How to improve in the 170s Forum

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kpadoreo

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How to improve in the 170s

Post by kpadoreo » Tue Oct 04, 2016 10:02 am

Hey all,

I'm consistently scoring around 171-172 on timed PTs, and am wondering how to improve my score into the high 170s. I've taken 6 PTs so far, including my diagnostic. I've heard it's harder to get these last few points since it requires mastering the most difficult questions, but I'm hoping for some tips. I will take the LSAT in December so I have 8 and half weeks to study still. I've already read the Powerscore Bibles, and don't have access to a course since I am living abroad. I've considered joining the Lawschooli online study group, but I'm not sure if that is really worth it.
Are there maybe some techniques or materials that could help me secure these last few points so I can go into the LSAT with room to breathe?
Thanks in advance for the advice!!

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guynourmin

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Re: How to improve in the 170s

Post by guynourmin » Tue Oct 04, 2016 10:12 am

Continue with the PTs until you have figured out what you are getting wrong. There is no one-size-fits-all answer here. A 170 could be getting 100% of the questions you answer right but running out of time, or just making a dozen simple mistakes, or literally getting every weaken question wrong, etc. No one is going to be able to tell you what you are getting wrong: you have to tell us! Then maybe we can help.

zwaterman

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Re: How to improve in the 170s

Post by zwaterman » Tue Oct 04, 2016 10:18 am

My diagnostic was a 153. My best PT--26 PTs later--was a 179. Obviously, what has been said is true. It does depend hugely on your personal weaknesses. For me, broadly speaking, overcoming each plateau entailed reaching first for low-hanging fruit and then progressively higher fruit. At the low 170's, I had to focus all my energy on parallel reasoning, point at issue, and main point questions. Figure out whatever you're missing consistently and drill that like crazy.

Voyager

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Re: How to improve in the 170s

Post by Voyager » Tue Oct 04, 2016 12:01 pm

Will add: obviously gets much harder to improve the higher your score

Also, the impact of getting tired and making a mistake gets amplified.

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Clearly

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Re: How to improve in the 170s

Post by Clearly » Tue Oct 04, 2016 1:20 pm

Welcome to the big leagues of lsat frustration. Here, you're already making so few mistakes that the value of a mistake is amplified. In order to understand what you're up against please look at a curve and calculate a percentage difference between your score and the score you want. Often people feel like 170 is so close to 175 but if you're only making 10 mistakes and you need to be making 5, you effectively need to be twice as consistent as you are.

Counter to what others are saying, I don't usually see people with consistent weaknesses in the low 170s. I can't remember a student who always scores in the 170s by getting everything right except say parallel reasoning. More likely you have experienced pushing points around sections, crush LR only to give up 3 points in games, crush games only to give up 3 points in LR. Look broadly at your section breakdowns historically to see if this is the case, if so it usually tracks the curve. Test makers usually have a "curve setting section", a bitch game or passage meant to differentiate between 174 and 178 people. Only thing you can do here is practice very hard questions from each section. Practice games like snakes and lizards, circular sequencing, zepher airlines, etc; passages like riddled basins of attraction. If on the other hand your always going -5 on the same section, you have to do serious work on that section.

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The LSAT Trainer

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Re: How to improve in the 170s

Post by The LSAT Trainer » Tue Oct 04, 2016 1:24 pm

Posted this a few years back -- thought you might find it helpful --

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... p?t=192589

cheers - mike

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RamTitan

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Re: How to improve in the 170s

Post by RamTitan » Wed Oct 05, 2016 6:00 pm

Clearly wrote:. Only thing you can do here is practice very hard questions from each section. Practice games like snakes and lizards, circular sequencing, zepher airlines, etc; passages like riddled basins of attraction. If on the other hand your always going -5 on the same section, you have to do serious work on that section.
This is the best advice you'll get, and really the only approach to take at this point. But considering you're already in the low 170s after 6 tests, you're in a very good spot.

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SunDevil14

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Re: How to improve in the 170s

Post by SunDevil14 » Wed Oct 05, 2016 10:26 pm

RamTitan wrote:
Clearly wrote:. Only thing you can do here is practice very hard questions from each section. Practice games like snakes and lizards, circular sequencing, zepher airlines, etc; passages like riddled basins of attraction. If on the other hand your always going -5 on the same section, you have to do serious work on that section.
This is the best advice you'll get, and really the only approach to take at this point. But considering you're already in the low 170s after 6 tests, you're in a very good spot.
I am in a similar spot, though took more work to get there. Is the a source that has the hardest LG and RC passages enumerated? I am consider drilling sections of 4 "toughest games" and 4 "toughest passages". For LR I suppose Id just take the last 4 to 6 questions from sections and then do that as a single section.

