The Official June 2015 Study Group Forum

[RZ5646]

JUNE 2015 LSAT STUDY GROUP

Recommended study materials courtesy of Dirigo:

For Starting Out (Covering All Sections)
The LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim ( http://www.thelsattrainer.com/ )
For Logic Games
The Powerscore LSAT Logic Games Bible
7Sage Online LSAT Prep
For Logical Reasoning
Manhattan Logical Reasoning Strategy Guide
For Reading Comprehension
Manhattan Reading Comprehension Strategy Guide
Materials For Drilling
Cambridge LSAT Bundles

I'd also add the LSAC Superprep. If someone wants to buy the new Superprep and review it for us, you'd receive my personal praise (a high honor).


Poll results 2/9/15




Poll results 2/15/15




Poll results 2/19/15




Poll results 2/22/15




Poll results 2/26/15




Poll results 3/3/15




Poll results 3/9/15




Poll results 3/19/15




Poll results 3/26/15

[094320]

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[Clyde Frog]

This might be overkill.

[Atmosphere]

This might be overkill.

[alexrodriguez]

I mean, I read the Economist. I would read magazines cover to cover. Really boring. I learned a lot, but boring. I'm a pretty solid reader to begin with. I wouldn't say it gave me an edge on the LSAT.

Get the Cambridge questions organized by type.

I'm almost inclined to say to forget about all those books and just drill questions. I'm looking backwards though. I've already read all the books.

Just realize that reading the books doesn't make you at all better at the LSAT. It makes you informed. The real work is in the drilling.

[094320]

..

[RZ5646]

This might be overkill.

I agree that a full year of intense studying is neither advisable nor necessary, but that's not what I'm planning.

Your schedule should really basically adjust to your individual strengths and weaknesses. You should pick and choose from test prep techniques as they suit you. This isn't the bar. You're not learning facts. You're learning techniques, which means you don't need to learn them religiously.

I agree and that's basically what I plan on doing. When I said, "practice the book techniques until you're an expert," I didn't mean literally every technique discussed in those eight books. The point is to have an approach that will answer each question quickly and correctly, not be able to answer each question in five different ways.

I mean, I read the Economist. I would read magazines cover to cover. Really boring. I learned a lot, but boring. I'm a pretty solid reader to begin with. I wouldn't say it gave me an edge on the LSAT.

I actually like reading it to stay informed; I think its style is way more readable than traditional (or American?) journalism. I pick and choose articles instead of reading everything, so it's not too boring.

[alexrodriguez]

I actually like reading it to stay informed; I think its style is way more readable than traditional (or American?) journalism. I pick and choose articles instead of reading everything, so it's not too boring.

Yeah, there are some pretty interesting articles. I always enjoyed the adverts too.

[03152016]

You should pick and choose from test prep techniques as they suit you.

This. Achieving a top score means being able to analyze your performance, find your weaknesses, and adjust your prep as needed. Long term schedules are helpful, but without flexibility they can be counter-productive.

[WaltGrace83]

I'm going to go against the grain and say that this is NOT an overkill for some people. I might (please god no!) have to study for a year, who knows? JY also recommends studying for a year.

Do what works for you. If that means studying for a year, do it! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The June 2014 thread started a year ago.

[LSAT Blog]

I'm going to go against the grain and say that this is NOT an overkill for some people. I might (please god no!) have to study for a year, who knows? JY also recommends studying for a year.

Do what works for you. If that means studying for a year, do it! Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. The June 2014 thread started a year ago.

+1

I'll echo what I said in the recent February thread:

Some will say it's a bit early. (Most people who will take in June don't know it yet). However, I think it's great that you're starting now. The LSAT is important enough that it's worth several months (or even a year!) of studying.

[h3jk5h]

I also agree prepping for a year is not overkill.

J.Y. Ping brings up a good point, if your cumulative GPA is decided by three (or four) years of undergraduate study, and if the LSAT weighs more than your GPA in your law school admission prospects, doesn't it make more sense for some people to study for longer than 3 months? (which many prep companies say is sufficient for realizing one's potential on the LSAT)

I kind of regret not studying earlier, I think I should have read all the books (Powerscore, Manhattan, and Trainer) last summer so I leave myself plenty of time drilling and doing timed practice tests this summer, judging by my diagnostic score and knowing that my logical reasoning skills is sub-par.

I also regret not getting into the habit of reading dense material (or any material for that matter) everyday. I knew long ago that the RC section would be my greatest struggle, but I'm just not that into reading.

Should've, could've, would've. It's all useless now to regret these things, but I do recommend to other people who are weak/mediocre readers like myself to do more reading for long-term improvement for the LSAT. And oh yeah, I should have stayed in debate club in my first year of university.

[RZ5646]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I agree that starting early has a great potential to help and very little to harm, so I might as well do it. Perhaps the other posters got the impression that my study schedule was too rigid, but it's not. I guess I didn't actually write this, but I'll be taking PTs periodically to monitor my progress and adjust my studying. If I'm nearing my target score after studying the prep books and doing some drilling, then I'll probably slack off for several months (actually, this slacking will probably occur in any case, since I tend to procrastinate and get sidetracked).On the hand, if I find out that I have a lot more work to do, then I still have plenty of time to do it. Also, I want HYSCCN, and I'll have the GPA for it, so there are a lot worse things for me to waste time on than the LSAT.

