LSAT Strategy - in Limbo (advice please!)

ceyung97ceyung97 Core Member
edited October 2020 in General 54 karma

Hi All,

As displayed by the title, I am unsure how to proceed with my study strategy. Yes, I have seen the post-cc study webinar by Josh. I have taken two PTs since completing the CC and have been hovering around the high 140s (148 most recently) under timed conditions and the low 160s (162 most recently) for BR. Although admissions in my location have been complicated by coronavirus, my goal remains to obtain a 165. That would put me in Phase I, meaning foolproofing, drilling and returning to the curriculum should take up most of my time. However, I have a few qualms with the advice given in the webinar and no one is posting on the discussion over there so I thought I would create an independent discussion.

In essence, I feel that I need to take more PTs in order to seriously gauge where I am at with this test, which is obviously contrary to the advice given in that webinar. I have taken a few PTs, and have felt that both time pressures and familiarity with LSAT questions are the main obstacles for me right now. I have revisited the CC and tried drilling specific LR questions and RC passages, however, I have found that my memory of these questions has limited any progress that can be garnered from them. Ultimately, I do not believe I have the data to be justifiably drilling specific questions - I am scoring badly in LR and RC in general. LG is the only section in which I am seeing value in drilling old games, which obviously makes sense given it is the more formulaic section.

This isn't a knock against 7sage - I understand this may partly be because I am on a Premium subscription, so I have not had the exposure to the more difficult problem sets that most 7sagers have by the time they finish the CC. I simply feel as though I have reached the point of diminishing returns with the CC and am still at a stage of general incompetence with this test (lol). Hence, I need to take more PTs and seek out other study materials in between, before I can properly identify my weaknesses. I have subsequently purchased the LSAT Trainer and have been working through that in concert with foolproofing LG.

tl:dr I am not gaining much from revisiting the CC or drilling old questions, is there any alternate strategy beyond PT+BR? (scoring in the high 140s :/)

Comments

  • andywsoccerandywsoccer Member
    83 karma

    I had a different starting point as you, so I'm not sure if my advice would be helpful: When I hit a limbo on LR and LG, I started to write explanations for all of them. For the games, it was making marks and notes that emphasizes on inferences or way of thought (such as how a particular pattern of inferences seems to reoccur,) for LR I wrote not only questions types and the typical approaching point for each questions, I also try to be able write out why one choice is right and why the other four isn't, and I have to be completely convinced before moving on, which means that one section of LR would take me more than 3 hours to go over. I think this is what helped my scores. But take it with a grain of salt, I'm sure you'll figure it out soon!

  • ceyung97ceyung97 Core Member
    54 karma

    @andywsoccer thanks for the recommendation, perhaps a more thorough BR would help. I only take up to 2 hours per section to review per section, (that is, watch the video and take notes after BR). How often were you doing PTs after you finished the CC?

  • andywsoccerandywsoccer Member
    83 karma

    TBH, I started 7sage late into my studies for the LSAT, so I never finished my CC. If I thoroughly went over them, I’d average around 2-3 PTs every 2 weeks. But in the beginning I didnt do this and had periods of doing a PT every other day. Wasted them:/

  • quagmirequagmire Alum Member
    96 karma

    Have you tried doing individual timed sections from older PTs? That way you're getting exposed to lots of different question stems and experiencing the time pressure but because it's just one section at a time you can also do a more through review

  • m.i.rivasm.i.rivas Alum Member
    203 karma

    I would recommend the Loophole by Ellen Cassidy also! It's really good for LR.

  • patra5cgpatra5cg Alum Member
    114 karma

    I think improving familiarity with question type and with question-solving strategy is the most important thing for you right now. Because as you become familiar with the question type and strategy, your speed will improve naturally. I think organizing notes (write down all the question type, think about what each type is testing, and how to tackle each one) , and review wrong questions by type will help a lot in this regard.

  • ceyung97ceyung97 Core Member
    54 karma

    @quagmire Thanks for taking the time to comment. I have done a few individual timed sections with the 10 actuals (I have 72-81 currently), just to see how I would feel being able to review it all in one day. However, I was mainly using the LSAT Hack to review them, which sort of defeats the purpose of being on 7sage. Were you more alluding to isolating specific sections within 7sage?

    I will try and review the LR questions by type, rather than as they appear on the test, it will probably be easier to identify patterns in my approach, I don't know why I didn't think of that lol, thanks!

  • ceyung97ceyung97 Core Member
    54 karma

    @patra5cg thanks I appreciate the advice. The Trainer certainly in providing a clearer picture of each question type. If and when would you suggest drilling particular question types? I know it's a bit off topic, but I've read the other discussions on it and most people don't suggest using the question bank to quiz untaken questions as it is a waste of future PTs, but then I fall into the pitfall of doing questions I already have a recollection of. Anyway, thanks a lot :)

  • quagmirequagmire Alum Member
    96 karma

    @slightlyaboveaverage97 So I just finished with the CC so what I'm currently doing is a mix of foolproofing all the LG PT1-30 mixed with LR sections from PT 17-30. One day I might to a handful of games, the next I might take a full LR timed section and foolproof a game. This way I do not loss the LR skills and get experience with the timing, but I am not ruining newer PT's either

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