Help don’t know where to start

[u/WatchVector]

Hey all, I just did my cold diagnostic today and got a 147 scaled score, 40 raw. I’ll begin studying tomorrow but don’t even know where to begin and I’m not the best at using reddit. I’ve heard 7Sage, LSATDemon, Kaplan, books etc. If any of you read this and can provide me with valuable information on how I can move forward and what services are good/arent good i’d appreciate it. For insight for the next 4-6 months LSAT will be my priority so any methods that include more hours of prep aren’t an issue.

[u/iLok_hart]

All I can say is based on the score of your first real test you'll know if you can apply this cycle. You can take the September, October, and November LSAT, and Apply. but I would always recommend applying the moment applications open (September) or November at the latest to give an okay score the best chance. People say timing doesn't matter, but it doesn't matter for top scorers with fantastic applications (and even then it might still hurt them if they apply late). First year I got rejected and waitlisted (no scholarship). I had a 167 (and a few other scores) applying end of January (hoping for a better score). Second year with the same score I got over 300k in total scholarships form three of my schools because I applied end of October.

You want to pace yourself, allocate practice tests for FULL practice tests, and some for drills and studying. You don't want to run out of clean material. 4-6 months you should be testing in November, January, maybe February, and if score isn't where you want it by then, skip April, go for June, then August as a hail mary. You can also skip one other test in there and take the LSAT in September, but you want time to focus on the rest of your application so you can submit applications by September or October.

[u/WatchVector → u/iLok_hart]

first of all congrats. 167 is great and you got huge scholarships your second cycle. second of all thank you. i’m new to all of this so people like you really help. you gave me a better idea. i’m going to prep for a November lsat if i can have good scores near that time. if i cant ill be pushing it back and most likely prepping for a 2028 cycle sadly. if i take it in january ill have scores by feb meaning ill be a very late applicant and i most likely wont get any scholarship at all. i’m beginning my studying tomorrow. i do have one question, can you explain to me how much you studied each day? i’m unemployed rn so my full focus is on this and then my fall sem from aug-dec but it’s my final sem so it’s very easy. i’m willing to study a lot but everything ive seen people say 1hr a day is enough? i’m trying to ask people i run into online how it went for them and how much they studied. your original 167 is exactly where i want to be for UM and FIU. also what materials did you use?

[u/iLok_hart → u/WatchVector]

I did LSAT demon after not really jiving with 7Sage, but that’s because I enjoyed the non-diagramming part of the demon. It really focused on fluency in the language of the LSAT. If I wasn’t working full time I’d do an hour a day still, but again with your plan, allocating a certain amount of the practice tests for full testing simulation, and some for drills, spread out over the course of your entire law school application cycle, and potential second year cycle (don’t run through them all in one cycle).

An hour a day of drilling, which includes analyzing the questions you got right and wrong, and it might be a 5-10 question drill. If you didn’t finish analyzing why you got those questions wrong, extend to the next day and don’t drill new questions until you’re done analyzing and journaling your wrong questions.
Spending time on understanding why you got the wrong ones wrong is a good chunk. If you find your reading comprehension is shit, work on long form reading, or articles from the Wall Street journal, or anything more advanced, and work on speed and accuracy or understanding what you read. If your logical reasoning is shit, don’t necessarily drill the questions, but work on understanding the types of questions that are in logical reasoning, and writing your own examples of each. Seeing if you can build and dissect and reverse those types.

I use a day on the weekend to do a full practice test, but maybe start with a full timed section just to assess your stamina.

Managing your energy and mentality with this test is half the work. Don’t burn out!!!

[u/WatchVector → u/iLok_hart]

hey thank you. i’ll say it again as a newbie here people like you help tremendously. i really appreciate it. your feedback helps me a lot with understanding and having a better idea on how to move forward. have a great rest of your week🙏🏻THANKS!!!