Hi adlindsey,
It is absolutely possible to improve your score on this test. You mentioned that you weren't fully prepared the first time. It sounds like it will be a different story with round two!
Yes, it is true that it is
easier to get to the 170s when your base score is 162. However, your work ethic makes it clear that you are
not taking it easy and are not looking for an easy fix! You are going to work hard until you get the score that represents your true capabilities. We can never give guarantees for any specific student, which is why we share statistics about students who have taken the course. You can extrapolate for your own situation, knowing that there are
always outliers, and you could be one of them. The LSAT Bibles and courses teach you skills, which you have to practice until they become second nature. While we can
teach the skills, being able to
use the skills take practice and hard work.
Since you've already gone through the modules and the material, the best thing to do now is to practice and review! You are smart to acknowledge that what is needed is review - not taking multiple timed PTs. Without review, you may end up making the same mistakes over and over again. One of the reasons this test is so learnable is that the test makers do the same things over and over again. So if you can learn what they are looking for, and what are some common incorrect answer choices, then you can avoid falling into their traps.
Dave Killoran has given some excellent advice to other students about how to approach review, and I want you to get the benefit of that great advice too, so I'm going to quote it here:
Below is the method I generally recommend for reviewing practice tests or problem sets:
Delayed Blind Review
1. After you complete the test or question set, immediately check the answers.
2. Write down every question that you missed or that you answered correctly but found to be a challenge, but do NOT write down the correct answer.
The first step here is to create a tracking log for each question type. We offer tracker sheets in all of our free LSAT self-study plans, so you can print some of those out or use them as a model for ones you create yourself.
3. Next, after taking a break of anywhere from a few hours to a few days, go back and review every question, including the ones you answered correctly. Your goal is to understand the question as well as possible, and to re-answer each question that you missed or felt was challenging.
4. As you complete the review of each question, make notes in your tracker as to the broad reason you missed the question, and how to correct that error.
Example: "#7. Didn't ID the causal conclusion. Next time underline the CE indicator."
5. If there is any obvious deficiency that's causing you to miss questions in the set you just completed, go study that topic immediately.
For example, let's say that you noticed that you kept mis-diagramming conditional rules in Logic Games. If that's apparent to you, go study that topic right then. The idea is that if you see that something is causing your problems, don't delay in attempting to address it.
6. Wait a few days, then redo the questions that you missed or that gave you trouble one more time.
After completing your first delayed review, take a few more days off from studying that particular test or set of problems. Then, after at least three days (but preferably longer), return to the question set and again review any question that was confusing.
7. If you still can't answer the problem correctly or figure out what you did wrong, consult an answer source.
After you have given yourself at least two strong looks at the question, if you still do not understand it fully, then consult an external answer resource. That might mean asking your PowerScore LSAT course instructor or tutor, reading the answer explanations in your Online Student Center, looking at one of our publications like the LSAT Deconstructeds or Logic Game Encyclopedias, or posting your question here in our LSAT Discussion Forum.
8. Every 10 to 14 days, review your tracker and note the areas where you are having problems. Then restudy the concepts in your course books, in the Bibles, or with your tutor or study group.
9. When you run into difficulty, don't panic and don't place undue weight on isolated results.
Your performance will naturally vary, especially as you complete more and more problems and tests. These variances are natural (see my article on The Casino Effect), and you must understand that subtle variations in your performance are natural.
10. If you do have a legitimately bad result (such as an unusually low practice test score), don't look at that as the end of the world.
Failure, while not desirable, can provide you with certain benefits. So, if you do suffer a legitimate reversal of fortune (and not just the random kind mentioned in #9), then make sure you get every possible benefit from that failure.
What will happen is a series of benefits: you begin to see your mistakes more clearly and the patterns therein, which can then be attacked, and you also begin to solve problems more quickly and with greater certainty. Forcing yourself to deeply analyze questions gives your mind time to ponder what is occurring, which will help the big concept and strategy blocks fall into place. Having these pieces come together from your own analysis emplaces them far more deeply than if you are told the answer by someone else.
I'm also going to refer you to a list of LSAT Blogs posts that contain information about test mentality, the best way to take a practice test, and some troublesome concepts on the test. Reading some of these might give you that edge you are looking for.
Blogs You Should Have Bookmarked
