The Official December 2017 Study Group Forum

[EmelyM23]

Hey checking in! I'll be taking December. I'll be starting a blueprint class starting September. Currently using the lsat trainer though and feel it's giving me a nice foundation.

[mbalsa]

Hi, new here! Planning on taking the December LSAT. I have the PowerScore Bibles and am buying the Manhattan RC cook because apparently Powerscore's one is crap. I was just wondering, for those who are self studying with Powerscore, did you go through one book at a time or do parts of each at the same time?!

[greatspirit]

What courses are people taking? Considering doing a Powerscore one since I liked the Bibles.

[twiix]

What courses are people taking? Considering doing a Powerscore one since I liked the Bibles.

Save the money and sign up for 7sage Ultimate+. Also buy The LSAT Trainer, Manhattan LR Book, and Logic Game Bible. That's all you will need.

[Mikey]

What courses are people taking? Considering doing a Powerscore one since I liked the Bibles.

7sage is TCR.

Live courses are expensive af. With 7sage you can just work at your own pace

[King of the North]

I've probably gotten about 3 months worth of studying in at this point. Maybe more. I used the Trainer for LR, I just finished the LG material in the Manhattan, and I am going to now move on to RC. I have 3 months to learn RC and drill sections/full PTs. GPA is a 3.5, LSAT diagnostic was a 153, I'm shooting for schools like Vandy so I think worst case scenario a 168 would give me decent scholarship money. On my last few LR timed sections, I got -3 on two and -7 on one. The -7 came at 11:30 p.m. after I had already done a timed section and I work an 8-5 so I'm hoping that was a matter of energy.

Let's get it folks. Lessss do it.

[Experiment626]

Hi, new here! Planning on taking the December LSAT. I have the PowerScore Bibles and am buying the Manhattan RC cook because apparently Powerscore's one is crap. I was just wondering, for those who are self studying with Powerscore, did you go through one book at a time or do parts of each at the same time?!

I partially used PS before I did a prep course. PS has a recommended schedule on their website that jumps between the books.

[greatspirit]

What courses are people taking? Considering doing a Powerscore one since I liked the Bibles.

Save the money and sign up for 7sage Ultimate+. Also buy The LSAT Trainer, Manhattan LR Book, and Logic Game Bible. That's all you will need.

Right, I thought this heading into the September 2016 LSAT, and felt vastly underprepared. I benefit from structure, and would consider a class to be beneficial.

[greatspirit]

What courses are people taking? Considering doing a Powerscore one since I liked the Bibles.

7sage is TCR.

Live courses are expensive af. With 7sage you can just work at your own pace

Sorry, "TCR" ?

[twiix]

What courses are people taking? Considering doing a Powerscore one since I liked the Bibles.

7sage is TCR.

Live courses are expensive af. With 7sage you can just work at your own pace

Sorry, "TCR" ?

TCR = The credited/correct response.

Anywho, 7sage does have a schedule that you can follow. If you still wish to do an in person course and have the funds available, by all means proceed ahead. I think the common response after taking courses is that they leave you unprepared and not fully understanding the concepts within the test. It seems like the majority of courses teach you "tricks" for each question type, but lack fundamental understanding. Obviously some people get 170+ after taking courses though, so it's all personal preference and learning style.

[greatspirit]

What courses are people taking? Considering doing a Powerscore one since I liked the Bibles.

7sage is TCR.

Live courses are expensive af. With 7sage you can just work at your own pace

Sorry, "TCR" ?

TCR = The credited/correct response.

Anywho, 7sage does have a schedule that you can follow. If you still wish to do an in person course and have the funds available, by all means proceed ahead. I think the common response after taking courses is that they leave you unprepared and not fully understanding the concepts within the test. It seems like the majority of courses teach you "tricks" for each question type, but lack fundamental understanding. Obviously some people get 170+ after taking courses though, so it's all personal preference and learning style.

Fair enough, I'll consider that. Thanks.

Anyway, for those who are taking a course/have taken a course - Powerscore? Testmasters? Blueprint? TLS seems to think these are the only 3 worth considering.

[LieutenantElmo]

Checking in for December This will be my second reschedule. Initially scheduled for June, was all happy and dandy with my 158 and then found this website...needless to say I am scoring 165 consistently now but know I can hit 172 as I have before, so another postpone, September, and now aiming for the elusive 175+

Not sure if this website is the best or worse thing to happen to me...

(P.S. I have lurked for far too long)

[para219]

I'm curious as to what everyone's PT strategy is. I have all of the PTs. Should I complete the newest PTs first and go down in reverse order? Should I mix it up and save fresh ones from the 70s for November? Open to suggestions.

