Top Law Schools

How much time daily/weekly do you put into studying the LSAT? I have this study guide i made up but after i do 4-6 LG problems i get exhausted and my brain shuts down, sometimes when its really hard ones i want to give up, but i dont, but that just adds to the exhaustion. How can i handle this? Just suck it up and realize that with my GPA of 3.46 I need to knock the LSAT out of the park to have any future in law? Just dedicate myself and stay focused... Unless anyone here has any tips that gets them in the mood.

Take regular breaks. Have a cigarette. Go buy a coffee. Browse the TLS forums for a few minutes. Something to clear your mind- then remind yourself how important this test score is, and sit down and tackle your books. Rinse and repeat.

Yea, i just need to stay focused and its fine to take breaks, but i just feel so inadequate when i come on here and read about people spending 8+ hours A DAY studying.

work until you get tired, relax, and then work on it some more. stop looking at people far ahead of you, just focus on what you need. It's just like exercise: you're not gonna bench 300 on your first day. Take it easy and slowly, just don't slack and stay committed. I started off just reading the LGB for 1 hour two days a week and now I'm up to around 4 hours a day and don't plan on studying much more than that.

.

do you study in a library or in your house... followup question: do you live at home or in a dorm?

Always at the library, I get distracted too easily at home. And I live in the crappiest solo apartment that money can buy, just so I can afford to live while working <20 hours/week.

ya, i think that could be my problem. I always study at home and i end up taking breaks and naps etc... I think ill try studying this week in the library of my school. Do you guys study in the stacks or on the main floor?

RhymesLikeDimes wrote:I block out 8am-3pm on weekdays for the books. Usually I'll do 2.5 hours LR, 2 hours of whatever leisure book I'm currently reading/lunch/staring at the gorgeous Pakistani girl who works at the library, then 2.5 hours of LG. It took about a month before I was able to build up that kind of stamina, but time flies by now.

I usually save PTs for weekends, but I'll have to change it up pretty soon. Also need to incorporate some RC time. It's a difficult transition, but think of it like this: you can maintain your social life for a couple months, or do everything to ensure that you do well on a test that is likely to have major implications on your legal career. I'm in the same boat GPA-wise (3.58), and I'd give anything to go back and do that over. Don't let that happen on the LSAT.

Good lord. I can't even imagine. Props to you, seriously...I have nowhere near that level of dedication/motivation...which is probably why my uGPA was about 3.49. Hope you knock the test out of the park!

I did about 2.5 hours day for 5 months. Diagnostic was 160, just scored a 169 on the February test.

what ever you do, don't jackoff while you study. It will distract you and waste your valuable time.

Further, after, you will feel tired and unmotivated in pursuing your zealous LSAT study.

Dr. Dre wrote:what ever you do, don't jackoff while you study. It will distract you and waste your valuable time.

Further, after, you will feel tired and unmotivated in pursuing your zealous LSAT study.

Ya, I learned that the hard way. Who knew you couldnt masturbate in the library, i mean those little rooms are perfect to crank one out...

Anyway, Ya i started to study in the library after class or the gym and I've been getting a good 2 hours of study time, which is unheard of for me, so I'm glad i made that change.

On a side note, sometimes when im doing the section type or LG game ill go and get -0 on all the games in the group of games that im doing, but there is 1 game where i get -4 or some crazy shit like that. I go over the game, but im worried that something like that will happen on the LSAT... Nothing i can do about that, right? Gotta just roll with the punches i guess.

Ya, I learned that the hard way. Who knew you couldnt masturbate in the library, i mean those little rooms are perfect to crank one out...

I lol'd.

Nothing i can do about that, right? Gotta just roll with the punches i guess.

This is not true. Identify what types of games/questions you have trouble on and drill them. Drill, drill, drill, and then drill some more. Take it from someone who took this "nothing I can do" approach into his first LSAT and wound up with a score lower than his diagnostic bc he got unlucky with the types of game questions that were asked.

so just endlessly repeat the games im fucking up on? Until i have them down pat in 5 minutes or less??

I still dont see the benefit of repeating games, I mean, What will being good at 1 game do for me in the long run? I can understand repeating game types, but then I'm getting -0's except for that 1 game.

