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The process Is long and tedious but..

Cynthia-2Cynthia-2 Member
edited July 2021 in General 498 karma

Hi everyone,

I wanted to write this because I felt it important to demonstrate that with hard work and dedication, this test IS learnable. I still have a long way to go but don't give up, I have seen a few posts in the last couple of days about a member not feeling like they have seen any improvement, or just struggling with the test, I am here to say that is possible with hard work. I am an older student (mid 30s) with a family, work, school full time and it CAN be done. Do not give up, if you are struggling rewatch the CC or hire a tutor if needed. I started to actively study end of May, my score was a whopping 146, my test today after a month and a week, 161. I was so defeated and still am at times but I have seen a huge improvement in the month that I've been studying. I have attached screenshots of the first test and one that I just finished now.

I want to thank this community, although I am not one to post, I am always reading and appreciative of the support and advice shared.

Goodluck to everyone taking their tests soon and a big congratulations to those who already took it.

-Cynthia
https://i.imgur.com/M5Tdpqp.png
https://i.imgur.com/j4YcxbA.png

Comments

  • 2025FutureEsq2025FutureEsq Core Member
    102 karma

    This post is so appreciated Cynthia. Thank you for sharing your journey, i know i really needed this! Wishing you the best!

  • 92 karma

    Wow that's great. Thanks for the motivation. I hope and have a good feeling you'll reach your goal, keep at it!

  • Cynthia-2Cynthia-2 Member
    498 karma

    @"force users lawyer" said:
    Wow that's great. Thanks for the motivation. I hope and have a good feeling you'll reach your goal, keep at it!

    Thank you! Love the screen name lol. Force users and Jedis ugh I can't wait for this test to be over .

  • Cynthia-2Cynthia-2 Member
    498 karma

    @2025FutureEsq said:
    This post is so appreciated Cynthia. Thank you for sharing your journey, i know i really needed this! Wishing you the best!

    Thank you very much, same to you !

  • mollyjoy1mollyjoy1 Member
    27 karma

    wow amazing!!! i hope to make this imporvement !!

  • Cynthia-2Cynthia-2 Member
    498 karma

    @mollyjoy1 said:
    wow amazing!!! i hope to make this imporvement !!

    I study between 5-8 a day, its exhausting but learnable for sure. You'll get there !

  • ah2cpah2cp Core Member
    38 karma

    This is amazing Cynthia! Just curious, what did you find made the most improvement in your logic games? I feel like I might be plateauing a little bit!

  • Cynthia-2Cynthia-2 Member
    498 karma

    @ah2cp said:
    This is amazing Cynthia! Just curious, what did you find made the most improvement in your logic games? I feel like I might be plateauing a little bit!

    Hey,
    I print all the ones that I have gotten wrong on previous tests and do ten daily until memorized, then I start with another ten, rinse and repeat.

  • priyarosaliapriyarosalia Member
    26 karma

    Wow! You are killing the logic games section. Thank you for sharing this, and keep up the amazing work :)

  • Cynthia-2Cynthia-2 Member
    498 karma

    @priyarosalia said:
    Wow! You are killing the logic games section. Thank you for sharing this, and keep up the amazing work :)

    Thank you!

  • laurennnnlaurennnn Member
    86 karma

    As a fellow mid-30s working person, I really appreciate this post. Proud of you + encouraging for the rest of us! Keep up the good work!

  • sanchezeric821sanchezeric821 Alum Member
    68 karma

    thanks for the motivation not giving up!!

  • Cynthia-2Cynthia-2 Member
    498 karma

    @laurennnn said:
    As a fellow mid-30s working person, I really appreciate this post. Proud of you + encouraging for the rest of us! Keep up the good work!

    Aww Lauren, you're so sweet, this comment means more than you know ,especially today when I'm having a rough time with it all. Good luck with the studying🥰

  • Cynthia-2Cynthia-2 Member
    498 karma

    @sanchezeric821 said:
    thanks for the motivation not giving up!!

