Newly switched from Oct to Dec. Test - PT Prep

schyler.coxschyler.cox Alum Member
in December 2015 LSAT 152 karma
Hi all! :) I am writing this with shoulders free from the heavy panic I was feeling 4 days ago as I frantically tried to shove 5 PT's a week into the time before the October test. I have been familiar with LSAT training since May, forked up and used Kaplan, got the LSAT Trainer and found 7Sage and almost died of LSAT burnout/overdose. Now, I'm finding that I have about 10 extra weeks. I've done a lot of PT's, but haven't blind reviewed but 3, as I discovered 7Sage and JY's methods a few weeks ago. With that said, I want to make the most out of the extra time I've granted myself, and I don't want to run through 60-75, as I know those are extremely important PT's. Doing 3 PT's/week makes me done with those 15 in 5 weeks.... and that makes me nervous. Should I stick in other PT's between them, like the 30s or something?

How did anyone else do it/how are you guys prepping for the Dec. test?

Comments

  • lsatblitzlsatblitz Alum Member
    521 karma
    I've taken around 15 PT's now. There are around 11 weeks until the December LSAT, and I own 25 more tests, so I'll probably finish all of those right on time if I'm taking 2-3 per week.

    I'll also probably redo a couple older PT's from the curriculum before my course expires from PT's 37-46. The scores will be inflated a bit, but it'll be beneficial to hear 7Sage's explanations more as the test nears.
  • schyler.coxschyler.cox Alum Member
    edited October 2015 152 karma
    Let me know, @lsatblitz if you need anything else!
  • legally_chelslegally_chels Alum Member
    206 karma
    Exploiting Kaplan.. Lol!!!!!

    Well first I want to say it's great that you are postponing til December. You should only take the LSAT when you feel ready. I personally am just following the 7sage curriculum and then starting prep testing once I finish that. I would suggest that you do 2 prep tests per week and this time BR every single prep test you take. JY specifically tells us to do this so we can learn why an answer is wrong and hopefully not make that mistake again. BR'ing is the reason why I can go -0 or -1 on LR now! :) I've been using PT 10-30 for doing question types. So when I'm reviewing Must Be True questions in the curriculum, for example, I'll look for some in those older prep tests in order to get better acquainted with those question types. I basically give myself more homework but it helps lol
  • schyler.coxschyler.cox Alum Member
    152 karma
    yes, i will forever hold a grudge with that company for molding my innocent, LSAT-free brain incorrectly from the start... it did make 7Sage and The Trainer seem like dreams come true though lol. i got the starter package, because at this point in my training it didn't seem prudent to invest that much more money when I have most of the materials already, but I am looking forward to using 7sage stuff to strengthen my weak spots.

    @chelsea.bashi said:
    BR'ing is the reason why I can go -0 or -1 on LR now!
    OMG that is so awesome... that is literally my dream come true on LG and LR!! Good for you!!

    I'm really trying to do this right, and BR right. What have you been getting on your BR's, should I be aiming really high to start with? (170s?)

    I'm sure glad there are others out there we can lean on in this stressful time :)
  • legally_chelslegally_chels Alum Member
    206 karma
    I probably didn't explain that part correctly. What I meant is that I've been doing LR sections from older prep tests under timed conditions. And then I BR directly after. I am halfway through the curriculum so by the beginning of October I'll finally be doing full PTs !!!!! You should definitely aim for 170s (just as a goal for yourself). Whether you hit that range or not is up to you and how much you've been improving overall. But it is totally possible! Id like to score a 180 but my goal is to score in the 172+ range. Anything that will give me a better chance of getting a lot of scholarship money.
  • cjones76cjones76 Alum Member
    318 karma
    @schyler.cox I burnt through quite a few tests without BR prior to finding 7sage, myself. I would suggest mixing in older tests or retakes in with some fresh tests. While your score may be little inflated it will be beneficial to see if you fall to the same traps. If you didn't BR those tests it is unlikely that you will remember too much from those tests. I just recently retook one from a couple months ago (that I did BR) and only remembered about 2 questions. These retakes will also be beneficial implement your newly learned techniques from the Trainer and 7sage. When you are ready join some BR calls!

