148 in Dec. and aiming for 170 in Oct.--Score dive? Forum

[Byakuya769]

Good luck with this man... but be realistic. 160 should be wear you are aiming.

A 170 doesn't take just studying... it takes a good amount of natural ability. Most people can't study themselves to a 170... at least not from a 148 starting point. It's possible... just be realistic and don't be afraid to shoot for the 160 range. I would have a different approach if you were in the 155-158... and even than I would be skeptical.


So study hard, dedicate your life to it, SHOOT for a 170...

but don't be bummed with a 160. Its a HUGE improvement on a 148, no matter what the circumstance.

You know, I think his 170 is doable. Look at the breakdown...on average, his LG was his weakest area, and that by far is the easiest area to get points for those unfamiliar with the test.

I'm saying this because on my diag I got a 150, and improved to 163 without much studying...mainly just scoring higher on the LG and a couple questions here and there. I'm also aiming for a 170, and I think with some hard-core prep and the bibles, it's not far from my reach.

Good luck man! It's definitely doable, I'm a cold 158, and I've scored as high as 179 on timed recent practices (waiting on june.. -biting nails-)

[jr1886]

Thanks for all the encouragements guys. I'm back from a month long break watching the world cup and now I'm ready to go full time on the LSAT for the next two months. I will start taking tests next week. This week I'm reviewing LG which is my worst section thus far. Let's roll

[Knock]

Thanks for all the encouragements guys. I'm back from a month long break watching the world cup and now I'm ready to go full time on the LSAT for the next two months. I will start taking tests next week. This week I'm reviewing LG which is my worst section thus far. Let's roll

Good luck man, you can do it. The first time I picked up a PT, I literally had to stop on the 1st LG question. I asked my dad, a lawyer, to help me. Neither of us could figure out how the hell to solve that LG. Since I quit on like the 3rd section, I never got the very initial cold diagnostic, but I can tell you it wouldn't have been very high. I ended up scoring four 180's on PT's, probably about the same 179's, and ended up with a real score on the June 2010 test of 171.

You can do it. One bit of advice, after taking the real thing, give yourself less time as you improve. On the real thing, when your adrenaline is flowing, time absolutely flies. 35 minutes easily feels like 30 minutes. So practice at 33/32 or even 30 minutes if you can manage it.

Good luck man, stay strong, and don't get too high or too low.

[Non-Chalant1]

I'm with you man....159 in June...looking for 170+ in October. I think I can pull it off if I just can maintain my focus and not get fatigued and or anxious when something doesn't come to me right away. My worst parts was games....I spent the time after my score working on that and got pretty good, but I haven't done some in awhile because I had to make sure I didn't lose any of the other skills. I'll take a practice test on Thursday morning and decide what I need to do from there....it would be my first one since the LSAT. I think I got the games down...just hope I haven't lost too much timing in the month in which I haven't done any.

[jr1886]

Thanks for all the encouragements guys. I'm back from a month long break watching the world cup and now I'm ready to go full time on the LSAT for the next two months. I will start taking tests next week. This week I'm reviewing LG which is my worst section thus far. Let's roll

Good luck man, you can do it. The first time I picked up a PT, I literally had to stop on the 1st LG question. I asked my dad, a lawyer, to help me. Neither of us could figure out how the hell to solve that LG. Since I quit on like the 3rd section, I never got the very initial cold diagnostic, but I can tell you it wouldn't have been very high. I ended up scoring four 180's on PT's, probably about the same 179's, and ended up with a real score on the June 2010 test of 171.

You can do it. One bit of advice, after taking the real thing, give yourself less time as you improve. On the real thing, when your adrenaline is flowing, time absolutely flies. 35 minutes easily feels like 30 minutes. So practice at 33/32 or even 30 minutes if you can manage it.

Good luck man, stay strong, and don't get too high or too low.

I'm really surprised your score comes out a bit lower than your average leading up to the June test. I hope you will retake as i remember you getting 178-180 left and right.
Thanks for all the advice. I'm opening an LSAT Camp, 8 hours per day, starting on August 9 to focus on doing practice test and reviewing. I hope i will be able to get my timing correct. My main problem is with LG, I never finish all 4 games usually only get to barely finish 3. I hope i can use your advice on them. LR i'm pretty good averaging -3 per section now and averaging -4 RC.

