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I raised my score by 22 points in 2 months (151-173) Study Tips
seabec5310
Core Member
Before I begin, I think it would help if I stated my strong and weak points so that if they differ greatly from yours, you don't have to waste your time by reading this post (since it wouldn't help you much). I started studying for the July LSAT in May and even though this only gave me two solid months, I was confident it would be enough because I have very few skills but one of them is that I can motivate myself. If you can sit down and read a textbook for 5-7 hours straight, then the recommended 900 hours of studying for the LSAT would be overkill.
My strong points: Logic games (more specifically pacing myself), Logic Reasoning (more specifically finding the point of the argument and trap)
My weak points: READING COMPREHENSION... It haunts me in my sleep
My PT schedule:
The first few weeks I took a practice test once a week. I started in the 70's (just so I can start learning from the most recent tests and not just be introduced to them at the very end).
After 3 weeks I took a PT every other day. This lasted for about 2 weeks. In the 6th week of studying I took a practice test everyday, sometimes twice a day. (HOWEVER, since I was getting only 10-15 wrong each time, it didn't take me long to review the test and learn from my mistakes. If it takes you half the day to understand where you went wrong then you shouldn't take two PTs a day. Only take another PT after you fully understand where you messed up on the last one). This phase of taking one everyday lasted for about 2 weeks. (I took around 40 practice tests in total).
My resources:
I started with the powerscore LSAT bibles, I read 70% of all three and then realized I wasn't learning anything new. Also, I found out about 7sage way to late in the game. I think it was week 6 when I found them. I don't regret not starting with 7sage though, powerscore lays down a better foundation (in my opinion) so that when I started using 7sage I didn't feel the need to watch any of the introductory videos in the syllabus section.
After I took a PT, I would do a blind review and would treat watching a video of J.Y. explaining the problem as the last resort. Even if I got the question wrong on the blind review and looked at what the answer actually was, it benefited me to take time and try to figure out myself why that was the answer.
Logic Games:
Someone said you need to master this section first, before you do anything else. I completely agree, I spent the first 3 weeks 50% focused on logic games and 50% focused on LR and RC. It felt good to only be in week 4 but to have an average of -1 for LG. My tip for logic games is to try different ways to diagram. As soon as I started to diagram almost every game as a chart rather than just lines, I felt much more comfortable and my average score for that section went from a -5 to a -1.
Logic Reasoning:
As soon as I felt like I (just about) masted LG, then I moved on to logic reasoning. Most of my study time was spent on logic reasoning (I didn't know July was going to be flex). I didn't catch on to the "read the question first" strategy for the longest time because powerscore doesn't recommend it. Reading the question first really helped me, I also slowed down my reading and tried to focus on the minute details of the argument or set of facts. This is not a tip and it's not really helpful but its what honestly increased by score over the weeks: I started to gain an intuition for what the trick LSAC had up their sleeve was. I would read an argument and focus on a specific word or tone and I anticipated what the WRONG answer would be. I know a lot of LSAT study sources tell you to anticipate the correct answer (which is very helpful) but if you can find the knack for anticipating the trick answer, that will make you a million times more comfortable.
Reading Comprehension:
I barely improved on this section and it frustrated me to no end. The only tip I have, which I used in only the last week of studying, is to feel free to either not take notes, take copious notes or only take limited notes, whatever. I know LSAT tutors usually tell you to have a set strategy for note taking but I found it useful to just judge for myself based on the passage. If there was a science passage, I would take notes on the structure. If it was an art passage, I would maybe take notes on the different view points. For philosophy passages I always felt comfortable and never took notes. Point being, feel free to decide while you're reading the passage if you should take notes, you know best what will make you understand the passage.
Last week preparations:
This may sound like superstitious over kill but this was really important for me. I didn't study the day before the test and the morning of the test I did 8 LR questions and one LG to warm up.
The week before I only took 3 PTs and did minimal studying.
I had a planned breakfast (every time I took a PT I ate the same exact thing at the same exact time each day, just so I knew it wouldn't upset my stomach). In case anyone cares, I had a white cheddar babel cheese at 9:30 and my LSAT was at 10:30. I would wake up at 7:00.
(DISCLAIMER: You may find the next sentence corny and overly superstitious). I made sure to wear the sweater and socks I wore when I scored my highest PT score. That may sound stupid but it gave me comfort which means a lot on test day. To continue with the corny mental preparation, I watched the movie Marley & Me the night before because when I cry, it calms my nerves. I encourage you to wring out your emotions like a wet towel the night before your test. This will make you feel emotionally drained the next morning (too numb to be nervous) but your brain will be good as new.
Also, I started exercising to take a forced mental break while studying so I definitely put in a long workout the day before my test. My muscles were sore and tired which meant I wouldn't be fidgeting.
Lastly, I convinced myself that I didn't actually want to go to law school and that this was just for fun. I know that sound impossible and weird but it relaxed me and I focused more on the test and not on how I was doing on the test.
This was a long post but I really think you'll pick up at least a couple of useful tips, even if you're in the last week of studying!
Comments
THANK YOU!
Thank you! Def will take note on that
Thank you for this very detailed post!
Wow this is incredible - congratulations! Did you feel like taking so many tests back-to-back like that is what helped you the most? I've been debating trying this or just spending more time drilling instead. Did you notice gradual improvement using this method or did something just kind of "click" for you after you hit x tests into it?
