Top Law Schools

I've been getting a lot of PM's about how I improved my LSAT by 15 points, so I decided just to make a post. I hope it's helpful for future test takers.

Important stuff first:
What worked for me this (third) time around

This time around, I went all out. I studied for five months, maybe 3-4 hours a week at the beginning and then up to 12 hours per week at the end. I pretty much just followed lsatblog's 5 month study plan (lsatblog.blogspot.com) with extra LG practice since that was my worst section.

Logic Games drilling: I made 3 photocopies of all the logic games in PT 19-38 and arranged them in a stack, so I'd run across the games again about a week after I did them. I did four games a day. At first, I timed myself, but I kept working until I finished the game and then noted how long it took. Once I could do the whole games 100% accurately in about 10 minutes/game, I started timing myself and stopping when the timer went off: 9:30, then 9:00, etc. until I could do them all in 7 minutes. I really think repeating the games helped me ingrain the basic patterns until they were automatic. I didn't remember the specifics when I redid each game, but stuff like the basic not-laws became much more automatic. When I started doing fresh LG's as part of unseen PT's, I was MUCH better at them.

LR: Once I was square on LG, I really focused on LR (all within the lsatblog study plan). I worked through the LR bible then went back through it and wrote a five page summary of the main points. Then, I read that summary before every prep test until I pretty much had it memorized. (I'm not giving out copies of this because it's not a magic cheat sheet- the value is boiling down the strategies in a way that works for you. It's about the process, not the product.)

RC: I didn't do a lot of specific RC prep. It was my strongest section, and just analyzing my mistakes after the PT's was enough. I already do a lot of non-fiction reading (nerd ), so that might not work for others.

Accountability:Finally, this time around, I had a study partner. We didn't meet but once a week, but knowing that he expected me to cover certain material before we met really helped me stay on schedule. We'd also review our PT's together and fill in a simple spreadsheet of types of ?'s missed. I hated reviewing PT's, but Keeping a Record of the kind of questions I missed really helped my fix weaknesses the last two months or so.


What didn't work before
I first took the LSAT in June before my senior year. My first score (157) was mostly just the result of stupidity. My mentality was very much, "Oh, I did great on the SAT, so the LSAT will be no problem." Wrong. I think skimmed a Kaplan book and did a couple (literally, two) PT's, but that was it.

I studied for my second attempt, but I focused mainly on chugging through the Princeton Review books (which I do not recommend) and then taking as many PT's as possible. I didn't review PT's, and I never did a logic game more than once. I was actually pretty happy with my 164, until I realized that, while a 164/3.3 might get me admitted, I would have zero chance at money, which I really need.

ETA: Please let me know if anything is unclear or if I could be more detailed <3

My BFF is awesome. Great job Eugenie!!

Any suggestions for getting over the 170 hump? Usual failure to do so is LR based problems (often going -2 in one LR and -5 in another) -4ish in RC, -0 to -1 in LG

What's your mindset when you start the LR sections?

gambelda wrote:Any suggestions for getting over the 170 hump? Usual failure to do so is LR based problems (often going -2 in one LR and -5 in another) -4ish in RC, -0 to -1 in LG

What's your mindset when you start the LR sections?

Just gonna ever so quickly hijack this thread....can I get your response to the FML thread you started yesterday. Inquiring minds want to know!

gambelda wrote:Any suggestions for getting over the 170 hump? Usual failure to do so is LR based problems (often going -2 in one LR and -5 in another) -4ish in RC, -0 to -1 in LG

What's your mindset when you start the LR sections?

The 170 hump for me was getting to -3 and -2 on LR since I was good on the other sections. Confidence in my answers was key since I was having a problem with right-to-wrong answer switching and wasting a lot of time dithering between two answer choices.

What really helped me is memorizing/internalizing the step by steps from the LR bible. I could already do about 80% fine on my own, but the strategies saved me on the tough ones. At first, I did a little worse when I started using the strategies because it took time to remember what to do next. Once I got my summary memorized (reviewed each time before doing any LR questions), I felt a lot more confident, and I greatly reduced my right-to-wrong error switching.

Sure. I'm not exactly sure what you wanted to know though. I didn't follow the thread - I just saw it locked. I went back to my hotel from work and then went swimming for an hour to train. Came back to my room and it was locked so I just assumed I had been bashed to hell as usual and started studying for my LSAT on Saturday haha.

I honestly posted the thread because I was thinking about that situation earlier in the day and how things you don't really think about now can come back and bite you in the ass in the future. Good life lesson. I was interested in hearing other people's rather funny stories.

