Back to back tests

[Pizzaandpasta]

Hey everyone, I just posted this in another thread (“LR blind review”) but I’m not sure if people are able to see thread notifications even if they aren’t following it so I’m gonna post it here again as a new post: 
 

Is anyone on here is considering taking the February test? queens and western are the only schools to my knowledge that consider the Feb score. Can anyone give any insight as to whether it’s worth booking the Feb test? I know I’ll be competing for less spots but is there any benefit to having another test booked in the same cycle even if it is the later tests? I wanted to book the Feb test (I have until Dec 3 to decide cos it’s the deadline) in case I fuck up on the January one since it’ll be my first one that I’ll be writing (test anxiety and all that fun stuff).  If anyone has experience with booking back to back tests or any advice for this please share!! 

[AllanC]

TL;DR Nothing wrong with back-to-back writes. Really depends on how you feel about things if booking the Feb write makes sense or not

I know you’ve asked a single question, but hopefully you don’t mind that I want to break it into two as I think it’ll be slightly more illuminating that way.

Question 1: What should I know about writing the exam back-to-back

I don’t think there’s anything in particular that you should know that wouldn’t be immediately obvious. The biggest drawback about writing successive administrations is the minimal time to regroup / prep between them. But outside of that, there is nothing unusual about doing so and I definitely have had students book back-to-back writes in advance (for similar concerns of test day anxiety, etc). A lot of times it just serves to provide them comfort on their first write knowing they have a failsafe (ironically the comfort tends to work to the extent of them not needing the failsafe).

In general, I see nothing wrong with it as long as financially it doesn’t cause undue hardship. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it though as I am firm believer in giving LSAC as little money as is absolutely required!!

Question 2: Should you book the Feb exam as a failsafe

I think doing so only serves its purpose (as either comfort or an actual failsafe) if you want to attend the schools that accept the February administration. If you would be happy with Western or Queens then there is nothing wrong with booking a Feb write. However, if you don’t really want to go to either of those schools or you would ideally want to go elsewhere, I don’t think booking the Feb write does much for you.

It is certainly true that even for the schools that accept the Feb administration it will put you behind the curve. That said, if those schools are of interest and you’d like to attend next year (somewhere), I’m not sure I’d let that by itself dissuade you. If you pull off a great score, then you’d have a chance regardless.

Edited December 2, 2021 by AllanC

[Pizzaandpasta]

Thanks for your response, AllanC!! I’ve decided to not go through with booking the Feb test, too many cons and uncertainties 😕 . 
 

As for studying, how often would you recommend I do full practice tests? Right now I’ve scheduled two a week since we’re in December and Jan 15 is not too far away. I’m assuming two a week is the maximum number I can do while still remaining productive in my study schedule. After I finish the tests, I either don’t do anything for that day (no studying because I’m dead on test days), or I give myself a long break (if I do my test in the morning) and review one section, or at least half of one section in the evening and continue the review the next day. That way I see where I went to wrong + become more and more familiar with learning how to answer certain questions types. 
And I guess the second part to this question would be: what do you recommend students do the week before the test? Incorporate at least one practice test during that week? No tests and just drill practice questions? 

And lastly, for LR, do you recommend reading the Loophole by Ellen Cassidy? I’ve heard so many people say nothing but great things about that book, even on this forum. I figured if I gave that a read and applied some of the methods/thinking patterns, I could improve on LR with just a month left to go. 
 

Thank you for your advice in advance! 

Just now, Pizzaandpasta said:

Thanks for your response, AllanC!! I’ve decided to not go through with booking the Feb test, too many cons and uncertainties 😕 . 
 

