How many problem sets should I do?

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• 1 Like

  Alex Alum Member ⭐

  August 2016 edited August 2016 23929 karma

  I would say do a few sets of varying difficulty until you feel comfortable and then save some for when you are PT'ing. Hard to quote an exact amount.
  
  
• jaymasonman13 Free Trial Member

  August 2016 48 karma

  Thank you, Alex! I just wonder what J.Y. would recommend? I wish the course told us exactly how many of the problem sets to do
• 2 Likes

  Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  August 2016 27900 karma

  One thing to remember about the curriculum is that you're just learning so much information. You aren't going to go come out the other side with everything on lockdown and you will have to revisit the curriculum many many times after you finish. These revisits were where the problem sets were most beneficial for me. Going through the curriculum the first time, I'd recommend doing two or three maybe- just until you're comfortable with the concepts. I can't speak for JY, but I think that's the intention.
• jaymasonman13 Free Trial Member

  August 2016 48 karma

  @"Cant Get Right" said:
  Going through the curriculum the first time, I'd recommend doing two or three maybe- just until you're comfortable with the concepts. I can't speak for JY, but I think that's the intention.
  

  
  Thank you. So you are saying I should go through the lessons the first time and do 2-3 problem sets (15 or so questions) and then save the rest to drill as I PT?
  
  Do you also recommend that I go through the lessons more than once? That would take quite a bit of time.... ?
• 2 Likes

  Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  August 2016 27900 karma

  @jaymasonman13 said:
  Do you also recommend that I go through the lessons more than once? That would take quite a bit of time.... ?
  

  Start by going through the curriculum slow and steady: Really try to master every concept before you move on. You should spend a lot of time in the curriculum. When you finish the curriculum, use PT's 1 - 36 to drill full sections. This is going to identify a lot of weaknesses. As you identify what these weaknesses are, return to the curriculum to address those specific weaknesses and drill those particular problem sets. Once you're feeling good there; then it's time to move on to the full PT/BR phase. You'll continue to find new weaknesses and rediscover old ones; so then you'll move back to drills and problem sets and lessons. The curriculum is your constant companion, it's not something that's gone through and then you're done with it. You do use it differently after the first time through though. Instead of going from beginning to end, you use it more as a reference, looking up specific lessons and problem sets and what-have-you.
  
  What is your target score and when are you hoping to test? I'd guess at least 90% of folks start out with a really unrealistic timeline. I know this is getting a little off topic, but you mentioned time and that's a really important element to all this.
• 1 Like

  jaymasonman13 Free Trial Member

  August 2016 48 karma

  Thank you @"Cant Get Right" I shall complete the lessons as you prescribe. I am still a little confused on exactly how many of the problem sets to do though. You basically suggest doing 2-3 sets per question type?
  
  Also, how do you recommend I dill PTs 1-35? Timed section basically? Then go back and attack my weaknesses by rematching the entire lesson and doing more problem sets? Is that right
  

  @"Cant Get Right" said:
  What is your target score and when are you hoping to test?
  

  Target score in a 170. I was hoping to test in December, but @"Alex Divine" and many other talked me into waiting until I am ready. So no deadline per say but I would like to take the test and apply next cycle f that makes sense.
  
  
• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  August 2016 23929 karma

  @jaymasonman13 Right on dude! Glad to hear you are taking that path instead of rushing into it. I'm so thankful I found this forum and people like @"Cant Get Right" helped me realize I need to make my goal a score and not a date.
  
  I haven't gotten to drilling sections yet, so I will let CantGetRight answer you on that one. He is much further along in his prep than I. I'm planning on using 1-35 to drill sections and by question type once I'm done with the core curriculum. I guess how I do it will depend on what my weaknesses are at that point.
• Kateryna Alum Member

  August 2016 984 karma

  @"Alex Divine" how far into curriculum are you?
• Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  August 2016 27900 karma

  @jaymasonman13 said:
  I am still a little confused on exactly how many of the problem sets to do though. You basically suggest doing 2-3 sets per question type?
  

  So the number of problem sets you do is a conditional. If you've gotten to conditionals yet, the conditional equation for how many problem sets is:
  
  Feel Comfortable with the Material ---> Don't do any more problem sets.
  
  So if you feel comfortable after 1 problem set, that's all you do. If you don't, you do another. If you get past three, I'd recommend starting over and rewatching the lessons so you're not just spinning your wheels and wasting problem sets.