If you're referring to my mis-labeling of the Chief Justice, I don't understand who really gives a shit. Everyone knew what I meant. TLS Lounge is an anomaly because it's really more of a bash zone than a post of offtopic stuff you want to discuss. Either way, it didn't bother me much. Was that what you wanted the answer too? If not, let me know.

Eugenie Danglars wrote:

gambelda wrote:Any suggestions for getting over the 170 hump? Usual failure to do so is LR based problems (often going -2 in one LR and -5 in another) -4ish in RC, -0 to -1 in LG

What's your mindset when you start the LR sections?

The 170 hump for me was getting to -3 and -2 on LR since I was good on the other sections. Confidence in my answers was key since I was having a problem with right-to-wrong answer switching and wasting a lot of time dithering between two answer choices.

What really helped me is memorizing/internalizing the step by steps from the LR bible. I could already do about 80% fine on my own, but the strategies saved me on the tough ones. At first, I did a little worse when I started using the strategies because it took time to remember what to do next. Once I got my summary memorized (reviewed each time before doing any LR questions), I felt a lot more confident, and I greatly reduced my right-to-wrong error switching.

Can you expand upon what you mean by your "summary"? I know you said you wrote a 5 page description of all the rules, but what type of things were included? A set of rules for each question type? A set of tricks you found while studying for certain question types? I'm interested because I really need to improve this section to hit that 170. Unfortunately I am taking the test on Saturday. A jump to over 170 is unlikely, but if I don't make it I'll use this strategy for June's exam. I took PT 45 last night (granted this is the easiest) and scored a 171 (-6 LR, -1 LR)

gambelda wrote:Sure. I'm not exactly sure what you wanted to know though. I didn't follow the thread - I just saw it locked. I went back to my hotel from work and then went swimming for an hour to train. Came back to my room and it was locked so I just assumed I had been bashed to hell as usual and started studying for my LSAT on Saturday haha.

I honestly posted the thread because I was thinking about that situation earlier in the day and how things you don't really think about now can come back and bite you in the ass in the future. Good life lesson. I was interested in hearing other people's rather funny stories.

If you're referring to my mis-labeling of the Chief Justice, I don't understand who really gives a shit. Everyone knew what I meant. TLS Lounge is an anomaly because it's really more of a bash zone than a post of offtopic stuff you want to discuss. Either way, it didn't bother me much. Was that what you wanted the answer too? If not, let me know.

.....the girl you mentioned in the story making an account and responding to you. Don't leave out that part!

D. H2Oman wrote:

gambelda wrote:Sure. I'm not exactly sure what you wanted to know though. I didn't follow the thread - I just saw it locked. I went back to my hotel from work and then went swimming for an hour to train. Came back to my room and it was locked so I just assumed I had been bashed to hell as usual and started studying for my LSAT on Saturday haha.

I honestly posted the thread because I was thinking about that situation earlier in the day and how things you don't really think about now can come back and bite you in the ass in the future. Good life lesson. I was interested in hearing other people's rather funny stories.

If you're referring to my mis-labeling of the Chief Justice, I don't understand who really gives a shit. Everyone knew what I meant. TLS Lounge is an anomaly because it's really more of a bash zone than a post of offtopic stuff you want to discuss. Either way, it didn't bother me much. Was that what you wanted the answer too? If not, let me know.

.....the girl you mentioned in the story making an account and responding to you. Don't leave out that part!

Plz to find another place for this convo?

D. H2Oman wrote:

gambelda wrote:Sure. I'm not exactly sure what you wanted to know though. I didn't follow the thread - I just saw it locked. I went back to my hotel from work and then went swimming for an hour to train. Came back to my room and it was locked so I just assumed I had been bashed to hell as usual and started studying for my LSAT on Saturday haha.

I honestly posted the thread because I was thinking about that situation earlier in the day and how things you don't really think about now can come back and bite you in the ass in the future. Good life lesson. I was interested in hearing other people's rather funny stories.

If you're referring to my mis-labeling of the Chief Justice, I don't understand who really gives a shit. Everyone knew what I meant. TLS Lounge is an anomaly because it's really more of a bash zone than a post of offtopic stuff you want to discuss. Either way, it didn't bother me much. Was that what you wanted the answer too? If not, let me know.

.....the girl you mentioned in the story making an account and responding to you. Don't leave out that part!

