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Working and studying for the LSAT?
mikaylaseresinhe-1
Member
Hello 7Sage community, I was hoping to get advice from anybody who has been through the struggle of studying for the lsat while working a full time job. I lately have been feeling overwhelmed with how I should be structuring my study schedule. How many Times should I be taking practice tests vs going over the 7 sage lessons. I am just feeling so lost and would love any guidance or insight someone could share.
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Hey, I'm working full time-which realistically means more than a 9-5, and studying for the LSAT. I study about two-to-three hours a day, and I spend four to five hours on weekends. I must make time for it no matter what. My advice is to approach the LSAT as a long-term commitment. I don't believe you can fully grasp the LSAT and work full-time in less than a year.
Hey.. I work 9-5pm and I study two hours a day around 8:30 pm to 10:30pm and normally take Tuesdays off. I also try to drill a question or two whenever possible at work. After getting through most of the curriculum, I've stared doing practice exams every Saturday and blind review and go over it on Sundays.
PS. I've been studying for almost 7 months now.
I am working full time and studying for LSAT too
I've been trying to study 4 hours everyday, but usually I study 3-4 hours on weekdays and by the time the weekend comes I'm so burnt out I don't study. I started studying in January, and I also don't know how to if I should focus on doing the lessons on 7sage or taking the PTs.
Same boat... I agree with everyone's comments above. Until you reach your goal score on the LSAT you should think long term and make it work with your schedule, otherwise, you'll burn out and ultimately waste more time. I have studied for over a year so far and taken the test 2x, but I am still not where I want to be. However, I have made progress. I've gone from a 149 diagnostic to consistent 157- 160 PTs and 170 - 173 on BRs.
I try to study 2-3 hours each day M-F. During this time, I do timed drills on one or two full sections from earlier tests (PT 1 - 36) and thoroughly review each section. If I take a full PT - I have taken over 30 full PTs - then I dedicate a Saturday or Sunday just to take the timed PT and a Sunday or Monday to conduct a thorough BR. A PT is 2 hr. 20 min of hard mental exercise. I don't try to do anything else on those days except maybe some flash cards later in the evening. I have also read several books that have helped me along the way: LSAT for Dummies, Loophole in LSAT LR, and Powerscore LG Bible.
I'm not perfect, I have taken nights off. At one point, I took a few weeks off. I even took a week-long vacation and studied flashcards every day on the cruise ship after my NOV 21 take. You may hear it a lot, but quality is more important than quantity. Don't rush yourself or let anyone else rush you in this process...you should look at this like a life changing mission. It will take as long as it takes. Don't beat yourself up, remember the fact that you have a full-time job. You are different than someone who can dedicate 40 hours per week to studying. Also, don't get burned out. Strictly adhere to your study schedule. Consciously make time to take breaks, exercise, relax, and spend time with family and friends. I have done it both ways - 6 hrs. per day vs. 3 hrs. per day. I study more effectively when I have a balanced life and I believe that it will ultimately take less time to get to my goal score with this approach.
Prioritize your study time ahead of anything else that would take away from your mental endurance. Meaning, if you can, try to study in the morning before work. If that isn't possible, or you just aren't a morning person at this time, give your mind a min 30 min break after work before you start. In any case, consistency is key. Commit to the long term. Don't try to cram.
I would recommend you get a deep dive in Intro to Logic, Adv Logic, causation, Some and Most in relationships, and cover the basics to each question type before trying to jump into PTs. This will get you familiar with the 7sage method (if you aren't already) and some of the lingo covered in explanation videos. You can always do the later question sets to get good at a particular weakness. Do a few earlier PTs untimed, then blind review the questions you struggled with. BRing a whole test will burn you out. If you feel like you need to BR most of the test, then that's just a sign you need more practice without time until you master the section or question type.
I'm in the same boat. Honestly some people say study 3 or 4 hours a day but i would never be able to do that. I study probably 2.5 hours a day an hour in the morning and 1.5 hours during lunch. Do what works honestly but try not to implode by study 5 hours a day.
Hey there, working full time while studying for the LSAT can be really tough. Rather than trying to hit a certain # of hours of studying, it's going to be more important that you're studying effectively. Try not to think about being ready by a certain test date and instead schedule your test when you're nearing your goal. You're just simply going to take longer than people studying full time to hit your goal, and this can be longer/shorter depending on where your diagnostic is and other factors in your overall test taking skills, so try to be more flexible in your scheduling and don't be so down on yourself if you miss a day or two of studying. Mental fortitude is the hidden section of this exam.
When I was working and studying, I didn't even study past two hours on most days unless I was feeling it. After I got through the CC, what worked for me was to drill at least one timed section M-F and then BR it the same night. On weekends I would take a full 4 section exam under testing conditions and BR heavily as well. Sometimes I would only do a PT every 2 weeks but I would review them in depth. Quality > quantity always when it comes to LSAT prep! One thing I do wish I did when I was prepping more was making more time for some sort of self-care. I am a big gym rat but I dropped it when I was at the peak of my studying, I wish I was consistent in my workouts because it does help in a holistic way.
In the end, because you're full time working and self studying, you're going to need to give yourself grace for taking longer and having a hard time managing the schedule. Treat the LSAT like a part time job, the hours you put in now are going to pay off in the future when you are ready to apply. It took me 2 years of on and off studying while working to get a 168 but I can say now halfway through my app cycle it was worth it.
As someone who also works (9-5 specifically), I’ve learned to study most on the weekends because ai have those days off. M-Fr, I study maybe 1-3 hours per day. On my lunch, when I’m not busy at work, etc. if that’s not an option for you, you’re free to study in the morning prior to work. Just go to bed early and wake up earlier. The other option is studying after work which I personally don’t recommend unless you take a nap beforehand or are fully focused. Many times I’m tired after work, so that’s not the best time for me to study.
I do NOT recommend doing practice tests right now. Study the core material first. Trust me. As someone who has used 3-4 diff prep materials, I can say 7sage is the best. J.Y.S course is set up in a way to help you score high. I used to use 7sage for video explanations before it became a paid course included in one. The lessons help you build a foundation for the test. If you don’t understand the fundamentals, you cannot accurate take PTs and hope to do well.
After doing the course and taking the PTs, see what you understand and don’t then go back into the course and drill that question type.
All the best
I also struggle with this. I'm a full time high school teacher in one of the poorest urban high schools in the United States. I regularly work 70-80 hours per week. This year is even worse than usual since we have such bad shortages of teachers and support staff so every day is exhausting. I unfortunately had PLANNED to study for the LSAT a lot during the school year and mistakenly spent last summer learning Spanish since I didn't speak Spanish previously and this year I'm teaching social studies IN Spanish due to the critical shortage of Spanish-speaking staff and the fact that we have a growing enrollment of students fresh into the country that speak no English. Well, I reached my goal of learning enough to be able to teach in Spanish (which I'm proud of)... but screwed myself on LSAT prep. I've been able to go from a 154 to a 161 but I've probably only studied about 30 total hours in 6 months, mostly on weekends. The window of time is closing because I was planning to start school in fall of 2022. The trouble is, if I were to delay to Fall of 2023 I'd need to continue teaching and I'd be in the same boat again next year w/r/t studying.
I'm also in the same situation and honestly it's exhausting. I finally finished the LR CC after 2 months and have learned tons but you have to know how to pace yourself and take breaks when needed. I take days off when I'm not feeling it but during the weekends I study non-stop. and I do as much as I possibly can during weekdays without sacrificing the quality of my studying.
If you're tired and not retaining the info, there is no point in studying. I am also cutting back hours slowly and transitioning to part time to be able to give the LSAT all of my attention.