Advice for a Young Grasshopper

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• 2 Likes

  EagerestBeaver Alum Member

  October 2019 703 karma

  I don't know where you started at diagnostic-wise, but don't feel like an idiot if it is not coming along. I did not get above 160 on a preptest until four to five months of studying, and I am supposedly a "good student" who does "well in academia". That is not to toot my horn but to express that no matter where you are at or what you perceive yourself to be, this shit is hard and tangible signs of progress are erratic.

  Additionally, quality over quantity. If you are studying over six hours a day, in my opinion, you are not getting the mental quality of those study hours. Many (tutors who are much more knowledgable than I) would even say that five should be a maximum for hours in a day. You are playing the long game, let the knowledge sink and focus on more attuned studying than quantity of studying.

  Lastly, invest in at least one hour of high-quality tutoring. If you are prepared for an eight month commitment, it is worth the several hundred dollars for a couple of hours with a top flight tutor. There is some stuff about the LSAT that you may not be able to grasp on your own, and they can really clear some stuff up quickly to get you on the pathway to success more efficiently.

  Good luck.
• 5 Likes

  GSU Hopeful Core ⭐

  October 2019 1644 karma

  I definitely second the sentiment of quality over quantity. These concepts need time to settle into your brain and the connections take time to form. The mistake I made years ago when I first started studying was thinking that I was "working hard" by hammering away at all this stuff for hours on end. You're not doing yourself any favors with it. It could take 8 months, or it could take 3 years. You will reach your full potential when you reach it.
• 2 Likes

  jenna-e-nelson Member

  October 2019 19 karma

  Ooooh, so many thoughts about this. Most importantly, set a study schedule that is realistic for you and stick to it. Holding yourself accountable to the study schedule won't only help you with the actual test, but will also help you develop habits and skills necessary once in law school. Also, here is something my pre-law advisor told me that I think is really worth sharing "when you receive your score, if you are able to look yourself in the mirror and know you gave this everything you had, that is all that matters."
• MustBeFalse Member

  October 2019 100 karma

  Great advice - thanks everyone!
• 1 Like

  GSU Hopeful Core ⭐

  October 2019 1644 karma

  And to add... a quick read of "Grit" by Angela Duckworth will do wonders for maintaining a great mindset through the ups and downs of this process.
• 1 Like

  studyingandrestudying Core Member

  October 2019 5254 karma

  I'd say maybe start learning about games, do a review of logic, and start reading some RCs. I remember listening to some Thinking LSAT episodes when I was starting out and these were helpful, though keep in mind they sometimes go off on tangents.
• 3 Likes

  pstroud97 Member

  October 2019 137 karma

  I think the hardest part of studying is figuring out what to do when you finish the CC. Yes you want to take PTs and BR like crazy, but after I finished the CC, I had no structure for my other studying time.
  If I were you, I'd keep an active log of what concepts or problem sets you struggled with the most while going through the CC (star them, write them down, etc.). That way, when you finish the CC and say "okay, what now?", you have a solid idea of your weaknesses and can go redo all of that stuff.
  I didn't do that, and by the time I finished the RC CC, I could hardly recall what I struggled with the most in LR. PTs helped me figure that out, but it would have been super useful to have kept up with that better during my CC journey.
• miriaml7 Live Member

  October 2019 edited October 2019 1014 karma

  @pstroud97 I am in the same boat right now. I finished the CC about four weeks ago and ended up deciding that I should immediately attack the PTs. I have taken three so far and have been continuously going down with my score. My first PT was a 149, second was a 140, and the most recent one went down to a 137. To me it's clear that I do not have a strong grasp on the CC and need to address that before I begin thinking about taking any other PTs. With that being said, what did you find to be the most productive way to address your weaknesses from the CC? Really appreciate your time!
• 1 Like

  pstroud97 Member

  October 2019 137 karma

  @miriaml When I began PTing, I only took one every two weeks or so. Once I would BR, I'd group questions I missed by type for LR and LG, go back to the CC, and redo them like crazy. I'd usually redo the hardest problem sets from the CC and skip the easy ones, though. I also think reviewing logic lessons is important - it's so easy to forget the nuances of it even if you have the basic ideas down. Hope that helps a little!
• Sharon_sarangyang Member

  October 2019 91 karma

  Strong fundamentals+ good work ethics+ awareness of a life outside of LSAT. You can do it!
• 1 Like

  BlindReviewer Alum Member

  October 2019 855 karma

  You're basically following the timeline I did last year, and I would definitely say that though reps are important (just doing section after section / PT after PT), critically reviewing is even more important. That is, we already blind review, but you need to go as deep as possible into blind review, and sometimes get a little more abstract. You have to think about the relationships across questions for LR traps/stimuli and LG. I kept a google doc "LSAT Journal" to keep track of the discoveries I was making and also wrote out explanations for every LR question and kept a spreadsheet to revisit them periodically.

  Also, eventually you may want to think about recording yourself and creating timing sheets once you have the fundamentals and knowledge down. There's a whole strategy element to pacing yourself on the sections, and thinking about that is another "phase" in your LSAT journey (unless it comes naturally to you, which it definitely didn't for me haha). One more thing is just that the podcasts and webinars on 7sage are probably one of the best study resources aside from the CC on this site!