153 Diagnostic - Realistic end result Forum

[lawschoolhopeful45]

I took my LSAT diagnostic and received at 153. I seriously went in completely cold, with NO preparation. I am starting a Kaplan LSAT prep course this semester (classroom course). Do you think it's possible to score a 170?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[BruinsFan]

I think it is! I scored a 153 on my kaplan diagnostic and ended up with a 161 on test day, I'll take my 8 pnt increase. At my best I was scoring a 166 on practice tests. I then started working 2 jobs and blah blah blah. Retrospectively, if I had put in the time I think I might have made it that high.

[GentlemanJim]

My diagnostic (back in college) was a 151. Taking the LSAT any day now and my practice tests have been up to 165-175 range. So, yeah, I would say that's possible.

[reasonabledoubt]

I took my LSAT diagnostic and received at 153. I seriously went in completely cold, with NO preparation. I am starting a Kaplan LSAT prep course this semester (classroom course). Do you think it's possible to score a 170?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

What's the opposite of TMI? TLI? Well, this is definitely too little information. How would someone be able to even superficially guage your chances for a 170 based on the amount of information you just gave? With that said.... anything is possible. What challenged you most during your diagnostic? Time? RC? Games? The consesus around here is that taking 20-30+ practice tests is probably the best preparation but a course certainly won't hurt. Do take a multitude of PT's though - there's no substitute for test and question-type familiarity. Good luck!

[februaryftw]

It is possible - a cold diagnostic tells you very little. I was hitting 180s on my practice tests 3 months after my cold diagnostic of 163. It just takes work and time.

If you take a course (I'd suggest Powerscore or Blueprint but the big thing is the teacher not the company, so look into the teacher before you take the course), my advice is to take it in advance of your test, leaving yourself plenty of time to do practice tests. The courses can give you a decent framework but the big gains come from repeated PTs and review.

Edit to add: As reasonabledoubt suggests, some parts of the test are easier to improve upon than others. If your weakness is games, your in luck. RC is much harder to improve, and LR is somewhere in the middle.

[cavebat2000]

my first diagnostic was 147. I got a 171 on the actual test. Study hard, study smart, and you can do it too.

[lawschoolhopeful45]

More info: Reading comp was the toughest area for me, and timing. I only completely finished one section! Inference, natural sciences and sequencing were my 3 greatest areas for improvement. I am enrolled in only 4 courses this semester so that I can concentrate on preparing for the June 2010 LSAT. My goal is 170.

[dynomite]

Likewise. My completely cold diagnostic (in July) was a 156. I studied hard for the last 7 months, and took the Feb test so I'm not sure how I did, but I've been PTing in the 170s for 2 months.

As s/he said:

Study hard, study smart, and you can do it too.

[cubswin]

My diganostic was within one point of what yours is, and I ended up with above a 170. In case you are interested, I used the LG Bible and LR Bible but did not take a class.

Have you seen Pithypike's thread on LSAT prep? If not, I suggest reading it: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... =6&t=41657

I followed a substantially abridged version of his outline. I didn't use the RC Bible or the Kaplan book. One book that I didn't get was which I regret not using was LSAT Superprep; this book has a pretty good reputation on these boards, as far as I can tell. I did somewhere between 10 and 15 full length PTs from the 40s onward, and used the 10 LSATs series for my drills and extra questions.

Good luck.

[democrattotheend]

I started out with a diagnostic of 159, and I think I scored even lower on one of my early prep tests. On the real thing I got a 173. So it's possible to improve a lot, even self-studying, as I did.

[februaryftw]

More info: Reading comp was the toughest area for me, and timing. I only completely finished one section! Inference, natural sciences and sequencing were my 3 greatest areas for improvement. I am enrolled in only 4 courses this semester so that I can concentrate on preparing for the June 2010 LSAT. My goal is 170.

Once you develop a system, sequencing is usually considered one of the easiest of game types. The timing comes--I couldn't finish sections until 4-5 weeks into my studies, but after 3 months I was finishing at 30 minutes with accuracy. Do not neglect the easy questions in your studies--doing full tests will help you pick up time on the easy sections (e.g. first 10 LR questions I got down to 8-9 minutes).

Science passages were also difficult for me at first. I think of the RC passages they are the easiest to learn, because they are not as daunting as they first appear; you'll become much more familiar with the kinds of questions they might ask, and you should internalize the advice READ FOR STRUCTURE a few weeks into your prep. But if you don't read a lot of dense material, you might consider broadening your studies to include dense reading.

Inference questions on RC can be a trickier type...

[lawschoolhopeful45]

Thank you, everyone for the advice!

[keg411]

You need to do more than just take the Kaplan class. However, that will help since when you do PT's, you will be in actual testing conditions and you will see on every PT you take with them where your weaknesses are. Do problems in these areas until you understand what you are doing wrong and what you need to do to get them right. Go to the extra workshops and ask questions. Also, make sure to get more information on your instructor to make sure that he/she is the BEST one (ask what he/she scores; also find out if that person also does the private tutoring at your center. If so, that's likely the best person).

I would also suggest buying the LR and LG bibles to complement the class. Remember, ANY prep tests strategies can be combined and altered to best suit your needs -- DO NOT feel that you have to use any strategy that does not work for you.

Also, read the pithypike guide and do self-study in addition to the class. Don't rely solely on the class as it's really to complement studying alone rather than be the be-all-and-end-all of your LSAT studying.