When Will I Be Truly Ready For the LSAT?

[Zarie Blackburn]

We recently received the following question from a student. An LSAT Expert will respond below. Thanks!

Hi!

I'm sure this has been asked before, but unfortunately, wasn't able to find a search bar to go through previous questions/responses in the forum. Starting in April, I began self-studying casually with the Study Bibles, but then hired a tutor in Sept to help me prepare for the Nov Flex date. Although I've made progress from my first original PT (~16 pt increase), this progress happened pre-tutor, and I am still not scoring at my goal.

I have only done a few practice Flex tests (since originally was doing full PTs), and they are still about 8-10 points from where I'd love to end up with my final score (to clarify, this is my goal, but I'd be happy with an additional 5+ points at this point!). I think I could get to my end goal with enough studying and persistence, but I am not positive--a small part of me thinks I may be too optimistic and naive, but I am not sure... Since I began my private tutoring, I have not had a score increase, but actually decreased slightly on a few Flex PTs (although I switched from full to Flex PTs, which is also a factor in this change), which made me feel pretty upset that my "progress" wasn't showing in my PTs. I feel as though I am learning the content better with my tutor, but my scores don't seem to reflect that. I'm also aware that people who have huge increases after classes/tutoring don't always self-study as much as I did at the beginning, which allowed me to increase my score pre-tutor. But still, I'm feeling somewhat defeated and sad.

I'm currently signed up for the Nov flex and am getting somewhat anxious as the deadline to switch test dates approaches. I have never taken an LSAT, so opted into the Score Preview option. I am leaning towards keeping this Nov Flex just to get something on the record (although I am 100% not applying this cycle, maybe next year or later), but there's a part of me that wonders if I should wait until I start PTing closer to the range of my intended final score...

Pros of taking the Nov Flex seem to be having a starting point, to just do it so something is on my record. I might not even get to my final end goal and also worry about getting burnt out during the winter/holiday season (especially as I've been trying to study like 25-35 hrs/wk right now...). I was hoping to enjoy the holidays (lol), hence my desire to do the Nov and to take a quick break before studying again for the Feb Flex, so that would be a plus with the Nov. I obviously don't want to crash in my studies! Although I am somewhat inconsistent with certain question types, I have made decent progress with LG + LR. I also recognize that every test is different, and Nov could be a "good" or a "bad" test for me.

Cons I'm thinking of are if I test too far from my intended score, am I "wasting" my score preview and one of my annual 3/total 5 tests? Or would it look bad from an admissions point if I took this, then jumped "too much" later on with a higher score? (The latter is more of a concern to me than the former, as I've heard that jumping "too much" is rare and admissions generally don't care?). Am I really ready if I'm still struggling with PTs and am still figuring out as I go what I need improvements on? I've been pretty inconsistent with the different sections in these PTs although generally my strongest is LG, weakest is RC, then LR. I feel semi-mentally prepared in tackling the exam, but don't necessarily feel confident in my ability to do the BEST I could hypothetically do.

I'm trying to be strategic because I'm hoping to not take the exam more than 2-3x and don't want to "waste" up tests, but also recognize that there are limited amount of pre-determined Flex dates and don't want to miss out on the opportunity for a shortened exam!! I would HATE to switch from Flex PTs to full ones... I was originally thinking about aiming for Nov, Feb, then April dates, because I have the opportunity to study between each for a decent amount of time, but also don't know if I'm mentally prepared for Nov. Another option is to do Jan, April, and whatever is after. Or Jan, Feb, April, although Jan to Feb is not a ton of time to practice in between...

To be honest, I don't know that I ever will be ready, though. If you can't already tell, I'm clearly an over-thinker haha. Anyways, my apologies for all the words! Basically, to sum it up, I'd like to hear your opinion. Is it worth it for me to postpone the Nov Flex until I feel more confident or am I just overthinking and should just go for it? Is there anything else that would be good in determining whether I'm truly ready? Thanks in advance! Again, I'm sorry for the anxiousness that is pouring out through this entire post...

