Score Not increasing Lesson 6

[kwabbel]

Hi,

I've just completed lesson 6 and taken my third practice test. Unfortunately, my score has not increased at all since starting. I am not sure where I am going wrong. I am completing all of the homework, watching most of the lesson recaps, and feel like I get a great grasp of the concepts. I even do fairly well on the questions in the HW. I am averaging at a 152 and at this point just really want to see all the effort I am putting in reflected in my scores.. Is this common? Do you have any recommendations of what to do? I will be taking the Sept LSAT and am starting to get extremely worried..

Kirsten

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hi Kirsten,

Sorry this has been such a frustrating experience, and trust me - you are not alone in that. Almost every student experiences stumbling blocks, plateaus, score fluctuations, etc. at some point in their course of study. The key is to focus not on your final score, but on what you can do to improve it. I know this is of little consolation when your score is still in the low 150s, but trust me - the mistakes you make now are the key to improving your performance in the long run, as long as you learn from them, and don't get discouraged. Half the battle is about your attitude: confidence, focus, and thorough engagement with every aspect of the test are just as important as knowing how to prove the correct answer choice to an Assumption question.

Check out this blog post we recently posted regarding score fluctuations:

http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid/309 ... st-Go-Down

Of course, it is critical to understand where your mistakes are coming from. Are you not pacing yourself well, and therefore resort to guessing on a large number of questions? Is there a particular argument type (causation/conditionality/numerical evidence/etc.) that you're struggling with? Alternatively, maybe you are not approaching a specific question type correctly? Sometimes (and I understand this is not an option for everyone), private tutoring - even in small doses - can help identify problem areas and drastically improve your score.

Last, but not least, taking (and reviewing) practice tests is absolutely critical to improving your score. You've only done 3 tests so far; I recommend that my students take at least 10 (in addition to the ones being proctored in class). If I were you, I'd be taking 2-3 tests/week from now until 9/27. The idea behind this is not only to reinforce the techniques you study in class (this is what your homework is for), but also to take you outside your comfort zone! Many students mistakenly believe that they "get it," just because their homework goes well. However, note that your homework contains carefully selected questions of the same type, which represents a far easier task than a typical LR section that mixes all 13 question types. Additionally, practice tests are timed; your homework isn't. So, don't rely on your homework alone to gauge your level of preparedness. Repeated practice test-taking, when combined with thorough test review, is - at this point - the key to improving your score.

To find out more about the proper way to take a practice test, check this out:

http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid/153 ... tice-tests

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to post them here.

Good luck!