Taking in October. Need a little study plan advice! Forum

[locthebloke]

Hey, guys. Well, I'm officially taking the LSAT October 1st. I registered and took a "cold diagnostic" today under test conditions. I got a 153. Sobering, but expected. I was actually encouraged that I got around an average score with no real study. I'm just asking for a little general advice on how to proceed from here, day to day wise.

These are my materials:

10 actual, official LSAT Prep Tests
The next 10 actual, official LSAT Prep Tests
The Logic Games Bible
The Logical Reasoning Bible

I am going to start reading the Bibles tomorrow, starting with Logical Reasoning. I was planning on doing roughly a chapter a day. Maybe a couple of days in between here and there. I'm sure life will get in the way. If I stuck with it, that would obviously mean I would finish the Bibles well before the test day, as there are 20 ch. in one and 9 in the other. Is this the best way to do it, from your experience? When would be the best times to space out when I do prep tests? Are the 20 in the books enough?

I'm just looking for the best, most efficient study plan given my materials. I suppose what I'm asking is, if you were in my position and had these materials that I have, how would you plan out the months ahead.

Thanks in advance for any advice, really means a lot!!

(By the way, if it helps at all... while I am certainly shooting for the best possible score, I would be content with a score in the mid-160s minimum).

[Eugenie Danglars]

First, don't plan to just "read" the Bibles. For them to be effective, you need to really work through them actively, not just read them passively.

If you can, go through the books a little faster. Once you have the techniques, practice sections and tests are the most important. You'll want to start with your worst section (LG for most people) and drill it daily. What I did: Make 3 photocopies of all the PT logic games (and I suggest you procure more practice tests, especially the several most recent). Stack them so you will see the same one again after a week. Do a few a day, untimed at first, then timed generously, then reducing the time until you get it to the LG Bible's recommendation. First go for accuracy, then speed, then efficiency.

About a month out, you might want to start taking full practice tests. See if you can get someone to proctor you. The most important thing about PT's is reviewing them- a lot of people find it helpful to write out explanations for all the ones you get wrong. I also suggest tracking the types of questions you get wrong. There are tools on lsatblog.blogspot.com to help you see how to classify questions and where to find more like them for extra practice.

Also on lsatblog are several study schedules. I followed the three month one and was pretty happy with the end result (172).

Good luck!

[amorfati]

I highly recommend the study schedules over at lsatblog.blogspot.com - for you, I think the four-month one would probably be perfect. I did it last year, and with the exception of reading "A Rulebook for Arguments," I found everything else to be excellent advice and a great timeline to follow. He has tons of other helpful articles and book recommendations over there too. Good luck!

[Paraflam]

I highly recommend the study schedules over at lsatblog.blogspot.com - for you, I think the four-month one would probably be perfect. I did it last year, and with the exception of reading "A Rulebook for Arguments," I found everything else to be excellent advice and a great timeline to follow. He has tons of other helpful articles and book recommendations over there too. Good luck!

Just curious, why didn't you find A Rulebook for Arguments helpful? I'm starting one of lsatblog's study plans and just ordered that book.

[lsater180]

~

[locthebloke]

First, don't plan to just "read" the Bibles. For them to be effective, you need to really work through them actively, not just read them passively.

If you can, go through the books a little faster. Once you have the techniques, practice sections and tests are the most important. You'll want to start with your worst section (LG for most people) and drill it daily. What I did: Make 3 photocopies of all the PT logic games (and I suggest you procure more practice tests, especially the several most recent). Stack them so you will see the same one again after a week. Do a few a day, untimed at first, then timed generously, then reducing the time until you get it to the LG Bible's recommendation. First go for accuracy, then speed, then efficiency.

About a month out, you might want to start taking full practice tests. See if you can get someone to proctor you. The most important thing about PT's is reviewing them- a lot of people find it helpful to write out explanations for all the ones you get wrong. I also suggest tracking the types of questions you get wrong. There are tools on lsatblog.blogspot.com to help you see how to classify questions and where to find more like them for extra practice.

Also on lsatblog are several study schedules. I followed the three month one and was pretty happy with the end result (172).

Good luck!

Thanks.. Just for some clarification: what you're recommending is that I go through both the bibles as fast as possible (while still assuring a close, active read -- I of course did not mean I was going to simply "read through them"! ) then concentrate only on drilling, foregoing full tests until the final month? Your LG, advice sounds good.. Do you have any similar advice for the LR, as far as how often I should drill myself? Perhaps one LR section from a practice test a day after finishing the book?

I will look into the 4 moth schedule on that site as well. I really appreciate the advice guys, thank you.

[Eugenie Danglars]

That's more or less my advice, yes. If you want to throw in a full test a week earlier, go for it. i didn't have the time to do drill sections, review them well, AND do a full test review earlier, but I think some people like to that.

I don't have as much advice for LR since that was my strong section from the get go. I had some trouble with a couple of question types, and I drilled those questions more, but I didn't have a system as much as for LG. I think I just printed out the LR-by-type from lsatblog and ticked the ?'s as I finished...

[bp shinners]

Make sure to pick up the SuperPrep as well.

[incompetentia]

There's a new book of 10 PTs out there with the comparative passages as well, I believe?


With almost 4 months to go, you'll probably end up using over 20 PTs (especially broken down for exp sections and all that).