Thoughts on my LSAT study plan? Forum

[ams212]

I am going to be taking the LSAT in June of 2013. I am well aware that most don't start studying this early, but I am aware that I am going to be bogged down with work, school, and volunteering at a non-profit. I will probably be devoting similar time to someone studying for 3 or 4 months, but I have to spread it out because of responsibilities. Anyways, here we go.

September and October-Manhattan RC and Cambridge RC PTs 1-20 by question type

November and dec- Ditto but with LR + one full RC section a week to stay fresh on it

Jan and feb- ditto but with LG+ one full RC and 2 LR a week

I will take from PTs 21-34 for my "to stay fresh" and will use the remaining sections left from those for expiremental sections


March- PTs 35-45 w/ one exp section

April- PTs 46-56 w/ two exp sections

May- PTs 57-68- two full sections back to back every time to increase stamina


I am mainly interested in people's general thoughts on this? Any helpful suggestions will be greatly apprecciated. I was also curious as to the whole Manhattan vs. Powerscore debate? It seems like everyone who has used both favor manhattan, but I'm still interested to see what all of you think?

TIA

[dowu]

I think you should take timed diagnostic to see where your at. Your plan looks solid for someone who needs to make a decent sized gain, but your plans might change if you're already a high scorer.

In short, take a timed diagnostic and then come back to us.

[gaud]

I think you should take timed diagnostic to see where your at. Your plan looks solid for someone who needs to make a decent sized gain, but your plans might change if you're already a high scorer.

In short, take a timed diagnostic and then come back to us.

All of this.

[dowu]

And I favor Manhattan for LR, but Powerscore for LG. Any RC strategy should be pretty straightforward, IMO.

[gaud]

Manhattan and Powerscore are very similar. I'd say either for LG and LR, but Manhattan for RC in my opinion

[ams212]

Thanks to both of you. I took two practice tests awhile back, but with the caveat that they were out of a McGraw Hill book and I've seen that they are complete shit for the LSAT, but hey I paid like 7 bucks for it when Borders was going out of business. No harm, no foul. I am going to just consider myself ten points less than what my PTs told me I was to help stay motivated. I feel like I am definitely the kind of person who would not benefit from the knowledge that I'm close to my goal because it would make it tougher to stay motivated. I legitimately am going to take every pt though. I see no reason not to.

Tl; dr

Thanks to both of you

[PeanutsNJam]

Just about adding experimental sections:

it gets pretty confusing.

What I plan on doing during September (month before I take in Oct) is just take 2 LSAT tests back to back, which is what you plan on doing. I say just drill, drill, drill, until you can comfortably ace each section, and then start doing them back to back. You get two scores per session that accurately reflect how you did, you don't have to deal with the whole I-know-which-one-is-experimental... it seems better this way.

[gaud]

Just about adding experimental sections:

it gets pretty confusing.

What I plan on doing during September (month before I take in Oct) is just take 2 LSAT tests back to back, which is what you plan on doing. I say just drill, drill, drill, until you can comfortably ace each section, and then start doing them back to back. You get two scores per session that accurately reflect how you did, you don't have to deal with the whole I-know-which-one-is-experimental... it seems better this way.

Just mark which test the experimental sections come from. Then, once you finish that test, put the sections back together and score it.

[seacow]

As a previous poster suggested, take a diagnostic first then come back for a better consultation.

I will add one thing, though. I wouldn't be so concrete and formulaic in your approach. As another poster stated, just drill drill drill until you can ace each section. Master the section (untimed!) before you begin worrying about timing and even your score to a certain extent. Once you have mastered the section, the timing will fall into place.

[sama]

As a previous poster suggested, take a diagnostic first then come back for a better consultation.

I will add one thing, though. I wouldn't be so concrete and formulaic in your approach. As another poster stated, just drill drill drill until you can ace each section. Master the section (untimed!) before you begin worrying about timing and even your score to a certain extent. Once you have mastered the section, the timing will fall into place.

Completely agree.

[ams212]

Thanks. I realize that is prolly the best way to go with it.

[CorkBoard]

Gunner alert.

Take a timed test and come back.