When did you "click"??

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• Sami Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 7Sage Tutor

  October 2016 10806 karma

  Hi Coconutsberries,
  
  Although I have yet to smell which answer is right, lol, I think it has started to click for me. I don't know if there is a set time. For me it was after reading the LSAT Trainer, I felt like before that I kept trying to go for tricks but after that I felt it was more about understanding.
• LSATHopeful-2 Alum Member

  October 2016 109 karma

  Hey,
  
  By smell I assume you mean you can guess the answer by looking at the stimulus. I have seem to gotten to this point (however, not for the hardest of questions). I've been studying for a little over 3 months now (postponed by September LSAT).\
  
  How I got this point I chalk up to three things. 1. The length and intensity of my studying. Before school started I studied from June - start of September for 8 hours a day, 6 days a week. The intensity wasn't enough though, it took me 2 1/2 months for all the info to be stored into my long-term memory (for it to really SINK in). 2. The break I took. I took a 1 week break just prior to the September LSAT. This mental break really really did help as I felt it allowed my subconscious to internalize and evaluate the LSAT on another level. 3. The CC. I'm doing the CC for the first time rn and boy is it good.
  
  You'll be at smelling level soon enough my friend. Just have patience and if you feel like you're pooped out, take longer than 2 days off. It hurts to do, but it is definitely worth it in the long run.
• 1 Like

  jurisprudent Alum Member

  October 2016 edited October 2016 326 karma

  For me, I started to feel like things "clicked" when based on my analytics, I was only missing level 4 or 5 difficulty questions and had 100% confidence for non-BRed answers that I got correct in LR. This happened after doing problem sets (i.e drilling) specific LR question types that I struggled with and holding off on PTing until I felt more comfortable with the concepts ingrained into the answer choices.
  
  As for "smelling" the answer choices, I wouldn't quite put it that way but my intuition has definitely improved and I can tell when I'm about to fall for a trap answer choice and stop myself. Ironically, it's helped to actually fall for these traps several times and review during BR what I fell for before I was able to preemptively stop it from happening.
  
  I would focus on drilling specific question types and training yourself to see wrong answer choices! It definitely gets worse before it gets better (for a long period of time I was BR-ing myself out of the correct answer choices during timed sections, which meant that I never had a solid understanding for the concepts in the first place.) This is an indication that your pre-LSAT intuition is fighting against your post-7Sage curriculum intuition. It took me a really long time to reconcile the two, but drilling helped!
• AliceZ6v6 Alum Member

  October 2016 92 karma

  Ahh...thanks guys!
  I guess I need more practice...
  
  @Motivated
  Did you read the Trainer after the 7sage curriculum?
  There are too many prep materials these days and not really sure which one suits me...
  
  I was also wondering about "drilling"...
  I thought JY recommended to mix questions instead of doing the same type of questions in a row (maybe I misunderstood what he said?)...
  Which is actually better??
• 1 Like

  Alex Alum Member ⭐

  October 2016 23929 karma

  I feel like there are different levels of when things "click"
  
  I feel like the first level of things "clicking" (probably good enough to score a low 160s or so) was probably after 2.5 months of studying. I probably did 1000+ questions while drilling during this time. I used 7Sage and Manhattan LSAT Prep Books to get me to that point. Right now I am still working my way through the CC and hoping to begin Pt'ing once I finish that and fool proof more games.
  
  I definitely don't "smell" the right answer choices, but my intuitions have gotten a lot sharper. I think it is a few things. I don't fall for the LSAC's trick as much and I've sort of developed some pattern recognition for how the right and wrong answer choices are going to look. For example, after I memorized the valid and invalid argument forms, I began to see inference questions as pretty much all following a similar argument structure. Pattern recognition also helped things click with LG and some RC passages, particularly science ones that all seem to follow the same structure.
  
  
• 1 Like

  Sami Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 7Sage Tutor

  October 2016 10806 karma

  @coconutsberries Even though I joined 7sage a long time ago, I actually didn't utilize it. For one, I was in my last year of college and pretty busy. Two, I like reading a lot more than watching videos. So I first read powerscore, I think I memorized my entire notes for chapters, and then a couple of section drills. After this I read LSAT trainer. That's when I saw the most improvement. I only go back to 7sage curriculum when I find I have a weakness and I need to re-understand something. But as far as I can see 7sage and LSAT trainer are a bit different from each other. So its good to know different ways of doing things.
  
