3 Months and Nothing But LSAT—Help Me Make a Study Plan! Forum

[cyclist]

Hi everyone! Longtime lurker and first-time poster, but what else is new. I’m a rising junior and have been planning on doing an intensive LSAT prep this summer. I expect to be busy the next few summers/semesters and view this as the best time to take it and bang out the exam ahead of time. However, I plan on taking a year or two off after undergrad before law school to work. I’m considering either an August or October exam (with the latter giving me an extra year of score eligibility, as the former would expire just before I send it off to schools).

That said, I’m at a bit of a loss as to how to create a study schedule! I’m looking to put around 20-25 hours into prep each week, and honestly don’t have anything else to do this summer other than commit to this exam and pursue a passion project or two in my free time. I’m very fortunate to have saved a good amount from campus jobs the past two years exactly for this purpose, and thus have no issue spending heavily (if necessary) on materials, tutors, or classes.

Because of the high intensity of prep I want to devote to the exam each week over the next three months, I’ve figured a formal class wasn’t the best idea and that I would be better off diving right in and conducting a comprehensive self-study using the Powerscore LG and LR bibles with their RC bible and other materials for that final section. However, I’m thinking of getting a tutor for an hour or so a week to help with hashing out areas I'm still struggling with and getting additional advice.

TL/DR: What do you guys recommend for me to best use my time? I plan on purchasing loads of the official LSAC practice exams and really like the idea of frequent simulated exams with hefty review to follow. Pretty much looking to get the most use possible out of the books and efficiently practice test over the next three months at 20-25 hours a week of prep with a weekly tutor on the side. Thanks so much!

[IntellectualMode]

Hey fella, I think we're in pretty similar positions when it comes to LSAT Prep and taking the test itself.


Before actually hopping into any prep, go and take one of the online free LSATs and see what score you get. If you can, have a little look into the key areas you didn't perform well on.

In using your time to prepare, it's going to be a case of going over the different sections of the test, drilling specific question types and taking PrepTests.

Having identified your weakest areas, focus on those areas first - it is important to get what your weak on trained up. You'll need to study the areas using the Powerscore books - I highly recommend doing the relevant drills for the different question types too.
If you need more drills or you think you might need a better explanation on different things, it may be worth either getting a tutor or purchasing an online prep course - not necessarily one of the live ones, but one of those that you can do anytime. I've personally found the latter extremely helpful.

During and after studying, you should definitely be going over timed LSATs. It is truly fundamental to your success on the actual LSAT, as I'm sure you're aware.
After going over these tests, review them thoroughly and make notes on where you go wrong and what you're going to do to avoid making the same mistake again.
If you're doing the digital LSAT, it may be worth purchasing the LSAT Official Prep Plus - the digital subscription service from LSAC which gives you access to a ton of PrepTests for $99.
If I was actually doing the digital LSAT, I'd consider getting this just to try and simulate test conditions.

I hope this advice is somewhat helpful.

[Vishkvishnuai]

Hello, I am following a similar 3 month plan! Here is some of my own research I will share in a preparation plan:

Piggybacking from IntellectualMode, before doing anything take some time to set up a Khan Academy account, directly supported from LSAC, and take an LSAT test to see where you need to be dedicating time to. If you understand RC more than LG, then you realize you need to spend more time on LG when forming your plan.
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If you have not yet- I highly suggest making a document of sources you plan to use and a monthly time chart so you have an idea of what to do. For example, Reddit has a lot of good resources available on their sidebar. https://www.reddit.com/r/LSAT/comments/ ... ource=link

I also highly suggest another user's post on their methodology of approaching the LSAT. viewtopic.php?f=6&t=120471

The PowerScore bibles are essential, and will give you a good understanding of the fundamentals of each section.

From what I understand, and I am trying to ask questions incase I am wrong, LSAT Prep Plus and the 7Sage bundle give a plethora of LSAT Prep tests. 7Sage in particular will give you a curriculum which the both of us will heavily amend if you want to get through it for the August or October tests. As said earlier, Prep Plus is $99 a year, but 7Sage is a $69 monthly subscription, and seems to be helpful for me so far just from the free trial. It's designed to give affordable LSAT preparation, but I recommend trying to find more reviews as I am now. LSAT Prep tests are also essential for studying to make you recognize where you need to improve in terms of time and quality.

So basically take a Khan LSAT test, learn your weaknesses to build around, and use PowerScore w/ 7Sage PrepTests to build yourself up for it.

If you find anything helpful please share it as well!

[ZippidyZop]

From what I understand, and I am trying to ask questions incase I am wrong, LSAT Prep Plus and the 7Sage bundle give a plethora of LSAT Prep tests. 7Sage in particular will give you a curriculum which the both of us will heavily amend if you want to get through it for the August or October tests. As said earlier, Prep Plus is $99 a year, but 7Sage is a $69 monthly subscription, and seems to be helpful for me so far just from the free trial. It's designed to give affordable LSAT preparation, but I recommend trying to find more reviews as I am now. LSAT Prep tests are also essential for studying to make you recognize where you need to improve in terms of time and quality.

So basically take a Khan LSAT test, learn your weaknesses to build around, and use PowerScore w/ 7Sage PrepTests to build yourself up for it.

If you find anything helpful please share it as well!

Buy the bundle, it saves a ton of money compared to buying the physical copies. As for a schedule, the LSAT Trainer provides a nice introduction to the test and the mindset/strategies you should have for each section (LG Bible also was a great resource). If you're doing around 20 hours a week you should finish fairly quickly and have a nice grasp on the basics. After that I'd recommend about two PTs a week (increase as you get closer to test). Do blind reviews for each and start off at the earlier tests to solidify good habits. Look up explanations for every question you don't understand why you got wrong. It would be incredibly helpful if you took this time to solidify your understanding of LGs because this is where you'll see the fastest return on your effort. My tutor taught me a good strategy for getting them down. Do them once during the normal PT, then again during BR taking as much time as you need to feel 100% on your answers then watch the 7sage explanation vids and get your times down to what he recommends in the videos. Revisit the games you've already done frequently throughout your studies.

In terms of telling you what to do I'll tell you what I did wrong when I started. I didn't get a tutor when I first started and tried to self study for about 8 months. I did make some gains but the made considerably larger ones when I hired a tutor that taught me logic structure as it relates to the test and the strategies I should employ. When I reviewed my PTs I didn't do blind reviews and this also hurt me early on. Lastly, I didn't leave enough time to relax and get away from the test during my first go. I was so concentrated on grinding out tests and lessons to improve that I never had an extended break. When I took my first LSAT I got a 162, my PTs during that time were in the 162-165 range and my BR score was around 174. My first cycle went horribly and I initially moved on from the idea of going to law school but came back to study for the LSAT again about a year later. My first PT back was a 168 after not studying at all and I was scoring an average of about 170 on PTs with BRs around 178-180. I only mention this to show the progress that can be made when you take a step back and let your mind relax. You might be different and intensive study might provide the results you're looking for but it could be that taking a few months off after intensive study and coming back could also yield some great results.