How much time are you spending on preparation?

[JayDee/P-Head]

I'm in a similar boat.  I'm in a graduate program at a difficult university, and as such my time is often exhausted with school-related work.  That being said, the difficulty and amount of written material has greatly improved my reading abilities. 

Here's my strategy:

2 practice tests per week, taken in non-optimum conditions (a noisy, busy coffee shop with kids scurrying, people talking, etc.)  I'm doing this to train my ability to focus with outside noise and such.  I could keep taking my practice tests in the comfort of my own home, but I don't think that the testing center will be that quiet.

Of course, I only take the tests timed, as well.

On other days, I've been working on the LG Bible.  I'll be through with my first go-round of that in probably another week or so, when after that I'll be working on the LG Bible. 

Btw, I'll be taking the test in September too.  Personally, I'd be flipping out if I was taking the June test and hadn't started preparing yet.  Good luck.

[BARBARO]

hi jaydee,
what are you scoring?

[TrojanChispas]

take the june test. Studying for months does not help. Most of the stuff u will forget if u study for months.

The people who get the best scores on the Lsats are usually people who take a prep class right before the test, do all the homework. And take as many prep test in a short period of time.

You basically max out if u study real hard for 2 weeks

Also most of the studying is useless.  The powerscore bible only helps for certain things. Like when i am taking a prep test i do almost none of the diagrams because it is harder to spot a diagram then it to solve a problem.

1. You can not study for reading comp. It is all focus. You got have your mind focused on the passage.

2. The logical reason study should not take more then 2 days. After u got the suf- nes down u can solve most problems

3. the only thing u need to learn how to do is the games. That should not take u too long. They are only a few ways that u can do games.

Study hard now and get it over with.

horrible advice


I studied for 4 months and saw marked and consistent improvement.  make sure to schedule breaks, or risk burnout.  I went from 157 to 170.

HTH

[Kencade]

Vera, I have a question.  With the prep course using so much of the actual LSAT material, if I do all the homework, won't I have already worked through most of the LSAT prep test material?  It is not without exception, of course, but right now I recognize questions (although not the answers) from when I prepped over a year ago, so I am pretty sure that I'll remember many of the LR and RC answers if I take a practice test after already covering the material in the prep course.  It would seem then that the practice tests would be slightly skewed. 

Along the same vein, how does someone study for a year without running out of practice tests?  I am almost finished with the LR Bible and I want to start taking some of the LR sections of practice tests to see if my score has improved in these sections from my study period a year ago but I am worried I will a) duplicate the material that Testmasters will be giving me to answer, b) run out of Full-length practice tests. 

How did you avoid this problem?  BTW, I am a non-traditional as well.  I appreciate any advice you have for me.

[wiretin]

I'd like to thank everyone for their detailed responces. I'm thinking I may have left this too late. Is there a date beyond which I can't change the date and location of my registration? Say, if my practices tests are not up to par on June 1st, would that be to late to switch?

[Miyabi]

I'm currently taking about three tests a week timed. On the weekend I'll do one untimed for accuracy purposes, and so far it seems to work out OK.

[JoeGibbsRedskins]

3 weeks is enough.

study 10 hrs a day( if u do not have a job)

that = 70 a week


do it for a second week.

that is 70 more

and the third weak just do test. And  then u should be ready. And you will know if u are ready  by your score.

If you are studying for months , it just means less hrs per day for a longer time.

It depends what u want. If you want to  party right now, talk to girls and drink you should do the 3 months thing.

If u are a college student like me. And want to get a good score on the test so u can get it over with. You will study for 3 weeks and get it over with,

My powerscore professor said 3 weeks is enough if u do not have a job.

[TrojanChispas]

3 weeks is enough.

study 10 hrs a day( if u do not have a job)

that = 70 a week


do it for a second week.

that is 70 more

and the third weak just do test. And  then u should be ready. And you will know if u are ready  by your score.

If you are studying for months , it just means less hrs per day for a longer time.

It depends what u want. If you want to  party right now, talk to girls and drink you should do the 3 months thing.

If u are a college student like me. And want to get a good score on the test so u can get it over with. You will study for 3 weeks and get it over with,

My powerscore professor said 3 weeks is enough if u do not have a job.

wrong, 3 weeks is not the magical time period where everyone tops out.  I studied for 4 months and saw improvement throughout.

[Balleeoka]

Vera, I have a question.  With the prep course using so much of the actual LSAT material, if I do all the homework, won't I have already worked through most of the LSAT prep test material?  It is not without exception, of course, but right now I recognize questions (although not the answers) from when I prepped over a year ago, so I am pretty sure that I'll remember many of the LR and RC answers if I take a practice test after already covering the material in the prep course.  It would seem then that the practice tests would be slightly skewed. 

Along the same vein, how does someone study for a year without running out of practice tests?  I am almost finished with the LR Bible and I want to start taking some of the LR sections of practice tests to see if my score has improved in these sections from my study period a year ago but I am worried I will a) duplicate the material that Testmasters will be giving me to answer, b) run out of Full-length practice tests. 

How did you avoid this problem?  BTW, I am a non-traditional as well.  I appreciate any advice you have for me.

Kencade, I have the same issue you are having and Vera gave me some great advice. I will be following her six month study plan and just extending it. She said to split your prep tests as much as necessary (I'll be doing one very 2-3 weeks myself) and then you work through that test extremely intensively and any area that you are having some problems with you can review over. The one thing she did mention to me is that given my time frame I should just learn the LGB, LRB, and Nova books before I even attempt an LSAT.

While everything in her guide is great, the best part is where she breaks down every section and the different types of questions you may find (like inference questions, assumption questions etc) and shows you how you can figure out which answers are wrong and what the answer must address in order to be a valid one. I also particulary liked that after she broke down what some of the game types were she noted some of the hardest examples of that game type from past LSAT's.

I hope I didn't misquote her on anything! I would strongly reccomend you look into her study plan, it's amazing how detailed it is. Not to mention, at $16 it's a steal!