Preparing for the Postponed Dec. LSAT

[colin]

Hello PowerScore,

As one of the Dallas/Fort Worth area December test-takers I have been afforded an additional 1-2 weeks (presumably) to continue my prep efforts due to the inclement weather cancellation at my site this past Saturday. I am looking for the best way to optimize that additional time while staying sharp, and putting myself in the best position to max out my score on the rescheduled test date.

To provide some background, I registered for the Full Length PowerScore course for the October test. Starting with a diagnostic of 157, at the conclusion of that course I was scoring in the low 160s (high of 163 timed/177 un-timed, below my target timed goal of low 170s). I am committed to applying for this cycle, so I took the October test, knowing that I would also be taking the December test as well. The October LSAT did not go well, and I decided to cancel my score because I had a strong sense that I did not perform close to my potential.

I knew I needed more prep for December and retook the Full Length PowerScore course to gain a better mastery of the techniques. Working a full-time job, I knew I did not put in enough prep time to max out my first course, and just needed more repetitions to start seeing my score improve. Taking the course a second time things started to click for me. My first few timed tests administered in class went fairly well Test #1: 165 and Test #2: 166, but I kept hitting this plateau of 166 on my other timed practice tests outside of class (scored three in a row). On Test #3 I saw a drop to 163, which was due primarily to pushing/poor pacing techniques/sloppiness. After a lot of section work and review of those tests, I got more comfortable with my pacing and developed a sense of when I should skip a question, etc. and got to a place where I knew I could answer most/all LR questions, and almost all LG and RC questions with accuracy -- skipping an occasional time-consuming question to maximize my efficiency.

On the week leading up to Test #4, I scored my highest of a 172 timed during the Thanksgiving break. That Saturday I followed it up with a 171 on Test #4. The week leading up to the Dec. 7th LSAT, I did some review, and took timed test on Tuesday scoring a 169. Feeling confident with those last three scores, I continued some light review, un-timed section work, and completed the PowerScore Challenge Review on Thursday.

With my test date cancelled, I took another practice test this weekend expecting to score in that same range (high 160s/low 170s) and unfortunately did quite lower than I had anticipated. Scoring a 165 and missing more questions than usual in both LR (-4 & -5; had usually scored -2 or -3) and RC (-7; had usually scored -2 or -3, primarily due to running out of time on the last passage), but scored roughly the same on LG (-1; had been -3,-2,-0 on past 3 timed tests).

After reviewing my recent tests, there does not seem to be a recurring weakness on LR question type (typically miss/skip a few of the more difficult questions, may miss a few easy questions that I shouldn't due to carelessness). So I can't tell if my recent dip in performance is due to burn-out, sloppy test-taking or what? However, I would really like to figure it out so I can make corrections over the course of the next 1-2 weeks..

During my most recent timed test (165), I could sense myself answering the LR questions a bit sloppily and struggled on more LR questions than I usually do in a section (i.e. forgetting techniques, not applying techniques correctly) and confidently picked wrong answer choices on questions I "thought" I had worked correctly -- very frustrating. RC was the final section in the test, and found myself feeling kind of fatigued, and while I "read" each passage I wasn't really attacking the passages and the questions like I had on my past few tests, and it showed in my score. While taking the test I couldn't really figure out why I wasn't VIEWSTAMP-ing, or why I couldn't focus while reading each passage enough to really attack the answers -- I just knew I was struggling on the section more than usual.

Sorry for the verbose response, but I wanted to provide enough context to receive the best possible feedback. I'm sure you guys have seen this type of thing happen to several test-takers in the past. With all of that said, what do you recommend I focus my efforts towards over the course of the next week? What should I be doing to sharpen my skills and regain my focus for the rescheduled test date?

Assuming my rescheduled test is this upcoming Saturday, Dec. 14, I would like to take 1 more full-length timed practice test. If it's rescheduled for Saturday, Dec. 21, then I would look to take 2-3 more practice tests.

Thanks in advance for your help.

-Colin

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hi Colin,

Thanks for the detailed post - this is incredibly helpful.

First off, score fluctuations are common, particularly in the high 160's range. A few more questions answered correctly or incorrectly can have a big impact on your score at the higher end of the curve. Additionally, not all concepts are emphasized equally in all tests: in LR, some tests contain a lot more complex causation than conditionality-driven arguments, others emphasize Flaw in the Reasoning over, say, Method of Reasoning. We've see tests with as many as 6 - and as few as 2 - LR questions involving numerical evidence. Being particularly strong (or weak) in a given domain can artificially boost your score in some tests, and lower it in others. This might explain, at least in part, why your scores have not been consistent.

