Feeling really discouraged Forum

[hinton2014]

Just took my cold diagnostic... Well it definitely wasn't great. I ended up with a 152. I'm pretty discouraged after seeing that number, but I guess I shouldn't have expected much since I haven't studied at all yet. I really just wanted to see where I'd be beginning. My LR was fine, it was like -4 in each, so there's room to improve, but it's not great either. The LG I did pretty awful, but I don't know the diagramming techniques yet. As for the final section, I'm not sure if it was tough, or just a combination of dense reading material coupled with my frustration and just wanting to be done. Just feeling frustrated after seeing that number, don't want to blow my GPA (3.95 institution/ 3.87). Hope I can get it down by Septemeber, trying to get into Vandy with some money thrown my way.

[Tycho]

Just took my cold diagnostic... Well it definitely wasn't great. I ended up with a 152. I'm pretty discouraged after seeing that number, but I guess I shouldn't have expected much since I haven't studied at all yet. I really just wanted to see where I'd be beginning. My LR was fine, it was like -4 in each, so there's room to improve, but it's not great either. The LG I did pretty awful, but I don't know the diagramming techniques yet. As for the final section, I'm not sure if it was tough, or just a combination of dense reading material coupled with my frustration and just wanting to be done. Just feeling frustrated after seeing that number, don't want to blow my GPA (3.95 institution/ 3.87). Hope I can get it down by Septemeber, trying to get into Vandy with some money thrown my way.

You're actually in a really good spot, since you say you struggled with LG in particular. Check out the PowerScore LG bible and 7Sage and snoop around this forum for study plans etc. And that's a pretty solid start with LR! Get that score up this summer and, with that GPA, you could be looking at good money at at least Vandy, if not the T14. Good luck.

[Mikey]

-4 in each LR section? That's pretty good for a cold diagnostic! Don't worry about doing terrible in LG by the way, it's the easiest and fastest section that can be improved.

[SplitMyPants]

A 20 point improvement over diagnostic is not at all crazy, especially with LG being the lowest score. If you get into a good routine and take a lot of timed PTs after drilling individual sections, you could definitely find yourself in a great spot.

[QuentonCassidy]

Just took my cold diagnostic... Well it definitely wasn't great. I ended up with a 152. I'm pretty discouraged after seeing that number, but I guess I shouldn't have expected much since I haven't studied at all yet. I really just wanted to see where I'd be beginning. My LR was fine, it was like -4 in each, so there's room to improve, but it's not great either. The LG I did pretty awful, but I don't know the diagramming techniques yet. As for the final section, I'm not sure if it was tough, or just a combination of dense reading material coupled with my frustration and just wanting to be done. Just feeling frustrated after seeing that number, don't want to blow my GPA (3.95 institution/ 3.87). Hope I can get it down by Septemeber, trying to get into Vandy with some money thrown my way.

No need to feel down on yourself! Your GPA puts you in a really great spot and the LSAT is an incredibly learnable test. Many people have seen huuuge score increases by putting in study, and with a lot of hard work virtually all options are available to you with that GPA. The LSAT guides on this website are awesome; best of luck in your studies!

[hinton2014]

Just took my cold diagnostic... Well it definitely wasn't great. I ended up with a 152. I'm pretty discouraged after seeing that number, but I guess I shouldn't have expected much since I haven't studied at all yet. I really just wanted to see where I'd be beginning. My LR was fine, it was like -4 in each, so there's room to improve, but it's not great either. The LG I did pretty awful, but I don't know the diagramming techniques yet. As for the final section, I'm not sure if it was tough, or just a combination of dense reading material coupled with my frustration and just wanting to be done. Just feeling frustrated after seeing that number, don't want to blow my GPA (3.95 institution/ 3.87). Hope I can get it down by Septemeber, trying to get into Vandy with some money thrown my way.

You're actually in a really good spot, since you say you struggled with LG in particular. Check out the PowerScore LG bible and 7Sage and snoop around this forum for study plans etc. And that's a pretty solid start with LR! Get that score up this summer and, with that GPA, you could be looking at good money at at least Vandy, if not the T14. Good luck.

Yeah, I was pretty content with my LR, and I recognized I just don't know the basics of LG yet. I am a little concerned on my RC, I need to improve my reading speed. I have all 3 of the PowerScore Bible's as well as the LSAC SuperPrep. I guess we shall see.

[hinton2014]

-4 in each LR section? That's pretty good for a cold diagnostic! Don't worry about doing terrible in LG by the way, it's the easiest and fastest section that can be improved.

That's what I've heard. Nervous about the RC improvement, however. Thanks for the encouragement!

[hinton2014]

A 20 point improvement over diagnostic is not at all crazy, especially with LG being the lowest score. If you get into a good routine and take a lot of timed PTs after drilling individual sections, you could definitely find yourself in a great spot.