For me, taking PTs everyday for 2 weeks helped me get used to the rhythm and pace of the test. By the end of the 2 weeks, I wasn’t nervous before starting a test because it was just an everyday thing. So it didn’t really help me knowledge wise -I didn’t learn any new strategies- I just got to know the test better. (When I started the 2 weeks my average score was 164-166 and when I was finished it shot up to a 170, simply because the test was so familiar).
I also went up from 155 diagnostic to 176 in the July test in about 3 months and did 1 month of Core Curriculum and then 2 months of PT every other day or every day at times. I know it is not a popular opinion but I definitely think this is what helped me the most. Especially once you start getting very few questions wrong and it doesn't take long to review (I still did very thorough reviews of any question that I got wrong or had any doubts about and marked).
I definitely feel that the constant practice drilled into my instincts how to get through most of the questions and how to predict traps almost immediately. It was not as much of a click as a gradual increase of my average score (of course there was fluctuation but after the core curriculum i was consistently at mid-160s and after a month at low 170s with occasional spikes. It was probably after a month and a half that my scores stopped spiking up and down and started settling at about 174-175 and by the end I was PTing at about 177.
I would definitely do this again but I think you have to be very motivated to avoid burnout and even then it is unavoidable at times. I did take a couple days off a few times when my energy was just too low (or I was working long hours for my job). I did see a couple big drops (high 170s to 169 more or less) later in the game but it was more for lack of focus and burnout. However I think these were also good learning experiences to focus more on how I was feeling during testing and how to best bring my best game on during test day. One of the things I started doing consistently was to meditate for focus and did a variety of 'pre-game' routines to pump me up (think pump-up music, walking out of the locker room style moves, getting my heart rate up doing some air-punches, strategy visualization for each section and question type...hahah). Seems stupid but it is definitely what helped me both bring focus and energy to every test and also simulate test conditions where you will be more nervous and have your heart racing. Since I was doing the FLEX I knew I would be able to keep these routines, especially the ones for focus, for the real test.
I was weakest at LG at first so on top of tests every other day I alternated with drilling with the famous Pacifico Method
Other than that, thorough BR and review geared towards strategy development for different questions types, trap types, etc. and periodic updating and review of these. At first my 'review' notes were all over the place but after a while I saw patterns and developed them into strategies that I pretty much ingrained into my head by repetition. Writing things down helps me personally so all my review I wrote out by hand and then had a takeaways sheet of paper with the main strategies I missed or needed to emphasize more. Also did this prior to every PT.
Anyways, this helped me and might not be ideal for everyone but let me know if you're interested in any more details!
First of all, congrats on an incredible score! Second, I am also "superstitious" and take my tests at the same time every weekend, wearing almost the same outfit as I do every other time I take the LSAT. For me, it's less superstition and more habit. I read The Power of Habit last year, and was really inspired about the story of how Michael Phelps's routine really helped him get ahead of the competition. In short, before every practice AND every race, he did the exact same warmup, listened to the exact same playlist, and wore the same swimsuit. That way, when it came to competition days, it just felt like another practice round. I think yours and my "superstitions" are more a routine than anything else! Although I'm not done studying, having a definite routine has helped me calm my test day nerves. I definitely recommend coming up with a pre-test routine and to read The Power of Habit!
@jugolo96 what is the Pacifico Method?
https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/2737/logic-games-attack-strategy/p1
I didnt print anything and used a spreadsheet instead. Happy to share but can't upload here
Wow, thank you for this information - and CONGRATS!! What a great sense of achievement that you must feel right now - you did it!! Your story (especially about mental stamina) is SO inspiring. Mental strength training
. I love the idea that pushing hard not only helped you remove the 'dread' of sitting down to take a PT, but also helped you acclimate for test day. Thank you so much for taking the time to post this, for me it's helped to have a personal reflection on something I thought only the process of PTs would attempt to resolve. But now I think having an extra step of motivation can add wonders as well - to help conquer mental stamina sooner (hopefully, maybe). And to be even better prepared for test day as a result!!
Congratulations and thank you for sharing your insights!
Congrats, and thanks for the awesome tips! A couple of questions if you don't mind:
Did you do all your PTs in hard copy? I've been doing mine printed out, because I'm more comfortable that way, but I feel like a month before the exam I may need to start practicing on my ipad. Any thoughts?
Did you ever add in an extra section to simulate the ungraded section on the actual exam? I totally agree with your strategy of learning the pacing and simulating day of conditions. Would you recommend adding in a 5th section for mental endurance training?
I much prefer paper too, so it was hard to stop using hard copy but it was necessary. My strategy with simulating the testing experience was to not give myself any advantages that I won’t have on test day. Switching to electronic, while it didn’t help my score initially, forced me to get used to not reading with my fingers hovering over the sentences and not underlining and annotating everything. So yes, switch to either an Ipad version if you can (assuming you’re taking it at the testing center) or whatever device you’re going to use if it’s flex. I would do this soon to get used to the electronic version and seeing what works for you.
If your LSAT isn’t flex, then yes I would do the 5 sections. Something that I did (before I knew my test was flex) when simulating test day, was to take the full 15 minute break after the third section. This was actually really frustrating so I encourage you to do it (lol). I paced up and down my room during the 15 minutes to test out if I wanted to pace in the hallway during the break. That didn’t really help me and I found that I focused more when I took the 15 minutes to meditate. Point is, don’t over look that break. Simulate test day down to exactly what you’ll do (and what will help you) during the break. If you spend the break right, the test won’t feel so long and you’ll be refreshed before starting the last couple sections.
I hope this helped and wasn’t just unnecessarily long!