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[twenty]

Gotta start pounding away on LR. Spend lots of time on that.

Get your LG score down to -0. LG is by far the most learnable section of the test.

Your RC score is really good.

[prezidentv8]

Whoa! I'm late to the party. This thread is way older than I thought.

[scoobysnax]

Gotta start pounding away on LR. Spend lots of time on that.

Get your LG score down to -0. LG is by far the most learnable section of the test.

Your RC score is really good.

This.

[yossarian]

Take some extra non-fiction writing classes to polish your writing skills, ESPECIALLY since English is not your first language. I've read quite a few application essays and it's almost always easy to tell who learned English later in life, even if their grammar is technically ok.

Read a LOT. Not just classic fiction like Catcher in the Rye and Shakespeare, but dense non-fiction like Scientific American and The Economist magazines. This will not only help your reading comprehension, but it will increase your vocabulary and help you write more naturally. You unconsciously internalize all the different sentence structures you read and different phrasings of the same thought, and you'll have more to draw on when you write.

This. I teach English to high school students (including several non-native speakers). Whether you choose to take a diagnostic or not, reading and understanding non-fiction is the single best investment one can make. When you read a piece, write a one-page response paper where you take a concrete position. In conjunction this reading and writing will help you acquire new reading comprehension skill and work through the way logic is phrased in language (especially by writing the position papers). Having an English speaking friend critique the papers could be an extra bonus, but don't push your friendships too far.

If you are struggling with dense texts like The Economist--I doubt you are considering your GPA, but if you are--go to newsela.org. This provides texts from national newspapers in several different reading levels. The lower the xL the lower the reading level (ie, 900L is lower than 1100L). Read the lowest one, then read the next level up, then the next level up. Again, your 4.0 indicates this is probably not necessary, but it could help if you're struggling.

[iamgeorgebush]

Hello everyone!
I am now in my second semester of junior year. I started studying in January but didn't really get into it yet. I read half of the logic games bible and skimmed through the lr bible.

I just took my first timed practice test with an experimental section ---> I got a 160. I did it with Kaplan online for free and I have to say I am really happy:
-4 on LG
-19 on LR
-3 on RC
Kaplan used practice test 56 (December 2008) and for some reason LG was really easy but I made some stupid mistakes because I was rushing. LR is way too complicated for me: I lose my attention after the first 10 questions and I'm just bored and don't even understand the question stems. I got the first 10 questions right on both sections and then I just start making mistakes...
Reading comprehension, surprisingly, is my favorite section: it is so easy, the questions are straightforward and everything is in the text.
I really think I can do -0 on LG and improve on LR because I just skimmed through the bible and I am planning on buying the manhattan books as well.

This is it for now... I am planning on taking the LSAT in June so hopefully, I still got time to prepare!

Ok, here is my advice to you.

Learn to use paragraphs properly.

Sorry to be a jerk, but you've been at an American college for 2.5 years now. Have you noticed how in pretty much all electronic communications (emails, forum posts, etc.), people space their paragraphs with a blank line in between each paragraph? These are called "block paragraphs," and you need to use them.

Seriously, it's important. Not because TLSers like me will judge you, but because people in the professional world will judge you. Hell, even in the academic world will people judge you for incorrect use of paragraphs. If I were a college professor and a junior or senior emailed me a recommendation request that did not use block paragraphs, I would probably think a little bit less of the student because of this. By the time you're an upperclassman/woman, you need to have it figured out.

Nice job on the diagnostic, though. 160 is a great score for your first timed practice test!

[xz01]

Thank you all for your advices!

What do you recommend for LR? I was thinking of buying the Manhattan books but I don't know...

I really wanna take a prep course especially for the logical reasoning: what do you think?

[Lightworks]

Obligatory:

http://youtu.be/WrZF5esecyc?t=27s

Fellow Oneonta grad here. My cycle is going just fine so far (applied only to T14 schools), and my GPA is nowhere near as good as yours.

My first PT score was just about the same (-16 on LR). I used the LRB for LR, and it was excellent. I've heard good things about the Manhattan series as well. Once you get the basics down for all of the question types, LR gets much easier.

Protip: Don't use any of the prep books at the library. Straight up garbage.

[Clyde Frog]

If law school doesn't work out (you lose interest, underperform on the LSAT, etc.), you really don't want to be stuck looking for a job with a philosophy degree.

If law school doesn't work out (you lose interest, underperform on the LSAT, etc.), you really don't want to be stuck looking for a job with a political science degree.

Both of these mean the same thing.

Hmmm..I'm not seeing how these two statements are alike.