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Hi guys, I’ve mostly been a lurker on the forum, but now that my cycle is officially over, I wanted to share a little bit about my LSAT journey and methods. It might not help, and I am no way attempting to plug my study methods. This is just for reference.
My LSAT journey started out in 2016 with the Blueprint Games book. I spent a whole semester on and off familiarizing myself with the games section and going through the book. I took a lot of notes (which in hindsight was not very helpful at all). Then, I learned about 7Sage and purchased the starter pack. At the time, I was still in school full time (STEM major) and working part-time as well, so not a lot of prep time for the LSAT. I was PTing around 160-164, and because I wanted to head straight to law school after graduation, I decided to take the test and wing it. Definitely do not recommend this. I did horribly and did not finish four of the five sections. There was a terrible game section that I believe was an experimental. There was a game about beer companies and different types of beer that I completely blanked on. Got my first score back, it was barely over 160 and it felt like my whole world was ending when I decided to take a year off to study and better prepare. Now looking back, the year was totally worth it, both in terms of the score increase and my mental health. I was able to focus on my classes and enjoy graduation without stressing about the LSAT.
After graduation, I tried a few different approaches to learning the LSAT. Velocity LSAT, LSATHACK, Powerscore, LSAT trainer, etc. In my humble opinion, and everyone is different, I think my score increase mainly came from perfecting the games section, and that I have to attribute that to 7Sage and Blueprint. I preferred using the Blueprint method when drawing diagrams for games and using 7Sage when it came down to reviewing the games. My diagramming technique ended up being a blend of 7Sage and BP, which I found super helpful.
The Blind Review method was very good for the LR sections, but didn’t really do much for me in RC. There were just always a few questions in reading comprehension that I got wrong regardless of how long I looked at them. I honestly don’t think I ever mastered RC, which is my my final score wasn’t as high as it could have been.
In summary, this is what I think worked for me:
It took me about three to four months of full time study after graduation to get to 177-178ish blind review scores. I averaged 170 during the last few PTs (PT80-84) and I barely made it over the mark on the actual test. Although I did hear multiple people say the test I sat was super super hard, I don’t really think it would have affected my score too much, maybe 1 0r 2 point upward fluctuation?
I don’t think my method was actually the best or the most comprehensive, and I honestly don’t know if I can say that I succeeded on the LSAT, but I did end up somehow getting accepted to Harvard (after much struggle and the most awkward interview of my life), so I think that it might be safe to say the LSAT is just one (albeit very important) component of your entire application.
Honestly, this is such a supportive place. Special shoutout to @"Leah M B" for answering so many of our questions. Hope everyone can get into their dream school!
Comments
OMG! This is so amazing and super inspiring. Congratulations! I'm going to send you a private message as well!
Well done! Harvard is an amazing achievement and you should be super proud!
Thank you for taking the time to write this out. It means so much!
CONGRATS!!!
Congratulations!! Would definitely love to hear more about your application cycle once you take a well deserved break
Wow!! That's amazing!! Congratulations!!
If you don't mind me asking, what was your undergrad GPA and major(s)? And did you do any sort of reading or philosophical studying prior to taking the LSAT?
Wow! An Exemplary. Good luck!
Amazing, love seeing these posts. Do your thing up there & congrats!
congratulations! great to hear success stories.
Congratulations & Thanks for sharing your strategies!! Best of luck to you!!
Congratulations!!!
@simple_jack I majored in Biochem and had a near-perfect GPA. And no, I didn't really do much reading in the humanities, so I definitely had trouble with them in the reading portion.
SUPER CONGRATS TO YOU!! Thanks for sharing what worked for you. Have fun at Harvard!!
Congrats! Still struggling around 150...
WOW freaking amazing!! I'm so happy for you!! And so honored for your special shout out lol. CONGRATULATIONS!!!
https://media.giphy.com/media/yoJC2GnSClbPOkV0eA/giphy.gif
@cccccccccqi > @cccccccccqi said:
Stick with the blind review method and you will improve. The LSAT is a very learnable skill, but it's going to take time for your brain to adjust. Wishing you the best of luck!!!
Thank you!!!! I know you'll kick ass at Northwestern!!!!
First of all, Congratulations!!!
Just curious, but what made you want to pursue law school after studying with a Biochem major?? Were you initially interested in the health field?
@toppriority Yes, I loved my biochem years. Wouldn't trade them for another major.
Wow, congrats. I can't imagine how that feels. Represent 7sage students well out there! Best of fortunes for your coming years.
Can you explain what you mean by "formal logic component" of RC?
@Bamboosprout Ah, sorry that note was more meant for the LR and LG sections. Should have been more specific. Hope that clears things up!
Ahhh, so you meant the existential and universal quantifiers?
So inspiring! Your username and results.
Yup!
@Filibuster lol, thanks dude