Restarting studying after months off

[legallynotblondee 6]

Hi everyone! 
due to some unforeseen changes, I will be tackling this lovely test again. I wrote it in November and got a 162, and haven’t studied since. 
Just wondering if anyone has any advice for starting up my studying after such a long break. Does the test come back to you pretty quickly?

If anyone has any suggestions or tips on how to maximize my time, I would really appreciate it! I’m honestly not sure where to even begin, but I’m hoping to get to a 167+ by July ish  

[goodisgood 71]

I took a 5 year break from the test and forgot everything other than a tiny tiny bit about the way logic chains worked. It's actually a blessing in some ways -- you'll have forgotten some of the material so you have more to work with in practice sets and the like. 

Funny enough, I got back into studying for this test in Feb 2020 and wrote in July 2020. I think the most important thing for my success was to create a plan of attack and really stick to it. I knew I was weak in LG, and after doing some practice LR sets I knew I had some types of question types I was weak against and focus fired on those. I kept a detailed journal to track what I was getting wrong and why I was getting wrong, and also utilized analytics on 7sage to really nail in what I had to work on. I did LG almost every day and watched some of those explanation videos on 7sage probably 5+ times. 

Every week I'd sit down and evaluate what went right and what went wrong, and make notes about specific things that seemed to always trip me up, take too much time, etc. I was very honest about anything I wasn't 100% certain on and that really helped me build up fundamentals to tackle the test intelligently. 

February was devoted to just section/question type practice and reading RC passages from early PTs/articles from The Economist/Scientific American/etc., occasionally slotting in RC sessions and peering over the lessons where I needed the most work. I started doing 1 PT a week around the middle of March, taking a lot of care to again review very deeply. The review always took longer than the tests themselves, sometimes double the time. From the middle of April onward, I was doing 2 PTs a week with review. I did LG sections or games in some capacity 6x a week because I internalized the idea that it was the most learnable section, and it really paid off for me in my July 2020 take. I don't know if your LG was as bad as mine but I would sometimes do 3 sections of LG (12 games) in a row (mixing sets I'd done before, but not perfectly, and new sets to conserve prep materials).

TL;DR: Figure out your weaknesses, focus fire on them, and remember to heavily review and be honest with your faults. A long break can be a good thing.

and FYI, I got a 161 back in 2015, did a diagnostic in the beginning of 2020 and got a 159... ended up with a 168 in July and was getting 170+ in PTs by June. 

Edited February 22 by goodisgood
i am not properly remembering my timelines lol

[legallynotblondee 6]

On 2/22/2021 at 4:17 PM, goodisgood said:

I took a 5 year break from the test and forgot everything other than a tiny tiny bit about the way logic chains worked. It's actually a blessing in some ways -- you'll have forgotten some of the material so you have more to work with in practice sets and the like. 

Funny enough, I got back into studying for this test in Feb 2020 and wrote in July 2020. I think the most important thing for my success was to create a plan of attack and really stick to it. I knew I was weak in LG, and after doing some practice LR sets I knew I had some types of question types I was weak against and focus fired on those. I kept a detailed journal to track what I was getting wrong and why I was getting wrong, and also utilized analytics on 7sage to really nail in what I had to work on. I did LG almost every day and watched some of those explanation videos on 7sage probably 5+ times. 

Every week I'd sit down and evaluate what went right and what went wrong, and make notes about specific things that seemed to always trip me up, take too much time, etc. I was very honest about anything I wasn't 100% certain on and that really helped me build up fundamentals to tackle the test intelligently. 

February was devoted to just section/question type practice and reading RC passages from early PTs/articles from The Economist/Scientific American/etc., occasionally slotting in RC sessions and peering over the lessons where I needed the most work. I started doing 1 PT a week around the middle of March, taking a lot of care to again review very deeply. The review always took longer than the tests themselves, sometimes double the time. From the middle of April onward, I was doing 2 PTs a week with review. I did LG sections or games in some capacity 6x a week because I internalized the idea that it was the most learnable section, and it really paid off for me in my July 2020 take. I don't know if your LG was as bad as mine but I would sometimes do 3 sections of LG (12 games) in a row (mixing sets I'd done before, but not perfectly, and new sets to conserve prep materials).