  @jaymasonman13 said:
  Also, how do you recommend I dill PTs 1-35? Timed section basically? Then go back and attack my weaknesses by rematching the entire lesson and doing more problem sets? Is that right
  

  So I'm actually a big advocate of untimed drills. Pacing is really an advanced area, and while you're learning the material I think it's really easy to develop a lot of bad habits. Think of it like a race. When runners train, they don't change the distance they run based on how much ground they can cover in a set amount of time. They cover the preset distance and then record the time. The goal is to keep improving speed and endurance until the distance they need to cover is falling within their goal time. This is how I like to drill, and it's been the method I have found most productive. Use a stopwatch to keep time, but not a timer to tell you when to stop. It's not a Blind Review, so don't take two hours. I'm sure most runners could cover a marathon in 24 hours, but it wouldn't really be good training. Find a good, natural pace that you can manage and see where that puts you. If it's 45 minutes, that's okay because you're training. Identify what you need to improve in order to decrease your time. Then improve it. I also recommend recording your drills. That gives you great material to use in identifying your weak spots. Maybe you think you're really good at Weaken questions. You always get them right, and analytics says you're great. Then you see in the footage that, yeah, you get them right but you spend an average of 3 minutes on them. Turns out, you actually kind of suck at weaken questions. That is information you need, and it's very difficult to get that information without the footage.
  
  And glad to hear you're committing to your score and not your test date. Telling law schools, "yeah but I took it last June instead of next February," doesn't tend to count for much.
• 1 Like

  Alex Alum Member ⭐

  August 2016 23929 karma

  @Kateryna said:
  how far into curriculum are you?
  

  Hey Kateryna, (I like your name btw)
  
  Not very.
  
  I originally had the starter course and was about a quarter of the way through with the CC. Then I got Ult + a few weeks ago and decided to postpone and start from the beginning again. When I was planning on taking in December, I was rushing through the starter course and not really absorbing a lot of the lessons. Hence my reason for starting from the get-go again.
  
  Now that I have restarted the course with the Ult+, I believe I am about 15-20% done with the CC. I'm not certain though because I don't do all the problem sets immediately after the lessons.
  
  
• 2 Likes

  Alex Alum Member ⭐

  August 2016 23929 karma

  @"Cant Get Right" said:
  So the number of problem sets you do is a conditional. If you've gotten to conditionals yet, the conditional equation for how many problem sets is:
  
  Feel Comfortable with the Material ---> Don't do any more problem sets.
  

  I just want to let you know that you're my hero for this @"Cant Get Right"
• 4 Likes

  Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  August 2016 27900 karma

  @"Alex Divine" At this point, if there's a concept I can't express as a conditional, I have yet to come across it.
• Kateryna Alum Member

  August 2016 984 karma

  @"Alex Divine" thanks for the name compliment and thanks for the response!
• jaymasonman13 Free Trial Member

  August 2016 48 karma

  @"Alex Divine"
  
  Do you think it is best to go through the curriculum from the start? Or do you skip around?
  
  Im also curious what LSAT score you're trying to get?
• Breakthelsat Member

  August 2016 82 karma

  @"Cant Get Right" said:
  use PT's 1 - 36 to drill full sections.
  

  I have PT's 1-36 without the explanations though. How do I improve my weaknesses if I only have the answer choice for LR and RC. Do you mean it's best to drill through only the LGs on PT's 1-36 and later do 5section timed tests on PT's 36-78?
  
  also, what's the best way of using LG bundles?
• 1 Like

  MrSamIam Inactive ⭐

  August 2016 2086 karma

  The reason why you can't find any solid answers is simply because the answer is "however many you need" .
  Here's my rule of thumb: Unless I can utilize J.Y.s methods for said question type, and see how the skills operate to get me to the right answer choice and to help me eliminate the 4 wrong ones, I need to do more problem sets.
  As I was going through the curriculum, I did 1 easy, 1 medium, and 1 difficult set. The rest remained untouched until I started the PT/BR stage, which I now use to determine if I should drill a certain question type.
• Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  August 2016 27900 karma

  @ro.oza said:
  How do I improve my weaknesses if I only have the answer choice for LR and RC.
  

  So I only use the videos as a method of last resort. If I'm watching a video then I have reached a point of frustration and desperation that I feel like I will never overcome. The thing about LR is the test gives you all the information you need to answer each question, so if you take the time to properly BR your drills there is theoretically no reason you can't eventually figure it out. If there are still questions you miss in BR, then work with those questions until you understand them. If you can't answer one, it's because you are missing a fundamental ability. Identify it, review the curriculum, and return to the question to see if you can crack it open with your newly reinforced skills. This is kind of brutal work, but there is nothing better for improving your score. I've only watched 3 or 4 LR videos, everything else I have been able to stick with until I got it. If you run into one of these without an explanation, you can always post the question to the forums.
• 1 Like

  Breakthelsat Member

  August 2016 82 karma

  
  

  @"Cant Get Right" Thanks! got it