[King of the North]

Just went -10 on an LR section. Fuck me.

[LieutenantElmo]

I'm curious as to what everyone's PT strategy is. I have all of the PTs. Should I complete the newest PTs first and go down in reverse order? Should I mix it up and save fresh ones from the 70s for November? Open to suggestions.

From lurking, the general consensus seems to be to save the newest and most relevant for last, in my own experience, anything prior to PT45 doesn't really seem to help as much as the newer tests due to question/RC/LG changes and what not (though they reinforce the core skills undoubtedly), so start with 50-80

[MercW07]

What courses are people taking? Considering doing a Powerscore one since I liked the Bibles.

Save the money and sign up for 7sage Ultimate+. Also buy The LSAT Trainer, Manhattan LR Book, and Logic Game Bible. That's all you will need.

Ill go ahead and throw another 7Sage Ultimate+ recommendation out there. In person classes are dangerous for a few reasons. 1) Your instructor may suck. Yes he or she may also not suck, but if you do get a lazy/bad instructor well then you've just spent $1500 on basically nothing 2) They are crazy expensive and results are not guaranteed. Some guarantee a points gain, but remember, a 1 point gain is still a gain. 3) You may not fully understand an important concept, but because you're in a classroom setting, the course just will continue on and you will be behind. 4) They can mislead. I had a friend take a course and her instructor told her she could expect to get in the mid to high 160s come test day. She got a 152. Not sure how the instructor came to his conclusion but my friend was devastated.

With the 7Sage course I was able to go at my own pace, yet still follow a schedule that the course itself sets out for you. This was especially helpful when it came to question types that I was bad at. For example, I just could not grasp PSA questions at first, but because my course was online I was able to slow down and really hammer down the important aspects of the question type. Because of this, PSA questions are some of the easiest for me today.

Im sure there are plenty of people out there that have found success using in person courses and it is important to find what works best for you, but for me and many other TLSers the risks I listed out above just did not justify the potential reward.

[CMac86]

Still here.

My fall semester started last week and I've been on the road for work several of the last few weeks...so, my LSAT studying has dropped off a bit. I've been working on fool proofing games, but instead of being 4-5 days per week, it is 1-3 days per week (depending on academic and work load). I started fool proofing with PT 20 and I've completed through PT50. I'm now consistently missing 0 to 2 per section. On my last PT before the Feb 2017 test, I missed 7. I'm saving PT70-80 for full test practice.

[failingfailure]

I'm excited to get my journey started. Took my first diagnostic yesterday and got a 159. My heart is set on Michigan and so I'm shooting for a 170+ to ensure scholarship money. Although I am a URM so I could probably still get money with simply a 165+ but I'm not going to rely on the color of my skin, especially when I know can hit the 170 mark. Anyways, reading comprehension is what really killed my score, so any tips would be greatly appreciated.

[LieutenantElmo]

I'm excited to get my journey started. Took my first diagnostic yesterday and got a 159. My heart is set on Michigan and so I'm shooting for a 170+ to ensure scholarship money. Although I am a URM so I could probably still get money with simply a 165+ but I'm not going to rely on the color of my skin, especially when I know can hit the 170 mark. Anyways, reading comprehension is what really killed my score, so any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Tip: run from this forum as fast as you can, you will never take the LSAT and only question your very being/essence

[greatspirit]

I'm excited to get my journey started. Took my first diagnostic yesterday and got a 159. My heart is set on Michigan and so I'm shooting for a 170+ to ensure scholarship money. Although I am a URM so I could probably still get money with simply a 165+ but I'm not going to rely on the color of my skin, especially when I know can hit the 170 mark. Anyways, reading comprehension is what really killed my score, so any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Tip: run from this forum as fast as you can, you will never take the LSAT and only question your very being/essence

Lol, what do you mean by this?

[King of the North]

T -3 months.

[Kiskeya]

Hi, new here! Planning on taking the December LSAT. I have the PowerScore Bibles and am buying the Manhattan RC cook because apparently Powerscore's one is crap. I was just wondering, for those who are self studying with Powerscore, did you go through one book at a time or do parts of each at the same time?!

