Can I afford to spread out the 'Core' course a bit more than my schedule calls for?

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• 1 Like

  nicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  March 2015 7965 karma

  >Is it imperative that I drill PTs for five and a half months, at 1/2 a week?
  Fresh, timed PT's under exam conditions are extremely important: that's how you get to see how you're really performing under time pressure, at 8am on a Saturday, three sections without a break, etc. And don't forget to add an experimental 5th section (just re-use whatever your weakest section is from another PT and put it in first) to approximate the full effect. At some point, there is a definite benefit to taking more PT's (a fresh one in the morning and a retake in the evening can be an effective way to build stamina!) but don't forget that you will also benefit from retaking PT's. So, set aside 52–74 (I guess you will have 75 by that point as well) for your final 2-3 months and use the earlier tests both as fresh tests in the interim as well as retakes.
  
  >Or, could I perhaps take an extra month on the core curriculum and then increase the frequency of PTs?
  YES. Do this. BUT. Remember that you will not be able to detect all weaknesses in the complete absence of timed PT's. I would say, feel free to re-use PT's from which you've drilled or that you've already taken. Sure, hold off on them entirely until after you've completed all course material to the best of your ability, taking as long as you like. But know that you are not done learning when you have gone through the course material. In many ways, that is when your journey truly begins.
  
  I would recommend a schedule that allows you to go as deep as you want (and your plan sounds great in this regard) for as long as you need to while still bearing in mind that you must practice doing timed sections. Top scorers almost universally report that taking timed/strict PT's followed by super in depth review is the key to their success, on top of really learning the fundamentals.
  
  I would say you are in a very good position to cover both of those bases, but know that you will likely return to the course material (or supplement it with the LSAT Trainer and a few other resources that don't clash dramatically with 7sage) at multiple points, even if you do take extra time and put all of your energy into learning the material right off the bat. You will always benefit from a review of both the fundamentals as well as the finer points.
• 6 Likes

  nicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  March 2015 7965 karma

  >I'm needing around an hour for each game, so this 4 hours soon becomes 20 hours.
  Ok—learn the fundamentals. You know you gotta do that. On my diagnostic I got 7 right out of 23. I typically miss 1 or 2 per section at the moment and almost never run out of time in 35 minutes (and I ain't done cookin' yet).
  
  I also want to give you some tips that I have found very helpful. You mentioned you are taking an hour per game; you have likely heard that an average of 8:45 per game is allotted in a 35-minute section. In reality, one must anticipate some variation—an easy game can take ≤5:00; a hard game can take the best test takers 11-12 minutes.
  
  My Tips:
  
  Start timing yourself for each part of each game. And I mean every single game you touch, every time you touch it. This is a system that I developed and have found to be extremely helpful in tracking my progress.
  
  I use the stopwatch feature in my iPhone Clock as follows:
  1) Get your sharpened #2 pencil, your bubble sheet, and turn to the game. Start the stopwatch ("Start" button).
  
  2) Read game set--up and rules through once before putting pencil to paper (**I do not do the initial cold read anymore, but I did when I was first starting out. Might be a good idea to read through once before writing anything or making any diagramming decisions).
  3) 2nd read of game; write the rules down/implement a diagram.
  4) Confirm all rules (I put a check by each rule once I'm damn sure it's on my diagram correctly)
  5) Return to diagram and find/confirm inferences. Write those close to but separate from the explicit rules. (I find it helpful to visually separate rules from inferences in case I get a substitution/rule change question)
  
  6) Hit "Lap" on the clock app.
  7) Question 1. Do it. When you're done, hit "lap." (after you've bubbled!! OR ... if you bubble at the end of the game, that's fine but do not forget to also record the time you take to bubble).
  8) Question 2. Do it. Hit "lap" when you're done.
  10) Repeat for all questions on the game.
  
  11) When you finish the last question, hit "Stop."
  
  12) Write down your times at the top of the game page as follows:
  —Total: The number in big numerals will be your total time for that game. (JY will say in the games videos ... "Allow 8 minutes for this game" etc. This is the number you will use to compare to how long he says it should take you. Also a great way to track overall progress—some Q's naturally take longer than others, etc. so total game time is a good indicator moving forward)
  —Set-up (I write "SU"): Whatever "Lap 1" says
  —Q1: Whatever "Lap 2" says
  And so on.
  
  Next: Get a pink highlighter, an orange highlighter, and a yellow highlighter.
  1) For any *read-through/set-up* that takes you:
  —More than 3 minutes, highlight it in pink.
  —2.5-3 minutes, highlight in orange.
  —≤2 minutes, highlight in yellow.
  
  2) For any *question* that takes you:
  —More than 1 minute, highlight it in pink.
  —≤1 minute, highlight in orange.
  —≤45 seconds, highlight in yellow.
  
  Yes, I know you will be using your pink highlighter a lot. But eventually you will be all oranges and yellows for many more games/questions, with an occasional pink for a rules swap question or game with lots of inferences. That way, when you get a "big nasty" game like Mauve Dinos or Stained Glass or Zephyr Airlines, you will have done the easier games as efficiently as possible so that you HAVE the 11 or 12 minutes sometimes required to do a super-hard game. Otherwise, 35 minutes gives you 3 minutes to diagram each game and 1 minute to answer every question. Like I said, some questions are almost impossible to do in ≤1 minute and some diagrams will take ≥4 minutes.
• 1 Like

  JustinaJ Alum Member

  March 2015 223 karma

  @Nicole.hopkins you are awesome
• 1 Like

  Controller779 Alum Member

  March 2015 221 karma

  Seconded, thanks, Nicole!
• 1 Like

  emli1000 Alum Member Inactive ⭐

  March 2015 3462 karma

  @nicole.hopkins Where were you when I first started my LSAT prep!