I do worry, however, that you're making mistakes you define as "careless." This is a sure sign of a burn-out, so I'd suggest a mental break from the LSAT for at least 2 days. I also recommend that students in your position take mini-mental breaks between the 4 passages in RC and the 4 games in LG: 10 seconds of simply focusing on your breathing can immediately help improve your short-term memory and focus, at a cost of only 30 seconds per section. How engaged you are with the passages correlates directly with level of reading comprehension: passive reading is the kiss of death on RC. If you feel fatigued, exhausted, burned out - it shows, and it shows most markedly (I think) in RC.

I would also tinker with your section strategy in all sections. For instance, how quickly do you recognize a particular question as being potentially time-consuming or difficult? Skipping questions is great, provided you 1) skip only the really hard ones; 2) leave some time to return to them at the completion of the section; and 3) make that decision quickly. The decision to skip a question entirely should be made in 30 seconds or less - any more than that and you've crossed the point of no return, at which point it would be more advantageous to attempt to solve the difficult question. Even if you get caught between two contenders, your probability of getting it right is now 50%, not 20%. The trick is not to spend too long debating between the answer choices, which almost always requires a solid prephrase. Do you do that at least 90% of the time?

Ideally, of course, you wouldn't HAVE to guess on any of the questions, be it LR, LG, or RC. While I'm loathe to recommend a resource that would cost you more money, you seem to be in an ideal situation to benefit from the Advanced LR course (especially considering your fluctuations in that section, and also the fact that it's worth 50% of your grade). At least preview the free lesson:

http://www.powerscore.com/lsat/advanced ... reasoning/

Finally, do not rush! Recent tests have showed us that the first 10 questions in LR are no longer guaranteed to be universally "easy," nor are the last 10 questions guaranteed to be universally "difficult." Item-level difficulty varies considerably within each section, and it is imperative that you give each question the respect it deserves. You've mastered pretty much all the techniques necessary to obtain a 180 - now you just have to apply them religiously, without failure, in order to reap the maximum benefit from them. Rushing not only leads to overlooking important nuances in language, but it can also prevent you from prephrasing. This, in turn, slows you down. Ironically, most test-takers waste more time by rushing - and thus staring at a bunch of answers that all look the same - than by slowing down.

So, my study plan for the next 1-2 weeks should be: take a 2-day hiatus from the LSAT, then take 1 practice test every two-to-three days (whether or not you decide to take the Advanced LR course). Make sure you take the tests timed, and add a fifth (experimental) section to each one. Most importantly, review your mistakes carefully, and don't hesitate to ask us for specific advice on any of them.

Best of luck!

[colin]

Nikki, thank you for your detailed response. I took a complete mental break from the LSAT yesterday and am feeling a bit more reenergized to start prepping again -- two full days sounds relaxing but I am concerned that if my test is rescheduled to this Saturday it will not leave me enough time to adequately review and take another practice test between Wednesday & Thursday? I would prefer to limit Friday to light review of my best prior performances..

The breathing technique sounds like it could be incredibly helpful for my situation, as I often rush into the next passage/game and end up wasting time on the front end (re-reading rules or the beginning of the passage). Taking a few deep breathes and organizing my thoughts sounds like a good strategy to reinvigorate myself to attack each passage/game with full focus -- I will definitely be trying this technique during my section work and next practice test!

Most of the time I do allow myself enough time to look back over any skipped questions (I try not to skip more than 2 or 3 each section) and have gotten better at making that decision quickly. Although, occasionally I do catch myself taking longer than 30 seconds, and I will be more cognizant of this now and look to make this decision quickly. I am pre-phrasing on nearly all questions, and with a lot of success on most of the easy/medium level and some difficult questions -- but see myself running into issues when I either (a) can't find my pre-phrase or (b) do not pre-phrase. Both of which result in me debating between a couple of contenders and wasting time and/or missing questions. I noticed on many of my recent mistakes that I am overlooking subtle nuances in the language of the stimulus -> which impacts my pre-phrase -> and I end up not looking for the right answer -> which ultimatley costs me precious time by having to go back to the stimulus or wasting time going back and forth on answer choices.

Unfortunately, I do not think I will get enough out of the Advanced LR material over the next 1-2 weeks. However, thank you for your advice, I will look to implement your breathing techniques, and will focus on not rushing while carefully reading each stimulus and treating each question with the respect it deserves. Having scored a 177 untimed and a 172 timed, I know I am capable of answering most/if not all questions on a LSAT correctly and with a fairly high level of efficiency -- I just need to work on refining my strategy to reach a level of consistency and confidence to do it on test day.

[KelseyWoods]

Hi Colin,

You got some great advice from Nikki and it sounds like you have a good plan for how to proceed!

