New Approaches to Studying LSAT

[TimbitPancake]

Hello everyone!

I wrote my first LSAT in 2019 but cancelled the score because my target school is the UofC and they average the LSAT scores. I wrote my second LSAT this August and ended up with a 148. I used the PowerScore bundle (LR, LG and RC) and also 7Sage and score within 148 to 151 on PTs. I feel that I'm missing something fundamental and I'm a bit at a loss on how to improve.

Does anyone have any different approaches that they can share? Books, courses or (Zoom) tutors?

[smokedsalmonisgreat]

Take a step back. Go through some older practise tests. I mean go through them. Ask urself why the answer is right- and most importantly why the others are wrong. Keep doing practise tests and keep reviewing. It’ll come-never lose hope.

[MapleLeafs]

I was in a similar boat a few years ago, having self studied and wasn't working for me. I took HarvardReady and got a solid score after finishing. I would recommend it 

[AllanC]

Without more particulars it's hard to personalize what might be a better approach. For example, are you able to complete the sections with high accuracy untimed and it's just the time crunch that's getting you? Or is it that you hit a game that is slightly varied from what you've studied before and you freeze? Or?!

To move forward you need to take stock of what's going on during your timed and untimed tests/sections to really pinpoint your weaknesses. Once you've done that, come back and we might be able to personalize the advice!

As for general resources, 7Sage is excellent and sorry to hear that it has not worked as desired. But not all approaches are for everyone so if you really have a desire to get in, definitely keep looking. Other resources that might be worth checking out:

Manhattan LSAT Guides

These are far and away my favorite self-prep texts, and IMHO are vastly superior to PowerScore. I was reared on PowerScore and know their methodology intimately. The PowerScore bibles are very good in providing a framework to attack the LSAT but I find overcomplicate things especially with respect to LR. Manhattan excels in this regard.

Top Law School Forums (abbreviated as TLS to most)

This is the American counterpart to the canlawforum but being American the board is populated with test takers / applicants looking for 170+. Basically a bunch of keeners! That being the case there are tons of guides, tips & tricks, and other helpful advice in their LSAT forum. Like I said, they tend to be hyper competitive over there and you don't need to heed all or even most of their advice, but it is a useful resource to peruse. Feel free to pick/choose what you think might work for you. 

Some of my personal favorites from TLS

Pithypike's guide to the LSAT

Voyager's RC Strategy

I am biased towards those since they were posted around the time I decided to take the LSAT (though I would modify both some these days). They may be useful but definitely feel free to hunt around for other guides. There may be some that jibe better with you! Oh man, look at those dates...

[TimbitPancake]

Hello everyone!

Thank you very much for you all your responses.

My sincere apologies, I acknowledge that my post wasn't very insightful and was written more at a time of frustration and disappointment! I haven't really pinpointed my areas of weaknesses and what happens exactly when I'm doing PTs. I think that I should start off there to determine which areas I really need to focus on. I'll go through the resources that everyone posted and hopefully find some new approaches that can help me with my journey!

Thanks again everyone, really appreciate the input from the community. Best of luck to everyone else that's currently on this journey!

[Thrive92]

As others have said, it is difficult to advise you on how to study effectively for the LSAT unless we know more specifically about your weaknesses.

I found that LG is the easiest to study and master -- 7sage is well known for this. Go over the LG part of the lessons first, then do a section a day (4 games) for a full 2 weeks. Make sure to redo the game until you can consistently get -0 on it.  7sage helps you with this as it goes in detail about why certain answer choices are incorrect and guide you to the correct ones.

Once you do this, you are practically guaranteed to get at least 1 section of the three score sections nearly perfect.

Good luck op

[Jean-Ralphio Saperstein]

HarvardReady all the way. I never thought I could do it but they literally got me from a 140 diagnostic to the 165 I got in October. Give them a call!

[TimbitPancake]

18 hours ago, Dee said:

HarvardReady all the way. I never thought I could do it but they literally got me from a 140 diagnostic to the 165 I got in October. Give them a call!

Thanks for the tip! What was the overall teaching experience like? I saw that some people also signed up for private tutoring, did you take that too?

[AllanC]

On 11/7/2021 at 3:28 PM, TimbitPancake said:

Thanks for the tip! What was the overall teaching experience like? I saw that some people also signed up for private tutoring, did you take that too?