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RamTitan

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Re: How to improve in the 170s

Post by RamTitan » Thu Oct 06, 2016 9:45 am

SunDevil14 wrote:
RamTitan wrote:
Clearly wrote:. Only thing you can do here is practice very hard questions from each section. Practice games like snakes and lizards, circular sequencing, zepher airlines, etc; passages like riddled basins of attraction. If on the other hand your always going -5 on the same section, you have to do serious work on that section.
This is the best advice you'll get, and really the only approach to take at this point. But considering you're already in the low 170s after 6 tests, you're in a very good spot.
I am in a similar spot, though took more work to get there. Is the a source that has the hardest LG and RC passages enumerated? I am consider drilling sections of 4 "toughest games" and 4 "toughest passages". For LR I suppose Id just take the last 4 to 6 questions from sections and then do that as a single section.
You can Google it, and there will be some good lists, but I always kept track of which ones gave me trouble. For example, if I missed even one problem for a game, I'd make sure to do it over and over again to understand the pattern.

With LR, I did 11-25/26 for almost every released section.

Edit - Granted, I have no idea how this helped me yet. I started doing this studying method after I scored a 169 in June. But I feel that my understanding of the test improved dramatically doing it this way versus pounding down practice tests.

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Blueprint Mithun

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Re: How to improve in the 170s

Post by Blueprint Mithun » Thu Oct 06, 2016 3:06 pm

kpadoreo wrote:Hey all,

I'm consistently scoring around 171-172 on timed PTs, and am wondering how to improve my score into the high 170s. I've taken 6 PTs so far, including my diagnostic. I've heard it's harder to get these last few points since it requires mastering the most difficult questions, but I'm hoping for some tips. I will take the LSAT in December so I have 8 and half weeks to study still. I've already read the Powerscore Bibles, and don't have access to a course since I am living abroad. I've considered joining the Lawschooli online study group, but I'm not sure if that is really worth it.
Are there maybe some techniques or materials that could help me secure these last few points so I can go into the LSAT with room to breathe?
Thanks in advance for the advice!!
Hey, first off, congrats on getting this far. The score gains come much slower at this point, but they're not impossible to achieve. I think the key is to review your practice sections and tests extremely closely. Be wary of any patterns or potential patterns in terms of the types of questions that you're getting wrong. Go over difficult or wrongly answered questions carefully, to the point where you can articulate why each wrong answer doesn't fulfill the prompt. The more you do this, the easier it will be to spot out similar mistakes and tricks in the future. I'd also recommend doing super sections of LR questions - take the last 10 questions from a few different sections (even ones you've done before) and compile them into single sections. If you can cut your teeth exclusively against hard LR questions for a while. it will improve your ability to handle difficult, complex prompts and answer choices.

kpadoreo

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Re: How to improve in the 170s

Post by kpadoreo » Fri Oct 07, 2016 3:25 am

Okay thanks, those answers were quite helpful, especially that thing about super sections.
In response to which questions I'm getting wrong, it has been quite random. Logic games timing is always tight, but I'm not usually missing more than a couple questions in that section. I'm more frustrated with LR since I always finish with enough time but consistently miss a few questions, always from different question types.
I will try the super sections and see if it helps!

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Walliums

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Re: How to improve in the 170s

Post by Walliums » Fri Oct 07, 2016 3:05 pm

The LSAT Trainer wrote:Posted this a few years back -- thought you might find it helpful --

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... p?t=192589

cheers - mike
It's Mike Kim!!

I am halfway through the Trainer -- man do I see things differently than when I took my diagnostic.

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Clearly

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Re: How to improve in the 170s

Post by Clearly » Sat Oct 08, 2016 10:19 am

SunDevil14 wrote:
RamTitan wrote:
Clearly wrote:. Only thing you can do here is practice very hard questions from each section. Practice games like snakes and lizards, circular sequencing, zepher airlines, etc; passages like riddled basins of attraction. If on the other hand your always going -5 on the same section, you have to do serious work on that section.
This is the best advice you'll get, and really the only approach to take at this point. But considering you're already in the low 170s after 6 tests, you're in a very good spot.
I am in a similar spot, though took more work to get there. Is the a source that has the hardest LG and RC passages enumerated? I am consider drilling sections of 4 "toughest games" and 4 "toughest passages". For LR I suppose Id just take the last 4 to 6 questions from sections and then do that as a single section.
The last 6 questions are not usually the hardest. Typically the hardest LR questions are found between 14-18

The LSAT Trainer

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Re: How to improve in the 170s

Post by The LSAT Trainer » Mon Oct 10, 2016 11:47 am

Walliums wrote:
The LSAT Trainer wrote:Posted this a few years back -- thought you might find it helpful --

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... p?t=192589

cheers - mike
It's Mike Kim!!

I am halfway through the Trainer -- man do I see things differently than when I took my diagnostic.
It is! -- glad to hear that the trainer is making a mark -- wish you the best and don't hesitate to get in touch if you need me - mk

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