LSAT Prep: Just Chill! Forum

[pwnyc127]

First off I want to thank everyone that posted LSAT advice on TLS, thanks a lot guys.
I started off my first PT at a measly 150 and brought my score up to 170 in 3 months while working full time and going to college. So here's my two cents on LSAT prep:
You should plan to have at least 3 months to dedicate to studying, at least 3 hours EVERY DAY! Before you start studying, its time to make some serious decisions about your plan of attack, most importantly, prep course or self-study. If you feel confident in you're ability to teach yourself, by all means go for the Powerscore bibles (3 separate books, you can find them on Amazon).
Otherwise, I'd reccommend a Kaplan or Powerscore course to learn the basics of the LSAT. A course will provide you with a firm foundation of LSAT concepts, but throwing money at a test prep company will NOT magically raise your score.
By the end of month 1, you should have the basic concepts down and be able to confidently answer the following questions:
1. What is formal logic? How do you diagram it?
2. What are the different question types in Logical Reasoning? What is the most efficient method of attacking each type?
3. What are the common logical flaws committed on the LSAT?
4. How do you set up a logic game and make inferences?
There's more, but you'll figure it out either in the books or the prep course.
By month 2, you should start attacking timed sections. Do 1 section at a time, using a stopwatch (counting up). Don't worry if you can't finish the section in 35 minutes, just keep going and record you're time at the end. Speed will come with practice.
Now for the most important part of my post: it is imperative to you're success on the LSAT that you CHILL! Seriously, no more than 4 hours of studying at a time. After 4 hours, get up and do something else, go work out, watch a movie, take a girl on a date...avoid stress! No joke even if you know every concept on the LSAT like the back of you're hand and you're smart, stress will kill your score. So to re-emphasize- CALM THE F**K DOWN!
By month 3 you should be doing full length Prep tests. Use the most recent tests and add in an experimental section from an older test. After you take a full test, take a break, do something else, and come back to it later. Check every question you got wrong, understand why you got it wrong, and understand why the credited answer is better than the one you picked.
At this point test day is soon approaching, so be realistic. If you have not consistently reached your target score on PTs, it's unlikely that you're going to hit it on the real thing, so consider delaying for a later exam.
If you're still reading this, hope you found it helpful, and remember, stress will kill your score so CHILL!!!

[CR2012]

Seriously?

[BlaqBella]

Thanks for the advice, though, I wouldn't recommend Kaplan.

[NoodleyOne]

Interesting?

[lawyerdude]

Seriously?

Everything he said was good advice... 1) learn the basics, 2) move on to sections, 3) move on to timed tests. TLSers hate on Kaplan so much, but people have improved their scores through the program.

[lutcf2021]

very intriguing.

[mqt]

So, basically do everything that is posted in the 'how to score 160+' thread/similar threads, but also be calm. This is like the Dane Cook of threads.

[lutcf2021]

VERY