Since prephrasing is a bit of a concern, I'll offer my two-cents on the subject:

For Second and Third Family questions, I try to keep my prephrases somewhat broad so that I can avoid getting too attached to a specific one that then doesn't pop up. Remember that for both of these question types, you can have new information in the answer choice that impacts your stimulus in some way. And since you can have new information, there are probably several different things which might have the desired impact on the stimulus.

For instance, if the argument is basically "The tax plan is good" and it's a Weaken question, there are probably several different specific ways that could hurt that argument. If specific ones leap to mind, that's great. If it's an easier question, whatever specific way I thought of to hurt that argument might end up being the correct answer. But if it's a harder question, they'll probably give you something you wouldn't necessarily think of on your own. Therefore, I would prephrase that question as "I'm looking for an answer choice that either provides a reason why the tax plan is actually bad or calls into question the data used to make that conclusion." Anything specific that I thought of is still in the back of my mind in case I come across it, but by going into the answer choices with a broader prephrase, I don't overlook an answer choice I might have if I had been focused on looking for something more specific.

For the First Family questions, if my prephrase fails me, I always go back to the stimulus to try to prove the correct answer. If it's a Must Be True question, I rely on the facts presented. For Method/Flaw/Parallel questions, I really try to point to where in the argument the author did whatever is described by the answer choice. If it's in the answer choice but not in the stimulus, that can't be my correct answer.

And then for Fourth Family questions, it's similar but I'm instead looking to directly disprove the answer choice with the stimulus.

Finally, it's always important to focus on the precise wording of the conclusion. As you've seen, sometimes the LSAT makers expect you to misread a conclusion or only focus on part of it and they have a very attractive incorrect answer choice waiting to trap you. If you consider the precise wording of the conclusion when you develop your prephrase, you'll be more likely to avoid those trap answers.

Hope that helps! Good luck!

Best,
Kelsey

[colin]

Thank you for all of the great advice. My test on Saturday went fairly well. I definitely went in with a lot more confidence than in October and feel infinitely better about it. I also want note how helpful the Test Mentality Modules were for my preparedness on Saturday. I watched both on Wednesday/Thursday and were tremendously helpful in calming my nerves and helped me put a handle on my anxiety (which really got the best of me in October). The sleep and diet information was great, but I felt like the "Values Affirmation Exercise" along with reading the passage about how anxiety can be beneficial right before walking in to the test center were the most useful. I'll be honest, I was unsure about the "Values Affirmation Exercise", but it did wonders for me on Friday night before the exam, and I really felt that the positive energy/confidence/and calming benefits carried through on Saturday as well.

Additionally, the idea of "visualizing my success" really resonated with me, and I could feel it as I worked through my first section (Logic Games) and everything was clicking on all cylinders. I ended up working all the games within time and assuming all went well, probably missed 0, maybe -1, or -2 max. Logical Reasoning went fairly well, but I wasn't able to move quite as quickly as I had in practice (probably the nerves, but I was able to manage them with breathing/re-focus). I was able to finish both sections, but had to guess & move on a few questions. Felt like I worked most questions pretty well, but was unsure on about 3-4 questions in each section. Reading Comp was probably my worst section (had been one of my strongest in practice), got tripped up on a few questions that I had difficulty finding answers for in the passage, and was unsure on a few others. It left me only about 6 minutes for the last passage, and was hurried a bit and could't work the last couple questions..

All in all, I think I did fairly well. I don't feel like I quite hit my max score from practice (172), have about the same confidence level I felt before scoring an earlier practice test (that I got 169 on). However, I honestly feel like I wouldn't be shocked to see anything from a 163 to a 173 --- is this a pretty normal thought process?

[David Boyle]

Thank you for all of the great advice. My test on Saturday went fairly well. I definitely went in with a lot more confidence than in October and feel infinitely better about it. I also want note how helpful the Test Mentality Modules were for my preparedness on Saturday. I watched both on Wednesday/Thursday and were tremendously helpful in calming my nerves and helped me put a handle on my anxiety (which really got the best of me in October). The sleep and diet information was great, but I felt like the "Values Affirmation Exercise" along with reading the passage about how anxiety can be beneficial right before walking in to the test center were the most useful. I'll be honest, I was unsure about the "Values Affirmation Exercise", but it did wonders for me on Friday night before the exam, and I really felt that the positive energy/confidence/and calming benefits carried through on Saturday as well.

