February 2017 LSAT Thread Forum

[Barack O'Drama]

Glad to see this thread started up. Nice to see some familiar names from the December group.

Alright, has anyone here taken one of the 7sage online courses? And which package did you go with? And how long do they take to complete?

Yeah, I use 7Sage. I have the Ultimate + package. If you study 25 hours a week or so, you can probably finish the core curriculum in 6 weeks.

[harveybirdman502]

Okay, so I don't know if you can answer this, but I started studying for the LSAT at the beginning of October, started with a very very low cold diagnostic. I have improved over 15 points, but I know I still have more. Should I wing it and take the December and February LSATs? Do two scores affect my admittance? I'm not trying to go to a tier 1 school (because lets face it, at this point I do not see myself getting above a 170 in two weeks), but I would like to get into a top 100, with a scholarship. I majored in Biology in college (3.326 major GPA, and 3.011 overall), and was going to go into biotech, but I changed my mind pretty late. Anyone have any advice on whether to take the December lsat and apply to safety schools, and then take it again in February and apply to my reach schools? I feel like my GPA can't really compare because science and math courses are holding me back from where I could have actually been. I also feel like my GPA is not a good indication of the type of law student that I would be, because the fields are very different.

My two reach schools that I love said they take the highest of the two LSAT scores, but currently my practice test's scores have been *all over the place*, there is no consistency yet.

Any advice would be much appreciated!!

Oh, also I would really like to start law school in Fall of 2017. I want to be back in school so I can start ASAP. But waiting until Fall of 2018, I suppose, isn't the end of the world. I would much rather prefer to apply in Fall 2017 though!

I get the impression no one really cares about GPA unless it's Stanford or Harvard. I'd like to apply next fall as well though. I'm going to take December, February and June I think. This first test is just to get an idea of the conditions since I'm disabled and don't know what to expect. Unless I get a 175+. My score is the only thing determining when I apply.

[harveybirdman502]

Glad to see this thread started up. Nice to see some familiar names from the December group.

Alright, has anyone here taken one of the 7sage online courses? And which package did you go with? And how long do they take to complete?

Yeah, I use 7Sage. I have the Ultimate + package. If you study 25 hours a week or so, you can probably finish the core curriculum in 6 weeks.

Massive help. Thank you.

Super expensive. Maybe I'll go to dark web and find a username/pass like Netflix.

[CMac86]

Glad to see this thread started up. Nice to see some familiar names from the December group.

Alright, has anyone here taken one of the 7sage online courses? And which package did you go with? And how long do they take to complete?

I am using 7sage with the Ultimate + package. Like what Barack said, you can probably finish the curriculum in 6ish weeks. I took me just under that to get through the core curriculum, and am now going through the tests in the order they have listed.

[harveybirdman502]

Glad to see this thread started up. Nice to see some familiar names from the December group.

Alright, has anyone here taken one of the 7sage online courses? And which package did you go with? And how long do they take to complete?

I am using 7sage with the Ultimate + package. Like what Barack said, you can probably finish the curriculum in 6ish weeks. I took me just under that to get through the core curriculum, and am now going through the tests in the order they have listed.

Thank you. I'm going to sign up this week if I can.

Of course they put the "Best Course" star over the most expensive one. Need another fee waiver.

[Barack O'Drama]

Glad to see this thread started up. Nice to see some familiar names from the December group.

Alright, has anyone here taken one of the 7sage online courses? And which package did you go with? And how long do they take to complete?

I am using 7sage with the Ultimate + package. Like what Barack said, you can probably finish the curriculum in 6ish weeks. I took me just under that to get through the core curriculum, and am now going through the tests in the order they have listed.

Thank you. I'm going to sign up this week if I can.

Of course they put the "Best Course" star over the most expensive one. Need another fee waiver.

You don't necessarily need the ultimate + package. All of the packages have the exact same "core curriculum" You can also upgrade and pay the difference at any time.

[harveybirdman502]

Glad to see this thread started up. Nice to see some familiar names from the December group.

Alright, has anyone here taken one of the 7sage online courses? And which package did you go with? And how long do they take to complete?

I am using 7sage with the Ultimate + package. Like what Barack said, you can probably finish the curriculum in 6ish weeks. I took me just under that to get through the core curriculum, and am now going through the tests in the order they have listed.

Thank you. I'm going to sign up this week if I can.

Of course they put the "Best Course" star over the most expensive one. Need another fee waiver.