Tutoring can be more beneficial than a course in terms of value / minute of instruction but IMHO that is only true for a select number of students. In general, most students would benefit more from a course at least in terms of value / hour.

The reason being that unless you are unusually motivated / have had some previous instruction / previously used self-prep books, which provided you with particulars to focus on, then a tutoring package really just becomes an expensive way to teach you the course material. That being the case the calculus doesn’t quite work since it’s more per hour and yet we have the same amount of material to cover. In which case, you might as well have done the course + add some tutoring hours for specifics!

Again, it’s different for everyone but I would say that the vast majority of students get the best bang for their buck with the course. I’ve been on all sides of this (as a student and as a tutor in class / one-on-one) and I can say without a doubt this is true for most. It was certainly true for me when first studying for this exam.

Though in the interest of full disclosure you should know that I work at Harvard Ready. So, I can’t be objective in evaluating our own program; I wouldn’t work there if I didn’t believe in it (I do this for fun you know!). But what I said should apply more or less universally to all other course vs tutoring options….unless you find a course that is like the tool combos at home depot where sometimes you think you are getting a deal and so don’t check the items individually…but when you do, you realize you’ve been hoodwinked!

[Jean-Ralphio Saperstein]

10 hours ago, AllanC said:

Tutoring can be more beneficial than a course in terms of value / minute of instruction but IMHO that is only true for a select number of students. In general, most students would benefit more from a course at least in terms of value / hour.

The reason being that unless you are unusually motivated / have had some previous instruction / previously used self-prep books, which provided you with particulars to focus on, then a tutoring package really just becomes an expensive way to teach you the course material. That being the case the calculus doesn’t quite work since it’s more per hour and yet we have the same amount of material to cover. In which case, you might as well have done the course + add some tutoring hours for specifics!

Again, it’s different for everyone but I would say that the vast majority of students get the best bang for their buck with the course. I’ve been on all sides of this (as a student and as a tutor in class / one-on-one) and I can say without a doubt this is true for most. It was certainly true for me when first studying for this exam.

Though in the interest of full disclosure you should know that I work at Harvard Ready. So, I can’t be objective in evaluating our own program; I wouldn’t work there if I didn’t believe in it (I do this for fun you know!). But what I said should apply more or less universally to all other course vs tutoring options….unless you find a course that is like the tool combos at home depot where sometimes you think you are getting a deal and so don’t check the items individually…but when you do, you realize you’ve been hoodwinked!

TimbitPancake, listen to this guy, he's a genius.

[TimbitPancake]

15 hours ago, AllanC said:

Tutoring can be more beneficial than a course in terms of value / minute of instruction but IMHO that is only true for a select number of students. In general, most students would benefit more from a course at least in terms of value / hour.

The reason being that unless you are unusually motivated / have had some previous instruction / previously used self-prep books, which provided you with particulars to focus on, then a tutoring package really just becomes an expensive way to teach you the course material. That being the case the calculus doesn’t quite work since it’s more per hour and yet we have the same amount of material to cover. In which case, you might as well have done the course + add some tutoring hours for specifics!

Again, it’s different for everyone but I would say that the vast majority of students get the best bang for their buck with the course. I’ve been on all sides of this (as a student and as a tutor in class / one-on-one) and I can say without a doubt this is true for most. It was certainly true for me when first studying for this exam.

Though in the interest of full disclosure you should know that I work at Harvard Ready. So, I can’t be objective in evaluating our own program; I wouldn’t work there if I didn’t believe in it (I do this for fun you know!). But what I said should apply more or less universally to all other course vs tutoring options….unless you find a course that is like the tool combos at home depot where sometimes you think you are getting a deal and so don’t check the items individually…but when you do, you realize you’ve been hoodwinked!

 

4 hours ago, Dee said:

TimbitPancake, listen to this guy, he's a genius.

Thank you both for your responses! I actually have gone ahead and registered for HarvardReady the other day. I'm excited to try a different angle to hopefully mastering the LSAT.

There's certainly some truth to finding out for yourself what works best. My wife suggested to me previously to look into LSAT courses but I thought that I could learn through self-study. So far, I don't have much to show for!