148---> 167: Study advice

Wanted to do a study write-up because I read a bunch of these while I was preparing for the LSAT, hope it helps a couple of people. I began studying in January, diagnostic of 148, then took Aug-Oct-Nov (163, 163, 167)

Study materials: LSAT Trainer, PowerScore Bibles, Loophole, Blueprint for RC, 7Sage. I think these were all great resources, and even the ones that weren’t necessary taught me a couple of things that helped out in the long run. HIGHLY recommend 7Sage—JY’s videos are unparalleled and the subscription is comparatively cheap. Also listened to the PowerScore and 7Sage podcasts, which I found really helpful. As an aside, not going to post link, but online library websites do have a majority of free PT PDF’s if you are not planning on getting them through LSAC.

LG: My strongest section, all due to 7Sage. I averaged -0 pretty early on in my prep, even though I did notice I was slower at grouping games for some reason. I pretty much did every logic game at least once, and then re-worked the ones I struggled with. Key for me was to get really good at making inferences up-front and splitting whenever possible, learning when to do so became natural after lots of practice and drilling. Find the split-node, and just do it— I know you might be worried about timing issues but: accuracy > speed, and in the end I was usually faster when I split. Work on conditional logic, it is necessary if you want to score below a -5 in the section; if you read unless or [either or, but not both] and don’t immediately think negate sufficient/bi-conditional, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Get good at chaining up rules, especially for in-out games and linear. I also was soooo worried about having a Misc. game come up on my first test, so I spent alot of time working on them even though I didn’t get any on any of my three tests; take a look at the classic Misc. games, but try not to get too caught up in them, focus on mastering linear and grouping games first. Also, do not fret over skipping a hard question and going back later. I routinely entered the fourth game having skipped around five questions that I just didn’t seem to understand quickly, and after I went back at the end I was able to figure it out easily. Always keep moving and don’t get stuck, whether it is in regards to a singular hard question or a game that is difficult.

LR: Second best section, didn’t really struggle on a specific question type‚ it was more of an overall missing the harder questions. I really liked Loophole, and how it built on the Core Curriculum foundation I had through 7Sage—I would definitely recommend the book. I made a big jump late in my studies from averaging about -5 to -1 after listening to one of 7Sage’s podcasts, I don’t remember exactly which episode it was but it was one of the first five. JY and a student were talking about their speed and skipping strategy in LR, and it was something I focused on and it was arguably the biggest thing I did to raise my score. I felt confident enough that I could zoom through the first ten questions, usually in about 5-6 minutes where It took me about thirty seconds a question (confidence is key). I slowed down a bit towards the middle of the section, and often skipped three or four questions that were difficult, but I would have about ten minutes or so to basically do a second run through of all the questions, which is where I would pick up on mistakes, or use the extra time to figure out a tough question. It takes time for you to build up that speed, and you definitely have to be making sure you aren’t missing any of those first ten, but if you figure out the cookie-cutter and simple questions at the beginning without second guessing yourself, you’ll have so much extra time left over at the end. Learn the classic flaws, get good at conditional logic, and work on your skipping!!

RC: My enemy. I tried everything for this section; I bought every RC book from every test-prep company, I blind-reviewed, I slowed down, I sped up and read passages twice, and the lowest score I was able to get was -4, and it definitely wasn’t consistent. What helped out a bit though was to write a single sentence/ word per paragraph during timed run through’s. I found this would slow me down, which I wanted, and helped me connect the paragraphs in my mind. I also blind-reviewed the section after and used PowerScore’s VIEWSTAMP method, which was useful. I switched up my approach for the November test, and actually slowed myself down while reading considerably. This helped me pick up the two or three questions that I would miss out of pure carelessness and helped shore up the section. I guess biggest advice would be to try out the different methods, find what works best for you, and just keep practicing. I let myself focus on LG and LR to the detriment of RC, and thought if I could do -1 between those two then I would be fine with the variability I had on RC, but it definitely is learnable and you start to get good at finding what to look for in the passages.

Random tips:

Take real-condition PT’s, early-on I would do un-timed PT’s and would lie to myself that it was like the real thing, mainly because I didn’t want to kill my confidence with a low score. However, this didn’t help me out in the long run, and I definitely struggled a bit with the pressure of the clock on my first take.

I know the stress is real, and the majority of us know the importance of this test. While I am confident that this test doesn’t define any of us— be real with yourself and make sure you are putting in your best effort. A couple of questions makes the difference between an admit and a deny, or years of debt vs. a scholarship. Study diligently, blind-review, make sure you are spending time with your wrong answers, re-do games. I promise you this test is learnable, and you’ll only regret it later if you half-assed your studies or didn’t believe in yourself to get a high score.

Don’t get discouraged, this really is a marathon and not a sprint. My diagnostic was low, then my PT average was 170+ for months, and then I underperformed considerably on August and October. After seeing a repeat score in October (a test I thought I had killed), I was devastated. But the November test was only three weeks away, and I knew I had another chance. There are going to be games that floor you and passages that destroy you, learn from them, pick yourself back up and keep grinding.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, never forget throughout this process—that practicing the law is what we will one day do, it is not who we are. Don’t let this test make you think otherwise.