You don't necessarily need the ultimate + package. All of the packages have the exact same "core curriculum" You can also upgrade and pay the difference at any time.

Awesome. That's great to know. Looks like I'm going budget.

[anam]

Hi everyone!

This is going to be my first post on this forum and would greatly appreciate some advice. I am registered for the December lsat but I am now thinking to cancel and not sit for the december lsat. Reason being, I was hoping to get 175+ on the lsat to get into the top law schools, but on my practice test i am only able to reach 159-160 after 1-2 months of prep. I don't want to do bad ( by bad I mean less than my target of 175+) on the lsat and then retake. I want to get good scores on the first go since I heard some top law schools review retake while reviewing the application. So i would some like advice on two things:

1. Is it wise to not sit for december lsat and take in feb instead with much better prep to get the score I want
2. I have the basics down for the lsat. I now need to go from 160 to 175+. Is that even reasonable. If so, what test prep course or what study method would help me achieve this goal.

Any help on how to improve my scores and reach my goal would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

PS: I self studied from Powerscore LR LG bibles and manhattan prep LR book later.

[blackmamba8]

Glad to see this thread started up. Nice to see some familiar names from the December group.

Alright, has anyone here taken one of the 7sage online courses? And which package did you go with? And how long do they take to complete?

I bought the starter course. I've found it to be very helpful, and like others have said it contains the entire "core curriculum." I think I would've splurged for the most expensive course if I had known about 7sage when I first started my prep, but at this point in my studying it wouldn't be worth the money imo.

[Barack O'Drama]

Hi everyone!

This is going to be my first post on this forum and would greatly appreciate some advice. I am registered for the December lsat but I am now thinking to cancel and not sit for the december lsat. Reason being, I was hoping to get 175+ on the lsat to get into the top law schools, but on my practice test i am only able to reach 159-160 after 1-2 months of prep. I don't want to do bad ( by bad I mean less than my target of 175+) on the lsat and then retake. I want to get good scores on the first go since I heard some top law schools review retake while reviewing the application. So i would some like advice on two things:

1. Is it wise to not sit for december lsat and take in feb instead with much better prep to get the score I want
2. I have the basics down for the lsat. I now need to go from 160 to 175+. Is that even reasonable. If so, what test prep course or what study method would help me achieve this goal.

Any help on how to improve my scores and reach my goal would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

PS: I self studied from Powerscore LR LG bibles and manhattan prep LR book later.

Welcome!

1) I think not taking December would be in your best interest. You'll almost certainly be wasting a take short of a miracle (don't count on LSAT miracles lol)

For now, don't worry about a set date because going from a 160-175 could take months or it could take years. It really depends on the person. In any case, you don't want to sit for the test until you are consistently scoring your goal on recent tests. (175+)

2) I, like many others, really like 7Sage's prep course.

[anam]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice. Do you have any suggestions/study tips that could help me get to that score. I am planning to go to law school in 2018 hopefully so i have to set my test date to feb or june latest. I am doing fine on the LG section. LR section is killing me. I get 7-10 wrong per section so around 15-18 LR wrong per prep test. Is 7 sage good for improving on LR? and any tips on how to improve on LR.

Thanks!

Hi everyone!

This is going to be my first post on this forum and would greatly appreciate some advice. I am registered for the December lsat but I am now thinking to cancel and not sit for the december lsat. Reason being, I was hoping to get 175+ on the lsat to get into the top law schools, but on my practice test i am only able to reach 159-160 after 1-2 months of prep. I don't want to do bad ( by bad I mean less than my target of 175+) on the lsat and then retake. I want to get good scores on the first go since I heard some top law schools review retake while reviewing the application. So i would some like advice on two things:

1. Is it wise to not sit for december lsat and take in feb instead with much better prep to get the score I want
2. I have the basics down for the lsat. I now need to go from 160 to 175+. Is that even reasonable. If so, what test prep course or what study method would help me achieve this goal.

Any help on how to improve my scores and reach my goal would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

PS: I self studied from Powerscore LR LG bibles and manhattan prep LR book later.

Welcome!

1) I think not taking December would be in your best interest. You'll almost certainly be wasting a take short of a miracle (don't count on LSAT miracles lol)

For now, don't worry about a set date because going from a 160-175 could take months or it could take years. It really depends on the person. In any case, you don't want to sit for the test until you are consistently scoring your goal on recent tests. (175+)

2) I, like many others, really like 7Sage's prep course.

