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First, a little bit of history: I want to go to Law School (a deep passion to make the word a better place is my motivation), there's not doubt in my mind but I am that naive. Simply having the desire for something doesn't mean that you'll get it. You have to work hard for the things that you want.

So I took the LSAT during my junior year of undergrad (Dec' 09)...I studied haphazardly the whole summer before (skimming through the LR and LG bibles) and didn't really take a PT at all. To be perfectly honest, I bombed the test in December. I was pretty bummed and decided to study hardcore for the Oct'10 test.

Fast forward to this summer: I've been studying since the middle of June. Initially, I took 4 pt but couldn't get past a 155. I didn't finish LR (would leave 6-7 blank combined with a few missed questions, which meant about -19 for both sections), reading comp would be a an average of -8 out of nowhere, and logic games would be anywhere from -5 to -9. So I figured that I would stop the PTing until I got the basics down. So I stopped for a month (from July 15th to August 15th) to reread the LR bible. Then the week of August 15th, I took my first PT since the beginning of my hiatus and unfortunately I still got a 155. granted, I took the test in a noisy part of the library (little kids just do not understand that you're suppose to keep your voices down in a library), I haven't done logic games in a month, and I got major test anxiety during the first LR section. These are all just stupid excuses that I've attributed my lack of improvement to but they're do have merit.

I am shooting for a 165. I have pt 23-29, and I ordered pt 54-59 (so 12 pt left and I am thinking about getting more). I plan on taking a 2-3 pt starting tomorrow morning. I am not going to ask if it's possible to get to that score because there's only one way of knowing (getting a 165 on oct 9th). Anyone have any suggestions?

Don't leave questions blank, ever.

Just curious, why did it take you an entire month to re-do the LRB? I have a job but it only took me about a week. Are you just short on free time?

You need to consistently practice LG in order to keep your skills up. Do at least a game a day, if not an entire games section a day. I have let it drift for a week or so and even coming back after that to games you feel a bit shaky.

valoo2007 wrote:First, a little bit of history: I want to go to Law School (a deep passion to make the word a better place is my motivation), there's not doubt in my mind but I am that naive. Simply having the desire for something doesn't mean that you'll get it. You have to work hard for the things that you want.

So I took the LSAT during my junior year of undergrad (Dec' 09)...I studied haphazardly the whole summer before (skimming through the LR and LG bibles) and didn't really take a PT at all. To be perfectly honest, I bombed the test in December. I was pretty bummed and decided to study hardcore for the Oct'10 test.

Fast forward to this summer: I've been studying since the middle of June. Initially, I took 4 pt but couldn't get past a 155. I didn't finish LR (would leave 6-7 blank combined with a few missed questions, which meant about -19 for both sections), reading comp would be a an average of -8 out of nowhere, and logic games would be anywhere from -5 to -9. So I figured that I would stop the PTing until I got the basics down. So I stopped for a month (from July 15th to August 15th) to reread the LR bible. Then the week of August 15th, I took my first PT since the beginning of my hiatus and unfortunately I still got a 155. granted, I took the test in a noisy part of the library (little kids just do not understand that you're suppose to keep your voices down in a library), I haven't done logic games in a month, and I got major test anxiety during the first LR section. These are all just stupid excuses that I've attributed my lack of improvement to but they're do have merit.

I am shooting for a 165. I have pt 23-29, and I ordered pt 54-59 (so 12 pt left and I am thinking about getting more). I plan on taking a 2-3 pt starting tomorrow morning. I am not going to ask if it's possible to get to that score because there's only one way of knowing (getting a 165 on oct 9th). Anyone have any suggestions?

The only way to overcome test anxiety is practice.

eit wrote:Don't leave questions blank, ever.

Just curious, why did it take you an entire month to re-do the LRB? I have a job but it only took me about a week. Are you just short on free time?

You need to consistently practice LG in order to keep your skills up. Do at least a game a day, if not an entire games section a day. I have let it drift for a week or so and even coming back after that to games you feel a bit shaky.

Well, the actually reviewing of the LR bible didn't take a whole month. One of my closest friends was moving away to law school so I had to set aside time to help her move and spend time with said friend. Then I kinda slipped into a little emo phase where I had no motivation to do any work (haahahaha my own damn fault). But whatever, I'll just have to do my best.

valoo2007 wrote:

eit wrote:Don't leave questions blank, ever.