[Stylnator]

I'm taking the June 2015 LSAT and have just ordered the trainer and the LSAC Superprep. Holding out on the bibles to see if updated 2015 ones comes out. Anyone know about the status of that? Anyways, I don't think starting to prep now is overkill at all. I need the long term prep as I've always done poorly on anything standardized.

[Louis1127]

For what it's worth, OP, I think you should take a diagnostic test. If you hit 160 or above on your very first time, you probably won't need a full year to hit your target.

Now if your diagnostic goes like mine did well different story

Not sure why I put evil emoji. It just felt kind of right.

[RZ5646]

I'm taking the June 2015 LSAT and have just ordered the trainer and the LSAC Superprep. Holding out on the bibles to see if updated 2015 ones comes out. Anyone know about the status of that? Anyways, I don't think starting to prep now is overkill at all. I need the long term prep as I've always done poorly on anything standardized.

I think the 2013 LG Bible (which I have) was a rare overhaul of the text (the major revision before that seems to be from 2009), so I don't expect 2014 or 2015 to be much different. Glancing at Amazon seems to support that: on my 2013 edition there's a graphic on the cover that says "over 200 pages of new material," whereas that same graphic on the 2014 cover just says "revised for 2014" and doesn't boast of any new material. They're also the exact same number of pages. I'm confident 2015 will be more of the same, so if you can get a 2013 cheap it's probably worth it.

Please feel free to keep me updated on your progress... I'm already struggling to stay motivated, and people to discuss problems, successes, frustrations, etc., with would probably help me stay on track.

Personally, I haven't done much yet. I've gone back to working full-time, so it's easy to put off studying and instead do something mindless when I get home. But tomorrow I'll crack open the Superprep and get to work.

[RZ5646]

For what it's worth, OP, I think you should take a diagnostic test. If you hit 160 or above on your very first time, you probably won't need a full year to hit your target.

Now if your diagnostic goes like mine did well different story

Not sure why I put evil emoji. It just felt kind of right.

My diagnostic was 165, but my target is 175+ so idk how much time I'll need.

[5618715218781]

Hellooooo guys, it feels to great to find testprep buddies~!
Though I'm not sure to take it on February or June, I'll probably prepare for the Feb but the backup as June if I procrastinate again....(T0T)
the post really helps, I also had a lot of regrets of not reading those dense materials everyday....I wasted a lot of books by not reading them at all after spent a lot of money....anyway, we still got some time, so....
really wish to get a 178, and wish to improve my GPA(that's been ransacked to around 3.2 this semester by the macroecon class) in the next two years to my goal wishfully back to the above 3.75 level, this must take me a lot of time I guess......
Fighting~

[RZ5646]

Hellooooo guys, it feels to great to find testprep buddies~!
Though I'm not sure to take it on February or June, I'll probably prepare for the Feb but the backup as June if I procrastinate again....(T0T)
the post really helps, I also had a lot of regrets of not reading those dense materials everyday....I wasted a lot of books by not reading them at all after spent a lot of money....anyway, we still got some time, so....
really wish to get a 178, and wish to improve my GPA(that's been ransacked to around 3.2 this semester by the macroecon class) in the next two years to my goal wishfully back to the above 3.75 level, this must take me a lot of time I guess......
Fighting~

Welcome aboard! Please feel free to keep us updated on your progress... I have procrastination problems too, but I managed to at least open the Superprep today so that's a start haha.

[RZ5646]

Update: Finally just sat down and studied, finishing off the first half of the Superprep. I'm saving the PTs with explanations for later and moving on to the Trainer tomorrow.

[loldruid]

Let's do this guys! Right now I'm following 7sage's curriculum, I'm on the logical reasoning section. After I finish 7sage's logical reasoning section, I'm going to read the logical reasoning section in the trainer. By now I should know my weaknesses, so I will drill/time drills for my weakest question types in logical reasoning.

Rise and repeat until i learn every section.

After I finish with 7sage and the Trainer, I will go through the SuperPrep. Finally, I will begin taking full timed practice tests with 5 sections using 7sage's materials (which include all preptests) as well as their time proctor.

Took two diag tests (don't ask why). Scored 161 on the first one, then a garbage 153 on the latest one.

[tskela]

I plan on taking it June 2015 but I probably won't be able to study at all from September through December because I'm studying/working abroad. I know I'll be studying intensely January-May 2015, but I'm not sure if it'll help or hurt to go through some material now. I don't want to burn through a ton of practice tests. I took the February 2014 LSAT and scored a 171 so I don't know how best to approach getting those last few points (long-term or short-term studying?).

[Dondarrion]

Add me to the list for the June 2015 LSAT.

I'm about half way through the LSAT trainer and am enjoying it so far.

Strength: LG
Weakness: LR

Going to purchase the 7Sage ultimate package and just keep rolling. My goal is to try to do 30 min to an hour each day. I plan on taking all of the practice tests in the spring.

[RZ5646]

Started working on the Trainer today... looks good so far and hopefully it will live up to the TLS hype.

[RZ5646]

Any thoughts on PTing regularly throughout the year? There are 70-something PTs so even if I started right now I could do one per week until test day without running out of material.