How to study with PowerScore Bibles

[jackbullar]

Hi all, I have just started studying for the LSAT for the October test date. I have printed out a 4 month self-study plan that I am roughly following (some time adjustments made). But after two weeks I have been greatly struggling with the amount of time I am spending on each chapter from the bibles.

For instance I spent a five hours just doing chapters 1 and 2 out of the Logical Reasoning bible. I am making notes in the margins and highlights in the bible as long as writing down some key things in a notebook as well. I feel like I am spending too much time note taking like how I would prepare for a normal college exam with the amount of time I am putting in with slow progress.

Any suggestions / advice on some possible adjustments I could make to help me adjust with this different type of studying. I feel like I am maybe going too in depth with note taking in a separate notebook. Should I be focusing more on just jotting down things in the bibles? I really need some advice and guidance! I have all 3 PowerScore preparation bibles along with the workbook trilogies.

Thank you.

[Jon Denning]

Hey Jack,

Thanks for the questions and welcome to the Forum! From the sound of things you're on the absolute right track! Those early chapters--in all three Bibles--present some of the most critical, and often challenging to quickly internalize, concepts that you'll see, so it's imperative that you take as much time as you need to fully understand them. Take notes, jot thoughts in the margins, make flashcards...whatever you need to do to ensure you're entirely comfortable with the information you're seeing. You simply can't afford to rush or under-think at this point!

What you'll find is that as you get deeper into the books you start moving more quickly, a natural result of building a strong foundation early (now). But complete mastery is impossible without that foundation, so don't concern yourself with the time it's taking. Instead trust that it's time well spent, and that it's not reflective of your pace through the book(s) as a whole.

That Study Plan is meant as a set of suggestions rather than a perfect, unalterable template. Follow it as closely as you can while still allowing yourself as much time as you need to feel completely at ease with the ideas presented, and adjust your priorities accordingly once your unique strengths and weaknesses begin to appear.

I hope this helps! Keep up the hard work!

[jackbullar]

Thank you for the response. I am glad that to have the reassurance that I have not been over-analyzing and putting too much focus on the chapters. I just wanted to know if there was any tip on how to adjust your normal study habits for a regular exam versus the LSAT where the studying is more focused on training your brain to think and analyze things differently.

[Jon Denning]

It's a good, and I'm sad to report under-asked, question. For me, and others may have found their experience to be somewhat different, learning the LSAT was a lot less about rote memorization and much more about process. In LR for instance I wanted to be sure that anytime there was an argument I spotted it and began to consider it's validity, that I was always mindful of the nature and strength of language used, that I always, ALWAYS correctly identified the question type and knew exactly how that type functioned (what was required of me for it, and what tools I could apply to it), that I consistently paused to prephrase and consider what I expected of the correct answer, and that as I moved through the answers I was ceaselessly, relentlessly critical, looking to eliminate wrong answers as opposed to trying to make one be correct.

I see this more like learning an instrument than preparing for a Chemistry final. The former is about diligently performing a proper routine over and over until it becomes fluid and natural; the latter is about tons of memorization and material knowledge. So I took things pretty slowly early on to ensure that every decision I made, every thought process I entertained, was perfect and repeatable, and when it wasn't I was merciless about fixing it to avoid a similar error in the future. Make a predetermined, step-by-step attack your priority and never waver from it--that's how you beat this test.