I'm planning on taking the July 2021 LSAT. I've been studying since March and am PT'ing at 165, give or take. Goal is 175. My biggest concern is that I'm going to run out of new tests way before the exam and won't have any new material to take PTs/drill sections with. I would really appreciate some help with a study plan. I've taken all but one of the practice tests on KA and am using 1-28 to drill sections. I've listed my last few PTs from most to least recent.
PT 64 (165); PT 81 (163); PT 79 (163)
LG: 16/23; 18/23; 17/23
LR: 22/25, 23/26; 19/26, 20/25; 24/26, 21/25
RC: 20/27; 25/27; 18/27
I usually drill well on RC, but am inconsistent on PTs. LR has been better after I read the LRB (just before the last PT I took), but I'm still hoping to improve.
Logic games is the most frustrating section for me. I read the LGB back in May and have been drilling non-stop and doing timed sections almost every day but I always miss doing the last set because of time. I tried foolproofing but after doing the same game once or twice, whenever I came back to it I would have all the answers memorised so it felt pointless. Also I struggled to find explanations for all the games now that you have to pay for 7sage's explanations.
I go to university in the UK (I'm American, just an intl student) and have read on here that because of that my LSAT will be all schools look at so I'm really committed to getting a good score. But this plateau has killed my motivation, and I still have a year of studying ahead so any advice will be much appreciated!
Hit a plateau and am losing motivation- please help! Forum
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Re: Hit a plateau and am losing motivation- please help!
Hey fella,
I don't believe it! Another student from a UK university, on this forum. Madness.
Quick thing about going to a UK university and how admissions perceives that - I spoke to the admissions team at X Law School and they said that their admissions team employ ridiculous amounts of people, some of whom are specialised in dealing with admissions from students who attend UK universities, because they understand the differences that UK uni students face when applying to US law schools.
Now perhaps that's not the same for all law schools admissions, but if you're applying T14 which would attract lots of students who attend UK universities, it's somewhat likely that these admissions teams also have these specialised people.
Okay, practical advice - ditch KA. It's fine for taking tests and all, but you only get so many tests.
I'm sure you've come across the Official LSAT Prep Plus? The $99 yearly online subscription which gives you access to a crazy amount of tests. That should be able to give you a fair amount of tests.
When it comes to running out of tests, well you've got about a year until your actual LSAT, so maybe it's time to draft up a plan by which you go through the tests at an adequate rate - you should plan when you're going to take a timed test, or when you're going to take an untimed test.
It can be tempting to do more, but you gotta resist that urge and stick to that plan.
Next thing is reviewing. Based on your most recent test scores, there's a lot of room for improvement across all areas. The first and foremost being logic games.
LG is the one section that you can't afford to lose marks on if you're going for 170+.
With a timed section for LG, you've got 4 games with 35 mins to complete them. Without taking into account time for reading the questions and the stimulus, that's 8mins45sec per game.
As opposed to timing yourself for the whole section, focus exclusively on getting games down within that time frame.
Next, Logical Reasoning. I've gotta admit, I do have a place in my heart that deeply despises LR, particularly because I don't feel it was ever properly taught in my schooling system, nor is there any decent resources on it at Uni.
But you need to crack down on what LR questions you're getting wrong, more often than not. It is worth going over each LR question that you got wrong, consider why the answer you picked was wrong, reconsider what the right answer is and why that answer is right. Then think about what you're going to do to avoid making the same mistake again.
Reading Comprehension. RC is something that I find myself once more comparing to the LG section, you're given 35 mins to reading 4 RC sections, so without considering questions and the actual material, 8mins45secs a passage. Strangely enough it's only now that I can see why TLS user Voyager accurately compared the two sections.
Your performance in an untimed situation being better than in a timed situation is understandable at this point - with the time pressure, our instincts kick in and we try and skim more and more to make sure we capitalise on the time. With RC, it's important to understand the following key things before answering questions -
What is the author's main point?
What is the primary purpose of the passage?
What views are pushed in the passage and by whom?
Has the author exerted an opinion at any stage?
What functions do individual paragraphs serve within the passage?
