Study Plan

[iellison3]

I was hoping that someone could tell me the most efficient way to study for the upcoming December exam. How many hours? How many practice tests? I've already taken the prep course and my highest practice score was a 156. I had to delay taking the actual exam, because that score wasn't indicative of what I think I can do. Ideally, I would like a 180 . I have all of the bibles and the workbooks and the accompanying question type trainings. I think I still have access to all of the practice tests from the website until December as well. I also have the books that were given to me during the prep course. I'm completing them in order as well. I've already dedicated an immense amount of time to this. However, I'm wondering if I've been doing it inefficiently and how can I correct that? Does 10 hours a day really work?

[AthenaDalton]

Thanks for your question! 10 hours a day is plenty -- maybe even too much! You don't want to burn yourself out.

In studying for the LSAT, you should prioritize quality study time over the number of hours. Start by determining your areas of weakness, then focus your time on improving those weaknesses.

Start by taking a practice test and input the answers in the PowerScore portal. You will get a detailed score report noting what types of questions you did well / poorly on. If you find that you're having trouble with parallel flaws and conditional reasoning, put some time into that. Dive into the Bibles to master any concepts that you don't have down cold, particularly for Logical Reasoning. If games are your weakness, allow yourself to work through some games without time pressure to really master inference-making and setups. The Games Bible is a great resource for improving your technique and inference-spotting abilities.

Another common area of weakness is time management. If you find that you're rushing towards the end of a section, work on pacing yourself throughout the section. On average, you will have 1 minute and 20 seconds per question. Write down some benchmarks to hit during a section (e.g., at question 10, aim to be at the 14 minute mark or earlier).

Take practice tests regularly throughout your prep to gauge your progress. Ideally you should practice taking 5-section tests under timed conditions at least once a week (since it sounds like you have a lot of time to spend on prep). Outside of that, take individual sections under timed conditions then spend time reviewing them. Although reviewing tests isn't as interesting as taking them, it's critical to spend time reviewing each test you take to thoroughly understand why you got each question wrong. It's ok to make mistakes -- just try to be sure you won't make the same mistake twice!

Finally, keep in mind that the LSAT is a means to an end. In your downtime, research which law schools you would like to go to and figure out score is necessary to give you a good shot at admission / merit scholarships / etc. While scoring a 180 would be a huge accomplishment, you can still get into any law school in the country without a 180. Just as an example, the median student admitted to Yale law school this year had an LSAT score of 173.

Keep up the good work, stay focused, and keep working hard -- just not TOO hard. Your brain needs breaks to perform at its best!

[iellison3]

I was wondering about the concept of blind review as well. I had read about it on another forum. What is it exactly, and how much does it help? And what type of progress should I be aiming for realistically in the next two months to go from 156 to low 170s?

[Dave Killoran]

Hi iellison!

Blind Review is a pretty standard concept with LSAT preparation, and I explain how it works here, in the first method discussed: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/the-bes ... tice-tests. I recommend trying it it a few times, at the very least, and more if you can handle it If you have any questions at all about it, please let me know.

Thanks and good luck!

[iellison3]

Hi iellison!

Blind Review is a pretty standard concept with LSAT preparation, and I explain how it works here, in the first method discussed: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/the-bes ... tice-tests. I recommend trying it it a few times, at the very least, and more if you can handle it If you have any questions at all about it, please let me know.

Thanks and good luck!

Wow! I wasn't expecting a reply from you seeing as how I got answered by the other instructor earlier. This is exciting. I was wondering if you could look at my scores from the class I took, and I could get you anything else you need. But my goal is that 180, but I'm not sure exactly what I would be satisfied with if I didn't get it. I'd just like a likely and realistic goal.