Is going from 145 to 170 possible?

[kyen]

Hi there,
I have started studying for the LSAT in September today, using Powerscore's 4 month plan. My diagnostic was 145. I'm aiming for a 170, but as I read through many LSAT forums, it would seem that the general consensus is that most people only improve their score by about 12 points. With my current gpa, I probably need at least a 165 to get into the school of my choice, but I'm very much hoping for a 170. Is this at all likely? Should I be doing additional study along with the 4 month plan? I'm very worried

[Luke Haqq]

Hi kyen!

Short answer is, of course--a move from 145 to 170 is certainly possible!

I can speak from experience on that front--my first diagnostic test was in the 140s and I was able to bring it into the 170s, so I'm positive it can be done. And it's great that you're asking about what additional work you can do outside PowerScore's 4-month plan. I can offer some suggestions of what worked best for me (when I studied for the LSAT, I was taking PowerScore's two-month class).

First, if you have access to a number of practice LSAT prep tests, you should aim to take as many of those as possible. One crucial thing this will do is give you a diagnostic picture of your scores and any trends. In other words, it helps let you see how you're doing and if you're making progress. I found, for example, that my scores briefly started increasing, but then decreased as I started to try the new tools I was learning from PowerScore. I'm confident that this was because I was more focused on learning how to use the tools right (e.g., setting up games correctly, making sure to diagram out the conditional reasoning in arguments). As I started understanding the tools, I started seeing my scores gradually increase. I only mention this because I've talked with others who get frustrated at not seeing their scores increase at the outset, so don't be discouraged if you find yourself in that boat! At the beginning, you should be focused on getting a broader understanding of the test, learning how to categorize questions (e.g., weaken vs. must be true questions) and game types (e.g., grouping vs. sequencing), and other tools PowerScore suggests along the way.

In short, that first piece of advice is to take as many full practice tests (timed) as possible. It'll help you know if you're like to reach the 165 to 170 mark on the day of the test, and it'll make you more familiar with the test. My second recommendation is to figure out what your problem areas are, and then target those. This is likely something that you won't know until you're well into the 4-month plan. But as you get familiarized with the test, have taken a few, and have looked over your answers, hopefully you'll start to be able to spot particular question types you find you are getting wrong more often than others. If, for example, you found that you were often getting strengthen questions wrong, I'd then encourage you to focus on PowerScore's homework drills that concentrate solely on strengthen questions. A lot of students study just by taking practice tests, but they don't take the time to go back and really figure out things like what they did wrong, why they chose the wrong answer, why the right answer is right, and whether or not they are getting certain types wrong more often than others. If you do take the time to figure out things like that and target specific areas, I'm confident you'd be maximizing your time and effort as you try to get the highest score possible.

Lastly, those two general suggestions can be in tension with one another. That is, if you do go the route of taking as many full practice tests as you can, then you have some reason to limit how much of the homework and drills you do. This is because all of the homework uses questions from actual LSATs, so the more homework you do, the more likely you'll start seeing those questions in the practice tests you take. This isn't that bad of a problem, but it can mean that you're not getting the most accurate picture of your score on those practice tests, if you're able to fly through certain questions because you've seen them already. So I'd probably do a mixture of both--take as many full, timed LSATs as you can; go through each test after you take it to figure out what/why you did wrong; use the lessons and homework to maximize the efficiency of your studying by targeting question types that you find you get wrong more often than others.

Hope that helps!

[kyen]

Thank you!

[Alex3505]

Hello,
I feel the same way. I completed the powerscore online course back in May with the goal of taking the June LSAT. Needless to say , I did not feel prepared . I am now preparing for the September LSAT and I'm still not where I want to be regarding my score. My GPA is quite high and the LSAT is ultimately the most important factor in getting in the law school of my choice.

My strengths are reading comprehension, and to my surprise logic games (even though , at times they can be a struggle). My biggest WEAKNESS by far is logical reasoning. I notice that I'm reading the stimuli more than once because I have no idea what's going on (is that normal?) ,but I am able to correctly identify the question type (I know its weird). As a result of me taking the online course, I have plenty of supplemental material. Right now I am currently going back over the chapters that I had a hard time with or simply did not have time to complete during the course. Chapter 2 conditional reasoning is killing me!

Do you have any suggestions for studying here on out? I've taken a look at the study plans but they do not include a plan from the material from the online course. I've been taking practice tests at least once a week in addition to timing myself on sections. I've improved drastically from the beginning of March (scoring 149 on the diagnostic) until now ,but I don't feel that I'm making enough improvement to score at least a 165 in September. I'm just trying to maintain a positive attitude.

Thank you in advance,
Alex

[Luke Haqq]

Hi Alex!