I'm with you man....159 in June...looking for 170+ in October. I think I can pull it off if I just can maintain my focus and not get fatigued and or anxious when something doesn't come to me right away. My worst parts was games....I spent the time after my score working on that and got pretty good, but I haven't done some in awhile because I had to make sure I didn't lose any of the other skills. I'll take a practice test on Thursday morning and decide what I need to do from there....it would be my first one since the LSAT. I think I got the games down...just hope I haven't lost too much timing in the month in which I haven't done any.

good luck and i think you will be able to work the rust out pretty quickly for the other sections. I'm trying to get better at game and i hope i can emulate your success. Thanks and good luck again

[seasurf]

Good luck man! I heard of someone improving from a 153 to a 171. He studied for two and half years and took the exam 4 times. Its possible, but it seems like it is going to take a lot of work.

[Knock]

Thanks for all the encouragements guys. I'm back from a month long break watching the world cup and now I'm ready to go full time on the LSAT for the next two months. I will start taking tests next week. This week I'm reviewing LG which is my worst section thus far. Let's roll

Good luck man, you can do it. The first time I picked up a PT, I literally had to stop on the 1st LG question. I asked my dad, a lawyer, to help me. Neither of us could figure out how the hell to solve that LG. Since I quit on like the 3rd section, I never got the very initial cold diagnostic, but I can tell you it wouldn't have been very high. I ended up scoring four 180's on PT's, probably about the same 179's, and ended up with a real score on the June 2010 test of 171.

You can do it. One bit of advice, after taking the real thing, give yourself less time as you improve. On the real thing, when your adrenaline is flowing, time absolutely flies. 35 minutes easily feels like 30 minutes. So practice at 33/32 or even 30 minutes if you can manage it.

Good luck man, stay strong, and don't get too high or too low.

I'm really surprised your score comes out a bit lower than your average leading up to the June test. I hope you will retake as i remember you getting 178-180 left and right.
Thanks for all the advice. I'm opening an LSAT Camp, 8 hours per day, starting on August 9 to focus on doing practice test and reviewing. I hope i will be able to get my timing correct. My main problem is with LG, I never finish all 4 games usually only get to barely finish 3. I hope i can use your advice on them. LR i'm pretty good averaging -3 per section now and averaging -4 RC.

I'd be glad to help out and offer any advice I can or help out in any way. As far as my score, yeah I was surprised as well. Best I can tell, it was mainly nerves/anxiety/adrenaline that got me. I'm leaning towards retaking, so I will probably join you in studying for October. You definitely have the right attitude, and I think that's important when tackling the LSAT. Also, LG can most definitely be improved, although this is where I screwed myself in June, going -4 after weeks of -0 and -1 almost exclusively lol. But don't let that discourage you, do the games, and repeat them, and you can get that down to -0/-1.

[jr1886]

Today i got my most proud score. Although I missed 12 questions in the games and this is not the highest score i have gotten, I can see the light down the tunnel. This past week, after reading the game section in Master the LSAT, i've become very much more comfortable doing games. Today in taking PT 13, I would have had a very good score if my French did not betray me. I speak French and English is my second language, while reading the rule in the first game, I mis-diagrammed the most important rule. The rule states

F must be in the same group as J

and as i read it in English i subconsciously translated the

J

to

G

This rule was very important for the game and thus i missed all 6 questions. worst, I get bog down because some questions were impossible to solve with the mis-diagram like question #4 and i waste 15 minutes in this game. By the time i get to the last game, I had no time and had to guess on all of them. So, the point is i probably have cracked LG.

Here's the breakdown:
13 ----07/31/2010 ---------- -5LR -2RC - -3LR -12LG ------ 79/164 ----------------------------- Exp: -4LR1 of Pt7

[crysmissmichelle]

I'm in the same boat as you. . .got a 159 on my first try in Sept '09. . . did not sufficiently study (had a cold diagnostic 154 six weeks before test day. . . .) my new goal for Oct is a 173.

My biggest challenge is LG because I had never seen one before my cold diagnostic. . .not one logic game in my life. . .now I can usually get half-way through the fourth game, but run out of time fairly consistently.

. . . anyway, I digress, Have you read the section descriptions in the SuperPrep yet? I found some nice little jewels of information in there that I am incorporating to refine the other sections in hopes of reaching my goal. Just wanted to share in case you hadn't read it yet.

