How many PTs a week is ideal?

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• 2 Likes

  Alex Alum Member ⭐

  October 2016 23929 karma

  @Dallan89 said:
  Just trying to plot out my PT schedule for the coming weeks leading up to the December LSAT and am wondering, how many PTS a week is ideal? How many is too many?
  Thanks
  

  Hey dude,
  
  So how many PTs a week is really one of those things that depends on the person, their schedule, and where they are in their prep.
  
  I think a safe amount to start off with is 1 test a week with a very thorough blind review and drilling on the rest of the days.
  
  So a schedule like this:
  
  Monday: PT
  Tuesday: Blind review LR + LG
  Wednesday: Blind review LR
  Thursday: Blind review RC
  Friday: Drill weaknesses
  Saturday: Drill weaknesses/ do timed section
  Sunday: Off!
  
  If you feel like you are comfortably able to get through this you might be able to add in a second one. But it is really important to remember that your ultimate goal isn't to do a bunch of PTs, but rather build your skills and increase your score!
• danielznelson Alum Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  October 2016 4181 karma

  1-2. 3 is really pushing it for at least most people, though I'm sure it's worked out for the occasional exception.
  
  I'm too tired to elaborate. I'm also too tired to practice better judgement by just answering tomorrow.
• Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  October 2016 27902 karma

  Yeah, 1 or 2 depending on where you're at in your studies.
• 1 Like

  Wind-Up Bird Alum Member

  October 2016 284 karma

  Hey @Dallan89, what's your overall time-frame like for studying?
  
  I'm assuming you've completed the core curriculum and you're about to tackle PTs 36 - 79 in the next two and a half months. I was operating on a similar schedule for the September LSAT, but my circumstances might be different from yours (e.g. I was pretty comfortable with studying up to 6 hours per day and I had all the time to study during summer break). Depending on your diagnostic and target scores, I wouldn't recommend shoving all those PTs in 2 months. However, I would recommend no more than 4 PTs per week if you're really pushing it.
• tanes256 Alum Member

  October 2016 2573 karma

  @"Wind-Up Bird" 4 PT a week???! Sweet Jesus! I wish I had that kind of stamina!
• 1 Like

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

  October 2016 27902 karma

  The important thing isn't the PT, it's all the shit you've got to do after the PT. If you're doing it right, that's a whole lot of shit. How many PTs you do a week depends on how much time all that takes. The more advanced you are, the more targeted it becomes; and for me, that typically took less time (although several times it meant two weeks before my next PT). Even when I started averaging in the high 170's though, two a week is about all I could manage. To do much more than that, I would have had to neglect the real work of studying. I could maybe have managed three, but I'd've really struggled to keep up.
• 1 Like

  Wind-Up Bird Alum Member

  October 2016 284 karma

  @tanes256 I wrote the MCAT the summer before my LSAT, so I didn't struggle too much with studying ~6 hours a day. I didn't get to drill logic games as much as I'd have liked, but I thought my schedule was pretty manageable and I ended up getting the results I wanted.
  
  Here's my schedule:
  Monday: PT1 + BR half of PT1
  Tues: PT2 + finish BR PT1
  Wed: BR PT2
  Thurs: PT3 + BR half of PT3
  Fri: PT4 + finish BR PT3
  Sat: BR PT4
  Sun: Chill/drill
• 1 Like

  EmmaWI88 Alum Member

  October 2016 edited October 2016 213 karma

  I'd say 2. This will give you time to properly BR and drill. The real learning comes from BRing your PT and drilling. The PTs are meant to expose weaknesses to focus on. If you can do more than 2, BR and do necessary drilling, then god speed. Also depending on how high you tend to score, you could conceptually have more time to take more PTs than drill. All of this just comes with learning how you work and what seems to be helping you.
• tanes256 Alum Member

  October 2016 2573 karma

  @"Cant Get Right" said:
  The important thing isn't the PT, it's all the shit you've got to do after the PT. If you're doing it right, that's a whole lot of shit.
  

  What he said! I would say 2 though. BR sucks but it's worth it. @"Wind-Up Bird" I actually thought about doing what you did but I decided against it because if you move on to the next PT without completing the BR for the initial PT you'll potentially make the same mistakes on the 2nd that you made on the 1st because you didn't review it on the 1st.
  
• 1 Like

  Wind-Up Bird Alum Member

  October 2016 284 karma

  @tanes256 Yeah if you have more than 3 months to study, I would definitely recommend taking your time with PTs. I was super strapped for time and wanted to complete PTs 36 - 78 before September.
• Sprinkles Alum Member ⭐

  October 2016 11542 karma

  I agree with 2, maybe 3 max. I would also emphasize that you shouldn't sacrifice proper BR time for more PTs.
• bjphillips5 Alum Member

  October 2016 1137 karma

  I think it's super up to you and what works best for you. More than 2 sounds pretty crazy to me. I tried 2 for a while, but found it caused me to burn out and not be able to do more detail-oriented work. I'd recommend experimenting between 1 and 2 and seeing what works best for you!!
• MrSamIam Inactive ⭐

  October 2016 2086 karma

  1-2. Many people will suggest 3/week. However, I find it incredibly difficult to PT and EFFECTIVELY BR/drill more than 2 tests per week. If you're PTing 3+ tests/week, don't expect to BR all 3 (more more).