5 Month Study Schedule for Retaker? HELP Forum

[thecap91]

I am planning on retaking the LSAT in October for the 3rd time. I scored a 164 both times I took it before this, Oct. 2013 and 2014. I was scoring better on my diagnostics both times, but only took about 5 prep test the first time and 13 the second, in about 2 months of studying. If I am working it will only be part-time so time constraints won't apply.

I will have 5 months to study and would like to see if anyone can offer me a good study schedule. I have already read Pithypike, TLS1776, and Noodleyones study guides but I have more material than them and would like a more complete study schedule. After reading what people say about the LSAT Trainer I decided it was best to use this as well.

The materials I have:

Books:
1. Powerscore Logic Games Bible
2. Manhattan LSAT - Logical Reasoning, Logic Games, Reading Comprehension
3. The LSAT Trainer

Drill packets:
1. Cambridge LSAT - PT 1-38 grouped by type - Logical Reasoning, Logic Games

Practice Tests:
1. PT 7-28, 39-45, 52-74 (49)
2. LSAT Superprep (3)


If anyone could help me out on setting up a good study schedule I would really appreciate it. I just want to start of good from the beginning not feel like I messed up 2.5 months from now. Thanks!

[thecap91]

Nobody?

[boaltlaw]

i literally have all of the same books. What is your PT/diagnostic range right now?

[thecap91]

i literally have all of the same books. What is your PT/diagnostic range right now?

I haven't taken one yet because I'm still waiting for the LSAT Trainer to come, it should be getting here today but I've hit mid 170's before.

I want to follow the 16 week schedule so I'm waiting to get the LSAT Trainer and follow what ever it says about first diags. I've only been going through the Manhattan LR and Logic Games Bible with a little bit of questions out of the Cambridge for now. Are you planning on taking in October? If so, how are you planning on mixing the material up?

I've only been "studying" for one week.

[boaltlaw]

tentatively, I plan on doing trainer first (what I'm doing now), with perhaps 1-2 PTs towards the end of using the book to gauge progress, then PS LG bible, start drilling LG games, then if I'm not perfect with LG then start doing manhattan lg as well. Not gonna plan more yet because I'll probably have to adjust, but I have somewhat of an idea of what's going to happen next.

In all honesty if you were hitting mid 170s (top 1% of all scorers), you probably know what to do.

[thecap91]

tentatively, I plan on doing trainer first (what I'm doing now), with perhaps 1-2 PTs towards the end of using the book to gauge progress, then PS LG bible, start drilling LG games, then if I'm not perfect with LG then start doing manhattan lg as well. Not gonna plan more yet because I'll probably have to adjust, but I have somewhat of an idea of what's going to happen next.

In all honesty if you were hitting mid 170s (top 1% of all scorers), you probably know what to do.

Do you mean 1-2 PTs in addition to the ones that are on the study plan? I'm going to be doing the 16 week schedule and it shows around 20 PTs.

[boaltlaw]

tentatively, I plan on doing trainer first (what I'm doing now), with perhaps 1-2 PTs towards the end of using the book to gauge progress, then PS LG bible, start drilling LG games, then if I'm not perfect with LG then start doing manhattan lg as well. Not gonna plan more yet because I'll probably have to adjust, but I have somewhat of an idea of what's going to happen next.

In all honesty if you were hitting mid 170s (top 1% of all scorers), you probably know what to do.

Do you mean 1-2 PTs in addition to the ones that are on the study plan? I'm going to be doing the 16 week schedule and it shows around 20 PTs.

1-2PTs towards the end of the book, so after I'll probably do a few more. I'm going to finish the book in roughly 6 weeks and the test is in october, no point in wasting all those PTs

[thecap91]

tentatively, I plan on doing trainer first (what I'm doing now), with perhaps 1-2 PTs towards the end of using the book to gauge progress, then PS LG bible, start drilling LG games, then if I'm not perfect with LG then start doing manhattan lg as well. Not gonna plan more yet because I'll probably have to adjust, but I have somewhat of an idea of what's going to happen next.

In all honesty if you were hitting mid 170s (top 1% of all scorers), you probably know what to do.

Do you mean 1-2 PTs in addition to the ones that are on the study plan? I'm going to be doing the 16 week schedule and it shows around 20 PTs.

