Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged Forum
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Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
Hi, I was planning to take the LSAT Sept 2017, but am now reconsidering if I should just take it in Dec 2017.
I took my first LSAT test about 2 weeks ago on a Sunday. I got a 155.
I spent a week reviewing LSAT Hacks and figuring out why I got each one wrong. Also felt somewhat comfortable on the LG after only reviewing the 4 I just took. lol. I now see I was completely misguided.
So I took another test and got a 156. - _ -
Missed about half on LG.
What am I doing wrong?
I took my first LSAT test about 2 weeks ago on a Sunday. I got a 155.
I spent a week reviewing LSAT Hacks and figuring out why I got each one wrong. Also felt somewhat comfortable on the LG after only reviewing the 4 I just took. lol. I now see I was completely misguided.
So I took another test and got a 156. - _ -
Missed about half on LG.
What am I doing wrong?
Last edited by Atomvseve on Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Future Ex-Engineer
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
Not studyingAtomvseve wrote:What am I doing wrong?
Straight up taking a PT and then seeing why you got the stuff wrong and then expecting to magically do better the next time is not really how LSAT studying works. There's tons of guides on here for how to study. Try reading some of those.
Also, stop taking PTs until you've actually studied each section - there are only so many fresh tests, so you don't want to waste them
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
You probably should wait until December, but not because you are doing poorly, but because it takes time to learn the LSAT, and then even more time to consistently answer questions correctly. My diagnostic PT was 153 and I got a 171 on the real thing, but only after 4.5 months of hard studying. The first thing you need to do is stop taking PTs, doing them at this stage isn't helping you at all and you'll only burn through material you should be saving for your later prep. During the early stages you should be focusing on learning the test from the ground up, and I highly recommend the LSAT Trainer and/or a 7sage course to build up your fundamentals. It was over a month after my diagnostic before I took another full PT, and I didn't take it until I was about half way through the Trainer.
As far as logic games go, after you have the basics down you need to drill them like crazy and watch the free 7sage explanation videos on youtube. I started out exactly where you are on LG and by the end I was consistently -0/-1 in PTs and went -2 on the real thing (one stupid mistake early and bad time management on the last game). Remember, this test truely is a marathon and not a sprint, it takes patience and hard work but mastery is 100% possible for someone who is starting where you are.
As far as logic games go, after you have the basics down you need to drill them like crazy and watch the free 7sage explanation videos on youtube. I started out exactly where you are on LG and by the end I was consistently -0/-1 in PTs and went -2 on the real thing (one stupid mistake early and bad time management on the last game). Remember, this test truely is a marathon and not a sprint, it takes patience and hard work but mastery is 100% possible for someone who is starting where you are.
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
I'll also add that getting discouraged this early is a really bad thing and something you need to get under control. There were so many highs (scoring 176 on a PT) and lows (bombing 2 PTs in a row 2 weeks before the test) in my prep, and I'm willing to bet that this is true for most people. You have to let things roll off of your back easily and learn from your mistakes.
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
I also started lower than you and ended up in mid 170s. Agree with the above. You've got to actually study. 2 weeks is laughable. Also, if your initial was June 2007 (which is considered fairly easy) and then your second was a harder test for you, you still could have improved like 5-10 questions and still have seen 1 point difference. 2 data points is not enough to be making any sort of conclusion. Come back when you have 5+, preferably 10.
Last edited by AJordan on Sat Jan 27, 2018 11:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
AJordan wrote:I also started lower than you and ended up in mid 170s. Agree with the above. You've got to actually study. 2 weeks is laughable. Also, if your initial was June 2007 (which is considered fairly easy) and then your second was a harder test for you, you still could have improved like 5-10 questions and still have seen 1 point difference. 2 data points is not enough to be making any sort of conclusion. Come back when you have 5+, preferably 10.
My initial was PT 75 June 2015.
My 2nd test was PT 76 Oct 2015.