[KelseyWoods]

Score plateaus are definitely frustrating! But they're also fairly common. It's also normal to not feel fully ready for the test. Everyone has their own timeline with this test for when they're

As you've discussed, there are clearly a lot of factors that go into deciding whether or not you should take the November test. It's not an easy decision. I can't tell you exactly what to do, but, if you aren't planning to apply until next year, I would suggest that you wait to take the test when you're feeling more confident and less stressed about it. Test mentality is so often overlooked during test preparation but it can have such an impact on your score. That feeling of frustration and defeat could be part of what's holding you back. If you don't think you'll be feeling ready in a couple of weeks, I'd suggest taking it in January no matter what just to bite the bullet and get your first one over and done with. You can go into that first test thinking of it more as a kind of extreme practice test: You're taking a real one under real conditions, to get yourself ready for the next test which you're gonna absolutely crush.

With that in mind, let's talk about how to shake you out of this score/mindset rut so you can reach your LSAT goal! I'm going to share several links that may help you to overcome that plateau. The advice will be somewhat general, since I don't know if there are specific sections that you're struggling with more than others. The main thing to remember is to really focus on perfecting your process for answering questions--make sure that you are consistently and carefully applying the strategies every time so that you are training yourself to attack these questions in the most efficient way possible. It's one thing to understand the concepts, but to score highly on the test you have to train yourself to really apply these same concepts again and again. And the more you go back and review the concepts, the more you'll deepen your understanding of the test. Become an expert! Study questions as if you had to teach them to others.

Score Plateaus: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/how-to ... sat-study/
How to Increase Your Score When You Are Stuck: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/how-to ... are-stuck/

These posts talk about how to drill and track questions, which can be very useful for training yourself to apply strategies efficiently.
https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/my-lsa ... en-part-2/
https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/my-lsa ... en-part-3/
https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/my-lsa ... en-part-4/

How to Review Practice Tests: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/the-be ... ice-tests/
How to Review Practice Questions: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/how-to ... blem-sets/

In short, I would suggest mixing up your LSAT studying. Thoroughly reviewing practice tests is just as important as taking them. And still doing some untimed practice can help you tighten up strategies and train yourself to approach questions in the most effective way. Make sure you're tracking questions that you miss and thoroughly reviewing them. Have some games/passages/sections that you do over and over again until you've really got them down. And focus on the process of going through questions.

Ok, now let's talk a bit about test mentality. Again, this is such an important component of your LSAT prep and you should devote time to working on that mentality in the same way that you devote time to memorizing common reasoning errors and drilling games. Mentality can have a big impact on your score, so don't neglect it. Below are some great resources for how to get yourself in the right mentality for the exam.

Podcast episode on 16 Reasons People Fail on the LSAT: https://www.powerscore.com/lsat/podcast/61/
Test Mentality Webinar: https://player.vimeo.com/video/94263795
Ultimate Test Mentality Resource List: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/the-ul ... urce-list/ (There's a lot on this list. You don't have to read every single one. Pick and choose the ones that speak to you.)

Finally, you've been studying for a long time! Have you taken a purposeful and productive break from the test? It might be a good time to take a week or two off to break out of your LSAT funk and re-center yourself. And when you get back into it, you don't necessarily need to be keeping up with your 25-30 hour/week pace. LSAT burnout is real and it hurts your test mentality. Give yourself some breathing room so you're not constantly stressing about this test. More hours of studying doesn't necessarily equal a higher score. It's about using your study time wisely. If you find yourself slipping into a really negative headspace with the exam, it's time to take a step back, remind yourself that you can do this, and get back into it from a more positive perspective!

Why Breaks From the LSAT Can Increase Your Score: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/bid-24 ... our-Score/

Also remember that these are all things that you can discuss with your tutor--they're there to help!

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Best,
Kelsey