20 days before June LSAT and just started. Still hope? Forum

[magicbunny]

Hi everyone,

Now I'm a college junior and have registered for the June LSAT. I guess I have to take it in June since I want to apply for early decision and if I screwed up in June I still have a chance in Oct, but if I postpone it to oct I'll have no chance if I manage to screw it up. I have already tried several preptests during the semester and got around 165, but due to heavy class work and concert stuff I really didn't study much.

Right now our summer break just started and now I'm studying for the test everyday. Usually I do 4 LG, 4 LR and 2 RC each day. My LR and RC are pretty good. The number of mistakes are always below 3, usually 1 or 2, and I can finish the two sections with 4 or 5 minutes left. I tried both very recent preptests and older ones and got the same scores. But my LG is a huge problem because I cannot finish the section on time, although given enough time I could work them out. Now it takes me about 40-45 minutes to finish the LG section. I'm reading the LG bible now, and it's quite helpful and my score has increased a lot.

So my question is that if I'm aiming at 170+, is this workload enough? Is it just impossible to improve my LG in 20 days or I just need to work hard? Any advices for cracking LG?

Thanks guys and have great luck in LSAT!

[JamMasterJ]

For someone with so little time, you probably have the optimal weakness, but you really aren't going to reach your potential in that amount of time

[FloridaCoastalorbust]

It will be tough to get your LG down to the -0 area (this is where you need to be, and easily can be with practice) while maintaining practice on LR/RC in just a couple weeks. But, luckily you can cancel up until midnight of June 6 with LSAC's new policy, though. If possible, do pithypikes LG method on superspeed this last month and I think you can do it. If you don't get where you're at in June, a retake won't hurt you unless you are only wanting HYS.

[magicbunny]

Well I'm not aiming at HYS, or even top 5, with an exception of UChicago. The majority of schools I'm going to apply are schools in the Midwest since I want to stay and practice in this area, so UChicago, Notre Dame, UMich, WUSTL and Indiana are my top choices. I do want to get a high LSAT to get some sweet scholarships though.

I calculated and figured out that if I do 4 LGs each day I'll finish all LGs in preptests before the test date. I really wish that would work. I do not have much time studying during the summer since I'll have to give some time to GRE (I'm applying to both PhD and JD and I actually prefer PhD, but PhD programs in poli sci are extremely hard to get in for undergrads and I do not have much confidence, so I'll probably end up going to law school). I just really hope my entire plan works out

Thanks for the advices and I'm waiting for more

[DeeCee]

I don't think 20 days is enough time. It took me 3 months, 15 hours a week to fully grasp it all. In that time I gained 25 points. If you find that your diagnostic score is seriously low, I'd postpone until October. Then you'll have lots of time to practice.

ETA: If you are currently PTing at 165, then you might have enough time to study to get a 165-170. I probably wouldn't count on a 170+ though.

[magicbunny]

Well I got 165 before I had done any serious study.... Right now it's easy for me to get LGs all correct, but the biggest problem is that it takes me too long to finish the section. I have no idea how hard it is to improve the speed.

As long as I got a score higher than 167 I won't retake the test. I do spend more than 10 hours study for LSAT everyday.

Thanks for your post! That's really helpful.

[DeeCee]

Well I got 165 before I had done any serious study.... Right now it's easy for me to get LGs all correct, but the biggest problem is that it takes me too long to finish the section. I have no idea how hard it is to improve the speed.

As long as I got a score higher than 167 I won't retake the test. I do spend more than 10 hours study for LSAT everyday.

Thanks for your post! That's really helpful.

In my opinion speed in LG was the hardest part. I got to where I could do -0, but it took me much longer than the allotted time frame. So, my advice would be immediately start practicing for speed and mimic the time constraints as much as possible. Then you can get your true PT score. I did this and my score dropped for a little bit, but then came back up to my previous score as I learned to think quicker and bubble faster.

Good luck!

[buckilaw]

Do yourself a favor and take the test in Oct. If it's too late to get a refund for the June test, go take the test - so you gain extra practice and experience the LSAT in a proctored environment - and cancel it as soon as you finish.

[magicbunny]

Right-- I forgot I could cancel the score. So I would take the test, and see how I will do in the LG section, and then decide whether I should cancel or not.

Also I guess a 165 won't hurt too much even if it's on my application, since I'll take it again and I'm aiming at T15-T30?

[buckilaw]

Right-- I forgot I can cancel the score. So I would take the test, and see how I will do in the LG section, and then decide whether I should cancel or not.

Also I guess a 165 won't hurt too much if it appears in my application and I'm really aiming at T15-T30?

Some schools do average LSAT scores. Others will not necessarily average multiple scores, but they will often consider lower scores with the higher score. You are doing yourself a disservice by allowing a subpar LSAT score to appear on your transcript. The last thing you would want is to score a 155-161 in June followed by a 170+ in Oct and decide that you want to gun for NYU or Harvard. Take the test in June and cancel your score right after the test is done, no school cares if you have a single cancelled LSAT.