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Full time job + LSAT prep 5pm-10pm Mo-FR 8h/day Sat-Sun
Anyone puting in 500h of LSAT study time before October?

(I like to review ALL answers thoroughly. )

pearla wrote:Full time job + LSAT prep 5pm-10pm Mo-FR 8h/day Sat-Sun
Anyone puting in 500h of LSAT study time before October?

(I like to review ALL answers thoroughly. )

Eighty-one hours per week of work and LSAT? That leaves you about 87 hours per week to actually get to and from work, eat, shower, exercise, sleep, give attention to your friends and family, perform general life maintenance, and prepare law school applications. You gotta chill out a little bit.

Consider these concepts:
1. Study smarter, not harder, and
2. Diminishing returns.

pearla wrote:Full time job + LSAT prep 5pm-10pm Mo-FR 8h/day Sat-Sun
Anyone puting in 500h of LSAT study time before October?

(I like to review ALL answers thoroughly. )

I am often amazed at how quickly the time goes when I study, but planning on studying every day of the week sounds excessive. The more anxious I got about making sure I was getting the most hours in possible, the worse my results were, personally.

Yeah, jeez, you do not need 16 hours per weekend to study for this test. I admire your dedication to study around your job, but sleep is way more important than those last 7 hours of studying. There's a vicious cycle - you stay up late studying, and the next day you're tired so you work through questions more slowly. Working slowly means you have to work longer to fill it all in, leading you to be sleep deprived AGAIN, etc etc

Not having enough time to sleep/hang out with friends/watch TV was hell on my PT average, which in turn was hell on my confidence. Not to mention my happiness. By all means study with enthusiasm, but try to find some ways to give yourself a break!

You're gonna go crazy studying this much not to mention you'll be exhausted. I worked full time when I was studying and what I didn't realize when I started was just how tired I was going to be. Not to mention you'll want to have time for a social life. After a couple weeks of studying like this I feel like you'll be doing more harm than good. You haven't even given yourself a day off, relax a little! I made it a point to never study on Friday's if for no other reason than to have at least one day that was LSAT free.

I would be worried about burnout.

You should be able to get in all the studying you need just doing 3-4 hours 4 to 5 times a week.

Thanks all! It was tough at first but you get used to it. Everyday is like a new day for me. And the satisfaction from understanding the test better outweighs anything else. I always thought "burnout" is overrated anyway. .(Go study something like existentialism in Chinese while working an odd factory job full time and u might understand) I got really tired yesterday and passed out sooner than usual (I guess because I decided to go home after work instead of walking to the library as I usually do but was up again around 2.30am (did not force myself) and did a section of LR questions and reviewed them THOROUGHLY. Watched a few video of reach schools on you tube and up in bed again at 5am. It is only 1.48pm and I can't wait to leave work and go study

pearla wrote:Thanks all! It was tough at first but you get used to it. Everyday is like a new day for me. And the satisfaction from understanding the test better outweighs anything else. I always thought "burnout" is overrated anyway. .(Go study something like existentialism in Chinese while working an odd factory job full time and u might understand) I got really tired yesterday and passed out sooner than usual (I guess because I decided to go home after work instead of walking to the library as I usually do but was up again around 2.30am (did not force myself) and did a section of LR questions and reviewed them THOROUGHLY. Watched a few video of reach schools on you tube and up in bed again at 5am. It is only 1.48pm and I can't wait to leave work and go study

You study at a chinese factory and work odd existentialism full time?

pearla wrote:Thanks all! It was tough at first but you get used to it. Everyday is like a new day for me. And the satisfaction from understanding the test better outweighs anything else. I always thought "burnout" is overrated anyway. .(Go study something like existentialism in Chinese while working an odd factory job full time and u might understand) I got really tired yesterday and passed out sooner than usual (I guess because I decided to go home after work instead of walking to the library as I usually do but was up again around 2.30am (did not force myself) and did a section of LR questions and reviewed them THOROUGHLY. Watched a few video of reach schools on you tube and up in bed again at 5am. It is only 1.48pm and I can't wait to leave work and go study

Um, okay.

pearla wrote:Full time job + LSAT prep 5pm-10pm Mo-FR 8h/day Sat-Sun
Anyone puting in 500h of LSAT study time before October?

