Top Law Schools

Hey,

If you guys read my thread earlier I had the plan of doing a section until I mastered it. However, after doing a week of grinding away the same section (10hrs everyday, for last week), I felt 0 improvement, also making some mistakes that I didnt make the first place (diagnostics), I think I was over-correcting every time I detected a mistake.
I was doing it full time (writing 2-3 sections worth of Logical Reasoning, and fully reviewing every question I got wrong and iffy ones)
So obviously I need a new routine.

I was reading the compiled thread for tips and stuff what I found was that most studiers took this as part in addition to a job or school. I didnt see many people commit to this full time. By full time I mean I can study this thing 7 days a week, 10hrs a day if need to be (very serious). I diag a 166 (untimed), I am looking to score in the 176+ range.

Edit: I dont meant to put the 166 untimed as saying hey I only need to improve 10pts, I meant as it to show that "I think I can get a 175+ if I work hard enough"

I was wondering what would be an optimal schedule for me to take on given my time commitment possibilities?

Or if is this is optimal:

Monday Logical Reasoning
Tuesday Reading Comp
Wed Other stuff (gym/philo/psych)
Thursday Logic Games
Friday Logic Reasoning
Saturday PT
Sunday Other stuff (gym/philo/psych)

(reading philo stuff because I heard some people suggest it can help you to overcome dense passages)

I am sure some will disagree with me on this, but once you "get" the format of the LSAT, doing shit untimed is not going to be incredibly helpful. Sure, go back and review the hell out of an LR section, for example, after you've done it under timed conditions. Obviously you need to dig in and understand your errors (and even your right answers) to improve. But the only way to get good at doing this stuff quickly is to time yourself, and you are eventually going to have to do it quickly. I think I remember you saying you were going to do this in October...if so, I think your schedule looks okay.

If you are familiar with all the sections of the test at this point, don't do another full PT untimed, though. It's really a waste, and doesn't tell you too much of anything important, in my opinion. Any score you get on an untimed "diagnostic" is of very, very limited use in terms of prediction, or even telling you where you sit.

elterrible78 wrote:I am sure some will disagree with me on this, but once you "get" the format of the LSAT, doing shit untimed is not going to be incredibly helpful. Sure, go back and review the hell out of an LR section, for example, after you've done it under timed conditions. Obviously you need to dig in and understand your errors (and even your right answers) to improve. But the only way to get good at doing this stuff quickly is to time yourself, and you are eventually going to have to do it quickly. I think I remember you saying you were going to do this in October...if so, I think your schedule looks okay.

If you are familiar with all the sections of the test at this point, don't do another full PT untimed, though. It's really a waste, and doesn't tell you too much of anything important, in my opinion. Any score you get on an untimed "diagnostic" is of very, very limited use in terms of prediction, or even telling you where you sit.

Thats fine, I can do the PTs weekly timed if thats your suggestion?

How about the section practices?

Edit:

Do you suggest I should try to finish with 35 minutes or should I time myself on a normal practice and keep track of my speed?

For the last month of studying I would think about doing a 3 PTs a week with review and touch-up of your problem areas on the in between days. Take one day a week off.

Mr. Pancakes wrote:For the last month of studying I would think about doing a 3 PTs a week with review and touch-up of your problem areas on the in between days. Take one day a week off.

I was definitely thinking that too, and doing some double LSAT in a row to build in endurance.

kk thanks. But as how it stands, does it look good as a start up?

jimmierock wrote:

elterrible78 wrote:I am sure some will disagree with me on this, but once you "get" the format of the LSAT, doing shit untimed is not going to be incredibly helpful. Sure, go back and review the hell out of an LR section, for example, after you've done it under timed conditions. Obviously you need to dig in and understand your errors (and even your right answers) to improve. But the only way to get good at doing this stuff quickly is to time yourself, and you are eventually going to have to do it quickly. I think I remember you saying you were going to do this in October...if so, I think your schedule looks okay.

If you are familiar with all the sections of the test at this point, don't do another full PT untimed, though. It's really a waste, and doesn't tell you too much of anything important, in my opinion. Any score you get on an untimed "diagnostic" is of very, very limited use in terms of prediction, or even telling you where you sit.

Thats fine, I can do the PTs weekly timed if thats your suggestion?

How about the section practices?

Edit:

Do you suggest I should try to finish with 35 minutes or should I time myself on a normal practice and keep track of my speed?

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I personally do sections in 35 minutes, and find that it is very helpful. While it may feel good to -0 a section in 45 minutes, at best you are getting practice under unrealistic conditions, and at worst you are starting to really overestimate your abilities. Basically, leading up to the June test, this is what I'm doing:

- Continuing to browse and re-read the PS Logic Games and Logical Reasoning bibles for a bit every day.
- Doing a full, timed PT twice per week (I was doing more, but found that it was frying my brain)
- On days that I don't do a full PT, I do a timed LR section and either a timed RC or LG section.
- Throughout the day, when time at work allows, I drill LG sections I have seen before (always timed)

This is working out pretty well for me, and only involves a few hours per day.

