4 week LSAT Plan - HELP!!

[teanah203]

I took the December LSAT and am planning on retaking it in February. Game #3 absolutely killed me, and I got a handful wrong in each LR section. I was wondering what would be the best course of action to study and do better within the next month - especially with a full time job (I have all 3 Bibles and 2 official books of practice tests). Are there any Powerscore courses for this time period that would be a good refresher of pertinent skills?

[Jon Denning]

Hey teenah,

Thanks for the questions! I've had a chance now to review those games (in fact I wrote an article about them if you're interested: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/the-dec ... y-happened), so I can completely understand the nightmares that game 3 caused. I'm sorry to hear that it got you too, but maybe there's some comfort in knowing it got just about everyone who hadn't spent time with Pattern Games, and even among those familiar there was trouble

The good news here is that there's a lot of good news here!

First, you've now got a real LSAT under your belt, and the experience of having gone through an actual administration is invaluable. Trust me, the next time you take it you'll feel much more comfortable and confident, and those go a long way towards scoring well.

Second, you've got some killer resources with which to keep working, and a fair amount of time—I know it doesn't feel like it but 4 weeks is a lot if used properly—to improve. The Bibles even have a 4-week Study Plan designed specifically for them, which you can download from our Self Study Site: http://students.powerscore.com/self-study/index.cfm

Once you have that plan you can begin to adjust it as needed based on your strengths and weaknesses, devoting more time and attention to areas where you know you struggle most, and downplaying aspects that are consistently strong. There's a lot of ground to cover and it'll be intense if you follow the plan explicitly, but it's an excellent way to get through a ton of material in just a few weeks without worrying too much about burnout or redundancy.

Third, we actually have a number of classes that could be perfect for you as you consider options beyond just self-study! For an intensive overview of the exam and a full breakdown of everything tested (including analyses of all the strategies and techniques covered in the Bibles), our Weekend Course is an awesome choice. It's 16 hours of class time, done either in person over a single weekend or live online over two consecutive weekends, along with a wealth of additional, pre- and post-class practice material. You can check to see if there's one in your area by entering you ZIP code on our site at https://www.powerscore.com/lsat/courses.cfm, and view schedules for both in person and online on the search results page that'll come up.

There's also a course comparison chart on that page if you'd like to see exactly what you'll get with each option, and use that to help decide which seems to be the best fit

Speaking of options, we also offer both Full-length and full Live Online courses, but I believe all of our Full-length classes have already started for the Feb LSAT. Fortunately we still have one Live Online course that hasn't begun yet, and which starts this Thursday evening, January 7th. More information, including the class schedule is here: https://shop.powerscore.com/PSStore_Cla ... 00CTRCDIA5

So you've got a lot going for you at this point, and even though your LSAT journey isn't quite over yet I think you'll find that with continued effort and the right tools (especially a course, if you're able) you can still make some real progress and boost your score significantly.

Let me know if you have any questions, either here or by giving us a call at (800) 545-1750. Thanks!

[Bobby I]

Apologies to teenah for piggybacking on top of this question, but I'm seeking very similar feedback with only a few differences.

I, too, am taking the February LSAT after attempting the December test, and, like teenah, have all of the Bibles and accompanying workbooks for each Bible. I also have numerous preptests and both LSAC Superpreps. In addition, and as Jon mentioned, I just enrolled in the January 7th online course (albeit a day late). I'm waiting for the homework materials to arrive so that I can get caught up with the course work.

I was, and, to some rough degree, still am trying to follow the 4-week plan but I'm struggling with how to best mesh the course materials with extra work re: reading the Bibles, completing the workbooks, doing preptests, et cetera. I'm living in the LSAT world 24/7 and want to cover everything I can before the test.

Again, I apologize for adding my own questions to another's thread.

Any suggestions or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

[teanah203]

Thanks for your help Jon! If I enroll in the Weekend Course today, approximately how long will it take for the workbook to ship and arrive? Is there any kind of promotion or discount I can get on the price?

[Jon Denning]

I'll respond to both of you guys in this post, if that's alright!

Bobby - thanks for the question, and no problem at all about the piggyback! My advice—and I'm tempted to put this in all-caps I feel so strongly about it—is to shelve the self-study/plans for now and focus exclusively on the course! Attend the lessons, review the recordings of them (as needed, but extensively), complete all of the homework, watch the conceptual recaps and additional virtual modules in your Online Student Center, and begin integrating practice tests once or twice a week starting around lesson 4 or 5 and ramping up to more (if possible) closer to test day. That alone should be enough to keep you plenty occupied! If you need more, then use the Bibles and Study Plans to get more directly focused on individual areas that are still giving you trouble, rather than trying to take a wholly inclusive approach in parallel with the class; there's no way, and no need, to do all of that at once! Not only do you risk burnout, but you also waste a lot of valuable time on either redundant or unnecessary (that is, areas that don't need additional work) material/concepts/content. Use the course itself as the guiding framework, supplement it with the additional content that comes along with it as mentioned a few sentences back, and if even more is needed (and it very well may not be) turn to the Bibles and the conceptual discussions and drills there.

Teanah - thanks for the follow up! If you enroll today your course book will ship out tomorrow, and depending on where you are will be there in 2-3 days (assuming you're in the United States; they'll ship from Charleston, SC). So you would have it by this coming weekend. But really as long as you get it prior to the start of your course you're in good shape, as there's nothing in the book that you'll need to do before class. You'll also get access to your Online Student Center as soon as you enroll, and there are a few things there that you'd benefit from utilizing pre-class, like practice tests and some supplementary virtual modules.

And your timing couldn't be better! Just last week we launched a huge promotion on both the in-person and the Live Online Weekend Courses. Instead of the regular price of $395, we've reduced the price by about 25% to $299, so by enrolling now you'll save about $100! This sale should last for the rest of the month so there's probably no HUGE rush to get signed up, but the sooner you do the sooner we'll ship the books and the sooner you can start using your Student Center, so time is, if I'm being honest, of the essence


I hope that helps you both out! Obviously feel free to ask any additional questions you might have though—I'm really excited for both of you getting into classes!

[Bobby I]

Thanks Jon!

Extremely helpful advice.

[teanah203]

PERFECT! Thank you so much, Jon!

[Jon Denning]

Happy to help guys! Please keep me, and the others here watching, in the loop!