Hey everyone, I posted this in the Dec LSAT sup. thread, but thought I'd put it here to.

----

Oh my God, I wish I found this forum like a month ago. So much great advice here!

I'm registered to write Dec 2nd.

Just finished the PowerScore LRB today and am starting the LGB today. Wow, they are awesome.

BUT, I feel like I am just starting to have that "epiphany" that LSAT studiers talk about and I feel that if I were to write the Feb test I could do a lot better. I am a 4th year science student, president of my student society and right now I have a big fundraising project going on with the student society and several assignments, and then finals begin the week right after the LSAT. Despite all that, I've been focussing primarily on getting through the LRB. I feel like I need more than 2 weeks to drill through practice tests. I don't think I've been doing enough timed tests, and from what I've read on here that is what has significantly improved people's scores.

The school I am applying to accepts the Feb test score but also has rolling admissions. They also consider your BEST score and not average.

Should I write both tests if I'm unsatisfied with my Dec 2nd score? Any advice, anyone?

To preface my response, I'm putting off taking the LSAT and applying until next year. With that said, I would say to wait until you felt you were ready to take the test. As my pre-law advisor has told me many times, applying to law school is like taking on another class or part-time job, so you should take it seriously.

In your case, you have nothing to lose by preparing to take the Dec. some more and seeing how you do. You can always retake in Feb. if need be.

Goodluck!

Normally it is best to wait until you are ready to take the test and confident that your score will be where you want it to be (and that is exactly what I am doing just like ebonysoul1984) but I know and understand that some people don’t want to postpone law school for another year.

That said, I don't think the feb. test is going to help with the rolling admissions. However, a higher LSAT score beats the advantage of applying early with a lower score. Since the schools you are planning to apply consider the best score you get, there really is no big downside for taking the dec. test and retaking it in feb. if need be. If I were you I would keep practicing for dec. 2nd and keep in mind that I have feb. test as a fall back. This might help you not to freak out

I have heard people scoring much higher on the real thing than they did on practice tests just because it is "the real thing"! Although the opposite is also true for quite a lot of people, you never know which one will happen to you until you take the test. You might be pleasantly surprised by your dec. score and even if you score lower than you expected then you can go ahead and retake in feb. In this case having experienced the real thing once before can only help!

good luck!

DELETED

cupcakes are not sweet when you use salt instead of sugar.

Thank you everyone I am so glad I found this discussion board!

I think I will write both tests.
I scored a measely 151 on my practice test today (up from my 149 diagnostic, however), and am consequently freaking out. I am not ready for the test in 2 weeks. Having a lower score on my record is not something I'm concerned about since the school I want to go to only looks at the higher score. So aside from the $150, I don't think I have much to lose.

Unfortunately there are no LSAT courses available in my province, otherwise I would use this opportunity to take one of those. I haven't been drilling through the practice tests like I should have (I've been studying since September- 3 or 4 timed tests, PR Crack the LSAT, LRB, and now start LGB). I think the extra couple of months here could make a huge difference.

Fingersxed: Are you going to be writing in February as well? How is your studying going?

DELETED

Do you guys think it would be unrealistic for me to get a 160 in Feb??

I'm feeling really frustrated with this stuff right now..

I can only get through 2, maybe 2.5 games in the 35 minutes, I'm missing like 9-10 LR, and similar in RC.


Urgh...

867-5309

briamarie,

you can expect the most drastic improvement from the games section. after going through LG bible I am sure you will feel much better about this section. I haven't used it (yet) but many people on this board find it quite helpful. what I did to improve on this section was to use the techniques I learned in my LSAT course and what helped me the most was to work on the games (over and over again) that I can't finish fast enough or I can't work out as further as I should until I get them the right way. Ultimate goal should not be to find the right answer but to see the patterns that repeats themselves in different games so that you recognize them and know what to do instantly. this helps a lot with the speed. you can make copies of the games sections so that you can work on the same game over and over again. basically, I think, repetition is the key for success in the games.

good luck!

oh and I think 9 points increase is certainly a realistic expectation !