As for studying, how often would you recommend I do full practice tests? Right now I’ve scheduled two a week since we’re in December and Jan 15 is not too far away. I’m assuming two a week is the maximum number I can do while still remaining productive in my study schedule. After I finish the tests, I either don’t do anything for that day (no studying because I’m dead on test days), or I give myself a long break (if I do my test in the morning) and review one section, or at least half of one section in the evening and continue the review the next day. That way I see where I went to wrong + become more and more familiar with learning how to answer certain questions types. 
And I guess the second part to this question would be: what do you recommend students do the week before the test? Incorporate at least one practice test during that week? No tests and just drill practice questions? 

And lastly, for LR, do you recommend reading the Loophole by Ellen Cassidy? I’ve heard so many people say nothing but great things about that book, even on this forum. I figured if I gave that a read and applied some of the methods/thinking patterns, I could improve on LR with just a month left to go. 
 

Thank you for your advice in advance! 

I should also add that the practice tests I’ve scheduled are spaced out nicely with 2-3 days in between. 

[AllanC]

4 hours ago, Pizzaandpasta said:

Thanks for your response, AllanC!! I’ve decided to not go through with booking the Feb test, too many cons and uncertainties 😕 . 
 

As for studying, how often would you recommend I do full practice tests? Right now I’ve scheduled two a week since we’re in December and Jan 15 is not too far away. I’m assuming two a week is the maximum number I can do while still remaining productive in my study schedule. After I finish the tests, I either don’t do anything for that day (no studying because I’m dead on test days), or I give myself a long break (if I do my test in the morning) and review one section, or at least half of one section in the evening and continue the review the next day. That way I see where I went to wrong + become more and more familiar with learning how to answer certain questions types. 
And I guess the second part to this question would be: what do you recommend students do the week before the test? Incorporate at least one practice test during that week? No tests and just drill practice questions? 

And lastly, for LR, do you recommend reading the Loophole by Ellen Cassidy? I’ve heard so many people say nothing but great things about that book, even on this forum. I figured if I gave that a read and applied some of the methods/thinking patterns, I could improve on LR with just a month left to go. 
 

Thank you for your advice in advance! 

I should also add that the practice tests I’ve scheduled are spaced out nicely with 2-3 days in between. 

Pro-tip: if you aren't quoting somebody but want them to respond (or are directing a part of your post towards them) put an @ in front of their name so the get a ping that they've been mentioned. Like @Pizzaandpasta

You should get two pings from this (one for the quote + one for the mention)!

Your PT schedule is bang-on as long as long as you're currently working on timing / fine-tuning and not fundamentals. Two to three PTs / week is ideal for that. Your days between PTs should be spent reviewing each PT you do very thoroughly. You need to review not just the questions you got incorrect but also the ones you got correct. I've mentioned why in your previous thread so I wont reiterate it here. 

I also wouldn't do much else on PT day. It's a pretty exhausting experience and studying for the sake of studying is usually counterproductive. Better to exercise, watch TV, or basically do anything else to keep yourself sane!

The week before the exam I would definitely taper your studying. In fact, I am a firm believer that it is best for most people not to do much at all (though ymmv). By that point you are where you are in terms of ability and so studying will confer little benefit to you but has the possibility of destroying your confidence (say if you get a bad score for whatever reason on a section/PT). I'd recommend not doing a PT in the final week perhaps doing some timed drills instead, and two days before the exam or so stop timing / scoring yourself altogether. To keep sharp and scratch the itch you'll invariably have to do something, I'd suggest doing untimed/unscored sections you've already done from that point forward. This will give you some confidence because you'll be pretty sure that you know you got things correct without having to look back but will also keep you mentally in the LSAT mode. 

For LR self-prep my favorite by far is the Manhattan LR guide. I'm not as familiar with the Loophole, but I have perused through it and from what I've seen is also good. So I cant recommend it because I dont know it well enough but from what I've seen I don't think it would be a bad choice at all.  

Though I am interested to hear more where you are with LR. Because if you are thinking of needing a book to help with your approach, that probably means 2-3 PTs a week is too much and more time should be spent focusing on LR drill sets. 

Edited December 4, 2021 by AllanC