138 Diagnostic Test taken cold. Unusual or not? Forum

[notaznguy]

So I'm a rising junior at a Top 25 university and I took a diagnostic exam for the first time today at a local Kaplan center. Although I lurk at TLS forums, I have actually never looked at or taken an LSAT test.

When I took the exam, I did find time to be an issue as I didn't get to finish several questions on the RC or LR. Instead of randomly guessing and bubbling in answers at the last minute, I decided to omit these questions. This, IMO, would provide me the most accuracy of how I would fare as guessing correctly would've given me an inaccurate score.

Needless to say, I'm disappointed that 90% of LSAT takers scored better than I did (it's rather embarrassing actually). I understand a diagnostic is no real indication of how I will ultimately do on test day, but it does tell me where I am at for now. I don't plan to take the actual exam until October 2011, so next year really. I have a whole year to prepare for it. Anyways, in relevance to my question, I just have this uneasy feeling that I scored a god damn 138 on my diagnostic, completely cold or not. Has anyone scored lower or around this and still managed to get somewhere between 165-169? (that's what I"m aiming for btw)

[sophia.olive]

You might be mildly retarded...

naw ... jk... diagnostics mean nothing, just study.

[lawschoolstudent85]

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[sophia.olive]

What exactly does "rising junior" mean? Can you be a stagnant junior or a falling junior. I pose this questions with all sincerity. Please explain.

He is wittnessing a growth spurt in his early twenties.

[afcanoe]

Aside from just being unfamiliar with the LSAT, I think your score has a lot to do with the fact that you did not fill in all the bubbles for each section. While I understand your rationale for omitting these questions, remember that you will be able to fill in an answer for every question on test day. So, depending on how many questions you left unanswered, I wouldn't necessarily sweat a 138.

After studying for four months, I raised my score by 15 points (and I answered every question on the diagnostic).

The most important thing is just to commit yourself to studying for at least three or four months before the test (you might burn out if you try to study for a whole year). I found the LSAT blog to be really, really helpful. It has study schedules and lots of information about prep books (the blog is written by an LSAT tutor). Here's the address: http://www.lsatblog.blogspot.com

Good luck!

[notaznguy]

It means I'm going to be a junior this upcoming academic school year or it means I'm going to start my junior year this school year.

[03121202698008]

Study, study, study. Was this Kaplan test real LSAT questions or ones they made up?

[094320]

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[Richie Tenenbaum]

So I'm a rising junior at a Top 25 university and I took a diagnostic exam for the first time today at a local Kaplan center. Although I lurk at TLS forums, I have actually never looked at or taken an LSAT test.

When I took the exam, I did find time to be an issue as I didn't get to finish several questions on the RC or LR. Instead of randomly guessing and bubbling in answers at the last minute, I decided to omit these questions. This, IMO, would provide me the most accuracy of how I would fare as guessing correctly would've given me an inaccurate score.

Needless to say, I'm disappointed that 90% of LSAT takers scored better than I did (it's rather embarrassing actually). I understand a diagnostic is no real indication of how I will ultimately do on test day, but it does tell me where I am at for now. I don't plan to take the actual exam until October 2011, so next year really. I have a whole year to prepare for it. Anyways, in relevance to my question, I just have this uneasy feeling that I scored a god damn 138 on my diagnostic, completely cold or not. Has anyone scored lower or around this and still managed to get somewhere between 165-169? (that's what I"m aiming for btw)

138 is on the low side. I would recommend taking a practice test or two untimed (make it an all day event if it takes that long, just don't guess, especially on games) and just focus on how accurate you can be. I'm a firm believer in large gains being possible on the LSAT, but you have a very long way to go to get into the 160's. Devoting 6+ months studying for this test might be needed to make that kind of improvement.

Study, study, study. Was this Kaplan test real LSAT questions or ones they made up?

They don't make up questions on any of their Diagnostic or in-class tests.

[stratocophic]

So I'm a rising junior at a Top 25 university and I took a diagnostic exam for the first time today at a local Kaplan center. Although I lurk at TLS forums, I have actually never looked at or taken an LSAT test.

When I took the exam, I did find time to be an issue as I didn't get to finish several questions on the RC or LR. Instead of randomly guessing and bubbling in answers at the last minute, I decided to omit these questions. This, IMO, would provide me the most accuracy of how I would fare as guessing correctly would've given me an inaccurate score.

Needless to say, I'm disappointed that 90% of LSAT takers scored better than I did (it's rather embarrassing actually). I understand a diagnostic is no real indication of how I will ultimately do on test day, but it does tell me where I am at for now. I don't plan to take the actual exam until October 2011, so next year really. I have a whole year to prepare for it. Anyways, in relevance to my question, I just have this uneasy feeling that I scored a god damn 138 on my diagnostic, completely cold or not. Has anyone scored lower or around this and still managed to get somewhere between 165-169? (that's what I"m aiming for btw)

Don't sweat it. Get the Powerscore Bibles and all the practice tests you can find. Scoring well on the LSAT isn't hard, it's time consuming. Put the time in; it's worth it. Very few people come right out and kill it on the first or second try, so don't despair.

[TommyK]

I think I ended up taking a diagnostic a couple of years ago and got a 130-something.

I was hung over, had two hours of sleep, worked a 10 hour day, pipe was dripping water in the kaplan room 3 feet from me, and the hot kaplan girls were yapping about their weekend plans right outside the door - hardly ideal test conditions.

I was bummed out and didn't think about the LSAT or law school for 6 months and then I decided to take a different diagnostic again (still cold - no prior prep or studying) - this one on a Saturday when I had 8+ hours of sleep. Ended up diagnostic testing at around 153. I took a course and June LSAT-ed (yeah, LSATed is now a verb) at 159, which was about 4-5 points lower than what I had been PT-ing at prior. Going to take the October one as well.

By definition, anybody scoring a 130-something is unusual, since it's in the 10th percentile, but depending on testing conditions, it may not be reflective of your abilities. Clearly my distractions caused about a 20 point difference.

It's a skill-based test. You just have to decide if you have the ability and desire to gain those skills, and if the first test was an accurate measurement of where you are right now.

[lawschoolstudent85]

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