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Study Sched Feasibility
Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 1:48 am
by Blindc1rca
Okay so here's the deal:
I'm planning to take the October test.
I got a 165 cold 1&1/2 years ago.
2 weeks ago I started hitting the books hard (20-30 hours/week).
I plan to go 50/week from here on out.
My practice tests (in order of administration, since Aug. 7) have been
165 (first since my cold 1&1/2 years ago)
163
168
164
166
169
166
170
then...I started taking more recent tests (53, 52 49) it looked like this:
162
163
163
At first I was missing 8-11 on LG, then I hit the LGB pretty hard for a week, now I'm missing 6 consistently (three tests in a row). However on the new tests my LR has gone down a lot (before I was missing 1-3, now it's 4-5). RC I usually miss 2 or 3, although I've experienced two instances when my neighbors mules started wailing and the electricity went out (developing country, this is life son), these two factors combined causing me to freak out about time and lose a lot of focus. I went -8 on both of them.
I am just opening the LRB. I'm planning to hit it hard all this next week interspersed with some LG, perhaps a first revision of the LGB.
Given the information above, and assuming I am able to crank out five 8hr days and two 5hr days per week up until the day of the test, do I have a realistic chance at getting above a 170?
Re: Study Sched Feasibility
Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 11:25 am
by Blindc1rca
Oh and the resources that I have at my disposal are:
PT 2-57
LGB
LRB
LG for Dummies (haven't looked at this one yet)
Kaplan PT Explanations 2-57
Kaplan LSAT 180 09
Kaplan Premier Program 09
I'm not in the states right now, in fact I'm way out in the backcountry of a small developing nation (internet thanks to a portable modem that pings to cell phone towers), so getting anything else at this point is out of the question.
Pointers? Prognoses?
Re: Study Sched Feasibility
Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 11:39 am
by 3|ink
1.) Read LRB
2.) Read LGB
3.) Take a PT
4.) Review your mistakes
5.) Re-read applicable chapters of LRB and LGB
From 3-5, rinse and repeat.
Re: Study Sched Feasibility
Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 11:42 am
by beachbum
1) Your study schedule seems a bit much. I realize you're trying to learn as much as possible in a relatively short amount of time, but 50 hours/week is a recipe for burnout. Maybe you can do it, but it would be a hard schedule to stomach for most people. In my experience, my brain could only absorb so much LSAT-related information every day before I just had to stop and do something else.
2) LG still offers a big opportunity for improvement. The answers are straightforward and most (all?) problems fit into the systems pushed by companies like Powerscore. If you get the systems down and get enough practice in, LG becomes free points.
3) Thoroughly review your PTs. Look for patterns in the questions you're missing (i.e. the types of LR problems that give you trouble). It might be worth your while to have a more specific study routine for a time instead of pushing forward with too many PTs. That is, work on specific trouble-problems and trouble-sections. (On the other hand, if timing and/or endurance is a weakness, continue with a steady flow of PTs).
I'm sure you can hit 170. You've already demonstrated in your PTs that you're capable of high scores, and you have a month or so to push it up even further.
Re: Study Sched Feasibility
Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 11:48 am
by Roger Goodell Castro
Okay so here's the deal:
I'm planning to take the October test.
I got a 165 cold 1&1/2 years ago.
2 weeks ago I started hitting the books hard (20-30 hours/week).
I plan to go 50/week from here on out.
My practice tests (in order of administration, since Aug. 7) have been
165 (first since my cold 1&1/2 years ago)
163
168
164
166
169
166
170
then...I started taking more recent tests (53, 52 49) it looked like this:
162
163
163
At first I was missing 8-11 on LG, then I hit the LGB pretty hard for a week, now I'm missing 6 consistently (three tests in a row). However on the new tests my LR has gone down a lot (before I was missing 1-3, now it's 4-5). RC I usually miss 2 or 3, although I've experienced two instances when my neighbors mules started wailing and the electricity went out (developing country, this is life son), these two factors combined causing me to freak out about time and lose a lot of focus. I went -8 on both of them.
I am just opening the LRB. I'm planning to hit it hard all this next week interspersed with some LG, perhaps a first revision of the LGB.
Given the information above, and assuming I am able to crank out five 8hr days and two 5hr days per week up until the day of the test, do I have a realistic chance at getting above a 170?
Starting around PrepTest 50, the LSAT became much more difficult for me. Others claim they continued to do just as well, but it sounds as if you may have the same problem I had. I was scoring between 168-172 on a regular basis. On a bad PT I would get 166. After taking the live LSAT three times, and receiving a score in the low 160s all three times, I ended up at a school ranking between 50-75 rather than something between 10-20 like I was hoping for. So hopefully you won't end up in my situation. Continue cranking out those heavy study days and hopefully you'll end up 170+ on test day. It didn't work for me, but I hope it does for you. Best of luck in your studying.
