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Guidance for Prep Testing Old vs New Material

BWMurphyBWMurphy Member
in General 75 karma

Hello,

I am planning on taking the January LSAT (maybe even the November test) and was hoping to gather some suggestions on how to approach prep testing. I am striving for a 170+ score.

I am finished with the core curriculum and my study schedule is as follows:
Monday-Thursday: At least 3 hours of study time daily (enough time set aside in the mornings to do a prep test)
Friday-Sunday: At least 5 hours of study time daily

Here are some of my thoughts/concerns:

I am looking to get a 170+ on the LSAT so I want to be as rigorous as I can be with my prep; however, I understand the test has gone through some changes over the years and would rather not focus too much of my efforts on material that is unlikely to help with solidifying a top score in the current LSAT era. What resources are out there that help guide current LSAT preppers to material that has been more prevalent on current tests vs material that is antiquated/unrepresentative of the current tests?

On the other hand, I am worried that if I focus too much of my efforts on the newer prep tests I will be eliminating valuable opportunities to take them closer to test day to have a better feel for the current test and a rough idea of where I stand to land score-wise.

I'm also thinking I'd like to add the November test to my plan just so that I have two opportunities to get a top score for this admissions cycle. If I do, I have to sign up by the 29th of this month and would have about 8 weeks to run through prep tests prior to exam day. I realize I will be better prepared come January, but also acknowledge that anything can happen come test day and would rather not have all of my eggs in one basket.

Anyone who has been prepping at or scored an actual 170+ on the LSAT: What prep testing "technique" was successful for you?

Please feel free to elaborate beyond what I have outlined above and to freely riff on anything additional you think might be helpful to others who find this thread.

All the best and good luck!
Brian

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Comments

  • Aastha SAastha S Member Administrator Sage 7Sage Tutor
    416 karma

    Hey!

    The path to a 170+ score looks different for everyone, so it's difficult to prescribe a one size fits all plan. What I can say, though, is that in order to get this score you can't miss anymore than 7-9 questions per test. Take a look at your section breakdown and figure out where any missing points need to be coming from! From there, decrease the number of full length PTs you're taking and really focus on drilling your weaknesses until, well, they're not weaknesses anymore. Your emphasis should be on ensuring that every aspect of your foundation is strong before running through all of the available PTs!

    If you're still having trouble coming up with a game plan, consider working with one of our 99th percentile scoring tutors to create one for you! If you want to learn more about 7Sage's tutoring services and how we can help you reach the 170s, feel free to use this link to schedule a free consultation: https://calendly.com/7sage-consult/7sage-tutoring-free-consultation

    I hope to speak with you soon and good luck!

  • Claudia77Claudia77 Member
    edited October 2022 106 karma

    Hi, before I wrote the LSAT I was scoring in the 174-178 range. I tried to address some of your concerns below:

    1) Regarding your schedule, I would recommend giving yourself at least one rest day in order to avoid burnout and give your brain time to absorb everything you've learned.

    2) While the test has changed somewhat, I wouldn't worry too much about this. LR and especially RC have gotten harder while LG has gotten easier (generally speaking), but the old tests are still useful for drilling (especially LG). If you're looking to learn more about the test in general (i.e what the new tests have been like, how the test is curved, etc.) I highly recommend the Powerscore LSAT Podcast. Really great resource imo.

    3) If you're worried about running out of new PTs, make a rough schedule of when you plan to complete each one (I used a calendar to do this prior to writing September). You don't need to follow this schedule perfectly by any means - it's just to help you space them out. Personally, I liked mixing up the order of the PTs (i.e. I'd do an 80s PT on Monday then a 60s PT on Thursday), while being sure to leave a few 90s/80s PTs for the final two weeks before test day. In the month before the test I was doing about 2-3 PTs per week.

    4) I think that whether you should take the November test depends on where you're scoring right now. Assuming that a 170+ is your goal, you should be consistently practice-testing in the 170s prior to the test. So, if you're currently scoring in the mid to high 160's then I think signing up for November could be worth it, but if you're scoring in the 150's I would probably wait until January. That said, you know yourself best so do what you feel is right for you.

    I hope this helped a little bit, I'm happy elaborate more!

  • xuzuqiaoxuzuqiao Core Member
    95 karma

    @"Aastha S" said:
    From there, decrease the number of full length PTs you're taking and really focus on drilling your weaknesses until, well, they're not weaknesses anymore. Your emphasis should be on ensuring that every aspect of your foundation is strong before running through all of the available PTs!

    If I rigorously drilled my weaknesses, won't I eventually end up with a couple questions that I've already seen on most of the PTs? Which would mean that when I get to taking those PTs, my score might be a bit inflated.

    Is it a good idea to only drill questions from earlier PTs and then use the modern PTs for simulating an actual test?

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