[CMac86]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice. Do you have any suggestions/study tips that could help me get to that score. I am planning to go to law school in 2018 hopefully so i have to set my test date to feb or june latest. I am doing fine on the LG section. LR section is killing me. I get 7-10 wrong per section so around 15-18 LR wrong per prep test. Is 7 sage good for improving on LR? and any tips on how to improve on LR.

A 160 is writing around a 74 or -25 whereas a 175 is a 95 or -4...getting around 20 more correct per test. It seems to crack 170 (84 or -11), you need to have everything on lock down. I haven't scored higher than 162 so far. The scale I used was from PT61. So, if you took your LR score down to -2 per section, you would gain 9 to 14 points from those sections alone.

I'd give 7sage a shot, I have a bias since that is what I'm using now. I'm doing my first practice test since completing the core curriculum tomorrow after work (was planning on doing it this past weekend, but homework took longer than I expected0. I'd try the two-week freebie, and see what you think.

If you don't want to spend the money on 7sage, I'd go back through the books you have. I liked the way the material was presented in both of those books (made the switch to 7sage about midway through the Manhattan books). When I finished the Bibles, I was writing +19 to +21 per LR section...and I have pretty much stayed there with the exception of a few on either side.

I would sit out December. See where you are scoring in mid-late December, and register for the February test. If you still aren't scoring where you want, don't register, and wait for a future test.

And now for my general post/update...

I got word back from my command, and they approved my time off request to take the February test! I'm going to wait till the first week of December before registering to see where I'm writing. If I'm writing 165+ (for the last 3 tests prior), I'm going to register. The registration deadline for published test center is Dec 21st. Getting the time off approved makes this feel more real. I'm staying in town for Thanksgiving, so I figure, I'll take the PT on Wednesday, blind review it Wednesday night and possibly Thursday morning. Repeat that same sequence on Friday into Saturday. The rest of Friday and then the bulk of the weekend will be finishing up whatever undergrad work I need.

[airwrecka]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice. Do you have any suggestions/study tips that could help me get to that score. I am planning to go to law school in 2018 hopefully so i have to set my test date to feb or june latest. I am doing fine on the LG section. LR section is killing me. I get 7-10 wrong per section so around 15-18 LR wrong per prep test. Is 7 sage good for improving on LR? and any tips on how to improve on LR.

Thanks!

I'll just tell you what I did. I'm taking the Feb test as a retake, but I did get a 170 on my first test in June. The only thing I used to study other than PTs was the LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim. I'm a very individual/self-motivated learner, though, so it is definitely different than taking a class. However, I really liked how he explained the different parts of the test and how to think about them. Really helped me to understand how to think about LR questions (as well as RC and LG). You could give it a shot!

[lgsb2014]

Checking in. Again.

I took a prep course from June-Sept, only improved 6 points from my cold diagnostic. Took Sept-Oct off studying and purchased the LR Bible. I also bought the LSAT trainer book, which I started last week. I took the first diagnostic the trainer told me to do and improved one point from the last practice LSAT I took.
I'm kind of debating purchasing the 7sage course and using it with the trainer. I work full-time and want to sit in the Feb LSAT but I don't want to overload my brain with different courses and methods. Anyone have any advice?

[anam]

I have heard quite a lot about LSAT trainer. I was a bit hesitant in the beginning but I am thinking of trying it out now. thanks

Hi,

Thanks for the advice. Do you have any suggestions/study tips that could help me get to that score. I am planning to go to law school in 2018 hopefully so i have to set my test date to feb or june latest. I am doing fine on the LG section. LR section is killing me. I get 7-10 wrong per section so around 15-18 LR wrong per prep test. Is 7 sage good for improving on LR? and any tips on how to improve on LR.

Thanks!

I'll just tell you what I did. I'm taking the Feb test as a retake, but I did get a 170 on my first test in June. The only thing I used to study other than PTs was the LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim. I'm a very individual/self-motivated learner, though, so it is definitely different than taking a class. However, I really liked how he explained the different parts of the test and how to think about them. Really helped me to understand how to think about LR questions (as well as RC and LG). You could give it a shot!

[AvatarMeelo]

Checking in. Again.