Yeah what I mean is game type. Identify what types of games you are having trouble on, and when you drill, drill those types of games (you have tons of practice tests to work with). Anecdotally, although I've never tried it, the repeating games strategy you mentioned worked for a friend of mine. She would repeat them over and over and by test time she was a wiz at LGs (even the new ones) bc she could recognize patterns and make connections real fast. Don't know if that would work for you, and I don't know what she got, but she is going to Harvard so it worked out for her. Not saying definitely do this, but it might be worth a try. But yeah, definitely identify your weaknesses and drill them TITCR. Here is what I think is the most helpful thread for prep that talks about this.

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 6&t=120471

Edit: And good luck!!!!!!!!!!

mvonh001 wrote:so just endlessly repeat the games im fucking up on? Until i have them down pat in 5 minutes or less??

I still dont see the benefit of repeating games, I mean, What will being good at 1 game do for me in the long run? I can understand repeating game types, but then I'm getting -0's except for that 1 game.

There are only like three, maybe four, different types of games so even if the variables change, you're looking at the same types of problems each times around. With enough practice you just start to "see" the connections, inferences etc. That's an imprecise word, I know, but I can't exactly think of a better way to explain how I went from failing to complete LG and missing half the questions to going -2 on that section in the real thing. YMMV, though, and of course there are a lot of folks on this forum who went -0. Still, spending a long time drilling on real games ought to help.

Oh, and don't forget RC. RC has gotten a lot harder on the more recent tests, while LG has gotten easier.

in addition to not jackingoff, you shoudnt fornicate. see the paper chase to know why.

cslouisck wrote:

mvonh001 wrote:so just endlessly repeat the games im fucking up on? Until i have them down pat in 5 minutes or less??

I still dont see the benefit of repeating games, I mean, What will being good at 1 game do for me in the long run? I can understand repeating game types, but then I'm getting -0's except for that 1 game.

There are only like three, maybe four, different types of games so even if the variables change, you're looking at the same types of problems each times around. With enough practice you just start to "see" the connections, inferences etc. That's an imprecise word, I know, but I can't exactly think of a better way to explain how I went from failing to complete LG and missing half the questions to going -2 on that section in the real thing. YMMV, though, and of course there are a lot of folks on this forum who went -0. Still, spending a long time drilling on real games ought to help.

Oh, and don't forget RC. RC has gotten a lot harder on the more recent tests, while LG has gotten easier.

It's not being neglected. In fact every week I do 2 new sections of RC from pt 40-UP. I know that doesnt sound like a lot, but i feel its adequate for now. I'm doing RC untimed the moment for the next 3-4 weeks, then Ill go into timed RC sections until I start doing full PT's which should be about 4 weeks after those initial 3. then im doing PT's at 3-4 times a week, using the method of doing it timed then untimed then comparing the scores (it was discussed here, not quite sure where), it was said to be very helpful. And that leaves me doing PT's for 6 weeks.

mvonh001 wrote:so just endlessly repeat the games im fucking up on? Until i have them down pat in 5 minutes or less??

7sage video explanations + repetition.

I put in 10 hours a day, 5 days a week for 7 months and scored a 173 after a diagnostic in the 140s.

amuseboosh wrote:I put in 10 hours a day, 5 days a week for 7 months and scored a 173 after a diagnostic in the 140s.

Wow, that's dedication! I wish I had your motivation.

Personally, leading up to the test, I drank 10 beers 5 times a day for 7 days and scored in the 140s after a diagnostic of 173.

Mission accomplished.

what about the games that I'm getting -1 or -2 and know why i messed up (e.g. a game where i misread a rule and subsequently got 1 question wrong, but over the review I knew why i fucked up and how to prevent it in the future) Do i need to focus on those as well as the ones i get -3 through -5 on? Or should i just stick to the ones that were truly puzzling?

mvonh001 wrote:what about the games that I'm getting -1 or -2 and know why i messed up (e.g. a game where i misread a rule and subsequently got 1 question wrong, but over the review I knew why i fucked up and how to prevent it in the future) Do i need to focus on those as well as the ones i get -3 through -5 on? Or should i just stick to the ones that were truly puzzling?

It really depends on you but you should still need to cover those annoying -1 or -2 that you made because of you "fucked up," because the mentality that one should have during LSAT prep is to "perfect" everything and really man the fuck up/be stubborn with yourself/myself.

agreed, what i meant was do i need to repeat the problems the same amount of times as the -3 or -4 questions. However, I do know I need to focus on staying perfect.