    You got this !

  • Cynthia-2Cynthia-2 Member
    498 karma

    @2025FutureEsq said:
    This post is so appreciated Cynthia. Thank you for sharing your journey, i know i really needed this! Wishing you the best!

    Same to you!😀

  • jadynl22jadynl22 Free Trial Member
    edited July 2021 56 karma

    Pop off Cynthia!
    edit: also, how'd improve your RC?

  • Xavier C.Xavier C. Core Member
    15 karma

    Great job on the improvement, Cynthia! Did you focus your studying on one section at a time or did you do bits from all the sections together?

  • Cynthia-2Cynthia-2 Member
    498 karma

    Thanks Xavier, here is my study schedule. I study about 4 to 5 hours a day.

    1-I have a binder where I print all LR questions that I have ever gotten wrong on previous tests and I look at them daily. By this I mean, before I do any studying I skim thru all of the ones that I have ever gotten wrong on previous preptests. (I take about 30 minutes doing that daily)
    2-Then I take the stack out of all of the LG that I have ever gotten wrong and do them daily until mastery, I do a group of 10 daily . So, once I master one, I put it in the bottom of the stack and work on the current ones that I am mastering, rinsing and repeating over and over again. (THIS ALONG WITH MY RC STRATEGY IS WHAT HAS HELPED MY SCORE IMPROVE SO MUCH SINCE MAY 27TH)
    3-I create a problem set with two passages and do that daily(from a -17 to a -3 right now since May 27th, so doing two daily has been helping, along, along with going over the explanation video s for all questions after each test).

    As you can see its no easy feat, this test unfortunately requires that sort of dedication.

  • Cynthia-2Cynthia-2 Member
    498 karma

    @jadynl said:
    Pop off Cynthia!
    edit: also, how'd improve your RC?

    Lol , thank you ! I watch videos after every preptest I make on the passages. I also do two daily, meticulously going through all answer choices until I understand why they are wrong /right.

  • Ultra_Instinct_LSATUltra_Instinct_LSAT Live Member
    128 karma

    Hi Cynthia, can you explain what you mean by doing a group of 10 LGs daily? Do you do each only once, or do you repeat each one in one sitting until you memorize it? Meaning, you’ll do each one of those 10….say a couple of times or more?

  • Cynthia-2Cynthia-2 Member
    edited July 2021 498 karma

    @SergMadrid said:
    Hi Cynthia, can you explain what you mean by doing a group of 10 LGs daily? Do you do each only once, or do you repeat each one in one sitting until you memorize it? Meaning, you’ll do each one of those 10….say a couple of times or more?

    Hello,

    I do ten in one sitting , then check my work. If I got any wrong I do not watch the video after, instead I make a mental note for the next day to really focus on that one.The idea is for me to figure it out without watching the videos, eventually it clicks for me. Also, when I check the answers , I write my answers on a separate sheet of paper, this way I avoid looking at the questions and memorizing the answers. When I get to the point that I have perfected each one, then I start with the next batch. I do not do the same game twice in a day, I do the ten and do them again the next day.

    It's grueling work, I mean grueling. I have alot going on in my life, but I need to go this hard, I really need a 167 minimum. I will be honest though, it's one of those things where I have to peptalk myself into doing it because I'm just exhausted.It can be done, I recommend my method , it works, at least it has for me.

    The most challenging section for me is LR, I can't get better than a -8. I am now doing two preptests a week, two passages daily, the 10 games PLUS I am going over the CC for the items in red in analytics.

    Goodluck

  • lobell79lobell79 Alum Member
    146 karma

    Your dedication and stamina is amazing, awe inspiring. Thank you so much for sharing your methods, your struggle, and your journey.

  • Ultra_Instinct_LSATUltra_Instinct_LSAT Live Member
    128 karma

    @"Cynthia-2" said:

    @SergMadrid said:
    Hi Cynthia, can you explain what you mean by doing a group of 10 LGs daily? Do you do each only once, or do you repeat each one in one sitting until you memorize it? Meaning, you’ll do each one of those 10….say a couple of times or more?