TL;DR: Figure out your weaknesses, focus fire on them, and remember to heavily review and be honest with your faults. A long break can be a good thing.

and FYI, I got a 161 back in 2015, did a diagnostic in the beginning of 2020 and got a 159... ended up with a 168 in July and was getting 170+ in PTs by June. 

Thank you so much for all your help & detailed journey. I’m ready to get back in the metaphorical saddle !

[AtALaws 9]

I found the best way way for me to study after a few months off was to just hammer out a ton of non-timed practice tests for a week without watching any videos or study guides. Forcing myself to figure out the problems with no aids brought the info and strategy back in a super helpful way for me. After that I turned to videos and my books in order to figure out the info that I really couldn't do myself and then do timed tests. Bear in mind I only had two weeks to pull it together so you could extend this timeline quite a bit if you have the time!

[gewpziskewl 7]

I just want to mention that although a higher grade is always good, you don't necessarily need a 167+ to get into a great Canadian law school. I definitely didn't that and my #1 law school was the first offer I got. So don't kill yourself over a couple points (if you're under 158 then yes I would say perhaps you can do a little better) but other than that a 162 is an amazing score! 

[SadNWO 387]

15 minutes ago, gewpziskewl said:

I just want to mention that although a higher grade is always good, you don't necessarily need a 167+ to get into a great Canadian law school. I definitely didn't that and my #1 law school was the first offer I got. So don't kill yourself over a couple points (if you're under 158 then yes I would say perhaps you can do a little better) but other than that a 162 is an amazing score! 

I mean, it depends on the school. A 162 might be above median at some schools but for others it is either at median (Western, Queens) or slightly below (UofT, UBC, UVic). 

So depending on the posters goals that 167 may be more important than we would otherwise think. 

[gewpziskewl 7]

3 hours ago, SadNWO said:

I mean, it depends on the school. A 162 might be above median at some schools but for others it is either at median (Western, Queens) or slightly below (UofT, UBC, UVic). 

So depending on the posters goals that 167 may be more important than we would otherwise think. 

Good point. However, either way it goes to show that you don't need to be in the 95+ percentile to get into an amazing Canadian law school. Also, I would assume that it's really only UofT where you NEED a crazy score like that to be competitive 

[AllanRC 207]

On 2/22/2021 at 4:24 PM, legallynotblondee said:

Hi everyone! 
due to some unforeseen changes, I will be tackling this lovely test again. I wrote it in November and got a 162, and haven’t studied since. 
Just wondering if anyone has any advice for starting up my studying after such a long break. Does the test come back to you pretty quickly?

If anyone has any suggestions or tips on how to maximize my time, I would really appreciate it! I’m honestly not sure where to even begin, but I’m hoping to get to a 167+ by July ish  

First of all fantastic write! A 162 is nothing to sneeze at. And the very fact you have a great score in the bank should help alleviate test day pressure the second time around. That already puts you ahead of the game! 

The great thing about the LSAT is that it tests understanding of underlying logical principles more so than any particular method or piece of information; so it typically does not take a long time to get back into form. Anecdotally: I walked away from this exam about a decade ago (yes...I am old) and it took me a month or so to get into the swing of LR/RC though a bit longer for games (which makes sense because LG has more to do with recognizing isomorphisms that only really comes via repetition). 

Here is a list of resources (many of which deal with timing aspects) to get you started again. If you have any questions after perusing them let us know!

Edited March 27 by AllanRC

[Prospero 703]

It comes back quickly, you'll be good. Don't dally though - get down to business. 

Edited March 27 by Prospero

[Kezia 0]

I am looking for a dedicated study partner for LSAT.I am posting my study schedule and plan at studypal.Join me there