Nearly one week away from taking the June 2017 LSAT

[lizzyp95]

Hi,

As the topic subject indicates, I'm nearly one week away from taking the June 2017 LSAT. I've taken about 12 practice tests (2 per week) for the past few weeks. For each practice test, I review each question that I get incorrect in each section extensively (in an excel sheet writing out explanations for incorrect/correct answer choices), I see where my weaknesses are, I review those topics/strategies with the Powerscore materials provided by the online course that I'm enrolled in, and I keep a log of how I felt before and after the test and what I should do to improve moving forward.

My concern is that with doing all of this, (and with the exception to one test out of the approximately 12 that I've taken that I did very well on), I continue to achieve the same exact score. While this isn't a bad thing at all, since it meets the requirements I need to achieve, it's a little discouraging to see that I've only maintained a certain score without much improvement after all of this hard work. Sure, I've come a long way from where I started, but I expected to be peaking at a bit of a higher score considering all of the preparation I've done. Further, if I were peaking at a bit of a higher score, I'd feel better about walking into the real test knowing I had a sort of "safety net" in case I don't do as well.

While my attitude is positive, because I'm achieving the score I need to, it would be much more positive if all of this preparation led to a higher score. In addition to utilizing the Powerscore materials provided, taking practice tests and reviewing them, and practicing individual timed sections and reviewing those, I'm wondering what I need to do to create a little bit of a safety net for myself--although that might be a impossible with being only a week away from taking the test.

Any advice/suggestions? Thanks in advanced for your help!

[Stephanie Oswalt]

Hi Lizzy,

Thanks for your question! An instructor will respond to your questions shortly, but in the meantime, here are a few links to get you started:

http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid/333 ... or-quality
http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/decembe ... bookmarked
http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/one-mon ... ed-to-know
http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/how-to- ... lsat-study
http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid/316 ... -Attention

Thanks!

[lizzyp95]

Thanks! I look forward to any responses.

[AthenaDalton]

Hi Lizzy,

Thanks for reaching out!

First of all, congratulations on achieving a score that you're happy with! Your consistency in reaching the same score in repeated practice tests bodes well for test day.

In the final stretch, I'd recommend considering where your weak points are. Do you make any errors in transferring your circled answer in the book to your score sheet? Do you trip up in mis-reading words or overlooking key terms? If so, focus on correcting those easily-avoidable errors.

If you tend to run out of time towards the end of a section (or do worse on the last 10 in a section than on the first 10), you may consider prioritizing which questions to tackle first, making sure that you start with the easiest ones. Additional information on how to use this strategy in the LG section is available here: https://www.powerscore.com/lsat/help/lg_strategy.cfm; and information on prioritizing LR is available here: https://www.powerscore.com/lsat/help/lr_strategy.cfm.

Look back through the questions you've been missing. Are there any patterns? Some students struggle with a particular question type, or get tripped up by certain game setups. If you see any patterns, circle back to the books to cement your understanding of those concepts.

I know this is all very general advice -- if you can give us more particulars about what types questions you're missing, we can give more specific advice.

Best of luck on test day! It sounds like you're well-prepared!

Athena Dalton

[lizzyp95]

Thanks so much for your response and encouragement! I suppose my biggest concern, although I'm achieving my goal/score, is that I don't have much of a safety net in place to ensure I make that score on the real test, if (for some odd reason) something throws me off during the actual test.

For instance, I keep trying to improve my reading comprehension skills, because that section is so hit or miss for me. Sometimes I do great, and other times I don't do so great, even though I maintain the score I need to. I usually struggle with the science passages and economics passages, but sometimes the other passage type (e.g., humanities, law) can be unexpectedly more challenging.

It might be a long-shot, but do you have any advice on how to improve on reading comprehension between now and Monday the 12th?

[Kristina Moen]

Lizzy,

You can think of the Reading Comprehension section like an open book test. Your primary goal is to read for the bigger picture and the structure, so you can refer back to the passage as you answer the questions. You are not being asked to memorize the passage. Are you referring back to the passage as you answer the questions? If not, you are relying on your memory, which is unnecessary and may be inaccurate.

One way to practice this is to look at each answer choice (you can do this in an untimed setting or when you are reviewing the section) and identify where it is supported in the passage. Actually find a line number. Don't be satisfied until you can find precisely WHERE in the passage the correct answer is supported (or, occasionally you're asked about which answer choice is NOT supported, so you should find the incorrect answer choices in the passage). This practice will help you with scanning the passage quickly and also knowing what sorts of things can be important structure indicators (lists, examples, viewpoints, etc.).

Good luck!

[lizzyp95]

Thank you!