Just curious, why did it take you an entire month to re-do the LRB? I have a job but it only took me about a week. Are you just short on free time?

You need to consistently practice LG in order to keep your skills up. Do at least a game a day, if not an entire games section a day. I have let it drift for a week or so and even coming back after that to games you feel a bit shaky.

Well, the actually reviewing of the LR bible didn't take a whole month. One of my closest friends was moving away to law school so I had to set aside time to help her move and spend time with said friend. Then I kinda slipped into a little emo phase where I had no motivation to do any work (haahahaha my own damn fault). But whatever, I'll just have to do my best.

First of all, even with a close friend moving away, you should still have found 2-3 hours out of your day to study. I took a full class load, partied/got drunk, worked on my thesis, had a part-time job a few days a week, and still found 2-3 hours a day to study back when I was studying. And I am certainly not unique in this regard... nearly all TLSers had other commitments and social lives to juggle with the LSAT.

The good thing is that you still have plenty of time to bounce back from this. But you need to start taking this test seriously. I think that is the first step in overcoming your testing woes. You did not take this test seriously and you let it slip out of focus, and that is a big mistake. Get rid of your emo phase, cut a little time away from your friends if you have to, and go get to studying!

Good luck.

eit wrote:Don't leave questions blank, ever.

This.

Also, waiting from December until June to start studying, taking more than a couple afternoons off to be with friends, putting off logic games for a month at a time, and slipping into an unmotivated "emo" phase is not in any way shape or form "study[ing] hardcore for the Oct'10 test." That's called half-assing it. They don't hand out 165s because you want one really really bad. (I want a pony.) Look around the testing center. Less than 1 in 10 of those people are gonna get a 165, and I'll guarantee most of them practiced a lot more than you.

I took my first PT since the beginning of my hiatus and unfortunately I still got a 155. granted, I took the test in a noisy part of the library (little kids just do not understand that you're suppose to keep your voices down in a library), I haven't done logic games in a month, and I got major test anxiety during the first LR section. These are all just stupid excuses that I've attributed my lack of improvement to but they're do have merit.

Yes, they are stupid excuses, but no, they don't have merit. I don't want to be mean, but if you keep on this track you're not going to make a 165, and you'll probably make a post complaining about the testing conditions and test anxiety and whatever else that lets you ignore the fact that you haven't put forth the effort necessary for a 10 point score increase.

Are you going to get serious about this test or not?

eit wrote:Don't leave questions blank, ever.

Seriously, even if you just chose a letter and stuck with it for guessing you would have gotten one of those 6-7 right.

Also, dude (or dudette... I didn't check) you really can't use excuses like that. Look, if your best friend died or something, maybe.

But... like... geez I'll just lay it out. While studying I have: put a cat down, taken my wife to the ER, taken my child to the doctor, worked 55+ hours a week, gone to two parties, pulled all the weeds in my backyard, done all my housework, gone to religious services, wrote my PS and started my resume. During those 3 weeks I also: have done an average of 2 practice tests a week and I will be finished with the LG bible tomorrow, one day past schedule for a total of eight days spent on it.

It sounds to me like you might not be as truly committed as you say you are. Are you really committed? Do you really, really, really want to be an attorney? Like really? Like your passion burns like some [insert awesome metaphor here]?

If the answer is "no, not really" then that is why you can't get above 155. If the answer is "yes," then what I just said should have pissed you off enough to get you studying super hard just to prove me wrong.

ps. I would be happy if you proved me wrong.

After re-reading your initial post, I do have to agree with several of the other respondents. You are not studying hardcore. It seems like you just took an entire month off and are now coming in and asking for help because after a month of very little work, you did not improve on your first PT since doing very little work over a very long period of time.

It isn't realistic to take an entire month off and occasionally read the LRB until you finish it and then expect improvement. Just no.

Also, I'm still wondering if you took the LSAT before, why you're leaving questions blank, or were, anyways. It makes literally no sense. If you've taken the LSAT before, you'd KNOW you get points for any answer, even if it's a guess. So why leave them blank??