Additionally, the idea of "visualizing my success" really resonated with me, and I could feel it as I worked through my first section (Logic Games) and everything was clicking on all cylinders. I ended up working all the games within time and assuming all went well, probably missed 0, maybe -1, or -2 max. Logical Reasoning went fairly well, but I wasn't able to move quite as quickly as I had in practice (probably the nerves, but I was able to manage them with breathing/re-focus). I was able to finish both sections, but had to guess & move on a few questions. Felt like I worked most questions pretty well, but was unsure on about 3-4 questions in each section. Reading Comp was probably my worst section (had been one of my strongest in practice), got tripped up on a few questions that I had difficulty finding answers for in the passage, and was unsure on a few others. It left me only about 6 minutes for the last passage, and was hurried a bit and could't work the last couple questions..

All in all, I think I did fairly well. I don't feel like I quite hit my max score from practice (172), have about the same confidence level I felt before scoring an earlier practice test (that I got 169 on). However, I honestly feel like I wouldn't be shocked to see anything from a 163 to a 173 --- is this a pretty normal thought process?

Hello colin,

Yes, it sounds fairly normal, even if more detailed than some other people's thought processes. (Which is not a bad thing)
Glad all the advice was helpful!

Do not feel bad if you don't do well as you thought--for example, even if you feel you missed 2 maximum on any logic game, maybe you missed 3 or more somehow. Then again, maybe you did better than you thought!
And feel free not to overthink things--overthinking can be a waste of time etc.

Hope this helps,
David

[colin]

Well, I ended up with a 166 on my December LSAT. I know it's a very solid score that can get me in to several schools (UGPA: 3.85) but I can't help but think that I did not max out my potential, and am fairly disappointed with it in terms of reaching my desired schools. Having taken a 3-week LSAT study hiatus, and only a month before the February administration -- I am struggling with what the best way forward is. A month is a fair amount of time, but I'll be spending a week overseas for work and am still completing remaining elements of my application (personal statement, why X school essays, diversity statement). I would love to apply this cycle, especially to capitalize on shrinking applicant pool size. I see three possible scenarios:

1.) Apply with the 166 and hope for the best (getting off a T14 wait list and paying sticker, or Texas resident in at UT, WL/accepted at Vandy, scholarship at SMU)

2.) Retake in February with limited study time and risk not bettering my score and burning my 3rd take in two years.

3a.) Retake in June and sit out the cycle (would much prefer NOT to sit out the cycle)
3b.) Apply with 166 (see how fall 2014 cycle goes) and retake in June (if significantly better withdraw and reapply for 2015 cycle).


Any advice from those more experienced in the process would be much appreciated...

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Colin,

Let me offer both congratulations and condolences on the 166. My thinking—even before reading your lettered options—was to apply with the 166 and then consider taking a later LSAT if needed, so I'd recommend going with option 3B.

Given what you've said about your schedule over the next month, I think that taking the February LSAT would be difficult, and the circumstances would make it hard to produce your best score. That means that, if taking the LSAT again is required, you'd be looking at the June LSAT, or possible the September LSAT.

Applying now and then possibly retaking also allows you to stay in this cycle, and that is clearly a high priority for you (understandably).

Please let me know if that helps, and if there is any other assistance I can provide. Thanks, and good luck with the decision!

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hi Colin,

I'm with Dave on this one. A 166 is a solid score, and - provided you don't wait until the end of January to submit your applications - it will give you a good chance at many T14 schools. Here's the catch: Many law schools resort to wait-lists to hedge against a low yield. Given your numbers, and especially the fact that you're applying somewhat late in the season, I fully expect you to land on a few wait lists. By re-taking the test in June, you will give yourself ample time to reach that top-1% score: it could be the silver bullet that will get you off a wait-list, or two (decisions on WL applicants are sometimes made as late as July and August). Even if you don't get lucky, it will give you the option to sit out this application cycle and re-apply next year. Either way, it's a win-win.

Good luck!

[hassan66]

Hi,

Thank you to all the students who have shared their experiences and to the Powerscore staff for their insight! I had a similar question as did Colin. I will be taking the November LSAT this year and I was wondering what it looks like to withdraw an application before they have made a decision on you. I wanted to submit my applications before I took the test and then have my scores sent immediately after I’ve received them so that my application is complete earlier than if I wait to view my scores and then submit. However, I was also wondering how it would look if you withdraw your application before admissions views your application so that you can retake the exam and resubmit your application the next year. And if you get a score that is still great but not in the 170s that would be most helpful for T-14 schools, should you plough through and apply this year or would it be better to wait and reapply or can you retake in June and then send in your score and would that actually make a difference? I have a 3.67 GPA so my score is even more important.

I know things happen on a case by case basis but I appreciate any advice!

Thank you!!

Edit: I was also wondering if it does actually make a difference, sending in my application before November and have the schools only wait for scores to have my file be complete, or sending in my application once I get my scores and then sending in the app immediately after. In terms of processing time/getting in earlier in the queue, is there a difference between the two? Thank you again!