- Future Ex-Engineer
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
for the love of everything holy stop using current PTs when you have no idea how to take the LSAT. you will seriously regret burning through newer tests when/if you get serious about studying/LSAT prepAtomvseve wrote:AJordan wrote:I also started lower than you and ended up in mid 170s. Agree with the above. You've got to actually study. 2 weeks is laughable. Also, if your initial was June 2007 (which is considered fairly easy) and then your second was a harder test for you, you still could have improved like 5-10 questions and still have seen 1 point difference. 2 data points is not enough to be making any sort of conclusion. Come back when you have 5+, preferably 10.
My initial was PT 75 June 2015.
My 2nd test was PT 76 Oct 2015.
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
Yikes! Go buy something like the Powerscore Books or the LSAT Trainer and stop using great tests like this for prepping this early. Those things are gold and should be some of the last materials you use.Atomvseve wrote:AJordan wrote:I also started lower than you and ended up in mid 170s. Agree with the above. You've got to actually study. 2 weeks is laughable. Also, if your initial was June 2007 (which is considered fairly easy) and then your second was a harder test for you, you still could have improved like 5-10 questions and still have seen 1 point difference. 2 data points is not enough to be making any sort of conclusion. Come back when you have 5+, preferably 10.
My initial was PT 75 June 2015.
My 2nd test was PT 76 Oct 2015.
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
Thanks guys
Is it pointless to practice (when I finally do start practicing with real LSATs) from LSATs 20-30?
What number should I be starting at? Ty in advance.
Is it pointless to practice (when I finally do start practicing with real LSATs) from LSATs 20-30?
What number should I be starting at? Ty in advance.
- Platopus
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
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Last edited by Platopus on Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- Platopus
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
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Last edited by Platopus on Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
Thank you!!!Platopus wrote:Here's a very, very abbreviated studying schedule.Atomvseve wrote:Thanks guys
Is it pointless to practice (when I finally do start practicing with real LSATs) from LSATs 20-30?
What number should I be starting at? Ty in advance.
Month 1: Go through Powerscore Logic Games bible. Treat it like the bible. Do all the material in the book, and really try to get a solid understanding of what you're doing and why
Month 2: Take all the PT's from 1-50 and start doing just the games section. Untimed, and once you start going -1/-2 per section, start timing yourself. Start working through the Powerscore LR bible.
Month 3: Take all the PT's from 1-50 and start doing just the LR sections. Untimed, and once you start going -1/-2 per section, start timing yourself. Continue with LG drilling.
Month 4: Repeat for RC. Continue with LR and LG drilling. Start doing 1 timed PT per week. No more.
Month 5: Continue drilling. Do 2-3 timed PT's per week.
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
Atomvseve wrote:Thank you!! Do you know where I can get 1-20?Platopus wrote:Here's a very, very abbreviated studying schedule.Atomvseve wrote:Thanks guys
Is it pointless to practice (when I finally do start practicing with real LSATs) from LSATs 20-30?
What number should I be starting at? Ty in advance.
Month 1: Go through Powerscore Logic Games bible. Treat it like the bible. Do all the material in the book, and really try to get a solid understanding of what you're doing and why
Month 2: Take all the PT's from 1-50 and start doing just the games section. Untimed, and once you start going -1/-2 per section, start timing yourself. Start working through the Powerscore LR bible.
Month 3: Take all the PT's from 1-50 and start doing just the LR sections. Untimed, and once you start going -1/-2 per section, start timing yourself. Continue with LG drilling.
Month 4: Repeat for RC. Continue with LR and LG drilling. Start doing 1 timed PT per week. No more.
Month 5: Continue drilling. Do 2-3 timed PT's per week.
I couldn't find them anywhere.
It seems that people get certain books for certain topics. Example: a book has all LR questions from 1-20, but doesn't contain RC or LG.
I'm simply looking for the full PT 1-20.
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- Platopus
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
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Last edited by Platopus on Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
I made a Google doc with my specific LSAT study schedule. I already went through the LG bible, so this wasn't included.Platopus wrote:Atomvseve wrote:
I couldn't find them anywhere.
It seems that people get certain books for certain topics. Example: a book has all LR questions from 1-20, but doesn't contain RC or LG.
I'm simply looking for the full PT 1-20.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sPV ... sp=sharing
Materials for tests 1-20:
https://shop.powerscore.com/?action=pro ... 00O2WQWIA3
https://shop.powerscore.com/?action=pro ... 00O2WMdIAN
https://shop.powerscore.com/?action=pro ... 00O2WN2IAN[/quote]
thanks so much for linking these. I will def buy them.
