To cancel or not cancel? And how do i study for next time?

[kyen]

I just took the September LSAT, and I have a rather long, two-part question regarding my situation.
I originally planned to start studying in May, but unfortunately I had some serious personal issues that left me unable to really study until August. I know that one month definitely wasn't enough time for me to study, and I was averaging around 158 on PT's, which is of course, not where I want to be, but I figured I would take September anyways to see how much being nervous affected my score. Unfortunately, I know that I really messed up on the logic games section, so I'm guessing that my score will be around 152. So the first part of my question is: is it better to cancel my score? Or to have a really score like a 152 (or even lower!) show up on my record. I know that it won't technically count against me if I score much higher next time, but I'm really not sure what to do.
The second part of my question is: how do i study for next time? I used the one month power score study plan to study for this september lsat, which means that I've already used prep tests 67-80, and I've gone through most of the power score question type training books. I'd like to retake the lsat for next september. What do I do??

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Kyen,

Thanks for the questions, and I'm sorry to hear things didn't go well. Let's get right to your two questions.

• 1. Should you cancel?
  
  The short answer is yes. The cancel decision rule is to keep your score unless some type of clear disaster occurred. Although low scores don't really matter any more (see http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/should- ... -agree-yes for more on that), when you know you've produced a score that is nowhere near a "normal" performance, there's no benefit to keeping the score. It will sit there on your record, and then also be used to calculate an average (again, since they use the high, this isn't a big deal). The cancel doesn't hurt at all, and so I'd go for that.
  
  2. How do you study for next time?
  
  Ok, using the one month plan actually turns out to be a benefit, because that plan accelerates the preparation timeline. This time, you can slow down, relax a bit more, and go more deeply into the concepts. There are two main parts to that:
  
  
  • A. Complete the sections of the books that you weren't able to finish before or that weren't assigned.
    
    B. Go back into the PrepTests prior to 67 and use those to continue your studies.
  The best thing here is that you now have the chance to really cement in those ideas you studied prior to the September LSAT, and you also still have a ton of actual LSATs that you haven't seen yet. Overall, you are in a really solid position, and this gives you a great opportunity to stage a run into the 160s and up.

Side note: your December LSAT results still put you in a great spot for applications: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/struggl ... r-too-late

Please let me know if that helps!

[kyen]

Hi Kyen,

Thanks for the questions, and I'm sorry to hear things didn't go well. Let's get right to your two questions.

• 1. Should you cancel?
  
  The short answer is yes. The cancel decision rule is to keep your score unless some type of clear disaster occurred. Although low scores don't really matter any more (see http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/should- ... -agree-yes for more on that), when you know you've produced a score that is nowhere near a "normal" performance, there's no benefit to keeping the score. It will sit there on your record, and then also be used to calculate an average (again, since they use the high, this isn't a big deal). The cancel doesn't hurt at all, and so I'd go for that.
  
  2. How do you study for next time?
  
  Ok, using the one month plan actually turns out to be a benefit, because that plan accelerates the preparation timeline. This time, you can slow down, relax a bit more, and go more deeply into the concepts. There are two main parts to that:
  
  
  • A. Complete the sections of the books that you weren't able to finish before or that weren't assigned.
    
    B. Go back into the PrepTests prior to 67 and use those to continue your studies.
  The best thing here is that you now have the chance to really cement in those ideas you studied prior to the September LSAT, and you also still have a ton of actual LSATs that you haven't seen yet. Overall, you are in a really solid position, and this gives you a great opportunity to stage a run into the 160s and up.

Side note: your December LSAT results still put you in a great spot for applications: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/struggl ... r-too-late

Please let me know if that helps!

Thanks for the prompt reply! I was also thinking of using Powerscore's four month plan and also perhaps using one of the power score online courses? Which one would you recommend for me?

[Dave Killoran]

Thanks for the prompt reply! I was also thinking of using Powerscore's four month plan and also perhaps using one of the power score online courses? Which one would you recommend for me?

Hi Kyen,

Thanks for the reply—I'm glad we were able to help! You ask a really good question here, and I think you could go either way and have success. However, in my experience, taking an LSAT course tends to produce higher scores, which makes sense because you have instructors teaching the concepts (vs learning them on your own), more organization to the schedule, and more materials and other resources.

My personal favorite is the Live Online Course. You can take the course from anywhere, and for many people the convenience of being at home and not having to lose time traveling to a class location is extremely helpful and efficient. The course format puts you in a virtual room with two instructors, so you get the benefit of not only having one instructor leading the class, but the second instructor can cover individual questions as well as provide private instruction if needed. And, each class session is recorded and posted online so you can go back and re-watch any lesson or part of the lesson that wasn't clear, or that you want to refresh. It's an incredibly powerful tool because you get to see high level scorers walk through questions and break down the best approaches, and you can do so as many times as you want.

Since the Live Online Course uses our main course books (not the Bibles), you also have access to every released LSAT question, as well as an organized plan that moves you through the optimal pathway to learning all of the key LSAT concepts. There are thousands of pages of materials in total. On top of that, there are also additional modules that come with the course where we talk about various concepts and techniques. For example, Jon Denning and I provide a recap of the key concepts from each course lesson, and we also talk about a variety of other ideas, from common reasoning form/question type combinations to test mentality to detailed discussions of rare questions types.

Overall, the LSAT course (whether In Person, Live Online, or On Demand) is the most comprehensive way to prepare for the LSAT, and covers every base as far as instruction, materials, and support.

If the Live Online course doesn't suit your schedule, then my second choice would be the On Demand course. It's the same class as the Live Online, with the difference that the classes aren't live and the payment is monthly (but everything else is identical—materials, support, etc).

I think a course would give you the best option, and given where you are already, that would set you up extremely well for not only hitting the 160s but hopefully the 170s as well. Please let me know if that makes sense, and if you have any questions, just let me know. Thanks!

[kyen]

I see! So from what I'm seeing on the website, the live online courses run for either 1 month or 2 months. I would probably want to go with the 2 month one. So say I start the powerscore 4 month plan in May. Would I take the live online course in May as well? Or july?

[Dave Killoran]

I see! So from what I'm seeing on the website, the live online courses run for either 1 month or 2 months. I would probably want to go with the 2 month one. So say I start the powerscore 4 month plan in May. Would I take the live online course in May as well? Or july?

My take has always been that having more time is a big benefit when studying for this test, and I've never heard someone say they wish they'd had less time to prepare, but I've heard lots of people say they wish they had more time! So, I'd say take one that starts earlier, towards May (by the way, over the summer there are also some courses that run longer than 1-2 months so you will see those options at that time too. Those work well also). That extra time is also useful because there is a ton of material in this course, and that extra time after the course ends will allow you to complete all the material and to lock in all the ideas (and you don't lose access to the online student center until after the LSAT following your schedule LSAT).

In my experience, students who start the class earlier are generally more relaxed, get through more of the materials, and overall score better when compared to students who start classes later. So, I'd start earlier if it works for your schedule.

Please let me know if that helps. Thanks!

[kyen]

That's very helpful! Thank you!