Timeline Question

[JoshFrank]

Hello,

I am reaching out because I have a question about the best time to apply.

Last year, I took the February LSAT and applied to several schools after march. I got waitlisted for Cornell Law and Northwestern. My LSAT score was a 152. I have a 3.6GPA and strong softs (SGA President, Fulbright)- also a URM. This year, I planned to apply again but wanted to take the LSAT in December. I've been told by friends that this is fairly late for T-14 schools (especially for money) and its better to apply as soon as possible.

My question is- should I wait for a new LSAT score until I apply or submit an application as early as possible? I planned to take the November exam, and the score is releeased on December 8th. Target T-14 schools are Harvard, Cornell, UVa, Northwestern, UPenn, Yale, Georgetown and Berkeley Law.

I also enrolled in a powerscore course from December to February (classes three times a week). I planned to take another one (August 30th-November). My score has been stuck around a 150. The highest I got on a practice test once was a 155. Logic games are my weakest areas. Scores are often about 16/27 for reading comp, Logical reasoning 17/25, Games 9/25.

[Dave Killoran]

Hi Josh,

Thanks for the message! This is an easy one: 1. November is not too late at all, nor is January, and 2. wait for your next score to come before applying.

I just wrote about whether November is too late, so let's start there: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/is-the ... t-too-late.

As far as your score, you had amazing results based on your 152, so if you can post a higher score there, you will have even better responses. That's because when it comes to applications, your LSAT score is far and away the most important factor, and it significantly outweighs applying early: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/does-s ... ur-chances.

Take your time with applications, and focus on your LSAT score. That is the only thing holding you back at this point!

[JoshFrank]

Thanks a lot Dave! Reading your work is extremely helpful. I feel a lot less anxious now about applying later in the year. I also wanted to ask....

I've been practicing on my own a lot and noticed I've been scoring about the same on practice (high 140's). I usually score 14/25 on the logic reasoning, 7/25 on the logic games, and 15/25 on the reading comprehension section. I started using Khan Academy's website to see how I perform on exams.

Any theories on why my score might be stuck and how I can bring it up? I scored at one point as high as 19/25 on the logical reasoning, and 13/23 on the logic games on a practice test. I figure that I am studying wrong, but I am not sure how. I will take another Powerscore Class in NY starting on August 30th. I also took a LSAT Powerscore class last winter.

Thanks for your help and time.

[Dave Killoran]

Hey Josh,

Thanks for the reply! It's basically impossible to determine why scores might be stuck just from general section information, but the good news is that I wrote an article last year that talks about the steps to take if your score is stuck. It's at: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid/23 ... -questions. Check that out—I wrote it in response to a similar question and it contains a lot of different pieces of advice designed to help improve how you are doing.

Thanks!

[JoshFrank]

Thanks a lot Dave. I will definitely closely read the article. To give more specific information about my scores, I feel the most uncomfortable with the logic games section.

I usually set up basic information about games well, but I rarely find the big inferences that allow people to solve games faster. It takes me a lot of time to work through a game, and on average, I tackle about two games in the thirty-five minutes. I usually start with questions that provide given information and try to figure things out from there. Recently I have had some time to move onto a third game. I'm not sure why I haven't been able to see the inferences that can be made from the rules. This is usually hardest for me with grouping games and conditional reasoning. I'm most concerned about my logic games section before the coming November exam. I think that I can improve the other sections moderately.

For the logical reasoning, I appear to be weakest in assumption questions and strengthen and weaken questions. A few weeks ago, I appeared to be scoring well in assumption questions and then recently struggled a lot. Strengthen/weaken questions have consistently been weak. It was suggested that I slow down also for the reading comprehension question questions. I usually tackle all passages, but get somewhere around half correct.

Do you think there's anything I can do to improve my performance on logic games? I'll also be starting the Powerscore class again on August 30th.

[Rachael Wilkenfeld]

Hi Josh,

It sounds like you have two different but related issues in the games: 1) you are having difficulty making inferences and 2) you are having difficulty completing the games in the time allotted. The good news is that solving problem 1 will help solve problem 2.

Let's start by discussing inferences, and how best to make them. One of the hardest things in a game is trying to learn how to see those inferences. We can come up with some general places to start---these won't all be applicable every game but they will give you a place to start.

First, write out the rules as given. Take a look at the rules, and see if any of the rules use the same variable. If they do, think about how they connect (if at all). They may not connect, so don't try to force an inference if one isn't there.

The next technique works really well for grouping games. We call it Hurdle the Uncertaintytm. You build from what you know. So if you know that a group has 3 members out of 5 variables (a,b,c,d, and e), even if you don't know the exact members it contains, you may be able to draw an inference by placing variables where they would go. Imagine if it had the rule following rules:

a and b are never together
c and d are never together

We can use that information to draw a conclusion that e has to be in the group, even though e was never even mentioned in the rules! We draw out the diagram as follows:

a/b


c/d


e



In this way, we make sure a/b are never together and c/d are never together. That leaves only one variable (e) for the final slot.

In summary, you can start by combining rules with the same variable when possible. You can also build from what you do know even if it seems like it's not going to directly lead to inferences.

Working on improving your understanding of inferences will help not just with the main set-up, but with local questions as well. Once you get comfortable drawing conclusions from the main rules, adding new rules in local questions will also lead to faster inferences (and faster overall game performance).

Hope that helps!
Rachael