(I like to review ALL answers thoroughly. )

U must not have a girlfriend.

pearla wrote:Thanks all! It was tough at first but you get used to it. Everyday is like a new day for me. And the satisfaction from understanding the test better outweighs anything else. I always thought "burnout" is overrated anyway. .(Go study something like existentialism in Chinese while working an odd factory job full time and u might understand) I got really tired yesterday and passed out sooner than usual (I guess because I decided to go home after work instead of walking to the library as I usually do but was up again around 2.30am (did not force myself) and did a section of LR questions and reviewed them THOROUGHLY. Watched a few video of reach schools on you tube and up in bed again at 5am. It is only 1.48pm and I can't wait to leave work and go study

...I don't get it.

P.S. The reality of "burnout" usually doesn't hit you until you're, you know, burned out. Sort of like forcing an intolerance. True story: Once upon a time, I ate bananas like I was a freakin' monkey. I LOVED bananas. Maybe (like you) I'd wake up at 2:30 a.m., eat a banana, watch a couple banana videos on YouTube and get back in bed at 5 a.m. Who knows? Bananas were the bomb. Anyway, too quickly for my banana-loving self to appreciate, I developed a hefty intolerance for bananas. Any time I ate one -- even just a sliver -- I'd puke. Uh oh spaghettios. That's probably not what you want to happen with your LSAT prep. Passion is great, but dude, your body is going to start to hate you.

I usually study from 4-9pm.. But I mixed it up a little bit (am doing more). I am now studying about 5+ hours a day.. But some days I take a little rest; for example, I studied 3 hours yesterday, but I have been studying since 2:00pm, and will not around 9pm, so including my break, I'm doing six hours today.. So I would say I do around 30hrs per week of studying.. So I am up there with you, but I am just reading the Powerscore Books, currently..

OP must be a troll or the typical in-denial, sub-average intelligence law school dreamer thinking time = productivity.

You're in serious danger of hating the test come Sept/Oct. I didn't study nearly as much as you are and I think one more week of prep would've broken me. I HATED the test that last week of studying, absolutely was done with it. As others have mentioned, you can't recognize burnout until you've actually burned out.

b33eazy wrote:I usually study from 4-9pm.. But I mixed it up a little bit (am doing more). I am now studying about 5+ hours a day.. But some days I take a little rest; for example, I studied 3 hours yesterday, but I have been studying since 2:00pm, and will not around 9pm, so including my break, I'm doing six hours today.. So I would say I do around 30hrs per week of studying.. So I am up there with you, but I am just reading the Powerscore Books, currently..

Like this.

pearla wrote:Thanks all! It was tough at first but you get used to it. Everyday is like a new day for me. And the satisfaction from understanding the test better outweighs anything else. I always thought "burnout" is overrated anyway. .(Go study something like existentialism in Chinese while working an odd factory job full time and u might understand) I got really tired yesterday and passed out sooner than usual (I guess because I decided to go home after work instead of walking to the library as I usually do but was up again around 2.30am (did not force myself) and did a section of LR questions and reviewed them THOROUGHLY. Watched a few video of reach schools on you tube and up in bed again at 5am. It is only 1.48pm and I can't wait to leave work and go study

Ummmm good job?

cgw wrote:

pearla wrote:Full time job + LSAT prep 5pm-10pm Mo-FR 8h/day Sat-Sun
Anyone puting in 500h of LSAT study time before October?

(I like to review ALL answers thoroughly. )

I am often amazed at how quickly the time goes when I study, but planning on studying every day of the week sounds excessive. The more anxious I got about making sure I was getting the most hours in possible, the worse my results were, personally.

No anxiety here... At least not yet. I am busy, reading, deconstructing, taking notes, making sense of this test.

Scotchandsoda wrote:

pearla wrote:Thanks all! It was tough at first but you get used to it. Everyday is like a new day for me. And the satisfaction from understanding the test better outweighs anything else. I always thought "burnout" is overrated anyway. .(Go study something like existentialism in Chinese while working an odd factory job full time and u might understand) I got really tired yesterday and passed out sooner than usual (I guess because I decided to go home after work instead of walking to the library as I usually do but was up again around 2.30am (did not force myself) and did a section of LR questions and reviewed them THOROUGHLY. Watched a few video of reach schools on you tube and up in bed again at 5am. It is only 1.48pm and I can't wait to leave work and go study

Ummmm good job?

