Same Scores Past 3 Months-20 days left

[Dave Killoran]

Hey Sam,

That's exactly the kind of thing that happens, but I know how frustrating it feels to see what appears to a sudden downturn. I like your attitude here though—you are already handling this differently from a mental standpoint, and that will really serve you well come test day! I also wrote somewhat recently about the benefits of bad performance, and given what just happened to you, that article might be of some value. You can find it at: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/the-benefits-of-failure.

Also, if you haven't checked out our extensive resources on mental strength and positivity, you might find an article I wrote last year to be helpful. It's called 5 Days to the LSAT: the Ultimate Test Mentality Resource List, and reviewing some of that info might help make you even stronger as you move forward

Keep fighting and stay positive!

[wshah11]

Hey Dave,

I have already read the 5 days to the LSAT blog, but not the 1st link you sent and I just read that and agree. I have the mentality right now that I can't get bogged down on this low score. 2 days ago I just scored a 158. Nothing changed with me within these two last days so I know I am still capable of doing that again. That's why I wasn't too upset, also your perfect timing of the article happen to explain the point drop.

I already reviewed my LR sections and saw what I did wrong and some were stupid mistakes, while others I noticed was because of a more challenging LR section overall than the other PT LSAT I just recently took. (Casino Effect)

To tell you the truth, I am more annoyed that I cannot lock down a consistent range prior to next week. With only two more PT's to go, I don't know how reliable that range is going to be come test day.

Thanks
Sam

[wshah11]

Hey everyone,

So I just took another PT (Dec 2015 trying to take the last two most recent leadng up to test day) and scored a 149 again. Not going to lie, this hurt more this time. Did I get bad luck again with the Casino Effect? All 3 sections scores dropped and I did significantly worse a certain LR section. I honestly don't know what's going on. I was slowly rising last week in the 150s and I'm back to were I was in the beginning 3 monthsago, of the week of taking the LSAT.

Do you think that I should look over my exam today and take 2 timed LR sections tomorrow and review those too? Then take another PT on Friday? Or would I be doing to much by looking it over today? Should I call it a day and relax?

Honestly I don't think I feel nervous or stressed, but maybe that could be it as well. I just don't like it that I am scoring this low leading up to the exam. Any advice on what to do these upcoming days would be great.

Thanks
Sam

[Nikki Siclunov]

Hey Sam,

First off, yes - I would review all sections in the D15 exam thoroughly. In fact, I would probably print out the pages containing questions I missed, and do these questions again. If anything, it will show whether you can get the answers "right" outside the stress-inducing framework of an actual practice test. If your accuracy improves the second time around, chances are you're letting the stress get to you.

In your position, I'd take one more test, but make it untimed. The less you stress out, the better. Your score will undoubtedly be higher, even if you don't take a ton of extra time per section. Rest assured that this IS a score you're capable of, if only you focus on the task at hand. Forget about the bottom line. Forget about being timed. It's just you and the question in front of you: in that very moment, nothing else matters This is the mentality I'd like you to have on the day of the test.

Check out this blog post:

June 2016 LSAT Countdown: Are You Ready To Kill It?

Also, the links Dave posted to the Test Mentality resources are GOLD! At this point, confidence and sleep are arguably more important than test prep.

Good luck!

[wshah11]

Hey Nikki,

Ok I will do that, should I do it today or should I do this tomorrow and take today off? Also what about taking 2 timed LR sections tomorrow from old LSAT's?

Thanks
Sam

[Nikki Siclunov]

Sam,

I think you should do it tomorrow, do the review, and call it a day. As long as you review your work thoroughly, I would gradually disengage from timed practice tests OR sections. At this point, I'm afraid they can do more damage than good.

Thanks!

[wshah11]

Hey Nikki,

You are not going to believe what happened, followed your advice as usual and went back and reviewed th exam. I literally got over 85% of the questions I missed right on my first try back doing it again.

So I now know I didn't lose the content material from all the studying. My issue has to be either stress, nerves, or honestly I maybe just need to slow down and actually read the question. Some of the questions I missed, I literally missed the answer choice, picked the first attractive answer choice because of the time limit, and sometimes I didn't understand the prompt. I'm glad to know that one of these is it and I actually know how to do these.

I read the article you sent yesterday about just closing your eyes for 10-15 and relaxing. Helped a lot! This gave me a confidence booster knowing that I actually know how to do the questions, I just need to excute now. I just am honestly afraid that if I slow down to actually read the questions I'll become too slow. Any suggestions?

Thanks
Sam

[Ladan Soleimani]

Hey Sam,

It seems like your stress and nerves are the culprits here. You are clearly capable of getting the questions right when you aren't under pressure. The confidence boost from knowing you can answer the questions will hopefully let you relax a bit as you are taking the test.

