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Letting diag test ruin my life???

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 12:12 pm
by elyssa
Hi all. I'm prepping for the February 2018 test and just took my first diagnostic test (after a few days of very casual studying) yesterday and did horribly (140). My aim for my applications (for 2019 schoolyear) is a 168. I think a big issue of mine is time management; once I get better at questions I'm sure I'll be able to do them faster and not be leaving the last 5-8 blank.

I'm really worried, though, that following this test I need to adjust my standards and not expect to get the score I want once I do take the test. Does anyone have any advice to offer for someone wanting to jump 25-30 points? Am I completely unrealistic for wanting to score that high?

Also a note if anyone wants to offer study tips - I do work full time 9-5. Right now I'm studying about 2-3 hours per weekday (trying to make this more rigid, because lunch plans change and early alarms are hard to wake up to) and 4-5 hours on weekends. I'm also taking PowerScore's class starting in December, which will be 12 hours/week.

Thank you!!

Re: Letting diag test ruin my life???

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 12:24 pm
by JimmieWhisper
Your diagnostic score with no prep is irrelevant to how well you can do. You need to spend a few months prepping and take some practice tests after that to see of you need to adjust your expectations.

Obviously if you score high on a diagnostic , then great! You're off to a good start! But it's not a death sentence to do poorly when you haven't taken the time to learn the test yet.

Good luck!

Re: Letting diag test ruin my life???

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 12:35 pm
by Mullens
You shouldn't change your goal. If anything, it should be higher. You might need to change your test date if you're not improving at the proper pace to get a good score. Law school isn't going anywhere. Don't settle and take the LSAT early.

Re: Letting diag test ruin my life???

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 1:22 pm
by albanach
Accuracy has to come before speed.

Were you getting a decent percentage right on your diagnostic? If so, that's great. If not, that't your first focus.

Once you can get all, or mostly all of a section correct, then you can begin drilling down on time (some of which will happen naturally through repetitive practice).

Re: Letting diag test ruin my life???

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 2:38 pm
by elyssa
albanach wrote:Accuracy has to come before speed.

Were you getting a decent percentage right on your diagnostic? If so, that's great. If not, that't your first focus.

Once you can get all, or mostly all of a section correct, then you can begin drilling down on time (some of which will happen naturally through repetitive practice).
I think so. I'm still working on reviewing explanations and everything. Just went over my reading comp, 27 questions, 15 correct. Only skipped 3 questions due to time, filled in random bubbles for those and one of the three I got right based on a random guess. So let's say I got 14/24. 58%... yikes. And that was my best section. I think I'll take another test this weekend and leave it untimed and compare those scores. :?

Re: Letting diag test ruin my life???

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 3:19 pm
by Germaine
You have to trust what people are telling you here and read all their stories. A lot of us were in the 140s/low 150s for diag and ended up 170+. It is a grind, so a lot of what separates people's scores in the end is who had the most discipline and stamina.

Re: Letting diag test ruin my life???

Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 5:01 pm
by BlueprintLSATXander
Sort of parroting what others have said, but a diagnostic score can't really tell you much about what your potential end score will be. In my experience as an instructor and tutor at Blueprint I can say that it’s definitely possible to see a significant increase (including 20+ points) as long as you put in the work.

The course I teach last about 11 weeks and in that time I've seen students improve anywhere from +11 to even over 20 points from their diagnostic. So with that as a baseline in mind you could feasibly ensure you’d get into the mid-to-high 160s as long as you put in the study time and use the right techniques. But in my experience I’ve seen students soar way past that level, with some going up as high as 20+ points from beginning to end. Like athletes, those students who show the maddest gains maintain great discipline in attending all of our classes (4 hours, twice weekly), keeping up on the homework, drills, and practice sets we provide, doing our proctored practice exams, and following our advice on how to stay the course and continue improvement throughout their studies. So once your course starts you'd need to make sure that you can balance work as well you put in the effort to keep up on your studying and practice regularly both in and out of class.

This is all to say that the LSAT is a test that rewards the work you put into it. It can be difficult to balance work and study but as long as you put in the time and effort to learn the fundamentals and then the many hours of practice that it takes to solidify those and get faster at them then you can definitely excel!

Re: Letting diag test ruin my life???

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 7:26 am
by elyssa
BlueprintLSATXander wrote:Sort of parroting what others have said, but a diagnostic score can't really tell you much about what your potential end score will be. In my experience as an instructor and tutor at Blueprint I can say that it’s definitely possible to see a significant increase (including 20+ points) as long as you put in the work.

The course I teach last about 11 weeks and in that time I've seen students improve anywhere from +11 to even over 20 points from their diagnostic. So with that as a baseline in mind you could feasibly ensure you’d get into the mid-to-high 160s as long as you put in the study time and use the right techniques. But in my experience I’ve seen students soar way past that level, with some going up as high as 20+ points from beginning to end. Like athletes, those students who show the maddest gains maintain great discipline in attending all of our classes (4 hours, twice weekly), keeping up on the homework, drills, and practice sets we provide, doing our proctored practice exams, and following our advice on how to stay the course and continue improvement throughout their studies. So once your course starts you'd need to make sure that you can balance work as well you put in the effort to keep up on your studying and practice regularly both in and out of class.

This is all to say that the LSAT is a test that rewards the work you put into it. It can be difficult to balance work and study but as long as you put in the time and effort to learn the fundamentals and then the many hours of practice that it takes to solidify those and get faster at them then you can definitely excel!
This is awesome, thank you so much. I had one friend score a 158 on his diag and a 158, then a 162 on his LSATs. Another told me his jumping 148 diag to 163 LSAT is "unheard of." So I'm here panicking that wanting to score as high as I want isn't extremely realistic. Thank you all though!

Re: Letting diag test ruin my life???

Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 11:05 am
by MediocreAtBest
Delaying until June might be something to consider. 4 months of studying while working full time might not be enough to get you to a 168. Maybe about a month before the test, see how your PTs are going and how you're feeling and make that decision.

edit: also, don't worry about your diagnostic