Beginning the Full-Length course on Monday... any pointers?

[willmcchez]

Hey all,

Just wanted to take a moment and introduce myself to the community and to reach out to ask a few questions. My name is Will and I am a non-traditional student (obviously) hoping to attend a top law school. I didn't start my undergraduate until I was 28 and am now 30. I'm transferring to a four-year university in August where I will finish out my undergraduate in Political Science (democracy/law specialization) with a minor in Philosophy. Through five semesters, I have maintained a 4.0 GPA with honors, have won multiple scholarships and awards while still finding time to work and have a little fun. I'm hyper-focused on my future and goals and I'm ready to fully immerse myself in my LSAT preparation. I have already registered to take the June LSAT and I am aiming for a 170+ score (like everyone else). I've ready plenty about LSAT prep and have a decent idea of what to expect from this full-length in-person course, as I have called Powerscore and had a very helpful conversation with one of the reps there. But I do have some questions for those of you who may have gone through the course, or some experts who have a strong familiarity with it.

I see that there are tremendous amounts (over 100 pages) of work for each lesson, but often less than 48 hours between classes. Is it expected (or recommended) to make sure that work is done before each class? Or do people find themselves doing a couple of sections over the weekend? I want to make sure I'm keeping up and getting the most out of my course.

How much time do you recommend devoting to studying per week? 20 hours? 40 hours? More?

Now the issue of practice tests. I know we are given four fully-proctored in person tests, but the consensus on all law school forums is that one should take many more full practice tests before taking the actual exam. I've seen people say that taking 20 or more is the best method. The representative I spoke with at Powerscore said that she also recommends taking additional tests. Does this seem to be the case? Or will the homework given to me by the course make up for this numerical deficit? If you all do recommend taking additional tests, how many should I take? And when? I could see there being an issue with taking a bunch of tests early on without having learned the skills and methods needed to do well on them, then ultimately frustrating yourself into thinking that you'll never do well on your real test.

Any tips going into the cold diagnostic exam (which I'll be taking Monday)? I've made a point not to study or try to learn any other methods of LSAT preparation, as I would hate to have to unlearn bad habits. I really wanted an unadulterated assessment of my raw abilities for the diagnostic.

Also, when do you all think the most challenging/time consuming parts of the course are? Unfortunately, the first 2-3 weeks of the course I will also be in school trying to finish out my semester and the finals that come hand-in-hand with it. So I'm a little freaked out about falling behind early in the course while trying to manage my time so I don't do poorly on my finals.

I'm sure more questions will come to mind, but if anyone has any recommendations, suggestions or experiences to share that may help me to be as successful as possible, I'd surely welcome it!

Best,
Will

[Adam Tyson]

Welcome aboard, Will, from one non-traditional student to another! You might be interested in some recent posts in our blog on that subject, by the way, including one by yours truly. Here are a couple links:

http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/non-tra ... -guys-rule

http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/do-nont ... -advantage

Now, to your questions!

Do NOT plan on doing all of the homework for each lesson! You're right that there is not really much time between classes, typically, to do that. It's good to leave some stuff untouched so that you can use it later for additional review and practice. Also, you may find that some concepts come quickly and easily to you, so you can spend less time on those items and allocate your time where it is needed more. Definitely plan on doing some of the homework after each lesson (not before - no point to reading ahead in our courses), and when there are breaks in your schedule due to holidays, for example, you can do a little catching up. Mainly, don't stress about it, as that will be counter-productive. If you are short on time, check out the "Critical Homework List" in the Online Student Center for each lesson to show you where we feel your priorities ought to be.

How much time should you study each week? As much as you can without burning out, getting stressed, losing sleep, or failing to attend to your priorities and obligations in work, school, family, and life in general. Be sure to take a little time off every week or two and just relax. Go to a movie, read a novel for pleasure, take a nap, hang with friends and/or family. Got kids? Play with them! Read to them, sing to them! Get your head out of the LSAT and let it heal from the damage you will be inflicting on it. If you can, in addition to your LSAT classes and your schoolwork, devote 40 hours a week to LSAT study, great, but that sounds like a lot to me. I'd be thinking closer to 20, but you need to adjust that up or down according to your needs and your style.

I'm no fan of banging out practice test after practice test, especially if that's all you are going to do. The key is to take time to analyze those tests in a helpful way, to do untimed practice to strengthen your grasp of the various strategies and techniques that you are learning, to do some timed sections to try out those new approaches, and then to lather, rinse, and repeat. In the early stages, don't worry about practice tests, and don't do a thing to get ready for the first diagnostic other than get yourself some old fashioned wood No. 2 pencils, a manual sharpener, and an analog timer like a Mickey Mouse watch and make sure you know how to set it and reset it quickly. Some time after you take your second practice test in the course, your instructor will likely recommend that you start adding more practice tests outside of class. If you can get in two per week, among all your other priorities, that would be great, but if you can only do one a week then so be it. The closer you get to your real test, the more practice tests you want to be doing to build stamina and familiarity with the material and to turn the experience into something normal and familiar instead of something strange and stressful. Here now are some links to more articles in our blog that will help you with your practice tests and analysis:

http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid/215 ... ctice-test

http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/the-bes ... tice-tests

Hard to say which parts of our course are the most challenging or stressful, as that will vary from student to student. Some folks will really struggle with conditional reasoning from Lesson 2, while others will quickly get how that works. Some will get lost and confused when they first hit grouping games in Lesson 5, while others will embrace them. The "killer games" of Lesson 11 might make some people freak out a bit, but they shouldn't because they really aren't that deadly once you see through their tricks and distractions. Pace yourself and don't worry too much about keeping up. You'll get to the homework later, when your schoolwork is out of the way, and meanwhile the lessons are fairly self-contained, building on prior material but not requiring that you have mastered the earlier work before moving on. It will all come together over time. Nice thing for you is that you have plenty of time and you're getting an early start on things! If you don't feel ready for the June test you can always postpone until the next one or the one after that.

Again, welcome! I hope you enjoy your course, and please continue to use this forum to supplement your studies. We'll be here for you when you need us!

[willmcchez]

Adam,

Thank you so much for your words of encouragement! Somehow, I had come across and read your "non-traditional" law student article, probably by means of a Google search. It was really quite helpful!!!

Thanks

Will