND WEAK AREAS, IMPROVE AREAS, TEST AGAIN!
I didn't do well on my diagnostic...let's say I was confused all together lol. The first time I did it for fun and randomly clicked answers...I got 127...bad I know. I then tried it again a month later and put more effort into it and scored 140 - but this was also half way through I didn't really understand the sections and just clicked anything so I could see my score.
I feel like if I can grasp the concepts and actually put an effort into it I should be able to improve the score and score something in the high 165s...or even 170...
Yeah! You're already improving and once you finish the course, it'll definitely get better! Don't give up! You got this
Consider delaying. FT school and FT work are both a huge commitment. I wouldn't bother studying for the LSAT while you're juggling all of that.
It's just that I am a mature student...I'll be already in my mid 30's if I get in for Fall 2020...I feel like pushing it another year will make it hard for me to find articling etc. and will be competing with all the younger students...?
haha thanks!! I'll see how it goes once I start studying
I would say to spend the majority of your time mastering LR question types in the CC and developing your LR section strategy. Also, I would begin the Fool Proofing process for LG. I wouldn't worry too much about RC until you have a solid understanding of LR and a competitive LG score range
I get what you're saying. I rarely recommend delaying. But in your case, I highly doubt you're going to get near your potential without delaying.
Thanks everyone! I joined the Ultimate+ and will see how it all goes...then decide come Sept to see how I do if I decide to end up writing. So far with school and work I have been able to maintain good grades...don't have a life anymore lolll...but will see how this all goes before I decide if I write in Sept...
Feels like I wasted all the time when I was younger
Well one tip that I hope you take seriously. Do not jump into taking practice tests. Do not burn through practice tests. Treat practice tests like the real thing.
Ok thanks! Any other tips? I downloaded the study schedule...seems like ill have no life until I write the test
Atm I don't have the time to give you much specific advice and I don't like giving general advice because (1) it's already available and (2) I don't know if it'll work for you.
The last thing suggestion I have for you: don't immediately make some elaborate plan of how you're going to study. Study schedules work for most people but right now you probably don't know how much time you will be able to commit. Try to figure out when you have chunks of time and times where you will be effective to study (e.g. not falling asleep) and then plan a study schedule around that.
Good luck!