Any BEST prep routing/strategy to improve 10-20 pts?

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• 1 Like

  hopefulling Member

  October 2020 edited October 2020 905 karma

  Regarding retention of what you've read/7sage, if you've taken physical notes, you could maybe try to condense them into something that you can review constantly, every few days (or heck, every day!). I did this and it's helped me to memorize it and instantly recognize it when I see it in a question (I caught myself translating 'unless' statements in the fiction book I read last night!). I went back through and re-read the books to check that my notes were sufficient. I actually typed them up and made an outline of sorts (I made three, one to condense 'logic & argumentation' (started it originally to capture the Powerscore indicators, but I just kept updating it with each new source book), 'flaws,' and 'question type strategies' - this one is handy, because there are similarities and/or one source might explain a question type better than another. It was helpful (for me) to do a bit of a compare/contrast between originally Powerscore and the Loophole, to see if I could 'infer' information by combining the data. I came to 7sage after that. But, typing it up and engaging with my notes again really helped me improve, to remember some of the quirky approach techniques for specific question types - or reasoning in general. Plus, now it's all portable and I can take them with me wherever, if I get bored!! That might not help you before November, but it might help over vacation/holidays before the January test.

  I was spending the same time per day as you when I was reading and going through the curriculum (10-12 hours). I know some disagree with this, but I spend every day on this and I've had no fear of burnout - so it's not something that everyone has to deal with. I'm not a fan of the preptests (fear of failure, I guess), but they have to be done to improve!!!

  Preptesting phase might start to help, as you interact with the questions and the writing style of the test. The Problem Set feature on 7sage is so helpful, to drill weakspots or check my progress - outside of PTs.

  Good luck!!
• arunima.b12 Core Member

  October 2020 112 karma

  Hi @hopefulling Thank you for your honesty. I am writing the notes down on paper, but you are right about outlining them on my computer so I can access it anytime. Did you have any strategy for improving on the reading comprehension?
• 1 Like

  hopefulling Member

  October 2020 edited October 2020 905 karma

  @"arunima.b12" I'm still performing in a 'wave pattern' on this section - and it's SO annoying. But, I'm trying to read more non-fiction at night (mostly history books: right now Simon Schama's History of Britain, he uses wonderfully 'didactic' vocabulary ... I bought a book on the 'history of the common law' that I'm not 'allowed' to open until I'm done with the LSAT, but I'm thinking that might be suitable for this purpose also) to get better at it (and to do more practice drills!) - alternating fiction/non-fiction. Plus, every time I work on the other sections at the expense of spending time with RC, my score drops on RC a lot. I'm trying to drill more of the harder RC passages, to try to become more familiar with them. I'm also trying to really implement 7sage's recommendation to make quick summaries after each paragraph, starting in Problem Sets and now incorporating into PTs. And generally to try to make my memory on what I'm ready better, because if I can understand what I'm reading, then I miss fewer questions. ... But I just can't gain consistency on this section (yet!).

  It helped typing them and printing something out that I can carry around instead of notebooks/binders (I've been writing in composition notebooks and my post-it tags kept getting ripped off in my bag as another nuisance).
• 2 Likes

  kkole444 Alum Member ⭐

  October 2020 1687 karma

  Hello arunima,
  I started at a 142 back in February while completing my masters in economics. I too study 8-12 hours a day, but there are days where you can push through it and there are days where you need to stop and let your mind have a break. My sweet spot is roughly ~28 days in a row 8-12 hours a day then I need a day or so. I use to think this was completely counter productive, but I every time I have had a jump in my score has been after one of these breaks. I have to like pry myself away but you need to have the mind set of NO LSAT for today and just accept it. I am a huge proponent of quality versus quantity. I did not always believe this but I started to learn that flying through questions when I did not know the proper approach or what to do in the question is just throwing away valuable resources. I started at a 142 but have peaked at 162 but consistently around the 158-161 range and I can feel that I'm close to another 'jump'.
  LG is where you will see the biggest improvements and the fastest. Do the methods that JY lays out because it does work. It just takes time. I was consistently getting 12+ wrong on LG now my average is -3/4 (I'm still not where I need to be). In my opinion it is better to go slow and get the premise, conclusion and see the inferences and learn why the correct answer is correct and why the wrong ones are wrong. This pushed me from the 150's to the 160's. For RC its just a learning curve you know how to read, now you have to tailor what you normally retain to what the lsat wants you to retain while reading. It is a process, there is no golden ticket way of just do this and you'll get X score. Part of this exam is getting to know yourself because law school is not a joke and it is best to know your weaknesses(and making them stronger) before getting there and learning them. I would start with what JY does in all his videos for different problems and as you get better you can start to modify how you approach question that work best for you.
• 5 Likes

