Beginning Practice Tests!!!

Comments

• selah403 Core Member

  November 2022 82 karma

  Also, I won't be taking the LSAT for about a year so I have plenty of time, so just let me know what worked best for y'all.
• 2 Likes

  imtryingggggg Core Member

  November 2022 77 karma

  Hey! I would recommend doing the prep tests after you have done all three section lessons. Once you know different type of questions, then it is useful to take the test otherwise you are just going in blind not knowing what to expect or how to approach certain questions. There are not a lot of prep tests so you don't want to start taking them too early and wasting them because I have done drills and I am starting to recognize the questions and their answers now.
• 1 Like

  Brooklyn Bagel Core Member

  November 2022 110 karma

  I would recommend doing PT sections before getting into curriculum. If you have 3-5 PT's worth of sections complete, you'll be much more informed on what you're actually looking at in the CC. Plenty of CC that you might not need to cover and things that you do need help with will be more effective to study after having already encountered them. Have you taken a diagnostic yet?
• selah403 Core Member

  November 2022 82 karma

  @imtryingggggg Thanks!

  I was thinking the same thing.

  @dnthmnxx-1-1 Also, thanks!

  And yes, I have taken a diagnostic before, and about 6 or 7 practice tests. I started the LSAT journey about a year and a half ago, and I've taken the official test twice.

  However, I decided to start from scratch because from the time that I took the diagnostic to the time that I took my latest official LSAT, I just wasn't able to dedicate the time and be as diligent as I should have, so I am completely restarting and learning EVERYTHING from scratch. I'm pretending that I don't know anything, so I want to do it right so I can do my best.

  Seeing that I'm not necessarily ignorant of LSAT format and practice tests, should I still wait till after a few sections? Or should I go right in again?
• 1 Like

  Brooklyn Bagel Core Member

  November 2022 110 karma

  Well I wouldn't consider this restarting or learning from scratch... If you are familiar with the exam and you know where weaknesses or gaps in your comprehension lie, in general, then you might be getting good use of your efforts in the CC.

  I think your approach is fine. I only caution getting too comfortable with only doing CC for months and then getting into real test questions. There is no replacement for doing the test questions and the majority of learning will come from doing questions and making mistakes, and taking those mistakes as opportunities to learn. Doing a lot of theory without practicing actual questions can be an issue.

  It comes down to you... Checking in with yourself regularly asking if you are really learning and engaged with material and not just autopiloting to feel a sense of accomplishment. As long as you feel good about your return on time investment it's fine (hard numbers and metrics are also useful to have over time).

  Hope that helps! Happy to offer a free tutoring session to offer my best advice for your situation.
• selah403 Core Member

  November 2022 82 karma

  @dnthmnxx-1-1

  Awesome. I felt that maybe I was just creating bad habits with my old approach of taking PTs and not even blind reviewing.

  I have never used the Blind Review method before, and I think that was a huge mistake. So, correct me if I'm wrong. Taking PTs in the stage that I'm at -'starting from scratch' (kind of)- would be okay because I am familiar with the test. AS LONG AS I Blind Review, and don't cut any corners.

  My main concern is that I don't want to get ahead of myself again and jumble up the information I've been learning with this curriculum.
• Brooklyn Bagel Core Member

  November 2022 110 karma

  My hot take on blind review is to BR only questions you got incorrect, or ones that were just very tricky and you weren't sure about the answer/flagged. I'm not too found of BR-ing entire exams if you know why you arrived on the correct answer. Again, everyone is different.
• selah403 Core Member

  November 2022 82 karma

  @dnthmnxx-1-1

  Great. Thanks!
• 3 Likes

  Mike_Ross Alum Member Sage ⭐

  November 2022 3106 karma

  Hi @selah403, A lot of great advice above already but let me just add--I'm not sure why there is such a hurry to take PTs without first consistently seeing results in timed sections.

  If you've just finished learning the Core Curriculum lessons, it means you have some idea how to tackle the different types of LSAT questions. However, that doesn't necessarily mean you're ready for PTs. Think of PTs as gameday. Swimmers don't train for races by simply swimming in competition after competition. Rather, they work on drills or focus on maximizing each stroke. Insert whatever sport analogy you feel most familiar with but the point is the same: PTs are like game/competition days. You train for them by drilling.

  Learn the test, learn how to apply methods untimed, then work on timed drills, before you start PTing.

  Some practical steps you can take for LR: Consider taking sections untimed first. Are you comfortable moving from question type to question type? Do you have to pause and remind yourself what you're supposed to do? Once you become comfortable with the methods, you can start taking timed sections. Once your timed sections get to a point where you are scoring close to your BR scores, that's when you know you're ready to tackle PTs

  Hope this helps!
• 1 Like

  selah403 Core Member

  November 2022 82 karma

  @Mike_Ross Honestly, that was what my gut was telling me.

  Thanks a lot!