I guess we'll see. Luckily I'm only a junior in UG, so I do have sometime. I would like to be good to go for September though

[hinton2014]

Just took my cold diagnostic... Well it definitely wasn't great. I ended up with a 152. I'm pretty discouraged after seeing that number, but I guess I shouldn't have expected much since I haven't studied at all yet. I really just wanted to see where I'd be beginning. My LR was fine, it was like -4 in each, so there's room to improve, but it's not great either. The LG I did pretty awful, but I don't know the diagramming techniques yet. As for the final section, I'm not sure if it was tough, or just a combination of dense reading material coupled with my frustration and just wanting to be done. Just feeling frustrated after seeing that number, don't want to blow my GPA (3.95 institution/ 3.87). Hope I can get it down by Septemeber, trying to get into Vandy with some money thrown my way.

No need to feel down on yourself! Your GPA puts you in a really great spot and the LSAT is an incredibly learnable test. Many people have seen huuuge score increases by putting in study, and with a lot of hard work virtually all options are available to you with that GPA. The LSAT guides on this website are awesome; best of luck in your studies!

Thanks a ton! I'll look into those guides

[somethingElse]

You're actually in a super good position. As other have said, LG Is BY FAR the easiest to make huge improvements on. It also sounds like your RC troubles were due mainly to fatigue, which is completely understandable since it was your last section and you aren't used to the test yet.

Once you start learning all the strategies and get ready to take PTs, I would make sure you take full, five section PTs to get you used to the real thing. But DO NOT worry that you had that feeling on your diagnostic. And don't feel like the test is daunting, because once you've studied for a bit it will be far from that. I remember feeling exactly like that on my diagnostic too, and I turned out okay.

[hinton2014]

You're actually in a super good position. As other have said, LG Is BY FAR the easiest to make huge improvements on. It also sounds like your RC troubles were due mainly to fatigue, which is completely understandable since it was your last section and you aren't used to the test yet.

Once you start learning all the strategies and get ready to take PTs, I would make sure you take full, five section PTs to get you used to the real thing. But DO NOT worry that you had that feeling on your diagnostic. And don't feel like the test is daunting, because once you've studied for a bit it will be far from that. I remember feeling exactly like that on my diagnostic too, and I turned out okay.

Thanks! Would you recommend studying one section at a time or doing bits of each? I was going to skim through the LSAC SuperPrep to get a little background, then go into the PowerScore Bibles pretty heavily.

[somethingElse]

You're actually in a super good position. As other have said, LG Is BY FAR the easiest to make huge improvements on. It also sounds like your RC troubles were due mainly to fatigue, which is completely understandable since it was your last section and you aren't used to the test yet.

Once you start learning all the strategies and get ready to take PTs, I would make sure you take full, five section PTs to get you used to the real thing. But DO NOT worry that you had that feeling on your diagnostic. And don't feel like the test is daunting, because once you've studied for a bit it will be far from that. I remember feeling exactly like that on my diagnostic too, and I turned out okay.

Thanks! Would you recommend studying one section at a time or doing bits of each? I was going to skim through the LSAC SuperPrep to get a little background, then go into the PowerScore Bibles pretty heavily.

Bits of each is what I did and I liked it. I would recommend reading these two guides and adjust them slightly to your liking and/or adjust them as you go once you find out what works well for you:

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 6&t=120471

http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... =6&t=41657

The first one is more general tips about the test and the second is more specific/an actual study schedule type thing.

[Loquitur Res]

You'll be all set. I think the majority of people need to do a least some basic studying to get LG. I know I was completely lost the first time I tried to do a timed LG section. LG Bible is pretty good. Learn the techniques first, then focus on getting faster. RC is a lot about timing. If you get stuck and cant get through the last reading section you'll be screwed. This is something you WILL get better at through practice.

[Blueprint Mithun]

You're actually in a super good position. As other have said, LG Is BY FAR the easiest to make huge improvements on. It also sounds like your RC troubles were due mainly to fatigue, which is completely understandable since it was your last section and you aren't used to the test yet.

Once you start learning all the strategies and get ready to take PTs, I would make sure you take full, five section PTs to get you used to the real thing. But DO NOT worry that you had that feeling on your diagnostic. And don't feel like the test is daunting, because once you've studied for a bit it will be far from that. I remember feeling exactly like that on my diagnostic too, and I turned out okay.

Thanks! Would you recommend studying one section at a time or doing bits of each? I was going to skim through the LSAC SuperPrep to get a little background, then go into the PowerScore Bibles pretty heavily.

Just to echo what everyone else has said - 152 is not a bad diagnostic at all. I started with a 153 and was able to bring it up to 175.

I personally did bits of each, but focused on one. As in my goal was to finish my LG book first, but I would do an LR or RC chapter here and there to mix it up. I think you should focus on LG first as well, given your scores.