[jr1886]

I'm in the same boat as you. . .got a 159 on my first try in Sept '09. . . did not sufficiently study (had a cold diagnostic 154 six weeks before test day. . . .) my new goal for Oct is a 173.

My biggest challenge is LG because I had never seen one before my cold diagnostic. . .not one logic game in my life. . .now I can usually get half-way through the fourth game, but run out of time fairly consistently.

. . . anyway, I digress, Have you read the section descriptions in the SuperPrep yet? I found some nice little jewels of information in there that I am incorporating to refine the other sections in hopes of reaching my goal. Just wanted to share in case you hadn't read it yet.

Not really, I haven't read that section part yet. I only read the one about LR. Thanks for the suggestions, I will certainly take a look at it now.
LG, the whole test actually, is very learnable. However as you points out, LG is a new beast for both of us. like you, i had never see one before until i start looking at the LSAT. I wish you good luck and stay motivated for the next 10 weeks as you repeat doing games to gain speed with accuracy

[crysmissmichelle]

Not really, I haven't read that section part yet. I only read the one about LR. Thanks for the suggestions, I will certainly take a look at it now.
LG, the whole test actually, is very learnable. However as you points out, LG is a new beast for both of us. like you, i had never see one before until i start looking at the LSAT. I wish you good luck and stay motivated for the next 10 weeks as you repeat doing games to gain speed with accuracy

Thanks

[Non-Chalant1]

I won't lie. I had to get away from this exam for a little bit. I'll take a prep test tomorrow at some point. Probably early on to see where I'm at. I really didn't want to take any in my house this time because I didn't think it was a good environment, but whatever. Oh and I've also been using this grockit website to just casually do problems while I'm on my computer. It's kept me up to speed. I'll probably use it to do a reading comprehension passage later to see if I can still knock those out. I won't lie though...my confidence on this stuff is pretty high right now. I can't remember the last time I got something wrong because I just didn't know it. I won't say I cracked the exam yet because I haven't put up the numbers but at least the mental hurdle is gone (I always get this little bit of anxiety before I sit down to take a prep test and without that I'm usually golden). I hope you're studying is going well.

[jr1886]

Took PT15 yesterday, I scored a dismal 159. I went -13 on LR after averaging -4 per section. this past week i was focusing on improving my Logic game, and i got a -5 but it seems all this focus has reduced my LR abilities.

I also experiment with SOS's method of taking a PT twice back to back, the first timed and the 2nd untimed, without checking the answers after the first. I did much better untimed as expected:
PT15 Timed : 159
PT15 Untimed : 176
With untimed, i only missed 4 questions, all from LR. Two were flaw reasoning, 1 weaken, and 1 Must be true.
This implies i have a good grasp of the concepts but need to improve my speed to work accurately within the time constraint of the LSAT.

Starting Monday, I will take 5 PT's weekly using SOS's method and i will post my progress here.

[crysmissmichelle]

Five a week might be a little overkill, don't you think? And you're going to take them twice back to back?

[jr1886]

Five a week might be a little overkill, don't you think? And you're going to take them twice back to back?

I know this was a concern for me too but I don't have any other responsibilities. I can focus only on LSAT. Further, I'm trying to take 30 more PTs. I plan to take to take each test from 7 Am-10:10 Am, without scoring it, take a long break and return for the untimed section at around 2PM. I studied for around 40hrs this week and i felt fine.

How's your studying going?

[crysmissmichelle]

I'm hit or miss. I decided to break out two of the newest PT's and scored a 170 yesterday on # 51. . .it was my first 170 in a VERY long time. . . .(last was on PT 7!) I'm hoping I can keep make this my new habit, but I'm still having trouble finishing all of the LG's consistently. I have a 15 month old baby and a full time job . . .soooooo not much time to take full lengths. I am aiming for 2 a week and trying to fine tune the other small things on LR so that I can get a fair score even if I mess up one of the LG's.

You are very dedicated, just remember if you start to feel bored or burnt out, take a break for a day or two. . .