In regards to the timing issue, it could be that nerves are causing you to speed up to too fast of a pace and that is causing an issue with missing the correct answer. Since you were previously scoring higher under timed conditions, you know you can answer at an appropriate speed and I would not worry too much about becoming too slow if you take the time to fully read through the questions. Even if you were to get to a few less question by slowing down, the increased accuracy you will have on the questions you get to will still result in a higher score.

I definitely think it's mainly the stress that is getting to you. Just relax. Like you said, you know how to answer these questions. You are always going to have some of the nerves on test day, but if you can channel that into positive energy, combined with the confidence boost that you know what you are doing, I think you will be fine.

Ladan

[wshah11]

Hey Everyone,

So I just received my June LSAT score and did not hit my target score. So I have decided to retake it in September. I would like some guidance on steps of what to do in these upcoming months. I am a full-time college student so the months of August and September I will not be able to study as much as this month in July. During these months I believe that I will only be able to take at most 2 PT's a week. So I want to utilize my time as best as I can during this month. I would like some help addressing a few points.

1. I recently read on the blog that I am at a disadvantage now that I did not cancel my score and did not do well because law schools will now average my new score with the old one. On my PT's I scored at once 8 points higher than the score I just received so I know I can do significantly better that is why I am retaking it.

2. I know what I did wrong on this LSAT, I did not do so hot on the Logic Games section, the last 2 games, I ran out of time. I thought it was the experimental because to me it was difficult, but I did not slack off in this section despite this thought process. I then had another Logic Games sections (This was the real experimental) and I crushed that one, which is how I usually do on my LG sections, so I thought the first one was the experimental because of its difficulty for me. Logic games is usually my strong suit, so I was very disappointed that I had bad luck with the "Casino Effect". But, what can you do.

3. I was thinking of buying the "Advanced" Version of the 3 Bibles for each section to have in these upcoming months. Is that a good idea? I have already bought the in person prep class for the June LSAT so I know I have access to supplemental work and the PT's till the September LSAT. (Which I kinda do not know how to access the supplemental work, just used all my books provided in class) The issue is, I already used up all the homework sections from each book, so I am out of practice material. I will be taking more PT's of course 2-3 weekly, even though I did around 16 of them, I guess it was not enough. I really want to use this time to significantly increase my score. Unlike last time, I know the material on the LSAT, how it works, and the environment, so I believe there is a stronger chance of doing better coupled with my already better past performance.

4. As mentioned earlier, my months of August and September, I will be very busy with school work and extracurricular activities. So I was going to create my law schools applications to some schools I want (Save them, but obviously do not send them till the date opens up), create my personal statement, have it edited, ask for my recommendations letters (3 of them), and save of this so I can just fire them away when I get back my September score. I want to apply as early as possible to increase my chance of acceptance to my reach schools. Is this a good idea? I have obliviously never done any of this before, is there resources that PowerScore provides or people I could talk to that could help me with this process during this month? How to make a strong Personal Statement, what to ask for in Recommendation letters, and how to make a strong application.

Thank you
Sam

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Sam,

I'm going to make a very fast reply since I'm pressed for time this weekend, but it should help answer some of your questions and alleviate a few concerns.

1. This is fortunately wrong. As we've written on our blog frequently in the past few years (example: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/should- ... -agree-yes), law schools care only about the high LSAT score! It was long ago that the average was universally used, but those days are long over. If you saw that on our blog, it had to have been quite old, and if you could, shoot me the link—I'll have it removed asap. But, it's not a concern now. Only the high score matters!

2. Good attitude on your part to see that this sometimes happens and it's not symptomatic of a larger problem. This LG section actually wasn't too bad (Game 3 was tough, and Game 4 easier but not simple). My colleague Jon Denning reviewed all 4 games in case you want to check that out:

Games 1 and 2

Games 3 and 4

3. You mean the Advanced LG and LR courses? There's not an Advanced LSAT Bible currently in existence (although we have begun the plans for one!), so only only the Advanced LG and Advanced LR courses exist. Those are both great courses, but I'd wait to buy them until later in the year, when you are sure you need them. Those courses aren't about new material, by the way, but about focusing on advanced techniques, high-level methods, and extremely difficult problems.

By the way, I've written on several occasions about the fact that having seen an LSAT question before isn't a study hindrance, mainly because it's almost impossible to squeeze all of the knowledge from an LSAT question from a single look. If you follow the suggestions in that post, I think it will help you change the way you approach questions you have seen already.

The other good news is that you still have many more LSAT PTs to work through, so you are far away from having seen everything once, let alone twice.

4. We actually do quite a bit of Admissions Consulting, and I feel it's one of the most valuable services we offer. the programs are listed here: https://www.powerscore.com/lsat/law-school-admissions/. There are so many things that the typical student does not know about how admissions works that it can be a real game changer as far as your apps.

Of course, we always offer a strong slate of free resources for applications, and these are good starting points: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/the-pow ... ource-list and https://www.powerscore.com/lsat/help/#admissions.

Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!