  rachelecram Core Member

  October 2020 edited October 2020 9 karma

  Hi All! I found this youtube video helpful and have used almost all of the resources mentioned which have greatly improved my score.
• 1 Like

  m.i.rivas Alum Member

  October 2020 203 karma

  Hi! My diagnostic was in the low 140s, and I eventually made it up 23 points in the June Flex and have recently increased my score 5 more points since my last PT! I've spent almost 8 months of studying full time. But I did make some studying mistakes so I think its possible to improve your score faster.

  I did about 2 months of studying devoted to the core curriculum before I moved straight into PTs. If I had to do it over I would probably have devoted more time to drilling question types, fool proofing logic games, and practicing RC passages individually in the time I'm allowed before moving straight into PTs. Making sure to diligently blind review all the questions and then compare my reasoning to J.Y.'s. I also didn't read the Loophole until about 2 months ago which helped me improve my score a lot. Powerful/Provable was game changing. I wish I would've read it sooner and devoted more time to translation and CLIR drills, since misreads get me a lot of the time.

  I also devote some of my biggest score gains to super diligent blind review. I review every question on the test and write out why the wrong answers are wrong and why the right answer is right. I think through the stimulus as a cookie cutter logic format and try to find patterns in them.

  One important thing I learned though is don't rush through the process. It's probably going to take you longer than you expect to get to where you want like it did for me. I would also say quality over quantity matters a lot when studying for this. Make sure you're giving it your all in each hour you study and if you're not you might have just spent too much time studying. The time you spend resting is just as important as the time you spend studying. Try not to take the test until you're ready. It's definitely possible to improve! Good luck and feel free to message me if you have any questions!
• 1 Like

  VerdantZephyr Member ⭐

  October 2020 2054 karma

  If you have not full proofed LG yet I would encourage you to do so. That is the quickest way to get improvements. Drill a set of problems, 10 or 15, whatever number of games will keep you from just memorizing the answers. Do them over and over until you can do them really quickly and nearly 100% accurately. This happens as you learn to identify the patterns in the games and make inferences quickly. When you have done that set do another set. LG are tricky because they are involve the kind of inferences we are not used to making. That should get you to where you can complete any LG section in time and with nearly all of them right. I will say this as well. Getting from 140 to 150 is a different process than from 150 to 160 and 160-170. At the current place in your journey you should be skipping and coming back a lot under timed conditions. You do not need to get every question right, take that pressure off yourself. You need to improve, get a little faster and a little more accurate. No need to beat your head against that time sink wall. I also have concerns about the brute force 10+ hours a day strategy. Your brain can only absorb and retain so much at a time and on a given day. While it works well from some people, if you have been doing that the whole time and struggling to improve why not try mixing it up? Decide you are going to focus really hard for 2-3 hours, then take a break. Diet and exercise are also linked to memory and retention, maybe go for a walk. Broccoli and fish are good sources of vitamins for your brain, so you could also try grabbing a tuna fish sandwich and some broccoli sticks and go for a walk or jog as your study break. Other people that post on here swear by meditation and yoga particularly if you are doing that long haul to improve.

  Also, feel entirely free to decide that most of this all a load of bunk and won't work for you. (Excusing the LG thing, that is highly endorsed by a lot of LSAT experts and I think you should try it.) At the end of the day though, you need what works for you and that may not be the same as anyone else and is likely to change as your score range changes too. Best of luck and keep grinding.

  @"arunima.b12"
• arunima.b12 Core Member

  October 2020 112 karma

  Thank you so much @hopefulling @kkole444 @rachelecram @m.i.rivas These were all very helpful information. I will utilize them and see if they work for me. But truly thank you so much for all the support.