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I'm asking for my sister, who has taken two tests cold and got a 154 both times. She is signed up for Kaplan Online to start in a couple of months. After she completes the course and continues to work really hard up until when she wants to take the LSAT (October 2014) can she get up to a 174? Thanks for the replies.

It is certainly possible that she can do it. But it is highly improbable that she will do it through Kaplan online. I recommend searching through this forum for the countless stories of students who have made 20 point jumps. Advise her to test out their methods and materials, and to be prepared to put in hundreds of hours of independent study time.

It is entirely possible to jump 20 points from your diagnostic. I went from a 155 cold diagnostic to a 173 on the October LSAT after four months of studying. Over the summer, I studied for a solid four or five hours a day, six days a week. So it is definitely possible to go from a 154 to a 174, but it won't be easy. However, I would also advise against taking a Kaplan course. Kaplan's methods are counter-intuitive and will likely do more harm than good. I would highly recommend PowerScore, Manhattan LSAT, or the LSAT Trainer.

Hat Trick wrote:It is entirely possible to jump 20 points from your diagnostic. I went from a 155 cold diagnostic to a 173 on the October LSAT after four months of studying. Over the summer, I studied for a solid four or five hours a day, six days a week. So it is definitely possible to go from a 154 to a 174, but it won't be easy. However, I would also advise against taking a Kaplan course. Kaplan's methods are counter-intuitive and will likely do more harm than good. I would highly recommend PowerScore, Manhattan LSAT, or the LSAT Trainer.

Ha, before law school this sounded like a lot.

Many 17* scorers start in the 15*s

Possible, yes. As others said, read the stories here for ideas of how to do it. Requires a lot of work, good methods, and rigorous self examination.

I would caution that it's highly improbable. Only about 0.73% of test takers get a 174 or higher. The vast majority of them will have started in the mid 160s, at least based on my experience and the data I've seen.

You will hear a lot of people saying "I did it", but that's a self selecting sample. No one is going to come on here and say "I aimed for a 174, studied for four months, and never broke 160". But statistically, that story is vastly more common. People don't like admitting they failed, so you simply don't hear from those.

I don't mean to be overly harsh – just want to make sure your sister goes into this with both eyes open.

do you think the people that never break 160 are actually capable of doing so? Or do you think it's studying incorrectly / wrong methods?

Yes, it's possible, although it will require a lot of discipline. Personally, I achieved a 20-point score increase over about 8 months.

But please, tell your sister to avoid Kaplan. If she wants to take an online class, direct her to Blueprint, Manhattan, or 7sage (might be some other good online courses I'm forgetting)

Yeah, if she can unsignup and get her money back, she should

I started in the upper 150's. Ended with a 174. It's doable.

Like the other posters have noted, Kaplan and other courses are good at giving some of the basics --- at getting some people into "good" LSAT score territory. But they won't get most people to a 165+. Self-study. It's all about self-study.

I started with a 157 blind. Took a course (not Kaplan, Testmasters). Went up to 166. Was thrilled.

Started self-studying, and only then did I push well into the 170's to 180 on PT's.

alecks wrote:do you think the people that never break 160 are actually capable of doing so? Or do you think it's studying incorrectly / wrong methods?

Despite my pessimistic note above, I think it actually is doable for those people. But it's not a linear process. You have to actively examine what you're doing wrong. WHY are you making mistakes? Anytime you find something where you don't know the meaning, or where you couldn't explain it to someone, that's a weak point. Most people just gloss over this stuff.

I think people are capable of much more than they realize, but many people don't seem to grasp that changing your outcomes generally requires changing how you do things.

I've noticed a common trait in students who succeed: they analyze what they're doing, and they take action based on this analysis.

Students who don't succeed tend to say things like "I understand it better, but I'm not scoring better" or "I understand the material, but I just keep making dumb mistakes" or "I understand it, but the timing kills me". I very rarely hear high scorers say "I understand". They're focussed on what they don't understand, and how they can reduce it.

tlsforumid wrote:I'm asking for my sister, who has taken two tests cold and got a 154 both times. She is signed up for Kaplan Online to start in a couple of months. After she completes the course and continues to work really hard up until when she wants to take the LSAT (October 2014) can she get up to a 174? Thanks for the replies.

Definitely doable. The highest increase I've seen is a 152 diagnostic to a 180 on actual test day. Perfect raw score as well and that was a 5-month study process. It's highly dependent on the individual in my opinion.