I crammed my LSAT studies into about 3 weeks so I had no choice but to work on it everyday. I'd agree with other posters though, once you have a good grasp on the format/question type in each section--time everything. You can go back over the test after and spend as much time as you'd like understanding why you got it wrong but giving yourself even 5 extra minutes can significantly change your score.

I found fatigue to be the most challenging hurdle. I was consistently getting only 2-3 wrong in most sections but they were always very close together, ie #13 and #15. The biggest challenge of the LSAT IMO is staying very focused for the whole time so I think you should hold yourself to the strict time limits.

I took a practice test (and reviewed and corrected it) everyday for just over 3 week straight and did two on saturdays. It's miserable and eats into a lot of your time (certainly not 10 hours a day though) but it really helped. It got me from a ~155 completely cold diag. to a 174 on my first real test.

Good luck!

.

Thanks for the feedback so far everyone!

okay, I got it.

For here on forth I will do everything timed.

But is 5 days of studying lsat per week bad?

(P.S I dont meant to put the 166 untimed as saying hey I only need to improve 10pts, I meant as it to show that "I think I can get a 175+ if I work hard enough")

.

I only have a part time job, and the rest of the time I can devote to the LSAT, but I would definitely never study for 10 hrs a day. I do not think that can help in anyway whatsoever.
Even if you have nothing else to do in a day, cut down on your studying hours and take breaks, even nap (to let those sweet new discoveries get safely stored in long-term memory).

When it comes to a perfect schedule, it is definitely up to you. Personally, I would not devote a whole day to readying philo and psych for the dense passages. I think this is cool advice, and I got a couple good magazines to take with my on the road, but devoting critical studying time to a completely different subject seems a bit tangential and not overly helpful. Read that stuff, but I would say a solid 20 minutes each day (or 35 ) instead of hours upon hours in one day.

When it comes to PT's, I am a huge fan of 2-3 a week, especially if you have more than enough to get through before test time. Getting familiar with everything is very important and you start cutting down on your time per section by recognizing patterns, having a gameplan, etc.

Okay, I will definitely cut down the 10 hrs back, if I think I hit a wall or not learning, I might just drop to 4 days instead. I enjoy reading philosophy/psych so it doesnt matter anyways. I figure I will just read more dense passages so it cant hurt.

I agree that it totally can't hurt, and obviously spend time reading what you enjoy, I was just suggesting it's not necessarily a as great a studying tool as many people think. The best dense passages to read to prepare for the LSAT are the ones they released themselves. But of course, on the go, or with only 15 minutes open to study, or just for fun before bed, definitely it cannot hurt to read.

Adm.Doppleganger wrote: Personal anecdote: I was burning out and my PT scores were degrading from a high 174 down to 167. Someone suggest I was burning out two or three weeks before the test. I cut down my studying and ended up beating my high, having chilled considerably, on the real thing.

THIS.

I was doing full PTs 5 days a week, and I hit a streak of 8 or 9 175+ PTs (two of which were 180s, and three 179s), and then BAM, a string of three consecutive 169s. It really threw my confidence. I cut back to 2 PTs a week, and I've been 177+ since then. You really CAN overdo it, and I had. My timing was off, my brain felt scrambled. Balance is key.

okay, perfect, thanks alot guys.

I guess this is exactly like weigh lifting. Overtraining can hurt.

jimmierock wrote:okay, perfect, thanks alot guys.

I guess this is exactly like weigh lifting. Overtraining can hurt.

HAHA. After reading through all of the responses, then seeing all of them encapsulated by the simple quote above made me happy for some reason on this rainy Monday. DC What up.

Anyhow man, yes, look at it from this perspective are you truly studying up to your full potential for those 10 hours a day? IF you are then, salute, you must have Tommy Lee-esque stamina. Otherwise, break it down. Giving it your all for 3 hours, is far more efficient than going willy nilly for ten hours without intense focus.

VariableChange wrote:

jimmierock wrote:okay, perfect, thanks alot guys.

I guess this is exactly like weigh lifting. Overtraining can hurt.

HAHA. After reading through all of the responses, then seeing all of them encapsulated by the simple quote above made me happy for some reason on this rainy Monday. DC What up.

Anyhow man, yes, look at it from this perspective are you truly studying up to your full potential for those 10 hours a day? IF you are then, salute, you must have Tommy Lee-esque stamina. Otherwise, break it down. Giving it your all for 3 hours, is far more efficient than going willy nilly for ten hours without intense focus.

10 hours of anything a day is bullshit.

i would add that the LR should be separated into different categories.

i took test masters so i know type 1,2,3 etc... questions and i found it was very helpful to focus just on a single type of question one day (for me a week i spread my studying out) and then the next type the following day. After I finished going through all 13 types and all of the LG types and doing RCs (there are no real types you just have to keep on doing them until you finish every possible reading comp and then start again) i started taking 3-4 pts a week and doing random sections in the times i wasnt taking any pts