Advice/How to Help Us Help You

[katiebeth1796]

Hello! I ran across an old blog post that outlined the best way to get advice from you for things to do to improve.

Test Date: I just took the January LSAT yesterday, but I'm planning to take it again in June.

Study History: I completed the Kaplan On Demand course. I took the diagnostic in November, actually started studying December 22, and finished the course at the beginning of January. I watched several of their Channel episodes after completing the course.

Scoring History: I have taken several practice tests. I will include scores for subtests as well, and LR will include both sections combined other than on PT 93. Here are my stats:
*Nov. 18 PT 81 (Diagnostic): 153 (LG -12, LR -20, RC -7)
*Dec 24 PT 89: 156 (LG -12, LR -15, RC -6)
*Dec 26 PT 88: 158 (LG -11, LR -9, RC -11)
*Dec 26 PT 77: 163 (LG -5, LR -12, RC -5)
*Dec 27 PT 78: 159 (LG -8, LR -15, RC -7)
*Dec 30 PT 68: 159 (LG -7, LR -10, RC -12)
*Dec 30 PT 70: 157 (LG -7, LR -17, RC -8)
*Jan 1 PT 45: 165 (LG -3, LR -11, RC -6)
*Jan 2 PT 76: 162 (LG -2, LR -14, RC -8)
*Jan 8 PT 85: 159 (LG -4, LR -12, RC -11)
*Jan 9 PT 86: 166 (LG -2, LR -9, RC -7)
*Jan 13 PT 93: 162 (LG -4, LR -5, RC -8)

Target Score: My target score is to be in the 170s (hopefully mid-upper, but once I break 170 I will not retake again.)

Prep Material: I have a Kaplan subscription through March, a 7Sage monthly subscription, Kaplan Unlocked, Logical Reasoning Loophole, the Powerscore Bibles and Workbooks are in the mail, the LSAT Trainer is in the mail, and LSAT Dragon's new Logical Reasoning book is in the mail.

Problem Areas: As you can see, my reading comprehension has not improved since my diagnostic and has at times been even worse. It is very inconsistent. I often miss Main Point questions but get the more complex ones correct. This seems counterintuitive, but I believe it's because I get caught up in the nitty gritty and find it hard to look at the big picture. Any advice there would be appreciated. As far as LR, Flaws, Paradox, Inferences, and Strengthen/Weaken questions are tough for me. (I know that's a wide array of topics, but they are the ones that show up the most in my missed answers journal.) In logic games, I struggle with Must Be True/False as well as Rule Change questions.

Thank you for any advice/help you can provide! I appreciate all you do for us test-takers!

[Dave Killoran]

Hello! I ran across an old blog post that outlined the best way to get advice from you for things to do to improve.

Test Date: I just took the January LSAT yesterday, but I'm planning to take it again in June.

Study History: I completed the Kaplan On Demand course. I took the diagnostic in November, actually started studying December 22, and finished the course at the beginning of January. I watched several of their Channel episodes after completing the course.

Scoring History: I have taken several practice tests. I will include scores for subtests as well, and LR will include both sections combined other than on PT 93. Here are my stats:
*Nov. 18 PT 81 (Diagnostic): 153 (LG -12, LR -20, RC -7)
*Dec 24 PT 89: 156 (LG -12, LR -15, RC -6)
*Dec 26 PT 88: 158 (LG -11, LR -9, RC -11)
*Dec 26 PT 77: 163 (LG -5, LR -12, RC -5)
*Dec 27 PT 78: 159 (LG -8, LR -15, RC -7)
*Dec 30 PT 68: 159 (LG -7, LR -10, RC -12)
*Dec 30 PT 70: 157 (LG -7, LR -17, RC -8)
*Jan 1 PT 45: 165 (LG -3, LR -11, RC -6)
*Jan 2 PT 76: 162 (LG -2, LR -14, RC -8)
*Jan 8 PT 85: 159 (LG -4, LR -12, RC -11)
*Jan 9 PT 86: 166 (LG -2, LR -9, RC -7)
*Jan 13 PT 93: 162 (LG -4, LR -5, RC -8)

Target Score: My target score is to be in the 170s (hopefully mid-upper, but once I break 170 I will not retake again.)

Prep Material: I have a Kaplan subscription through March, a 7Sage monthly subscription, Kaplan Unlocked, Logical Reasoning Loophole, the Powerscore Bibles and Workbooks are in the mail, the LSAT Trainer is in the mail, and LSAT Dragon's new Logical Reasoning book is in the mail.

Problem Areas: As you can see, my reading comprehension has not improved since my diagnostic and has at times been even worse. It is very inconsistent. I often miss Main Point questions but get the more complex ones correct. This seems counterintuitive, but I believe it's because I get caught up in the nitty gritty and find it hard to look at the big picture. Any advice there would be appreciated. As far as LR, Flaws, Paradox, Inferences, and Strengthen/Weaken questions are tough for me. (I know that's a wide array of topics, but they are the ones that show up the most in my missed answers journal.) In logic games, I struggle with Must Be True/False as well as Rule Change questions.

Thank you for any advice/help you can provide! I appreciate all you do for us test-takers!

Hi Katiebeth,

Thanks for the question! First, there's a danger here of you mixing and matching a bit too much with various LSAT approaches, which can get confusing for most people. To that end, I'd say the following about each item on your list:

• * Kaplan subscription through March: Stop using this. I'm not a fan of Kaplan's and personally don't think their program is aimed at producing high scorers.
  * a 7Sage monthly subscription: This is a great place to get questions and tests, and by itself makes the Kaplan subscription no longer useful for you.
  * Kaplan Unlocked: Don't use it.
  * Logical Reasoning Loophole: Good book that I happened to be the editor of Loophole and PowerScore work together well.
  the Powerscore Bibles and Workbooks are in the mail: Focus more on the Bibles at first, less on the Workbooks. See our free study plans for combining it all.
  * the LSAT Trainer is in the mail: Mike is a friend of mine, but I find Trainer to be better for beginners and more focused on explaining the basics. You might be beyond it since your goal is 170 and you have some LSAT experience.
  * LSAT Dragon's new Logical Reasoning book is in the mail: This is so new I know nothing about it, which isn't a great sign to me because there hasn't been a public vetting of the approaches yet. So time will tell. But l Logic on the test hasn't changed in decades and most "new" things aren't that new. So I'd wait on using this one.

As far as going forward, it's hard for me to see the specific problems you have since we tend to rely on more of a numerical/percentage approach to evaluating performance, and I can't see that here for you. But what you said about RC and MP questions is something that sounds right to me and is also something you can work on. RC reading is not the same as LR reading, so you have to have a different mindset when you start that section. It would seem you are using "LR mode" for RC, which will cause problems on those bigger picture, more global questions.

In LR, missing Inference questions is a big red flag, as is missing Flaws. Those can be worked out and should be the foundation of your attack there. That will make the other types easier to solve. Our LSAT Podcast has a nice starter series on Flaws that you might find useful as a different learning method from the Bibles.

Since you are retaking, I'd suggest you read this as well: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/retaki ... our-score/

Thanks!

[katiebeth1796]

Thank you so much for the advice!