I took a prep course from June-Sept, only improved 6 points from my cold diagnostic. Took Sept-Oct off studying and purchased the LR Bible. I also bought the LSAT trainer book, which I started last week. I took the first diagnostic the trainer told me to do and improved one point from the last practice LSAT I took.
I'm kind of debating purchasing the 7sage course and using it with the trainer. I work full-time and want to sit in the Feb LSAT but I don't want to overload my brain with different courses and methods. Anyone have any advice?

I'd just stick to one unless you know it isn't working for you. I've personally liked the LSAT Trainer and am almost finished with it. What's more important is for you to frequently take and review PrepTests if you haven't already done so! Best way to prepare for the test is to review old test material.

[anam]

Yeah i have to improve a lot in LR to get the score i want. i might try 7sage. I love their explanations for the logic games, way better than powerscore IMO. But i don't know how their LR method is and i don't want to learn a bunch of different approaches since i already tried powerscore and manhattan prep. I'll try the 2 week trail like you mentioned and see if the LR works for me. I need a good strategy for mastering the LR section.

Hi,

Thanks for the advice. Do you have any suggestions/study tips that could help me get to that score. I am planning to go to law school in 2018 hopefully so i have to set my test date to feb or june latest. I am doing fine on the LG section. LR section is killing me. I get 7-10 wrong per section so around 15-18 LR wrong per prep test. Is 7 sage good for improving on LR? and any tips on how to improve on LR.

A 160 is writing around a 74 or -25 whereas a 175 is a 95 or -4...getting around 20 more correct per test. It seems to crack 170 (84 or -11), you need to have everything on lock down. I haven't scored higher than 162 so far. The scale I used was from PT61. So, if you took your LR score down to -2 per section, you would gain 9 to 14 points from those sections alone.

I'd give 7sage a shot, I have a bias since that is what I'm using now. I'm doing my first practice test since completing the core curriculum tomorrow after work (was planning on doing it this past weekend, but homework took longer than I expected0. I'd try the two-week freebie, and see what you think.

If you don't want to spend the money on 7sage, I'd go back through the books you have. I liked the way the material was presented in both of those books (made the switch to 7sage about midway through the Manhattan books). When I finished the Bibles, I was writing +19 to +21 per LR section...and I have pretty much stayed there with the exception of a few on either side.

I would sit out December. See where you are scoring in mid-late December, and register for the February test. If you still aren't scoring where you want, don't register, and wait for a future test.

And now for my general post/update...

I got word back from my command, and they approved my time off request to take the February test! I'm going to wait till the first week of December before registering to see where I'm writing. If I'm writing 165+ (for the last 3 tests prior), I'm going to register. The registration deadline for published test center is Dec 21st. Getting the time off approved makes this feel more real. I'm staying in town for Thanksgiving, so I figure, I'll take the PT on Wednesday, blind review it Wednesday night and possibly Thursday morning. Repeat that same sequence on Friday into Saturday. The rest of Friday and then the bulk of the weekend will be finishing up whatever undergrad work I need.

[blackmamba8]

I've been drilling games pretty hard over the past three weeks and I'm seeing some progress. I used to struggle to finish a section in time, and when I did I would be right at 34-35 minutes. Now I'm able to consistently finish in under 30 minutes while maintaining accuracy.

What do you guys think I should do for RC? I have all the tests from 1-38 and had planned on drilling all of those RC sections, but I know that it has gotten much more difficult recently. Should I stick with my original plan or would I be better off just drilling newer passages multiple times?

[Barack O'Drama]

I've been drilling games pretty hard over the past three weeks and I'm seeing some progress. I used to struggle to finish a section in time, and when I did I would be right at 34-35 minutes. Now I'm able to consistently finish in under 30 minutes while maintaining accuracy.

What do you guys think I should do for RC? I have all the tests from 1-38 and had planned on drilling all of those RC sections, but I know that it has gotten much more difficult recently. Should I stick with my original plan or would I be better off just drilling newer passages multiple times?

That's an interesting question. I would think a mixture of both would be a good idea. Real progress in RC comes from re-doing passages. Save newer tests to take as full-timed PTs and then re-do the passages!

[PrezRand]

Anyone here not aiming for t14?

[blackmamba8]

I've been drilling games pretty hard over the past three weeks and I'm seeing some progress. I used to struggle to finish a section in time, and when I did I would be right at 34-35 minutes. Now I'm able to consistently finish in under 30 minutes while maintaining accuracy.

