Page 1 of 1

Recs for a good LSAT study plan (retaker) ??

Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:23 pm
by pppokerface
Hello!
I am thinking about taking the June 2011 test. (EDIT-June 2012-mistake...lack of sleep)
I took the October 2010 LSAT. I did the Testmasters course. My breakdown was this (168)-
LR-1 wrong
RC-3 wrong (need to work on that...)
LR-1 wrong
Games-8 wrong...
Normally, I am not fantastic at games, but I am solid on them. The only pattern I noticed (unfortunately, I noticed this in my practice tests as well, but usually would get like 5 wrong rather than 8 ) was that I would do the worst on the last section, so I need to work on my endurance and mentally lasting the whole test.
I do need some sort of live teaching. I get a little lazy if I do not have someone telling me to study, or just someone who is just there-so I am deciding between private tutoring and a classroom setting. I can see myself not sticking to a self-study or online course.
The private tutoring would be great since I already took the course, and I can focus on target areas rather than starting from square one, but if I was in a classroom then I will get more used to a testtaking environment and I get to take diagnostics pretty much exactly like I am in test day, so I am not sure what I should do and if I should continue with Testmasters (pretty good, but for some reason, I didn't love the way they taught the games-maybe its me...or maybe their teaching method just didn't work for me)

Last LSAT-
Schedule-I have a full-time job and my commute is long, but I can definitely devote time to studying before and after work (I did this for my last LSAT)

Based on this, what company do you think I should choose, and would you recommend a private tutor or class? Thank you for reading!

Re: Recs for a good LSAT study plan (retaker) ??

Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:25 pm
by franklyscarlet
You... You can time travel?

Re: Recs for a good LSAT study plan (retaker) ??

Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:26 pm
by Angrygeopolitically
private tutor+bibles+most difficult logical reasoning questions+REA logic games = win

Re: Recs for a good LSAT study plan (retaker) ??

Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:26 pm
by pppokerface
Whoops. I haven't slept in 2 days. Long story short-the place I was supposed to stay in got infested with bed bugs so I am stranded and tired. I didn't detect the typo.

Re: Recs for a good LSAT study plan (retaker) ??

Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:29 pm
by franklyscarlet
pppokerface wrote:Whoops. I haven't slept in 2 days. Long story short-the place I was supposed to stay in got infested with bed bugs so I am stranded and tired. I didn't detect the typo.
:-/ yikes. Hope you get to sleep soon!!

Re: Recs for a good LSAT study plan (retaker) ??

Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2011 10:40 pm
by tmon
I don't know that you definitely need a tutor as was previously suggested. I did pretty poorly the first time around on games and with games drilling for 2-3 months I got down to -0.

The first step is getting the theory down. The LG bible is great, and I've heard good things about Manhattan too. Either way you should go through the whole thing (again, if you already did) and do all the practice games slowly so you really internalize the process.

After that my basic drilling structure was to do like 6 games every day. I'd start with 2 new ones, then the next day I'd do those 2 and add 2 new. Next day, do the very old 2, the 2 from the day before, and 2 new. The next day I'd cycle out the ones I'd done 3 times and add 2 again.

The goal a bit variable, but generally you want to get them all at or under 8:45 obviously. For easier types (sequencing and such) you really want to push on time and try to get through in like 7 minutes or less if possible. Other games can be around 8:45 or occasionally higher when you actually take the test but are unacceptable when drilling.

When redoing games the point is to do every game as efficiently and accurately as possible, enough so that you improve over the last iteration.

If you do about 100 games with this method you can definitely improve a ton.


It's a little complicated to describe, so if anything doesn't make sense let me know.

Re: Recs for a good LSAT study plan (retaker) ??

Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 9:42 am
by LSAT Blog
Angrygeopolitically wrote:private tutor+bibles+most difficult logical reasoning questions+REA logic games = win
Do you really like the REA Logic Games book? Most people find the number of errors frustrating.

tmon wrote:my basic drilling structure was to do like 6 games every day. I'd start with 2 new ones, then the next day I'd do those 2 and add 2 new. Next day, do the very old 2, the 2 from the day before, and 2 new. The next day I'd cycle out the ones I'd done 3 times and add 2 again.

The goal a bit variable, but generally you want to get them all at or under 8:45 obviously. For easier types (sequencing and such) you really want to push on time and try to get through in like 7 minutes or less if possible. Other games can be around 8:45 or occasionally higher when you actually take the test but are unacceptable when drilling.

When redoing games the point is to do every game as efficiently and accurately as possible, enough so that you improve over the last iteration.

If you do about 100 games with this method you can definitely improve a ton.


It's a little complicated to describe, so if anything doesn't make sense let me know.

+1 - Make photocopies of lots and lots of games and redo them. Practice and detailed review is the route to mastery.