Struggling to make improvements

[RA96]

I began studying for the LSAT in April, and wrote in July scoring a disappointing 154. Prior to this, I was consistently PT'ing from 157-160. I began studying again in September, and I am currently registered to re-write on Oct.28, but my practice test scores haven't increased and are still the same as they were before, still between 157-160.

I have read through all three of the Powerscore bibles, and have taken the online accelerated course, the advanced LG course, and I am currently half way through the advanced LR course. I tend to average -5 to -7 on LR, -5 to -6 on LG, and -10 on RC. Reading comp has become much harder for me with the transition to digital, and is what killed my official July score.

What can I do to get past the 160 barrier? I feel like my approach to all of the question types as improved significantly, as well as my knowledge of the fundamental concepts such as conditionality, and yet my score isn't improving. My plan is to take 3 five section practice tests per week up until the 28th, with two of them being times and the other untimed, and then reviewing them as thoroughly as possible to see where I'm going wrong. Is this a good idea? Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated!

[KelseyWoods]

Hi RA96!

Score plateaus are definitely frustrating! It's difficult for me to give specific tips for improvement when I'm not sure what types of questions you're missing, how much timing is an issue, how exactly you approach questions, etc. But I'm going to link you to some other relevant forum responses & blog posts that I think might help.

Here's a post from a test taker who was having a similar issue to yours. Our instructor Adam gave her a great response that I think you'll find applies to you as well: https://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewtopic.php?t=27074

One thing I would add to Adam's response is to also make sure you're focusing on argument structure. No matter the question type, when you have an argument, it is important to identify the conclusion and the premises. But for most question types, it's also important to then really think about how the premises support that conclusion and look for gaps in the argument. All LSAT authors think they have written a great argument, but most arguments on the test are flawed in some way, meaning the premises as stated do not fully support the conclusion as stated. Your success in Weaken, Assumption, Strengthen, Justify, Flaw, Parallel Flaw, & Method of Reasoning questions relies on your ability to understand an arguments structure and for most of them, also understand why those premises don't fully support that conclusion. What logical leaps has the author made? Where are the weaknesses? Etc.

And a technique for practicing prephrasing: Go through an LR section (untimed, preferably printed out) using post-it notes to cover up the answer choices. Instead of answering the questions, just read the stimulus and question stem and prephrase what it is you're looking for in the answer choices. Write this down on your post it for each question, never actually looking at the answer choices. Then, go back through the section. This time cover up the stimulus and question stem with your prephrase post-it and use only your prephrase to answer the question. This will help make sure you really focus on prephrasing and also give you an idea about how good your prephrases are.

Here's another forum post + response with some great resources for what to do when you feel like your score is stuck: https://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewtopic.php?t=15152

And here are some helpful blog posts:
How to Increase Your LSAT Score When You Are Stuck: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/how-to ... are-stuck/
Score Plateau? Focus on the Process: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/how-to ... sat-study/
Two weeks to the LSAT? Here's How to Study: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/two-we ... -to-study/
1-Week Until the LSAT: Last-Ditch Efforts and How to Make Them Work: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/lsat-l ... them-work/

I'm guessing the struggle with the transition to digital for RC has to do with diagramming. Make sure that you are practicing with the digital format. I'm sure you're aware, but the LSAC has free digital practice tests available on their website (https://familiar.lsac.org/). We also offer digital practice tests and practice sections which you can purchase individually here: https://www.powerscore.com/lsat/publica ... /index.cfm. With RC, you'll have to get used to using only underlining and highlights on the passage. You'll also have scratch paper available and you can take notes there--draw boxes to represent each paragraph so you can make any notes about that paragraph next to its specific box.

If it's an option for you, an hour or 2 of tutoring might be a good idea at this point since you've only got a couple weeks before the test. Like I said, it's hard to give you specific things to work on with the limited time you have left because people's scores plateau for different reasons and I'd need more info about exactly how you're approaching the test and more specifically how you're performing on it. A tutor can examine your test results (not just the scores, but the questions missed) to search for patterns you may not be seeing and can also have you talk through your thinking on questions and help you pinpoint where your weak spots might be.

I hope this helps. Best of luck in these last couple of weeks before the test! You can do it!

Best,
Kelsey

[RA96]

Hi Kelsey!

Thank you very much for the incredibly thorough response. I really appreciate it!

I have found that at times I either struggle to come up with a pre-phrase, or just completely neglect to do so when I am under a time constraint. So I will give that pre-phrasing exercise a try, it seems like a great idea.

With RC, I have been trying to adapt my approach to underlining/highlighting more effectively, as well as writing down a quick sentence (kind of like a title) summing up each paragraph. Without being able to write directly on the passage, I find it more difficult to keep track of the different VIEWSTAMP elements, but hopefully with continued practice I'll improve.

Once again, thank you for the suggestions! Hopefully I can break that barrier soon.