Can you really study your way to a 170+ LSAT? Forum

[CanIGetAnAmen]

I feel your pain Africagal, I do.

[Gamine]

OP, my very first diagnostic was a 145. At the time I didn't quite know what that meant or how bad it really was (I'm an international student so I have virtually no physical exposure to people who know ANYTHING about US law schools or the application process etc). Last week I took PT 41 and scored a 170. There was a time (at the beginning of my prep) when I thought that this wasn't possible. By October I want to score in the high 170s (a 180 couldn't hurt I believe it's very possible for me. But as others have said, you need to be willing to put in a lot of work, be disciplined and have faith in your abilities to do well. TLS has been my saving grace - I don't know what I would have done w/out this site!

[kiyoku]

We should all be studying instead of posting.

agreed again~~~ i'm off to go study again today!

good luck everyone on another great day of LSAT learning =)

super enthusiasm. yes.

[kiyoku]

I feel your pain Africagal, I do.

amen.

[RobertGolddust]

Nugnoy,

I have to laugh at your comment that you "didn't have a natural aptitude for this test" when you claim to have scored a perfect score on the SAT (writing section is nonsense, so I'm not counting your 650.) This certainly suggests to me that you did have a natural aptitude for the test. Personally if I had your SAT score I wouldn't even bother with the LSAT I would have just went to an elite to undergrad school and became a writer.

Sorry I had to point it out, I'm very jealous of people who scored high on the SAT because I spent my high school years smoking pot and all that nonsense.

And African girl, I feel betrayed that I stuck up for you. How can someone desire either a career in academics or a career in big law? You should really do some research about becoming a doctor of laws before you decide to sink a significant amount of time into a standardized test. FYI though, big law is easier to break into then academics. You can get into big law back door, academics is a whole different ball game.

[Megstew]

Similar to Gamine, I started with a REALLY low diagnostic score and lately I haven't scored anything lower than 170 in my PTs. I think its definitely possible if you put in the time. There are certainly patterns within the question types and if you familiarize yourself with enough material you can soon spot them.

[sharshar44]

Wow, prospects seem incredibly disheartening. Law School already is a gamble, especially for me. Hoping to complete two PTs this week, one of which I won't be timing just to get a feel of my potential without time constraints. Will update soon..

Thanks for the advice, any other feedback would be nice too

Diagnostic: 151
Real thing (June): 172

Diagnostic is meaningless if you are willing to put in the work and are using the right techniques.

How long did you study for this. I got a 150 on my diagnostic. It is currently February, Ideally i want to take the April test and get a 170+

[HopefulSplitter0000]

How long did you study for this. I got a 150 on my diagnostic. It is currently February, Ideally i want to take the April test and get a 170+

This thread is from 2013.

You should give yourself 3-6 months for adequate preparation. You may be able to do it in 2 if you spend 25+ hours/week taking (and then reviewing) practice tests.

Once you read prep books for each section, you may think just plowing through exams is enough. It is not. You need to review after each exam and isolate and understand your mistakes.

Good luck!

[LSATWiz.com]

How long did you study for this. I got a 150 on my diagnostic. It is currently February, Ideally i want to take the April test and get a 170+

This thread is from 2013.

You should give yourself 3-6 months for adequate preparation. You may be able to do it in 2 if you spend 25+ hours/week taking (and then reviewing) practice tests.

Once you read prep books for each section, you may think just plowing through exams is enough. It is not. You need to review after each exam and isolate and understand your mistakes.

Good luck!

I'd just chime in to say that in my experience, things are easier when you break them down into their individual parts. The LSAT can be daunting because you have all these different question types being thrown at you at once. When you try to learn 50 different things at once, you often wind up learning 0 things. I'd recommend getting 90% on each question type individually before worrying about getting 90% on a given test.

[BeeTeeZ]

For someone who doesn't particularly display much aptitude for standardized testing is it possible to diligently study your way to a 170+. People on TLS seem to have that mentality and I'm wondering if I should be worried or not. Prior to attending my UG I had difficulty scoring "well" on the SAT. Normally on practice test I'd score between 1950 to 2150 but even with three official tries I only managed to get up to a 1750. I still managed to get into a top 15 LAC which I am now attending but my troubles with standardized testing are starting to worry me. Although, I mostly seem to struggle with time management more so than an inability to comprehend the test material.

I guess what I'm trying to ask is if I were to invest in LSAT prep books and materials, perhaps a pricey Prep Course, and an adequate amount of time would I at least be able to score a 170?

Just providing a data point. My cold diagnostic was 144. I then studied for 8 weeks (~60 hours per week) and scored 172 on the real thing.

[Kiwilurker]

There are countless examples of people doing so. That said, I think sometimes people exaggerate the feasibility of this—there are also countless examples of people not achieving such a score. Certainly though, more study will result in a higher score, so even if you don't get where you'd like to go, it's worth giving it a shot!

[lsatmadness]

I did it and you certainly can too. Diagnostic in the 140s. Lots of studying got me to break the 170 barrier on the November 2019 LSAT officially.

[REDACTED]

Good luck!