Top 15. Some would die for it.

bobbyh1919 wrote:You're in serious danger of hating the test come Sept/Oct. I didn't study nearly as much as you are and I think one more week of prep would've broken me. I HATED the test that last week of studying, absolutely was done with it. As others have mentioned, you can't recognize burnout until you've actually burned out.

I admit having felt something like that in the beginning. That is when I was pressuring myself to increase speed at the cost of accuracy. I since then learned to chill out and understand the test. I am puting that much time in because I do a thorough review, and since October isnt that far away, I dont wanna get there and say to myself Dxxx!!! I havent had a chance to review all the material I had wanted to touch before the test.
So, when/if that happens, I take a deep breath, stop. Go down the street get my favorite smoothie (Guilty of overdoing this one ), stop to watch a video on youtube, proceed with a different section, "waste" some time on tls (Also GUILTY ), read a chapter from The Ivey Guide, Talk to a friend, or just take a cold shower, {Need to include Gym }... Either way, I just get over myself and go back to practing , REFRESHED, because in the end, it is my dream and no one else's

theprophet89 wrote:OP must be a troll or the typical in-denial, sub-average intelligence law school dreamer thinking time = productivity.

Or: Just someone that has everything else going on for themselves BUT this test. And may be they also have unusual circumstances difficulties & challenges that require them to study 3 times as much as the usual applicant, for them to get where they wanna get.

I have to say I agree with the OP.. I'm doing the same thing except I decided to take a year off and not work, so I can make studying for this test a full time job. While it may be troublesome at first to put so many hours into this, the time flies by. In addition, I take my time and do overview of my past chapters (still reading LR and LG Bible), every couple of days so I stay fresh. And after I am done with the books, I will do drills and write out explanations of my answers. And then I still haven't even started on my reading, so I will have set out a few hours for that as well. It's like the OP said, it's better to be over-prepared than under. I can personally attest to this (I canceled my December score).

If you want to study 500 hours, go for it.... But do it over the course of a year, not 3 months...

Source: I work 70 hours a week and am studying for the exam, and I struggle to do 10 hours a week some weeks. Just have to make up for it other weeks.

gobosox wrote:If you want to study 500 hours, go for it.... But do it over the course of a year, not 3 months...

Source: I work 70 hours a week and am studying for the exam, and I struggle to do 10 hours a week some weeks. Just have to make up for it other weeks.

I guess it also depends on your work schedule, commute time, other responsibilities...
I work in a setting that fosters research and scholarship. And while I cant study at work, going to a library is like a 3 min walk. That helps a lot. I could not do this flipping burgers at BK.
I shall make it happen this year. If it does not, at least I would know I gave it my best.

hereyago wrote:

pearla wrote:Thanks all! It was tough at first but you get used to it. Everyday is like a new day for me. And the satisfaction from understanding the test better outweighs anything else. I always thought "burnout" is overrated anyway. .(Go study something like existentialism in Chinese while working an odd factory job full time and u might understand) I got really tired yesterday and passed out sooner than usual (I guess because I decided to go home after work instead of walking to the library as I usually do but was up again around 2.30am (did not force myself) and did a section of LR questions and reviewed them THOROUGHLY. Watched a few video of reach schools on you tube and up in bed again at 5am. It is only 1.48pm and I can't wait to leave work and go study

You study at a chinese factory and work odd existentialism full time?

You shall join me to study...

Wormfather wrote:Your plan leads to you crying after and PT with a 5 point drop. That's not hyperbole. That's experience. You will deny this but you will are thinking more study=quicker increases. The problem is that they will not come as fast as you think, you will begin to devalue your intelligence and or drive and then the 5 point drop.

In other words: don't do this.

I am not as much concerned with my score as people seem to be on this site. My goal is to understand this test, which will (hopefully) ultimately lead to an inscreased score. In the time being, I am not scoring, anything, but I do mark section with -x or -y, with the goal of reviewing and understanding where I failed. This does not feel like studying but trying out with curiosity, understanding, and eliminating weaknesses. And I do have a long way to go ...