First off, if your diagnostic score was 149, and you've also improved drastically since then, it seems like you're well on your way to scoring 165+. You still have two months before the test, which is plenty of time to make big improvements in your score.

I also think you're in a great spot because you've identified your strengths in logic games and reading comprehension. Often logic games are insurmountable for test takers who don't know how to approach them, while others might not do as well on RC because of reading speed. Logical reasoning is a section that you can use a particularly targeted approach on when it comes to figuring out ways to increase your score, especially since you've mentioned you're good at identifying question-stem types.

You mentioned that you've been taking practice tests at least once a week. I'd encourage you to take as many as possible--depending on the materials you have and your schedule--so that you're doing a practice test most days of the week. Part of the value of doing so is that it helps routinize the test-taking process, so that it's less intimidating, much more familiar and second-nature when it comes to the day of the test. But part of the value of doing so is going through and correcting what specific type of arguments are ones you've been getting wrong more often than others. In regularly doing tests, you'll also have a better picture of trends in your improvements/weaknesses with particular argument types. That review process is essential--a person could take a lot of practice LSATs without ever reviewing the errors, and such a person might increase their score marginally. By contrast, that time would be much better spent if the person instead spent an hour or two after taking the practice test to go through and review every question answered incorrectly to figure out (1) why the correct answer was the best choice, (2) why the incorrect answer was chosen.

All that being said, it's great that you're going to Lesson 2's discussion of conditional reasoning. The drills, explanations, and tips in that chapter are important and they pervade the test. You might also find it helpful to focus on flaws in the reasoning. If you have PowerScore's full-length course books, that specific type is discussed at length in Lesson 7, starting at page 7-6. The people who make the LSAT use the same types of logical fallacies over and over when designing questions and incorrect answer choices. Being able to notice and categorize these common fallacies quickly can be quite helpful especially for avoiding the wrong answer. For example, a common answer choice is "the argument presupposes what it attempts to establish." That language always indicates a circular argument. Others include ad hominem arguments, using bad data, etc.--again, many of these are usefully discussed in Lesson 7.

Those are things you can do at a broader, general level in terms of honing and improving important skills for the LSAT--e.g, diagramming conditional reasoning quickly and correctly, identifying common flaws in reasoning, etc. But you can also use lesson books to do more targeted studying, doing drills on whichever particular argument types you get wrong more often than others. If you're planning on taking lots of practice tests, you'll want to balance how much homework/drills you do rather than actual practice tests--since you otherwise might start seeing questions you're familiar with when taking practice tests (not the end of the world, but it prevents one from getting a fully accurate diagnostic score).

Lastly, to your question about having to read the stimulus more than once is certainly normal. Always keeping your pencil moving and diagramming as you go in arguments can be a good way to help avoid the need to read a second time. You might also try reading the question stem first. That doesn't work for everyone, and PowerScore recommends it's usually more in a person's interests in saving time not to do so, but it's worth trying to see if it's useful for you or not.

Hope those thoughts help!

[iknowsomething]

I'm a current LSAT student. My diagnostic score was 146 and I hit 170 on the nose for the first time about two months ago. It is possible, even if it's time-consuming. I've been studying for a little over ten months, and took the second half of June off since I sat for the June LSAT and was a bit burnt out.

The hardest part about achieving that kind of a score increase is maintaining your confidence, or at least that was the hardest part for me.

[Stephanie Oswalt]

Thanks for the comments iknowsomething, and congrats on your score increase!

I'm just going to add a quick link in here to one of our blog posts, The Ultimate Test Mentality Resource List: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/5-days- ... ource-list

This may be a helpful resource to those working to keep that confidence going!

Thanks!

[iknowsomething]

Thank you, Stephanie!

Just to follow up: I scored a 169 on the June LSAT and ended up in the 97th percentile. I found out yesterday at 5:15 PM EST. Nothing has ever made me happier!

-6 RC (two guesses on 26 and 27, one correct), -1 LR (25/26), -3 LR (22/25, two guesses on 24 and 25, both incorrect), and -0 LG for a raw score of 91/101

I worked from 1 to 17 then backwards from 26 to 18 on my first LR, and the one I did miss (#21) had the correct answer as the only other contender. I still remember struggling over it at the end of my section. So close to perfect LR, but I'll happily take the -1.

[Alex3505]

Awesome thank you so much guys !! I really appreciate your responses !

[Leilahesen]

Hi,
I have started to prepare for LSAT month ago and aiming to take test in September. I took few PrepTests (only LG and LR sections). In LG section I have had only 2 incorrect answers and in LR I have had 8 to 12 incorrect answers. Would like to know weather I am doing well and can I get 170 or more at test?
Thank you