    Hello,

    I do ten in one sitting , then check my work. If I got any wrong I do not watch the video after, instead I make a mental note for the next day to really focus on that one.The idea is for me to figure it out without watching the videos, eventually it clicks for me. Also, when I check the answers , I write my answers on a separate sheet of paper, this way I avoid looking at the questions and memorizing the answers. When I get to the point that I have perfected each one, then I start with the next batch. I do not do the same game twice in a day, I do the ten and do them again the next day.

    It's grueling work, I mean grueling. I have alot going on in my life, but I need to go this hard, I really need a 167 minimum. I will be honest though, it's one of those things where I have to peptalk myself into doing it because I'm just exhausted.It can be done, I recommend my method , it works, at least it has for me.

    The most challenging section for me is LR, I can't get better than a -8. I am now doing two preptests a week, two passages daily, the 10 games PLUS I am going over the CC for the items in red in analytics.

    Goodluck

    Hi Cynthia,

    Thanks for the response. One more question, do you do them timed or untimed?
    Currently, my method is to Fool Proof every game I do. I'll watch the explanation from JY to see if he has a better way than my way. If he does, then I try to incorporate whatever I see will benefit me into my attempts. After that, I'll do them 3-4 times (timed) depending on how difficult the game is. Then, I don't come back to them. I have definitely seen significant improvement from -15 to -4ish....untimed. I'm still trying make some improvements, since I'm not seeing those results transfer to timed practice. I might try to return to the bottom of the pile to re-do those I have already done to make sure I have them mastered...similar to what you're doing.

    I liked your idea for RC, I'm now incorporating doing a set of two passages at least 6 days a week. I was only doing 1. Timing is also an issue for me here. I have been working with a tutor for a few months with significant improvements untimed, but not timed. So, now I need to figure out how to transfer my untimed results to timed. Lots of work!

    LR, I have been focusing on RC so much that I haven't truly focused on it in the last few months. I'm still at around -15 here. I think I'll try to incorporate your idea of looking at the past wrong questions daily so that they can stay fresh in my mind and some day start seeing patterns for future questions.

    I feel you on that! It's a lot of work on top of our everything else we have going on. I'm also aiming for high 160s, at least.

  • 41 karma

    Hi @Cynthia-2, thank you for sharing! Keep it up!! I was wondering if you have worked through the entire core curriculum yet in the month and a half you have studied?

  • Cynthia-2Cynthia-2 Member
    498 karma

    @CampTBeskuit said:
    Hi @Cynthia-2, thank you for sharing! Keep it up!! I was wondering if you have worked through the entire core curriculum yet in the month and a half you have studied?

    Hey,

    Frankly, I haven't , I have been going over only the question types in LR that I have been trouble with. I went through analytics and determined what those were. I suggest implementing a daily intense drill of LG that you have had trouble with u til mastery, and two passages daily doing the same with those. LR for me is just going over the CC daily with the focus on those which are giving me trouble.

  • rizmollyrizmolly Member
    16 karma

    This is an amazing jump in such a short time! Great job! I went from a 148 diagnostic to a 163 practice test, but when I took the June Flex I ran out of time on Games and ended up guessing on the last two games which resulted in a score of 155. Now I am studying hard to be better prepared for the August exam.

  • Cynthia-2Cynthia-2 Member
    498 karma

    @rizmolly said:
    This is an amazing jump in such a short time! Great job! I went from a 148 diagnostic to a 163 practice test, but when I took the June Flex I ran out of time on Games and ended up guessing on the last two games which resulted in a score of 155. Now I am studying hard to be better prepared for the August exam.

    I suggest drilling the same games daily until you master them and then moving onto the next batch. I do batches of 10. Thank you so much, it's definitely a big sacrifice studying for this thing, I've never studied anything like this in my life. One thing is certain, it is learnable.

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