Re: Study Sched Feasibility
Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 12:37 pm
by Blindc1rca
beachbum wrote:1) Your study schedule seems a bit much. I realize you're trying to learn as much as possible in a relatively short amount of time, but 50 hours/week is a recipe for burnout. Maybe you can do it, but it would be a hard schedule to stomach for most people. In my experience, my brain could only absorb so much LSAT-related information every day before I just had to stop and do something else.
2) LG still offers a big opportunity for improvement. The answers are straightforward and most (all?) problems fit into the systems pushed by companies like Powerscore. If you get the systems down and get enough practice in, LG becomes free points.
3) Thoroughly review your PTs. Look for patterns in the questions you're missing (i.e. the types of LR problems that give you trouble). It might be worth your while to have a more specific study routine for a time instead of pushing forward with too many PTs. That is, work on specific trouble-problems and trouble-sections. (On the other hand, if timing and/or endurance is a weakness, continue with a steady flow of PTs).
I'm sure you can hit 170. You've already demonstrated in your PTs that you're capable of high scores, and you have a month or so to push it up even further.
Thanks for the advice and encouragement Beachbum. That 170 is the goal, but honestly I won't be terribly distraught if I get a 168/169.
Re: (1), I don't know... I don't feel destined for burnout, I actually kind of enjoy studying, even those 10 hour weekend days I find kind of enjoyable. The only thing that kind of bums me is that I've had to reduce my exercise routine a bit (I was doing 2 hours/day 5 days/week) and with work and studying I don't really have time for that now, but whatever, a few 5mi runs a week is fine for the time being.
Re: (2) I've whipped back out the LGB and I'm going back over it cover to cover as we speak, erasing and redoing every drill. I'm finishing linear games in about 8 minutes now, but I'd like to cut that down by 2 more seeing as they tend to be the easiest. I definitely can see an improvement on the LG's already, even though it's small. Before there always seemed to be one that stumped me, now none really catch me off guard, it's just about speed and routine.
Re: (3) Last night I made a graph of my LR errors in my last 7 PT's, they tend to be Parallel Reasoning, Flawed Reasoning, Assumptions and Strengthen-Support/Weaken (19 out of my last 24 misses). Formal Logic PR's really screw me because they are generally the longest and they make me worry about time, SS/W's need work in that I often can only eliminate 3 of 5 because of a lack of carefulness in reading. That said with LR time tends not to be an issue, as I'm usually completing the first 15 in 17min, however reading this forum it seems that trying to shave two more minutes off that figure would be ideal.
Re: Study Sched Feasibility
Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 1:09 pm
by whymeohgodno
Blindc1rca wrote:beachbum wrote:1) Your study schedule seems a bit much. I realize you're trying to learn as much as possible in a relatively short amount of time, but 50 hours/week is a recipe for burnout. Maybe you can do it, but it would be a hard schedule to stomach for most people. In my experience, my brain could only absorb so much LSAT-related information every day before I just had to stop and do something else.
2) LG still offers a big opportunity for improvement. The answers are straightforward and most (all?) problems fit into the systems pushed by companies like Powerscore. If you get the systems down and get enough practice in, LG becomes free points.
3) Thoroughly review your PTs. Look for patterns in the questions you're missing (i.e. the types of LR problems that give you trouble). It might be worth your while to have a more specific study routine for a time instead of pushing forward with too many PTs. That is, work on specific trouble-problems and trouble-sections. (On the other hand, if timing and/or endurance is a weakness, continue with a steady flow of PTs).
I'm sure you can hit 170. You've already demonstrated in your PTs that you're capable of high scores, and you have a month or so to push it up even further.
Thanks for the advice and encouragement Beachbum. That 170 is the goal, but honestly I won't be terribly distraught if I get a 168/169.
Re: (1), I don't know... I don't feel destined for burnout, I actually kind of enjoy studying, even those 10 hour weekend days I find kind of enjoyable. The only thing that kind of bums me is that I've had to reduce my exercise routine a bit (I was doing 2 hours/day 5 days/week) and with work and studying I don't really have time for that now, but whatever, a few 5mi runs a week is fine for the time being.
Re: (2) I've whipped back out the LGB and I'm going back over it cover to cover as we speak, erasing and redoing every drill. I'm finishing linear games in about 8 minutes now, but I'd like to cut that down by 2 more seeing as they tend to be the easiest. I definitely can see an improvement on the LG's already, even though it's small. Before there always seemed to be one that stumped me, now none really catch me off guard, it's just about speed and routine.
Re: (3) Last night I made a graph of my LR errors in my last 7 PT's, they tend to be Parallel Reasoning, Flawed Reasoning, Assumptions and Strengthen-Support/Weaken (19 out of my last 24 misses). Formal Logic PR's really screw me because they are generally the longest and they make me worry about time, SS/W's need work in that I often can only eliminate 3 of 5 because of a lack of carefulness in reading. That said with LR time tends not to be an issue, as I'm usually completing the first 15 in 17min, however reading this forum it seems that trying to shave two more minutes off that figure would be ideal.
Tbh I think personally trying to shave off time on LR can hurt more than help if you are already finishing on time.
LR it's so easy to misread one line or forget to remember one crucial word that can make you completely flustered.