On Powerscore's self-study website they have different study plans depending on how far out your test date is-(6weeks; 2/3/4/6months) I used their 3-month study plan to self-study before I enrolled in a class.
https://www.powerscore.com/LSAT-Self-Study-Guide.pdf

[vikingrunner]

Finally joined up here for some accountability I suppose. An intro:

25yo (about to be 26, so enter "old guy" jokes), graduated in 2014 from a small liberal arts college (3.48 gpa) with a philosophy/psychology double major. Working a random job right now that I am a bit...over-educated for (I have been told this by multiple people, so it's not just me bragging). Decided I would give law school the old college try after a discussion about life with a college friend. I took the June 2007 test on LSAC.org with no prep whatsoever, but didn't time it, and got a 163, so I figured I was at a pretty good starting point. I've been studying for a few weeks since, took prep test 19 timed today and got a 164, and I feel like there is room for improvement. I got my ass kicked by section 2 (15/24) and was running out of time by the end of that section so there's something to work on (though I've seen that the older tests were harder for L+R). Only missed 2 in the logic games section which I was proud of and did better on the reading comprehension than I thought I would. I'm going to be applying to schools that are mostly in the 20-50 range in the USN rankings, so I don't think I really need to be 170+ (but it would be nice for the potential scholarship $$$).

There is work yet to be done. I'm hoping to finish the "10 more actual, official" volume of 19-28 and get vol V which has the more recent tests and finish those as well before the big day. I've shelled out enough for CAS/LSAT registration (and soon to be application fees) and am starting from respectable enough starting point that I don't feel like I need to take a course or anything.

[Skadidas]

Checking in!

[EmelyM23]

I'm taking a blueprint course this fall and I can't fathom why people who haven't taken classes would try discouraging others not too?. 1.) many classes offer a free class which I HIGHLY suggest attending! I attended a sample class at Manhattan prep and didn't like it off the bat.- it had close to 30 students, the professor had a thick accent,etc. I sampled several and blueprint professors seemed really engaging and I took so much from that one practice course, so I highly suggest it before paying for one. Another thing is looking on yelp, many past students rate professors and in blueprint you can actually see who the professor is and who teaches on what days.** Not sure if test Masters or any other prep course does this. 2) YES they are very expensive But if law school is an investment you want to make then I HIGHLY think it's worth it. Everyone learns differently, and having homework and sitting in an actual classroom is how I learn best. Nothing in this world is guaranteed so if your paying this much money, make it worth it and do all the work. Also the classes are like 4 hrs long with blueprint 2x a week, that's 8 guaranteed hrs of LSAT studying in addition to homework 10+ hrs and studying. I plan to get in a good 20 hrs of total prep per week. I'm sorry but it doesn't matter what anybody says in reference to lsat scores, no one can tell you what you'll get or a likely prediction. ONLY actual PT's can whether your self studying or studying in a classroom. I can't tell if you yourself has even taken one? The class at blueprint, you take an actual practice exam every week and it mimics real test conditions so if your pt'ing around 165, then your score will mostly be that. Another thing about score guarantees is that companies like blueprint offer a retake or 100% refund if your score doesn't improve by a minimum of points (not sure if it's 10/12 pts)

Anyways my point is, do your research, attend a free class if possible, talk to others who've actually taken a class. Find what works best for you. COmpanies like 7sage are great if you can study by yourself and follow it. But I'm like 99% sure that's if in class preps and 7sage were the same price, people would go for in class prep study. A lot of people also work and 7sage is online so even more convenient. I work 8-4 & my blueprint class is from 6-10 Wednesdays and 2-6 saturdays, sun- test day 2-6. it's not the best but it works! Many people love 7sage and I cannot blame them, but I've seen and know many people who have taken a prep course who not only loved it but saw massive improvements.. so once again just depends on you, your time, money, etc'

What courses are people taking? Considering doing a Powerscore one since I liked the Bibles.

Save the money and sign up for 7sage Ultimate+. Also buy The LSAT Trainer, Manhattan LR Book, and Logic Game Bible. That's all you will need.

Ill go ahead and throw another 7Sage Ultimate+ recommendation out there. In person classes are dangerous for a few reasons. 1) Your instructor may suck. Yes he or she may also not suck, but if you do get a lazy/bad instructor well then you've just spent $1500 on basically nothing 2) They are crazy expensive and results are not guaranteed. Some guarantee a points gain, but remember, a 1 point gain is still a gain. 3) You may not fully understand an important concept, but because you're in a classroom setting, the course just will continue on and you will be behind. 4) They can mislead. I had a friend take a course and her instructor told her she could expect to get in the mid to high 160s come test day. She got a 152. Not sure how the instructor came to his conclusion but my friend was devastated.

With the 7Sage course I was able to go at my own pace, yet still follow a schedule that the course itself sets out for you. This was especially helpful when it came to question types that I was bad at. For example, I just could not grasp PSA questions at first, but because my course was online I was able to slow down and really hammer down the important aspects of the question type. Because of this, PSA questions are some of the easiest for me today.

Im sure there are plenty of people out there that have found success using in person courses and it is important to find what works best for you, but for me and many other TLSers the risks I listed out above just did not justify the potential reward.