This forum tends to make Reading Comp improvement sound really difficult. I'd argue that it's not necessarily more difficult to improve on than the others. Speed is not the most important aspect of doing well on RC - anticipation is. Having a framework through which you see each passage, that allows you to break it down into its most essential parts - essential meaning the things you're most likely to see questions on - is the most useful thing.

There are books that can teach you this, but you need to practice breaking down the passages yourselves until it becomes second nature to you. The point that you're ultimately trying to get to one where you can do this as you're reading the passage for the first time.

Speed is useful, no doubt, but it's more important to learn to read effectively. That way, you won't have to waste time re-reading.

[Londonbear]

Just took my cold diagnostic... Well it definitely wasn't great. I ended up with a 152. I'm pretty discouraged after seeing that number, but I guess I shouldn't have expected much since I haven't studied at all yet. I really just wanted to see where I'd be beginning. My LR was fine, it was like -4 in each, so there's room to improve, but it's not great either. The LG I did pretty awful, but I don't know the diagramming techniques yet. As for the final section, I'm not sure if it was tough, or just a combination of dense reading material coupled with my frustration and just wanting to be done. Just feeling frustrated after seeing that number, don't want to blow my GPA (3.95 institution/ 3.87). Hope I can get it down by Septemeber, trying to get into Vandy with some money thrown my way.

You're actually in a really good spot, since you say you struggled with LG in particular. Check out the PowerScore LG bible and 7Sage and snoop around this forum for study plans etc. And that's a pretty solid start with LR! Get that score up this summer and, with that GPA, you could be looking at good money at at least Vandy, if not the T14. Good luck.

Loved PowerScore for LG. Echo what everyone else says, it's easy to improve your score. Don't get discourage, if you get discouraged that easily, you won't survive in law school. LSAT seems like nothing compared to studying for law school finals.

[hinton2014]

You're actually in a super good position. As other have said, LG Is BY FAR the easiest to make huge improvements on. It also sounds like your RC troubles were due mainly to fatigue, which is completely understandable since it was your last section and you aren't used to the test yet.

Once you start learning all the strategies and get ready to take PTs, I would make sure you take full, five section PTs to get you used to the real thing. But DO NOT worry that you had that feeling on your diagnostic. And don't feel like the test is daunting, because once you've studied for a bit it will be far from that. I remember feeling exactly like that on my diagnostic too, and I turned out okay.

Thanks! Would you recommend studying one section at a time or doing bits of each? I was going to skim through the LSAC SuperPrep to get a little background, then go into the PowerScore Bibles pretty heavily.

Just to echo what everyone else has said - 152 is not a bad diagnostic at all. I started with a 153 and was able to bring it up to 175.

I personally did bits of each, but focused on one. As in my goal was to finish my LG book first, but I would do an LR or RC chapter here and there to mix it up. I think you should focus on LG first as well, given your scores.

This forum tends to make Reading Comp improvement sound really difficult. I'd argue that it's not necessarily more difficult to improve on than the others. Speed is not the most important aspect of doing well on RC - anticipation is. Having a framework through which you see each passage, that allows you to break it down into its most essential parts - essential meaning the things you're most likely to see questions on - is the most useful thing.

There are books that can teach you this, but you need to practice breaking down the passages yourselves until it becomes second nature to you. The point that you're ultimately trying to get to one where you can do this as you're reading the passage for the first time.

Speed is useful, no doubt, but it's more important to learn to read effectively. That way, you won't have to waste time re-reading.

That makes sense. I'll have to work on it for sure.

[hinton2014]

Just took my cold diagnostic... Well it definitely wasn't great. I ended up with a 152. I'm pretty discouraged after seeing that number, but I guess I shouldn't have expected much since I haven't studied at all yet. I really just wanted to see where I'd be beginning. My LR was fine, it was like -4 in each, so there's room to improve, but it's not great either. The LG I did pretty awful, but I don't know the diagramming techniques yet. As for the final section, I'm not sure if it was tough, or just a combination of dense reading material coupled with my frustration and just wanting to be done. Just feeling frustrated after seeing that number, don't want to blow my GPA (3.95 institution/ 3.87). Hope I can get it down by Septemeber, trying to get into Vandy with some money thrown my way.

You're actually in a really good spot, since you say you struggled with LG in particular. Check out the PowerScore LG bible and 7Sage and snoop around this forum for study plans etc. And that's a pretty solid start with LR! Get that score up this summer and, with that GPA, you could be looking at good money at at least Vandy, if not the T14. Good luck.

Loved PowerScore for LG. Echo what everyone else says, it's easy to improve your score. Don't get discourage, if you get discouraged that easily, you won't survive in law school. LSAT seems like nothing compared to studying for law school finals.

I guess "discouraged" wasn't the best word, mainly frustrated. I had expected to see higher results based on the results I see in the classroom, but I now recognize success in the classroom does not equate to success in this test. It'll be a lot of work, but certainly doable.