How to incorporate practice tests into studying?

Comments

• natemanwell1 Core Member

  January 8 153 karma

  what I do is take 5 tests in a row, then blind review once, then blind review again. that way you're getting the benefits of spaced repetition into your test, and it keeps you aware of the changes that can occur every few tests.
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  willpjen Core Member

  January 8 edited January 8 21 karma

  Before getting 7sage, I did 80% PTs and 20% drills from Khan Academy's free LSAT service- which is now defunct. I don't think that approach was optimal.

  I now do one PT for 8-10 drill sessions. Then I go over the exam later that day or the next day. Then the cycle repeats.

  Considering you are new to studying, I want to tell you about some lessons I've learned.

  Burnout: After 3 months of studying, I felt burnt out by the LSAT. I was pushing myself too hard. I stopped improving and grew discouraged. This led my to take a 5 month break. When I felt better, I took a PT and ended up scoring higher than my peak of 169 in my first "round" of studying. Clearly, studying for the LSAT can have diminishing (or even negative) returns. All this to say, whatever balance you decide on between PTs and studying, be intentional about pacing yourself. It can be a long process.

  Different places and people: I bought 7Sage after already scoring a 170 on a PT. A lot of people buy the service (I imagine) in order to start their studying journey. Further, everyone's brains "click" with different things. I wouldn't worry too much about the prescriptions offered by other people. Be attentive to the study approaches you've found to be the most fruitful or engaging, and lean into the those. My approach is doing the things that I find hard. I think that's where the gains are made.
  This is because you will quickly find that many LSAT question types already make sense to you. I wouldn't dedicate to much time flexing those muscles, and instead focus on the question types which don't make sense to you. If you don't know what you find hard, I'd dive into the analytics offered by 7Sage (once there's enough data to infer meaningful insights) to find out! This was my biggest motivator in buying the service.

  I'm sure there are a million approaches to studying and there's doubtfully any one "right" approach.

  Good luck- You got this!