February 2011 LSAT and have no clue how to prepare.... Forum

[emoryfan]

To be clear, I own the Blueprint full length LSAT books, the full length Testmasters180 books, and the full length Powerscore books. In the end, I am unsure about which system to trust. Above all else, I own the Powerscore Bibles, the Deconstructed series, and moreover, the Powerscore Training Type Trilogy.

I have gone through the Testmasters180 books and the Powerscore Bibles. Clearly, then, I should expect a 160, at the very least.

What is more, I do indeed plan on taking the February LSAT.

If indeed I own all of these books, then, in my case, what should my study plan be?

In any event, I wish you all a Happy New Year.

[SrLaw]

Retake

[Adjudicator]

You're taking it in February and you haven't started prepping yet?

It doesn't matter how many different prep books you read; the real preparation is practice using real PTs. Pick one of the books (I am only familiar with PowerScore), learn the methods, and then do at least 20 of the most recent full-length, timed PTs before the February test. If you can't manage this, don't take it because you will be disappointed.

[emoryfan]

I did start prepping, in fact, I completed the Testmasters full length coursework. However, I didn't enroll in a formal course. What is more, I completed the Powerscore Bibles. I am studying, as it stands, the new Powerscore Type Training Books. I havent, to be clear, completed any real PTs.

[Longhorn88]

The best prep you can do is completely the real PTs in a testing environment (rigidly timed, no breaks, etc.)

Then go back to your testing materials to study what questions you missed (and the ones you got right) and why.

Do this for 50-60 hours at least.

[robotclubmember]

I did start prepping, in fact, I completed the Testmasters full length coursework. However, I didn't enroll in a formal course. What is more, I completed the Powerscore Bibles. I am studying, as it stands, the new Powerscore Type Training Books. I havent, to be clear, completed any real PTs.

You need to do real full PT's starting right now, because if you haven't done any, then you have no clue what your current level of performance is. Without knowing that, it's difficult to know how to prep. In other words, how do you find solutions when you don't know the problems?

Take at least 3 full PT's, one each day for the next three days would be best since you are a month away from the test. Record your score for each of them. DILIGENTLY TIME EACH OF THESE TESTS and DO NOT give yourself a second more than 35 minutes. Not even to finish bubbling. Drop the pencil when time's up and count any unanswered questions as wrong. Don't bother trying to complete them to see how you "would have done," because after 35 minutes is up, that IS how you would have done. After you've done 3 full PT's, go through LR and do trend analysis by type. Are you weak in strengthen questions, assumption questions? To train intelligently you need to know where you are weak. Question type training for MBT questions is a huge waste of time if you've conceptually never had a problem with them in the first place, for example. For RC, try to classify weaknesses as well. For example, for some reason I struggled with Main Point questions for a while, until I identified that it was a specific weakness. I struggle with in/out questions in LG until I noticed that was a specific weakness. You need to know what you're doing wrong for anyone to give you actionable advice. Come back after you've done a few full PT's and know what you are struggling in. Information is power.

[emoryfan]

I don't have a job, and for this reason, I can work, at least, 8 hours a day on the LSAT. In fact, I plan on spending about twelve hours a day on and off, at least, five days a week. I drink a lot of coffee, workout, and play Call of Duty in my down time.

My weakness's are, in fact, parallel reasoning and diagramming conditional reasoning for LR in general. Otherwise, I perform perfectly on LG, and moreover, I do just fine on RC.

[tomwatts]

So take a practice test and report back. If you score a 175, sweet. If you score a 155, we can figure out why. Until you have a PT score, there's not much more that anyone can say.

[Longhorn88]

Other suggestions:

Answer D for every question.