One of the benefits of private tutoring is that students get a study plan that’s personalized for them and that also evolves as they progress through the program.  However, lots of people have asked for a basic self-study plan.  Here’s an ideal study plan for 3 months.

Why 3 months?  3 months is about the right time to study if you can devote significant time to the LSAT (10-15 hours a week or so).  I’ve certainly seen students prepare and get the scores they need in less time, but especially for those who are balancing school and work, 3 months is the right timeline.  After about a 4-month timeframe, students start plateauing and reaching points of diminishing returns.  It’s better to prepare semi-intensely for 3 months than to work on LSAT once a week for 6 months (or to cram for 1 month).

This plan is front-loaded with learning and is back-loaded with practice.  It’s critical to lay down a solid foundation in methodology before you start taking timed tests (except for the diagnostic.

For this plan you’ll need the following books:

• Powerscore Logic Games Bible
• Next 10 Preptests
• 10 More Preptests
• Optional but highly recommended: Powerscore Logical Reasoning Bible.
• Optional: The last 5 published Preptests (available from Amazon)

Numbers refer Preptests from Next 10 and 10 More.

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For those of you who are happy with your score and believe it will lead to admission at the law school of your dreams, CONGRATULATIONS!  Don’t forget to recycle your LSAT books!

For those that didn’t do as well as they wanted to, you need to decide quickly if you want to retake.

How do you know if you should retake?

• There was some extraneous circumstance, like you were shorted on time, ill, or misbubbled (and for some reason you didn’t cancel)
• Your score was significantly lower (2+ points) than the average of your final 3 full prep-tests
• You didn’t devote yourself to a complete course of study (i.e. you worked through LSAT for Dummies and took one full real practice test)

You should also consider how taking the next test will position you in the admissions cycle.  For those who took the September 2009 test, having to wait for a December score could put you at a serious disadvantage in the rolling admissions cycle of very competitive schools if you plan on entering in 2010.  That said, if you are able to raise your score by even 3 points, you’ll on net have a better admissions portfolio

Be sure that this time around you are changing your study strategies.

• Get a different book.  If you’ve been working without real LSAT questions, you must get a book that uses real questions.  You can find examples here.  You probably also need to look at a different set of strategies to find an approach that works for you.
• Think twice about re-taking a class.  If you took an LSAT class once and don’t feel you’re living up to your potential, how will sitting through the same class help again?  It might be time to try a new approach
• Get a tutor.  Good LSAT tutors are specialists at taking you from where you are now to where you need to be, zeroing in on your weaknesses.  Here’s how to get the most from tutoring.  And yes, we offer personalized tutoring that can guide your study as you prepare for a re-take.

Full-length tests should only be part of your study schedule.  You should take one after you have a decent level of familiarity with the test and it’s sections to develop a baseline score on which to improve.  You should take one every 2 weeks or so if you have a 3-5 month study schedule, to measure improvement.  And, during the last phases of your prep, you should be doing full-length tests more often to gain the rhythm and stamina you’ll need on test day.

However, there’s a certain art to making a ½ day commitment bear more fruit than a simple diagnostic score.

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