    Also remember to take a break here and there if you are feeling burnout. Forcing yourself to study in that state is inefficient.
  • Aneec415Aneec415 Member
    12 karma
    I am gearing up for December as well. However, I haven't done many PT yet. I am finishing the 7sage curriculum, and making sure that I understand the basics first. I hope that I will be ready by December!! I do have a lot of free time during the day right now, so a big chunk of my day is devoted to LSAT prep. Good luck to all!
  • badgalriribadgalriri Alum Member
    316 karma
    I'm in the same boat as you. Do you guys wanna BR or something together? I've never done one of those skype calls but it seems to be helpful so if you guys know when the next one is happening let me know
  • twssmithtwssmith Alum ⭐
    5120 karma
    Join PT 51 BR tomorrow Wed. night at 8 EST thanks to @DumbHollywoodActor for hosting - check Study Groups for details!
  • schyler.coxschyler.cox Alum Member
    152 karma
    Sorry all, I took a week hiatus and got a massage, and I am back and ready to kick some LSAT butt! I was definitely burned out. I would recommend that if you have that hopeless, weight-of-the-world-on-your-shoulders feeling, to definitely take a few days, if not a week, off. Even the guy who works at the coffee shop at my university library (who gives me free drinks and knows my name because I study so much there) said that I looked better. Y'all, my eye bags had bags. It was bad.

    I cannot explain how happy I am that I am not going to be taking it this Saturday. I'm about to BR PT 60 that I did last week, I tried to get around to it but I decided to just take a week off. I've never done the Skype call, may I ask how it helps everyone? I am an individual studier by nature, but I would love to tune in and participate if it is beneficial :)

    @cjones76 said:
    I would suggest mixing in older tests or retakes in with some fresh tests.
    Good idea, thank you! I have PT's 60-75 to go, and I am excited to kick PT 75's ass since it kicked mine this past June. I think it will do me well mentally to "overcome" that hurdle, so to speak.
  • ENTJENTJ Alum Inactive ⭐
    3658 karma
    All this talk of massages makes me want to abandon my pursuit of a JD and open up my own massage parlor exclusively meant for test-takers. I think it'll be a gold mine.
  • Jessica3Jessica3 Member
    40 karma
    Out of curiosity, those of you who took PT 73..thoughts? Esp relating to the RC Section.
  • The Bookman-1The Bookman-1 Core Member
    22 karma
    Treat yoself
  • LARamsNationLARamsNation Member
    edited January 2016 592 karma
    .
  • nye8870nye8870 Alum ⭐
    1749 karma
    @movanation said:
    We've got a shade over 2 months left
    My two-months-ago now feels like it flew right by and here the real test day is upon us. (Just a little motivation to help you get crack'n). I improved a ton during that time, due to lots of PTing and investing truly exhaustive BR time. I am confident you will find that target score. Good luck!
  • schyler.coxschyler.cox Alum Member
    152 karma
    @movanation said:
    Im curious to hear about your strategies moving forward in prep for the dec exam.
    I'm glad I'm not the only one who jumped ship! Right now, I am really investing in BR'ing and taking my time to write out the reasons why each answer is wrong and why the right one is right during my BR sessions. Every single question. It's so time consuming but it helps me so much (Probably 3-4 hours for each PT is spent BR'ing). I'm really trying to take a more relaxed strategy - to still invest the time, but not be as life-or-death about it, and stay up to all hours feverishly doing PT's. That was ridiculous. I'm going through the 7sage curriculum piece-meal; whatever I need extra foundational clarification and work on is what I focus on. I'm still doing a few drills too, if I pick up another strategy or something and want to try and make it a habit. But PT's are the meat and potatoes now.

