Is 5-6 hours a day enough prep? Forum

[180asBreath]

If someone is really focusing on the LSAT, would 5-6 hours be considered an adequate amount? I'm not talking about normal test-takers, I'm talking about the hardcore ones who put their all into the test.

Do they do 5-6 hours a day?

[glucose101]

Depends what you're doing/reviewing. Granted it depends on your situation (not doing anything else/no job), I think that if it's focused time, that's too much/inefficient. Burnout def.

If you're taking an exam, which's around 3 hours, and then reviewing it, then I think that makes sense.

[Tiago Splitter]

No one does 5+ hours for any extended period.

[180asBreath]

Ah, I was just making sure that it would at least be deemed sufficient.

The plan is to do a few sections in the morning for a couple of hours and go through prep books for 3 hours at night. It doesn't seem all that excessive, but I'll be vigilant against burnout.

[180asBreath]

No one does 5+ hours for any extended period.

5 hours at a time or 5 hours a day?

[glucose101]

Trust me, I've def been there w the whole "it doesn't seem excessive thing." You def wanna go for quality over quantity. Make sure you're really understanding why things are wrong, etc. This takes time. But also the thing though is that you need time for your brain to reformulate how it thinks about the problems and the techniques/reasoning to solve them.

[emkay625]

I will just share my experience:

I was doing about 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. The test did not go well, and I think part of it was burnout/test anxiety.

[Tiago Splitter]

5 hours a day, although if you are breaking it up into, for example, morning and afternoon sessions you might be able to pull it off.

Treat it like a fairly difficult college class where you must get an A. No one spends 5 hours a day 5-7 days a week studying to get that A.

[180asBreath]

Great comments.

1. Quality over quantity, and a deeper understanding of reasoning.
2. Avoiding burnout, being aware of how you're holding up.

As for it being like a class, an A has never meant a $150k scholarship

[Tiago Splitter]

Great comments.

As for it being like a class, an A has never meant a $150k scholarship

True, but lots of As can.

I think the point is that if you are spending 5-6 hours every day on either the LSAT or that class and not acing it, effort isn't the issue.

[180asBreath]

Yeah, I hear you.

I am just doing my darndest to get from a person who is weak in RC to strong in RC, good at LG to perfect at LG, and decent at LR to great at LR.

I agree with drilling specific question types and I bought all of the Cambridge LR/LG by type. I am going to drill each type, individually, in hopes of mastering patterns and getting better at recognizing their underlying structure. With RC, I am seeing a tutor and I think I need to do a timed section each day to get better at it.

I know I can get there through many paths, I'm just making sure what I am doing is one of them.

[glucose101]

Yeah, I hear you.

I am just doing my darndest to get from a person who is weak in RC to strong in RC, good at LG to perfect at LG, and decent at LR to great at LR.

I agree with drilling specific question types and I bought all of the Cambridge LR/LG by type. I am going to drill each type, individually, in hopes of mastering patterns and getting better at recognizing their underlying structure. With RC, I am seeing a tutor and I think I need to do a timed section each day to get better at it.

I know I can get there through many paths, I'm just making sure what I am doing is one of them.

And while you want to do super well (who doesn't), and you're prob already doing this, but really focus on things you need to improve on. That doesn't mean totally neglect other sections, but if you're having more trouble with RC, focus on that--that's really the only way you'll be "adding" points to your score.

[minnbills]

+1 to the aboves

The temptation is definitely there to just throw as much time as you can at it, but you will burn yourself out. I did.

[bp shinners]

I think the point is that if you are spending 5-6 hours every day on either the LSAT or that class and not acing it, effort isn't the issue.

Exactly right.

I would say 5-6 hours/day is too much, especially if you're doing that every day. You should take a couple days off every week, and have enough time outside of LSAT prep to do other intellectually stimulating things (that backlog of books you've been meaning to read), as well as other completely non-intellectually stimulating things (Jersey Shore).