She was not the girl whom I dated. Just a friend of someone who also dated the same girl that I dated during high school. The guy she was referring too was in my math class in high school - pretty cool, but I'm sure he got tired of me bugging him for math answers at lunch. Cleared that up via PM last night when I saw we knew the exact same person.

/end convo move to PM for future questions if you have any to keep thread on topic

Eugenie's amazing. Such a great LSAT success story <3

LSpleaseee wrote:Eugenie's amazing. Such a great LSAT success story <3

Aw, thanks Pleasy I was really, really happy and surprised. Might or might not have involved a fair amount of squeeee.

awesome eugenie!! if only i could find the motivation to do the same...

minuit wrote:awesome eugenie!! if only i could find the motivation to do the same...

I never found my motivation. I just got a study buddy instead. :-p

Thanks for the advice, I was actually going to use lsat blog's study schedule aswell, but I was told Pithypike's guide is the best. The only problem I haven with LSAT'S blog is the way the grouping games are catergorized. Did u find lsat blog's own unique catergorization of games to be helpful?

And did u study LR and LG together or you started the LRB after you fininshed the LRB. If its the latter, which advice would u give to one who is concerned about forgetting useful skills by forgoing a month of practice for a particular section.

I think people get way too caught up in precisely categorizing games. I mean, the linearish vs groupingish is very important, but if you can do the games, it doesn't matter if you know that they're overloaded/underfunded or whatever. I didn't have a problem with lsatblog's style. It's important to be flexible with LG, especially with some of the newer games that extremely "hybrid."

Also, I studied just LG, then LG and LR. After I finished the LGB, I continued doing four games a day as I worked through the LRB and even as I started PT's. If you want, you can do a full PT once a month to sort of track your progress, too.

Good luck

Eugenie Danglars wrote:I think people get way too caught up in precisely categorizing games. I mean, the linearish vs groupingish is very important, but if you can do the games, it doesn't matter if you know that they're overloaded/underfunded or whatever. I didn't have a problem with lsatblog's style. It's important to be flexible with LG, especially with some of the newer games that extremely "hybrid."

Also, I studied just LG, then LG and LR. After I finished the LGB, I continued doing four games a day as I worked through the LRB and even as I started PT's. If you want, you can do a full PT once a month to sort of track your progress, too.

Good luck

I went from 163 - 173, and would second this advice. I couldn't tell you what type of game I was doing, but I drilled them so much, I could tackle them blindfolded. Cambridge LSAT was a great help - loads of games printed out. Whenever I had free minutes I'd tackle a game. Ones I found difficult went in a pile, made another copy and then did them a second and third time until I was sure I'd mastered the logic.

I never redid games studying for the LSAT. Big mistake, now I know. Next time I take the test, I am going to use your method, 4 games a day from a big stack, I will set it up so I start running into the same games again on the weekly. Redoing the games will build confidence as well as reinforce my ability to recognize what kinds of diagrams to draw, as well as handle difficult diagrams.

You have to be getting perfects every time in your training, I took this for granted on previous attempts. I thought I would be wasting time doing more games if I was already getting perfects 85% of the time. Quite the contrary, come test day and you get 2 hard games and BOOM! It's all over, you cannot sacrifice a single point on the games section, you have to train until you are getting -0 100% of the time.

I hope that I can post a success story like yours sometime this year.

thegor1987 wrote:I never redid games studying for the LSAT. Big mistake, now I know. Next time I take the test, I am going to use your method, 4 games a day from a big stack, I will set it up so I start running into the same games again on the weekly. Redoing the games will build confidence as well as reinforce my ability to recognize what kinds of diagrams to draw, as well as handle difficult diagrams.

You have to be getting perfects every time in your training, I took this for granted on previous attempts. I thought I would be wasting time doing more games if I was already getting perfects 85% of the time. Quite the contrary, come test day and you get 2 hard games and BOOM! It's all over, you cannot sacrifice a single point on the games section, you have to train until you are getting -0 100% of the time.

I hope that I can post a success story like yours sometime this year.

Best of luck in 2011

Great thread.

Great advice - thanks for sharing!

Eug, this advice is AWESOME. Will be taking a close look and trying to replicate it in June!!! <3 <3You rock my socks off.

Welcome! Glad to be of some assistance

If anyone is interested in a 171 --> Cancel, I am available.

i guess I'm the only one who didn't find this helpful.

I'm tired of advice on Logic Games. Anyone who's studied for a significant amount of time can improve to a -1 scorer on Logic Games. It's the easiest part of the test (to learn and complete).

So for the other sections... basically you wrote out a five page summary of the logical reasoning bible.