Jan 19 LSAT

[Ssouki]

Hello Dave/Joe/Adam/and all

I started my first time LSAT studies back in February. I wasn't at all consistent with my studies though. I would only do some pages from the LR/LG bibles per week until May where I took my 1st PT and scored 146. It devastated me. Then, I decided to hire a private tutor that cost me a lot (Not through PS) and she only taught me some tricks and general rules..she didn't invest any time in helping me actually solving questions, so I ended up firing her after wasting a month. Now, in July, I was still planning to take the September LSAT, so I enrolled in some LSAT course for 2 months (8 hours per week) and I took around 16 full PTs until September 8th. I did the exam, felt okay about it, then ended up with a 155. I was scoring a 155 a month prior to the exam and I reached 160-162 afterwards, so I was really disappointed. I did not get the chance to prepare much for November, only took 1 PT and scored 163. However, I did review the questions that I did wrong on my previously done PTs, and I drilled a lot of LR questions. I am a senior in school and work in an office part time so literally I would be in class doing LR. I didn't do much LG, but tried to tackle harder ones only. I did 1 RC section a day before the test. Now, I retook November, however I did register for January, and I am really stressed out now.
I haven't studied anything since I took the November LSAT. So I don't know where 5o start now again. I will have my christmas break without classes so that's almost 4 days a week for 3 weeks without studying for school. I am taking 19 credits next sem, but hopefully I won't be overwhelmed only 3 weeks into the semester on Jan 26.

Of course I still dnt have any idea of how much Im getting on November but I am really concerned. Hopeflly it wont't ruin my office holiday party! Lol
Any advice on how to tackle the Jan Lsat anywyay?
Sorry for the super long post and I appreciate your help as usual

[Robert Carroll]

Sara,

The LSAT is not something you can cram for - peak performance comes from setting a consistent, but feasible, study schedule so you're covering content every day. It doesn't have to be a lot every day - if a day is particularly busy, you may only have 15 minutes. That's all right, as long as you can average out to a good amount of studying time throughout a given week. Further, studying time that's not quality studying time will not be as beneficial.

It appears that when you're able to study and get yourself at peak performance, you've thus far been scoring around 163. That's a great score! It also appears that your studying has been piecemeal. Every question on the test is a potential correct answer and a potential higher score. You shouldn't neglect any section when you study. This does not mean that every section has to be studied every day, but if, for instance, a week has gone by and you haven't looked at a logic game, that's a problem!

I'm going to engage in some speculation based on some things you posted - you said, for instance, that you did 1 RC section a day before a certain test date. You also say you drilled LR. I'm going to speculate that one reason your test day performance is a bit short of your potential is that you're not balancing drilling of individual sections with full-length practice tests. The test is, to some extent, an endurance match. You have five multiple choice sections, one of which doesn't count, one after the other with only a short break between the third and fourth sections. You've taken the test, so I know you know this, but I want to draw your attention to how different this is from certain practice techniques. Sometimes, a student can do well at one section when drilling that section, well at another when drilling that, but doesn't achieve her best performance when taking multiple timed sections of different types in succession.

At this point, I'd start studying again right away. I think it makes sense to refresh your knowledge of the basics a bit, just to make sure you're not systematically missing anything in a game type or LR question type. Go back to the Bibles. You'll be able to move through them quickly because a lot of the content is review. When you're back to your best performance on each section, make sure you're taking practice tests - and put a fifth section in each test to simulate the experimental section on the real test!

Good luck with your studying and let us know how it goes! We'll be available to answer any further questions that come up.

Robert Carroll

[Ssouki]

Thank you, Robert! I got a 159 on my November LSAT. I will focus on doing full PTs as you advised me to do to prepare for January. Is it possible to jump into high 160s?

Thank you!!

[Claire Horan]

Hi Ssouki,

Any score is possible and it's great to have a goal you are shooting for! That said, most of the time, your score on Test Day will be close to your practice test score average. So a good way to feel confident is to take enough practice tests that your scores are consistently in the target range. That way, you'll feel prepared on Test Day because you'll know what to expect.

Good luck!