  I liked not mixing question types at first because it helps to pin down strategies. I thinking mixing is great as well. But in the beginning, it definitely helped to practice working on a specific question type for LR. But its up to you. You can always try and see what works for you.
  
  Also, I think what really helped me was the fact that I took my time. Although I really got into LSAT after my graduation in May 2016. I had actually bought my powerscore books/7sage/trainer May of 2015. I spent an entire summer just reading Powerscore and hanging out with friends. Even during school I set up at least a couple of hours per weekend to just read maybe do a few questions. I think the time I took to adjust my mind really helped. I think getting good at logic requires a change in the way we think, and that's not easy and takes time. So be patient. It will click. The old philosophers believed man is capable of reason but we have to cultivate it and this takes time and diligence.
  
  So I honestly think instead of waiting for it to click, just enjoy learning. Logic is fun and I think it makes us better as a person. So enjoy the journey and the day you feel ready for the test you'll know
• AliceZ6v6 Alum Member

  October 2016 92 karma

  @"Alex Divine"
  Ah, Inference&Must be true questions are my weakest question type...
  CC is core curriculum right?
  So you are still working with 7sage course, but already seeing "clicking"?
  
  @Motivated
  Thanks for your reply!
  Yeah actually I prefer to read too and kinda surprised to find there are not so many notes...maybe I should supplement with other materials too? We'll see...
  Thanks for the advice!
  
• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  October 2016 edited October 2016 23929 karma

  @coconutsberries said:
  Ah, Inference&Must be true questions are my weakest question type...
  CC is core curriculum right?
  So you are still working with 7sage course, but already seeing "clicking"?
  

  Yeah, I am most of the way through the CC (core curriculum, yup) I'm feeling like a lot of stuff is beginning to click. Games certainly have clicked in a big way since I've begun and a lot of the different LR question types.
  
  I think back to how bad I was in June and how poorly I did on my diagnostic (151) and how far I've come. I kind of feel like the first few weeks of the new semester is over and I'm back into the groove of things. I know where all my classes are, I know what to expect, and I know how to do it... Just a matter of getting it done. If that analogy makes any sense, lol.
  
  You'll get there though. Consistency and discipline is key. Also, remember that prepping for the LSAT is like weight training for big muscles and to get ripped. You aren't going to have muscle growth while you are lifting, but rather after when you are resting.
  
  My biggest breakthrough came after I took about 4 days off in August. I came back and took Prep Test A and did the best I had ever done. So sometimes taking a break and letting it all "sink in" is important too.
• AliceZ6v6 Alum Member

  October 2016 92 karma

  @"Alex Divine"
  Thanks for your advice!
  luv the analogy lol
• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  October 2016 23929 karma

  @coconutsberries said:
  @"Alex Divine"
  Thanks for your advice!
  luv the analogy lol
  

  Haha! Good I was worried you'd be like "WTF is this dude talking about?"
  
  
• Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  October 2016 27902 karma

  I'm not sure I like the concept of the click. A click is binary, and mastering the LSAT is very much not. I definitely had moments where I thought I'd clicked, but looking back, that always led to plateaus, lol. And I would get really frustrated because in my mind, it had clicked so how am I not improving!?
  
  Celebrate triumphs and milestones, for sure. The path to mastery is paved with them. Just don't think they're anything more than that. What feels like a click is really only the door opening onto the next, more difficult task. Until you score an official 180, there is no click;)
• Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  October 2016 27902 karma

  Smelling the right answer is totally real though! When you reach a certain level, you're just going to know the right answer on the vast majority of the questions. Sometimes it's from pre-phrasing, sometimes it's just you know it, without question, when you see it. For 170+ level scorers, it really comes down to the 10 hardest questions on the test. Everything else has to be kind of a given to consistently score in that range, and I think it'd be mighty hard to get there without a keen sense of smell.
• 1 Like

  AliceZ6v6 Alum Member

  October 2016 92 karma

  @"Cant Get Right"
  Thanks!
  Yeah maybe you are right.

  @"Cant Get Right" said:
  Until you score an official 180, there is no click;)
  

  Like this idea