What do you guys think I should do for RC? I have all the tests from 1-38 and had planned on drilling all of those RC sections, but I know that it has gotten much more difficult recently. Should I stick with my original plan or would I be better off just drilling newer passages multiple times?

That's an interesting question. I would think a mixture of both would be a good idea. Real progress in RC comes from re-doing passages. Save newer tests to take as full-timed PTs and then re-do the passages!

That's probably what I'm going to end up doing. Something like primarily drilling older fresh passages with an occasional newer redo for a few weeks and then focusing on redos from newer tests as we get closer to February.

RC is such shit lol. I've been reading for almost my entire life but when it comes time to take a multiple choice reading comprehension test it's like I'm in pre-k again

[CMac86]

Anyone here not aiming for t14?

Sort of. T14 (Northwestern) is one of my reach schools, but it is admittedly a bit of a reach due to my GPA. The rest of my target schools are non-T14.

[CMac86]

I just finished up blind reviewing and scoring (still need to enter into 7sage analytics) my first PT since completing the 7sage core curriculum. It was PT36, Dec 2001. So, this is a pretty old test. I took the test for the first time yesterday, 11/23, and did some of the blind review last night and some of it this morning.

Setup/test protocols used: 7sage app for proctoring with noise and distractions on 2, LSAT Mastermind Watch, used wooden pencils (prior to this, I used mechanicals), and completed at home (most places are closed today).

Scores: PT 36
First Attempt: LR1: -3/+23, RC: -3/+23, LR2: -7/+19,LG: -8/+15. Raw: 80, adjusted: 163 (listed in test order)
Upon Blind Review LR1: -2/+24,RC: -2/+24,LR2: -2/+24, LG -4/+19. Raw: 91, adjusted: 171

Commentary:I felt great on sections one and two, but I made the mistake of saying to myself "I bet the next two will change how I feel"...and I was correct. I was feeling fried in section three, right around question nine I felt like I was having a hard time figuring much of anything out. I ran over time by about 5mins on the logic games.

Comparing this PT (36) to all of my previous PT's, it was the best I have ever done on an RC or LR1 section. I consistently do worse on LR2's than I do LR1. The logic games section wasn't the worst I have ever completed, but it was one of the few times where I have run out of time. I'm going to watch JY's videos for a few of the games, since I think I could have made better diagrams.

Finally, my initial attempt at this test was one correct answer shy of what my BR was on the previous. My BR score is up ten questions compared to the previous. I'm going to do some drilling tonight, use tomorrow mostly for coursework, and will do another test/BR on Saturday.

For comparison, the PT I took after a week of 7sage (took it to use as a baseline), prior to starting 7sage, I had taken a week or two off...which wasn't a good idea. I completed this test on 10/23/2016
June 2007

First Attempt: LR1: -5/+20, LR2: -9/+14, RC: -9/+18 LG: -5/+17. Raw: 69, Adjusted: 155 (not in test order)
After BR: LR1: -3/+22, LR2: -3/+20 RC: -4/+23, LG: -3/+19. Raw: 81, Adjusted 162

[34iplaw]

Anam,

I mean this most lovingly. If you are finishing LR sections, a native speaker, and getting that many wrong, I don't think your basics are as strong as you think. You can hone in to see if it's a specific question type or across the board. If it's a specific type, you should try to analyze why wrong answers are wrong. That's what really helps you when you are down to two A/Cs and one doesn't speak to you.

Cmac, solid LR and RC...I presume you ran out of time on section two or felt rushed? You have the possibility for a really good score - gotta work on Games tho.

[CMac86]

Anam,

I mean this most lovingly. If you are finishing LR sections, a native speaker, and getting that many wrong, I don't think your basics are as strong as you think. You can hone in to see if it's a specific question type or across the board. If it's a specific type, you should try to analyze why wrong answers are wrong. That's what really helps you when you are down to two A/Cs and one doesn't speak to you.

Cmac, solid LR and RC...I presume you ran out of time on section two or felt rushed? You have the possibility for a really good score - gotta work on Games tho.

Pretty much. I started to run low on time for section two, and had a few in the middle that I spent far too much time on. Agreed on games. My best games section was -4. I'm in the process of fool proofing all of the available games. I'm hoping that as I continue with that, my LG score increases. For RC, in addition to the 7sage curriculum, I've been reading The New Yorker and The Economist regularly. I'm looking for a law related magazine that I could read to give me more familiarity/comfort with those questions.