Not scoring where I should be

[jodie]

Hi there,
I basically walked in and took my LSAT in June 2014 and didn't get the score I need. Then I purchased the LG and LR Bibles from powerscore, which I loved. I studied for 3 months, and just rewrote the LSAT in December 2014, but scored one point below my June score! I'm incredibly frustrated. When I took the tests at home I was consistently scoring in the mid 160's. On both LSATs I scored in the high 140's, not even cracking 150!! I felt very confident when I walked out of the Decemeber 2014 LSAT which is the scariest part. I don't know what I'm doing wrong or what the best course of action is. I was thinking an online course with powerscore or private tutoring. Could you shed some light on what you think is the best course of action?
Thanks,

[Morgan O'Donnell]

Hi Jodie!

Thank you for your post! First of all, it's great that you saw such a significant increase in your practice tests- good job! I know some of our LSAT experts will be responding to this post as well, however, I wanted to try and get a little more information from you before they respond. Would you be able to give us an idea of how many practice tests you took under timed conditions and your range of scores leading up to the Dec. LSAT? This information will help us to give you the best advice on where to go from here.

Thanks so much, and we look forward to your reply!

Best,

Morgan O'Donnell
PowerScore Test Prep

[Jon Denning]

Hey Jodie,

Thanks for the post and welcome to the Forum! I'm sorry to hear that the actual test didn't reflect your scores on your practice tests, although as Morgan implies by congratulating you on those scores, if you're capable of scoring mid-160s on a test (provided it's a real, hopefully recent LSAT, and is taken under strictly timed conditions) that means you certainly have the potential to hit that number on test day! Falling short is frustrating, of course, and I'll get to that in a second, but first I think we should focus on the successes and see if we can't determine what was typical there but less so on the real thing.

I know Morgan asked that you give us some more information, so I'm going to hopefully guide you through what we'd like to know. First, break down a typical mid-160s exam for me (even giving me the PT and timing/test-taking conditions based on where you took it and when): how many do you get right and wrong on each section?; specific strengths and weaknesses?; general pace and time management?; confidence level and feelings of calm vs anxiety?; anything else you believe would be useful?

I ask these things because we need to know who you are as a 160s test taker, in large part to serve as a point of reference to test day.

Which brings us to your actual tests. Hit me with the same details! You've taken two disclosed (released, so you have them) LSATs...break them down for me section by section. Were the 140+s consistent (about the same as each other section by section and in terms of your overall state of mind)? Were there clear differences (struggled with Games last time but this time RC was my worst section; felt super nervous in June but was totally composed in December; etc).

Finally, let's look at the two--at home vs real--side by side and see if the similarities and differences might shed some light on, or at least give some clues about, the cause(s) behind the drop. 15+ point differences can happen, but they're pretty unusual so I imagine with the information requested above we'll be able to better pinpoint exactly why things turned out the way they did, and what we should do moving forward to ensure it doesn't happen a third time.

Thanks Jodie!

Jon