I am wondering what everyone thinks about how I should pursue my career. I recently took the lsat in December and scored an aweful 140. I am still uncertain how this happened. I took the Kaplan Course and was scoring around 150 on all of the practice tests. In fact, the worst score I ever had on the actual previous tests was a 146. My question is whether anyone thinks I have a shot in hell at getting into law school by this fall or should I forget it and retake the lsat? I was really not happy even when I was scoring in the 150 range and now that I scored a 140, I am in devastated. I know everyone is going to tell me to retake the test, but what do you think my chances are of getting into the following schools: Dayton, Ohio Northern, Capital, West Virginia University, and Duquesne. Also, if I do decide to continue studying and retake the lsat, does anyone have a suggestion on a particular book or study guide for this test? Thank you for your help.

you need to retake... My recommendation is this: Buy all three Powerscore books now. Starting working through the Games Bible now as that is probably the area where you can most easily improve. After you have worked through those books, buy one of the LSAC "10 LSAT tests" books (I wouldn't get the first of the series as the questions are really dated 1991-1995) and start taking some timed practice tests. Don't blow through everything, take your time. Careully review your mistakes. Take a Testmasters full length course for either next year's June or Sept test. When you take the course, do all of the homework and go to every class. I even made photocopies of the homework so that I could go back later and do it again (I highly recommend this, especially for the games). Follow this advice and there's no way you won't get at least a 160. (I got a 164) Studying for the LSAT is a bitch, and you have to become completely dedicated to it if you want to succeed. Good luck.

I wanted to thank you for your input. I will def. buy the powerscore books. I have been told by many that those books are very helpful. I am not very familiar with the Testmasters course, but I will look into it if you think it could help me to that extent. I am obviously extremely disappointed in the way my December LSAT turned out especially after scoring consistently around 150 on some of the previously given tests. Is it common to drop that much from the practice tests to the actual exam, I wonder? It is really disappointing b/c I know I'm a good student and some of my professors that have law degrees encouraged me in this direction. Maybe this is actually better for me though, b/c now I will step back and more thoroughly study and maximize my score potential on the next testing date. Again, thanks for your help. If you have any other suggestions don't hesitate to comment. I appreciate it when people help in a straightforward and honest manner. I am willing to accept the facts and work hard enough to change my future. Thanks.

It's very common for your actual test score to drop from your practice scores. I was scoring 165-168 on practice tests leading up to the Sept test. I freaked out on an LR section, missed 10 questions, and ended up with a 164. Not the score I was looking for, but I'll be attending the University of Richmond next year and I'm happy.

Testmasters is an excellent course. It's expensive (~$1500), but so is law school. I HIGHLY recommend it.

Retake. Fortunately for you, an lsat score that low will be easy to explain away in an addendum if you make a much higher score, simply say that you did not study adequately for the test or something. Just make sure retake when you are ready and make a higher score, much higher.

I would suggest not attending any prep courses at all. Buy the powerscore books and every prep test that you can afford.

1. Go through powerscore books with a fine tooth comb, understand everything, do the questions, etc.
2. Once completing powerscore books, start doing full lsat prep test, untimed, yet within reason. Concentrate on accuracy alone.
3. Go over weak areas by redoing sections of the powerscore books that correspond to your weakness.
4. Once you are more accurate, practice timing.
5. With the remaining 10 or so prep tests, practice full 5 section preptests with a timer, with no break in between sections.
6. Whatever is your average score for these 10 tests, subtract 2 or 3 points and that is an accurate assesment of what you will score on the actual lsat. If that score is still too low, study more.
7. repeat.

Thanks for the help. I have ordered the books today and will get started asap. I am looking into the Testmasters course as well.

I did the testmasters full course for the September LSAT. It really did improve things for me. I did the online course, but they still sent all the books you would get in the course if you went to take it in person. It came with 50 full LSAT tests along with books that did give the correct answers, and also explanations for the answers. there were like 12 lessons tat were like 45 minutes or so each, i believe. you can watch them as much as you want. it was like $1000 for the course, but in the end i think it was worth it. look into it.

Again, I wanted to thank everyone for the input. I also checked the breakdown of my lsat and the major reason I underperformed was the LG. I only got 20% of the LG questions correct. I think just an increase on this section alone will dramatically help my score. Thanks again.

I am pretty sure this is not the same testmasters course that most people on these boards commonly recommend. There are actually two "Testmasters," one at testmasters.net and the other at testmasters.com. I took the .net one for the September test. It was really helpful. I don't know much about the .com one.

I did the .com one