So just to confirm, there's no way to get my hands on PT tests 1-20 themselves?
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
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Last edited by Platopus on Sun Dec 17, 2017 8:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
Platopus wrote:Not really sure, but not necessary in my opinion. The Powerscore materials I linked were perfect for just getting a start on drilling. If you buy them as PT's you need to do all the work of separating and sorting them.Atomvseve wrote:
thanks so much for linking these. I will def buy them.
So just to confirm, there's no way to get my hands on PT tests 1-20 themselves?
Right, that's what I was trying to avoid.
Regardless, thanks so much for your help!
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
I didn't really use anything from before PT29 except for a few really weird games that popped up in the really old PTs, I found the LR and RC significantly different.
As far as general advice, I'm going to disagree slightly with Plato. I personally hated the powerscore materials, and am a big fan of using the Trainer for LR and RC and 7sage for LG (free videos should be sufficient but their full course is excellent on all 3 sections). I just find those sources to be much more concerned with teaching the underlying principles of the test vs. the hyper categorizing and memorization gimmicks that powerscore teaches. Obviously a ton of people have had great success with the Bibles and they are definitely much better than trying to learn on your own or from Kaplan, but they just didn't do much for me.
My personal recommendation would be to get the trainer and follow the retired version of Mike's 16 week schedule (if you PM me I can send it to you) and work through the book/do all of the drills in the schedule (although I would go faster if possible). Using the retired version is important because it utilizes only pre-50s tests for drilling while the current one uses up too many newish tests early on. For LG I'd read up on the trainer chapters a bit but mainly drill games like crazy, first untimed then timed and watch the 7sage video for every game you attempt right afterwards. After you work through a good amount of the trainer you can start doing full PTs from the 60s and 70s (and 50s if you have time) while blind reviewing every test.
Just wanted to share what worked for me, and am not bashing Plato or his recommendation in any way (iirc he scored higher than me).
As far as general advice, I'm going to disagree slightly with Plato. I personally hated the powerscore materials, and am a big fan of using the Trainer for LR and RC and 7sage for LG (free videos should be sufficient but their full course is excellent on all 3 sections). I just find those sources to be much more concerned with teaching the underlying principles of the test vs. the hyper categorizing and memorization gimmicks that powerscore teaches. Obviously a ton of people have had great success with the Bibles and they are definitely much better than trying to learn on your own or from Kaplan, but they just didn't do much for me.
My personal recommendation would be to get the trainer and follow the retired version of Mike's 16 week schedule (if you PM me I can send it to you) and work through the book/do all of the drills in the schedule (although I would go faster if possible). Using the retired version is important because it utilizes only pre-50s tests for drilling while the current one uses up too many newish tests early on. For LG I'd read up on the trainer chapters a bit but mainly drill games like crazy, first untimed then timed and watch the 7sage video for every game you attempt right afterwards. After you work through a good amount of the trainer you can start doing full PTs from the 60s and 70s (and 50s if you have time) while blind reviewing every test.
Just wanted to share what worked for me, and am not bashing Plato or his recommendation in any way (iirc he scored higher than me).
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Re: Should I postpone? Feeling discouraged
Reflecting on my previous posts - they weren't super helpful.
So, a bit of helpfulness (hopefully).
You'll get as many opinions on LSAT prep companies as there are posters on this site - my personal preference is Powerscore LG Bible for LG and The LSAT Trainer (by Mike Kim) for LR and RC.
I think the amount of drilling/prep you need to do from early tests is entirely dependent on how fast you pick up the material. For me, it only took about 10 sections for me to fully get the games, but many many many more sections until I was going -1 on LR.
So, a bit of helpfulness (hopefully).
You'll get as many opinions on LSAT prep companies as there are posters on this site - my personal preference is Powerscore LG Bible for LG and The LSAT Trainer (by Mike Kim) for LR and RC.
I think the amount of drilling/prep you need to do from early tests is entirely dependent on how fast you pick up the material. For me, it only took about 10 sections for me to fully get the games, but many many many more sections until I was going -1 on LR.
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