[crysmissmichelle]

Oh, and I'm still finding good tips online. . .PowerScore and BluePrint have pretty good online resources. . .used one of their little tricks yesterday, lol. I think I might be spending a little too much time looking for tips

[jr1886]

I'm hit or miss. I decided to break out two of the newest PT's and scored a 170 yesterday on # 51. . .it was my first 170 in a VERY long time. . . .(last was on PT 7!) I'm hoping I can keep make this my new habit, but I'm still having trouble finishing all of the LG's consistently. I have a 15 month old baby and a full time job . . .soooooo not much time to take full lengths. I am aiming for 2 a week and trying to fine tune the other small things on LR so that I can get a fair score even if I mess up one of the LG's.

I think two a week is a fair amount of PTs to take weekly. hopefully, you will find the time in the last few days to take full length timed PTs.

You are very dedicated, just remember if you start to feel bored or burnt out, take a break for a day or two. . .

Thank you. I don't plan to study on the weekends and hopefully that downtime would prevent me from burning out.

Oh, and I'm still finding good tips online. . .PowerScore and BluePrint have pretty good online resources. . .used one of their little tricks yesterday, lol. I think I might be spending a little too much time looking for tips

Simply, we are obsessed with the LSAT. I'm doing the same thing too whether on TLS or online on other pages. you are not alone

[jr1886]

On Monday I took PT29 and scored a 158. On Tuesday I took PT30 and scored 160. The bottom line is i continued to struggle with LG despites my practices.

Using SOS's method of taking PT's I scored a 171 untimed on PT 29 and a 169 untimed on PT 30.

[jaydizzle]

On Monday I took PT29 and scored a 158. On Tuesday I took PT30 and scored 160. The bottom line is i continued to struggle with LG despites my practices.

Using SOS's method of taking PT's I scored a 171 untimed on PT 29 and a 169 untimed on PT 30.

Admirable improvement. I keep getting around a 157 due to time constraints. I get to 3 out of 4 games and continually score a -5 on LG. On RC, I get -8 to -10 since I never get to the last passage and just guess the letter D. On LR I don't get to about 5 questions on each sections. I just don't feel comfortable if I go faster.

[jr1886]

On Monday I took PT29 and scored a 158. On Tuesday I took PT30 and scored 160. The bottom line is i continued to struggle with LG despites my practices.

Using SOS's method of taking PT's I scored a 171 untimed on PT 29 and a 169 untimed on PT 30.

Admirable improvement. I keep getting around a 157 due to time constraints. I get to 3 out of 4 games and continually score a -5 on LG. On RC, I get -8 to -10 since I never get to the last passage and just guess the letter D. On LR I don't get to about 5 questions on each sections. I just don't feel comfortable if I go faster.

Thank you!

How many PTs are you taking weekly? I think you will definitely improve as you your familiarity of the test increases.
Timing in LG is my biggest problem, untimed i consistently get -2 to -0 but when the time constraint is added, my head went spinning and i am usually lucky if i finished 2 of the 4 games. For example on PT 30 where i got a -14 on LG, I only finished 1 game and was lucky to get two right in my guesses.

Have you experimented with SOS's strategy for taking PTs? it seems this is helping me especially with Logical reasoning in which my average had gone up last week after my exclusive focus on LG.

[jr1886]

Took PT31 yesterday using SOS's method. I got a score of 160 timed. Untimed my score is 176.

[EbonyEsq]

Took PT31 yesterday using SOS's method. I got a score of 160 timed. Untimed my score is 176.

When shall you stop taking untimed PTs? At this stage of the game I think this does more harm than good.

[Sh@keNb@ke]

Took PT31 yesterday using SOS's method. I got a score of 160 timed. Untimed my score is 176.

When shall you stop taking untimed PTs? At this stage of the game I think this does more harm than good.

The PT is taken timed first. Then the SOS method is used for a thorough review. The method is actually very beneficial.

[EbonyEsq]

Took PT31 yesterday using SOS's method. I got a score of 160 timed. Untimed my score is 176.

When shall you stop taking untimed PTs? At this stage of the game I think this does more harm than good.

The PT is taken timed first. Then the SOS method is used for a thorough review. The method is actually very beneficial.

Only if one is able to learn from and avoid repeating mistakes under timed conditions. I think we are all capable of scoring well on this exam if it was untimed. However, its figuring how to master the exam with accuracy under time constraints that's the key to a great score.

I can see how the SOS method is beneficial in the beginning of one's studies, however, as it gets closer to test day, I don't see what purpose it serves.