1-2PTs towards the end of the book, so after I'll probably do a few more. I'm going to finish the book in roughly 6 weeks and the test is in october, no point in wasting all those PTs

Hey, I dont know if your still interested but I took my first PT yesterday, untimed (but still timed) and all sections in a row. I went over by 8 mins on the RC and under by 3 on all others, got a 168. I got a -2 on the LG due to miss-reading questions. I took PT19, I'm not going to use the new PTs till closer to October.

I really like the LSAT trainer, it seems very well organized and concise. I'm going to work through the whole book and then use the remaining 7 weeks to do PTs and fine tune the hardest questions. I really need to get my RC up though, its the only thing dragging me down. Any suggestions? I haven't gotten to RC on LSAT trainer yet.



PS: I would suggest that you start taking PTs now, and as many as you can before test day. Just so that your used to it on that day. As I said before, the main reason I think I didn't score as high as I should have on the LSAT both times I took it was because I didn't take enough practice tests and I tried to cram everything in 2 months before the test. You have a lot of time if you start taking one per week now, and then ramp it up to 2-3 per week closer to test day. Just my 2 cents.

[boaltlaw]

tentatively, I plan on doing trainer first (what I'm doing now), with perhaps 1-2 PTs towards the end of using the book to gauge progress, then PS LG bible, start drilling LG games, then if I'm not perfect with LG then start doing manhattan lg as well. Not gonna plan more yet because I'll probably have to adjust, but I have somewhat of an idea of what's going to happen next.

In all honesty if you were hitting mid 170s (top 1% of all scorers), you probably know what to do.

Do you mean 1-2 PTs in addition to the ones that are on the study plan? I'm going to be doing the 16 week schedule and it shows around 20 PTs.

1-2PTs towards the end of the book, so after I'll probably do a few more. I'm going to finish the book in roughly 6 weeks and the test is in october, no point in wasting all those PTs

Hey, I dont know if your still interested but I took my first PT yesterday, untimed (but still timed) and all sections in a row. I went over by 8 mins on the RC and under by 3 on all others, got a 168. I got a -2 on the LG due to miss-reading questions. I took PT19, I'm not going to use the new PTs till closer to October.

I really like the LSAT trainer, it seems very well organized and concise. I'm going to work through the whole book and then use the remaining 7 weeks to do PTs and fine tune the hardest questions. I really need to get my RC up though, its the only thing dragging me down. Any suggestions? I haven't gotten to RC on LSAT trainer yet.



PS: I would suggest that you start taking PTs now, and as many as you can before test day. Just so that your used to it on that day. As I said before, the main reason I think I didn't score as high as I should have on the LSAT both times I took it was because I didn't take enough practice tests and I tried to cram everything in 2 months before the test. You have a lot of time if you start taking one per week now, and then ramp it up to 2-3 per week closer to test day. Just my 2 cents.

RC is my weakest section as well. I probably can't help you, you are scoring much higher than me right now, though I have only taken 1 diagnostic

[Alex93]

I literally have the same exact books as OP. I was wondering which one to dive into first. Anyone have suggestions? I thought maybe PSB LG would be a good place to start.

[thecap91]

I literally have the same exact books as OP. I was wondering which one to dive into first. Anyone have suggestions? I thought maybe PSB LG would be a good place to start.

If you have the trainer I would start there. I pm'd Mike Kim (the author) about how to start and he suggested starting with the Trainer and using the D.I.Y. Schedule, it lets you set up your own schedule and you can mix in other material as well. I was originally going to use the 16 week schedule but the D.I.Y. seems a lot better because you can easily adjust it. If you go on the site and look at the schedule, it explains how to set it up and everything.

[Alex93]

I literally have the same exact books as OP. I was wondering which one to dive into first. Anyone have suggestions? I thought maybe PSB LG would be a good place to start.

If you have the trainer I would start there. I pm'd Mike Kim (the author) about how to start and he suggested starting with the Trainer and using the D.I.Y. Schedule, it lets you set up your own schedule and you can mix in other material as well. I was originally going to use the 16 week schedule but the D.I.Y. seems a lot better because you can easily adjust it. If you go on the site and look at the schedule, it explains how to set it up and everything.

Hmmmm.. I used the forum-search and found that a lot of people recommend starting off with the LSAT Trainer, and then moving on to the other prep books as supplements.

I'll check out the D.I.Y schedule, but hopefully I can squeeze this book faster than 4 weeks, especially since I am putting everything aside this summer solely for LSAT prep. Cheers!