    @movanation said:
    How many PTs do you do a week?
    I am doing 2 right now, but I've done 20 or so since May since I was preparing for the June test then, and then the Oct(Now Dec. one). But I honestly don't think doing those really did much for me; I didn't know what BRing was so they were wasted. Luckily I still have the most recent ones to do.
  • amipp_93amipp_93 Alum Member
    585 karma
    @schyler.cox You're not alone! My journey is probs the same as yours. Started may, have done about 25 and only since the last 7 and up have i realized how important a thorough BR is. So i am retaking those where I didnt BR correctly. I have 10 fresh ones left and will be using those like theyre sacred, probably alternate between retakes and fresh ones so I can see what my real scores are without exhausting them. Good luck to you and good luck to everyone on the struggle bus. You are not alone and we will surely get out of this plateau. WE CAN DO THIS AND KILL THIS TEST!!!
  • The MooseThe Moose Alum Member
    72 karma
    @schyler.cox I'm in a very similar boat as you. Took a Testmaster's course, thought it was a waste of money and found 7sage. Been prepping since May. My score has been between 167-172 always fluctuating thus I'm not very confident going into the exam this weekend. Signed up to take the December exam and by that time I would have finished all the remaining 20 PT I haven't gone thru yet. I decided I need to apply this cycle so might as well use up all the opportunity I have.
  • schyler.coxschyler.cox Alum Member
    152 karma
    @"The Moose" said:
    I decided I need to apply this cycle so might as well use up all the opportunity I have.
    So you are or are not taking the Oct. test? If you are still planning on it, I STRONGLY recommend waiting until Dec.
    @"The Moose" said:
    I'm not very confident going into the exam this weekend
    Confidence IS SO IMPORTANT FOR THIS TEST. It's a mental game the LSAC plays with us, so going in insecure or not sure won't benefit you. Take the two extra months, make sure to get your Letters of Rec and Personal Statement done before December, and then apply when you get your score. :)
  • schyler.coxschyler.cox Alum Member
    152 karma
    @That170doe said:
    since the last 7 and up have i realized how important a thorough BR is.
    YAS! I haven't even done many PT's with BR yet so I'm pumped to see the results, as slow as they may come. Keep me updated how the process is going. Your confidence is contagious!
  • amipp_93amipp_93 Alum Member
    585 karma
    Also, shoutout to @legally_chels For that LR score. THAT IS THE FACKING DREAMZ. How did you go about doing that? Any strategies???
  • The MooseThe Moose Alum Member
    72 karma
    @schyler.cox Why would you recommend not taking the October exam? Most law schools take the top score, including Georgetown, Cornell, and Northwestern. If I end up with a 170+ I'll just not retake.
  • legally_chelslegally_chels Alum Member
    edited October 2015 206 karma
    @That170doe a lot of going back and reviewing the lessons I didn't understand (sufficient assumption, lol) and also by working on a bunch of problem sets from the early prep tests. So when I was learning about Weaken questions on 7sage, for example, I would work on all weaken questions from prep tests 10-30. That helped me to get better at understanding them and answering them. So basically drilling problem sets. Eventually I got better at them and now after finishing the LR part of the curriculum I am able to go -0 or -1 with LR sections. Hopefully I will have the same results with RC and LG. I'm just learning RC now and it's quite the royal pain! :\
  • amipp_93amipp_93 Alum Member
    585 karma
    @legally_chels Thank you so much! This might be a silly question but do you drill the questions that give you the most trouble in timed, or untimed conditions?! You will kill those two sections as well :) keep going girl!!!
  • legally_chelslegally_chels Alum Member
    206 karma
    @That170doe I drill in timed conditions and then when I BR that section I do it untimed!
  • schyler.coxschyler.cox Alum Member
    152 karma
    @"The Moose" said:
    Why would you recommend not taking the October exam? Most law schools take the top score, including Georgetown, Cornell, and Northwestern. If I end up with a 170+ I'll just not retake.
    I recommended it based on what you said your confidence level is, based on my personal experience! Only you know if you are ready or not. :) To me, the LSAT is such a mental game, that going in with less than 100% confidence isn't worth it. I've already taken one test, so I'm being really careful about my next and final one. That's all !
  • Cayenne43Cayenne43 Alum Member
    195 karma
    I just changed from October to December as well because I didn't feel like I was confident about my LSAT skills or have maxed out my studying. I felt bad about changing my test date but I am glad to see I am not the only one! I just picked up the LSAT trainer two weeks ago and I found it so helpful in addition to 7 sage- I am now going to go through the entire book since I have time.
  • lsatblitzlsatblitz Alum Member
    521 karma
    Are you December takers up for a BR session sometime this weekend?
  • lenelson2lenelson2 Member
    523 karma
    I changed early in September. I was like f that!! But now I feel so much more confident. I'm taking live practice LSATs that are free. Just to work out some nerves this month. Then continuing on the 7sage schedule. But just a lot of practice tests. I'd be down to do a BR session Sat night (I know I'm lame. But if you are studying for the LSAT then I think you stay in on weekends too!) lol
  • beth.flandersbeth.flanders Alum Member
    212 karma
    I also rescheduled a few weeks ago from October until December and I'm even contemplating postponing again. I just finished up the 7sage course did really well on quizzes, drilling (timed and not timed) and i've gone through the Trainer. Yah me -- not. I took my first PT yesterday and completely fell apart at the seams. My first pencil broke, one of my fire alarms started beeping (time to change the battery), and didn't finish sections in time, and honestly - completely lost my focus to the point where I felt like the question stems meant absolutely nothing and I became totally clueless. Honestly, what happened during the PT is ironically funny because I "should" have expected things like this to happen but so frustrated that I let it take hold of me. I'll find out soon enough if I really was clueless once I finish BR'ing. In any event as the saying goes, I'll keep on going because there is always the next PT!
  • schyler.coxschyler.cox Alum Member
    152 karma
    @beth.flanders said:
    I'll keep on going because there is always the next PT!
    That's such a good attitude! It sounds like you have a little test anxiety to me. I personally don't experience it but I know a TON of people do. What helps for me is before I start, even while time is going, I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths, steady myself, then open my eyes and I'm ready to attack it. It's like I turn my test-taking self on. That sounds so weird but it helps me. The more you test, the easier it will get. Especially if you do all of them proctored (get the app, or the link on here!), so that the real test will be exactly the same. You just gotta put yourself in a position to do well, even if it's having to sit in the same spot or use the same pencil or have a certain routine. Everyone is different. You're going to do awesome, just keep at it. I've been going since May and it's so worth it. :)
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