Help...I keep buying materials but am so lost how to approach this Forum

[dontrogerthat]

I plan on taking the October LSAT of this year.

I have a big problem with reading "must have" materials on here, buying them, and then having no idea how to approach them. Could someone please please please tell me what order and in what time frame to use the materials I have?

What I do have:
Preptests 7-18 (are these useless?)
Preptests 19-28 (are these useless?)
Preptests 52-61 (x2 of this book)
Prep tests 62-71
Logical reasoning bible
Logic games bible
The LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim
Manhattan Logical Reasoning

How and in what order should I use these tools? I also have heard a lot about Cambridge packets but am kind of lost with which to buy. I am weakest in logic games if this matters.

Does anyone have any good suggestions? I'm hoping to hit 165+ by October and am currently hitting 151-152.

Thanks so much!

[dontrogerthat]

Anyone?

[Whnlifegvsulmns]

I'll try and take a go at this, but I did self-study with mostly PTs. I did Kaplan book, but mainly found the 5 sections PTs in the back helpful and some of the ideas were explained in better terms that made them click. The earlier PTs that you have aren't useless per se, but you may want to use them for drilling more so than actual PT scoring. The test has changed as far as style and material, so some of the stylistic things may throw you off for the real thing, but you should be practicing the same formulas and strategies throughout the tests whether older or newer. Whatever you're having problems with, go through the Bible (probably one at a time), then drill sections in the earlier preptests. Review said sections and see what you are missing and if you can decipher why. Reread the Bible if you are still having issues because it may be minute wordings that will mess you up. Maybe once a weekend, take a timed PT under decent test-like conditions, if not to just have a record of progress (though don't stress if your scores fluctuate dramatically). You're in luck with LG being your worst section in that it is the easiest to learn (as you may have read previously).

One of the things that I noticed when I scored poorly on sections, is that I did not carefully read the rules, stimulus, question, etc. This may be what is keeping you back at least a few points. Work on accuracy, then timing, but make sure that you are reading fully and carefully, because sometimes in logic games, a rule will not be listed in the rules section, but in the overview, which could throw you off. And in the LR, if you misread the stimulus, it may 180 your understanding of the concept being tested.

Like I said, my studying was different than some other individuals and probably different than the way you will do it. Just some pointers to hopefully get you headed in the right direction.

Take a look at this though, http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 0#p8647480 Individuals have said this helped a lot and though you may not have the same books, you could probably sub with what you do have and get through it okay.

[eli2015]

Pithypike's Complete LSAT Study Guide -This is a good place to start, and then adjust from there. No none of the old PT's are useless. Generally the advice you will get around here is 1-38 for drilling sections, and then the rest are used for time sections/ full timed PT's. I would recommend the cambridge questions specific drill packets, they are great. 7sage LG explanations, he is great for building fundamentals. I personally splurged on my material for the LSAT, I bought all of the question specific drill packets, but I am aiming for a 180. I guess if anything start with the trainer.

This is by no means an extensive response to your question, and I am sure that you will not receive an extensive response due to the fact that everyone is different, but most will offer the general guidelines I have provided. There is also a ton of information already Pinned to the lsat prep and discussion home page, go there and read a lot, some 180ers posted their experience and what they did.

[dontrogerthat]

Thanks for the advice guys!

[Alex93]

I just finished the Trainer and working through the LG bible. I'd recommend doing the Trainer first since it gives a really good introduction to the LSAT. I'd also recommend doing the prep books first before drilling. Doing this would allow you to know better why you get answers from drilling right/wrong- I'd say this would make drilling more effective. After getting a good grasp at every question type of the exam, then I'd probably start taking PTs if I were you. This is at least my plan. Hope this helps

[ChillTomG]

An additional point:

Make sure that you take the most recent PTs as well. Don't wait until the very end (by say, doing PT 40 on in chronological order).

The reason is that RC has gotten significantly harder starting around PT 65 or so. Get a flavor for the most recent RCs as well as drill the old ones to help you master RC when it shows up in October.