It sounds like a lot to do, but if you actively read a passage, making notes on where these things occur, it should mean that you can go to the questions and only have the refer back to passage for specific reference questions. Again, time yourself per passage.
Now with all of that out the way, a final bit of advice from me.
You have about a year until your LSAT. Failing at this stage is a necessity for growth and understanding of the test. You may find it deflating, even demotivating, but you must rationally realise that each failure is an opportunity to learn, an opportunity to develop and an opportunity to improve to ensure that when July 2021 comes around, you're ready for that test, and you're not going to make the same mistakes - in fact, you're not going to have to actively think about that because you've already solidified in your mind what you need to do and how you're going to do it.
You've got this, your commitment and your pursuit for something greater than yourself will enable you to ace this test. Good luck my friend.
I don't believe it! Another student from a UK university, on this forum. Madness.
Quick thing about going to a UK university and how admissions perceives that - I spoke to the admissions team at X Law School and they said that their admissions team employ ridiculous amounts of people, some of whom are specialised in dealing with admissions from students who attend UK universities, because they understand the differences that UK uni students face when applying to US law schools.
Now perhaps that's not the same for all law schools admissions, but if you're applying T14 which would attract lots of students who attend UK universities, it's somewhat likely that these admissions teams also have these specialised people.
Okay, practical advice - ditch KA. It's fine for taking tests and all, but you only get so many tests.
I'm sure you've come across the Official LSAT Prep Plus? The $99 yearly online subscription which gives you access to a crazy amount of tests. That should be able to give you a fair amount of tests.
When it comes to running out of tests, well you've got about a year until your actual LSAT, so maybe it's time to draft up a plan by which you go through the tests at an adequate rate - you should plan when you're going to take a timed test, or when you're going to take an untimed test.
It can be tempting to do more, but you gotta resist that urge and stick to that plan.
Next thing is reviewing. Based on your most recent test scores, there's a lot of room for improvement across all areas. The first and foremost being logic games.
LG is the one section that you can't afford to lose marks on if you're going for 170+.
With a timed section for LG, you've got 4 games with 35 mins to complete them. Without taking into account time for reading the questions and the stimulus, that's 8mins45sec per game.
As opposed to timing yourself for the whole section, focus exclusively on getting games down within that time frame.
Next, Logical Reasoning. I've gotta admit, I do have a place in my heart that deeply despises LR, particularly because I don't feel it was ever properly taught in my schooling system, nor is there any decent resources on it at Uni.
But you need to crack down on what LR questions you're getting wrong, more often than not. It is worth going over each LR question that you got wrong, consider why the answer you picked was wrong, reconsider what the right answer is and why that answer is right. Then think about what you're going to do to avoid making the same mistake again.
Reading Comprehension. RC is something that I find myself once more comparing to the LG section, you're given 35 mins to reading 4 RC sections, so without considering questions and the actual material, 8mins45secs a passage. Strangely enough it's only now that I can see why TLS user Voyager accurately compared the two sections.
Your performance in an untimed situation being better than in a timed situation is understandable at this point - with the time pressure, our instincts kick in and we try and skim more and more to make sure we capitalise on the time. With RC, it's important to understand the following key things before answering questions -
What is the author's main point?
What is the primary purpose of the passage?
What views are pushed in the passage and by whom?
Has the author exerted an opinion at any stage?
What functions do individual paragraphs serve within the passage?
It sounds like a lot to do, but if you actively read a passage, making notes on where these things occur, it should mean that you can go to the questions and only have the refer back to passage for specific reference questions. Again, time yourself per passage.
Now with all of that out the way, a final bit of advice from me.
You have about a year until your LSAT. Failing at this stage is a necessity for growth and understanding of the test. You may find it deflating, even demotivating, but you must rationally realise that each failure is an opportunity to learn, an opportunity to develop and an opportunity to improve to ensure that when July 2021 comes around, you're ready for that test, and you're not going to make the same mistakes - in fact, you're not going to have to actively think about that because you've already solidified in your mind what you need to do and how you're going to do it.
You've got this, your commitment and your pursuit for something greater than yourself will enable you to ace this test. Good luck my friend.
