Retaking the LSAT in June

[Nfontes93]

Hello,

I just got my scores from the December LSAT yesterday and got a 161. This was below my diagnostic score that I took over the summer and I'm concerned about my dip. My average score on practice tests was higher than that. I'm hoping to score around 168-172. The December test was much harder than any practice I had done. I struggled a lot on the games, which is normally a stronger section for me and my logical reasoning scores were also very rough. I got around 14 questions wrong total. I don't feel like I need to start from scratch with my studying. I'm not sure that would be a productive use of my time. I still feel comfortable with the games. Tha pattern game killed me, but I think if I had studied it more I would've been fine. My main concern now is improving on the logical reasoning. This has always been my weakness and my main obstacle to getting any score increases in practice. Do you have any advice for me on how I should begin my studying? Also how would you recommend me approaching my studying in general for a retake?

Thank you!!

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hi Nfontes93,

Sorry to hear your LSAT score didn't meet your expectations! It's a real bummer, considering you had been scoring considerably higher on your practice tests. However, I was puzzled by your comment that you should focus predominantly on LR, even though it was the pattern game that most contributed to your sub-par score. I think you should be focusing on both LR and LG, and don't leave any stone unturned: in addition to the main game types and LR questions, make sure you become an absolute expert on Pattern and Circular games, as well as Formal Logic in LR. We've seen that type of reasoning reappear in recent exams, which should not be underestimated.

Having taken a 3-week break from the LSAT is a good thing. Now you need to dig in and focus: first, take a new diagnostic test, then thoroughly review it following our guidelines. Here is an article that might help with that process: Best Way to Take Practice Tests. Overall, I'd suggest taking at least 2-3 tests/week while you are studying, and possibly more depending on your progress and the time you have available. We also have more detailed study plans and a free LSAT scoring analyzer that you can use throughout the process as well. Please see PowerScore Self-Study Site.

How you go about studying for the February test will depend, in part, on what resources you have available to you. You didn't mention if you took a Full Length/Live Online course or studied with the Bibles on your own? If you took the course, you should have access to the Online Student Center, which will allow you to analyze your performance on the practice tests and access supplemental modules, including those discussing rarer question types, as mentioned earlier. If you have the Bible Trilogy but not the supplemental Workbooks, consider investing in them - it's a ton of additional drills and resources designed specifically to reinforce higher-level conceptual understanding of the material.

To do well on the LSAT, you must have both speed and accuracy, but accuracy has to come first. Having the ability to solve the questions also means that your process is solid. If your process is solid, then what we want to do is retain that and then speed it up. That requires practice and repetition. Some of that is on your own, breaking down questions and then reverse engineering them to see what pieces were most important, and sometimes it requires out-of-the-box techniques like teaching the questions to other people.

If you've exhausted the resources available through the Full Length or Live Online Student Centers, consider the Advanced Logical Reasoningcourse. That course is designed to take your understanding of LR to higher level, and in doing so it looks at ideas that appear less frequently, that are more inherently difficult, and it also covers a bunch of questions that are really challenging. It's designed more as a refining and expansion course, which you could benefit from. Alternatively, you can look into private tutoring, which is especially helpful when tackling score plateaus (which are, by definition, unique to each student).

Hope this gives you a good place to start! Let me know if you have any further questions.

Thanks,

[Nfontes93]

Thank you for your quick response. Just to clarify I'll be retaking the test in June. Does that change your advice on how I should proceed with my studying?

I have previously taken powerscore' full length online course and I used those books to study. Should I buy the bible trilogy for the June test?

[Nikki Siclunov]

Ah, sorry I missed that. I sort of assumed you'd be retaking in February, as it's the last test administration that allows you to apply for entry in Fall 2016. Taking it in February also makes sense since you're so close to your desired score range that waiting another 6 months seems a bit odd. But, if you won't be applying for entry in Fall 2016 anyway, there is no compelling reason to rush it.

If you'll be prepping for June, I think 2-3 tests/week would be an overkill. You have three primary objectives: (1) address specific weaknesses you have; (2) improve your overall timing and endurance; and (3) work on test mentality. Given that your actual score was much lower than the one predicted by your practice tests, it's reasonable to conclude that nerves played at least some role in your sub-par performance. You need to fix that.

To achieve the first objective, you need to look at your practice LSAT results and use the feedback to determine which concepts and question types need work. Then, focus in on those, either by re-doing all the questions of that type from your course homework, or by using something like our Training Type books.

I'd build in a break in March for 2-3 weeks to keep you refreshed.

As I mentioned earlier, overall timing and endurance is built around taking practice tests, and then reviewing them rigorously. When I used to review my own practice tests, I'd spend as long as 3-4 hours reviewing each test, even though I rarely made more than 8-10 mistakes. I'd review every question that gave me reason to doubt my answer, even if I got it right in the end. You have quite a bit of time until June, so taking 1 test/week would be sufficient until your study break in March. Thereafter, I'd bump that up to 2 tests/week. Check out the Self-Study site I mentioned earlier.

As you work through the various materials, don't forget to continue to work on your mental approach. Some of these resources might help: The Ultimate Test Mentality Resource List.

Unfortunately, your access to the Online Student Center will expire in February, so you may wish to extend that by calling 1-800-545-1750 and speaking to one of our course enrollment specialists. It's definitely worth it for scoring your practice tests and having access to all the supplemental materials that come with your course. I don't think the Bible Trilogy would be terribly useful, since you have the coursebooks. However, I'd consider investing in the Training Type volumes, as they will give you vast collections of questions to practice (some of which you will have seen in your homework, but you've probably marked them up already). I'd also get the Bible Workbooks, which contain a ton of drills you've never seen before. Last, as I mentioned earlier, consider the Advanced Logical Reasoning course, which we've designed specifically for students such as yourself.

Let me know if this answers your questions.

Thanks,

[Nfontes93]

Hi Nikki,

Thank you for your response.

I decided against doing it in February mainly because I don't want to rush things. The time crunch would've stressed me out a lot. I'm not applying until next fall so I'd rather take advantage and have the extra time to study.

Your suggestions definitely help me a lot. I'm concerned though because on the day of the test I actually felt very calm. The LR section is just always so difficult for me. The difference on test day than the practice tests was actually the LG due to the pattern game so I definitely think you're right that I should go back and review some of those more difficult concepts.

My other question is regarding admissions. I've read on other sites that some law schools will average my scores and others have said they look at the best. I'm not sure which is accurate, but I'm hoping you can shed some light on this for me if possible.

Thank you again!

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hey Nfontes93,

Pretty much everyone agrees that only the highest score matters for the vast majority of schools. Check out this blog post on this very topic we wrote a few months ago:

Should You Retake the LSAT? Admissions Experts Agree: Yes!

Your rationale for not taking it in February makes sense. If there is no compelling reason to do it (e.g. you need to apply for admission in Fall 2016), you may as well give yourself the extra time to prep.

Good luck!