After months of prep scored a 153, advice? Forum

[jaydizzle]

Since the summer, I have been prepping for December. My practice tests were mostly 155+ and a high of 159. I scored a 153 in December and was disappointed. I was hoping to somehow score a 160, but now that this is over with I have realized attending a third tier school would be a mistake. I was going to settle for one and apply in the fall, but screw it I just don't want to do it. I have a 3.91 GPA in business and management, and I realize I could have a much more difficult major. This GPA is still good, and if I can just go on from this 153 glut and get in the 160s I would be happy. Timing is still an issue with me and I didn't get through 1 whole passage on RC, 1 whole LG, and about 5+ questions on each LR. Perhaps more practice would bring me to a 160 alone with just timing. I was using blueprint to prep, but I still haven't gotten the methods to stick well. Is there someway i can compile explanations to all LSATs or get something that has them? I already have all the practice tests.

Another concern I have is that I won't do much better than I currently am. I have taken about 10 timed tests and did months of drilling, but this leads me to believe this is nothing after more carefully evaluating what you guys have done. I did start at a 143 diagnostic which is lower than almost anyone here. The SAT and ACT didn't bode me well as well, but based on the formula for SAT/ACT to LSAT conversion I should be at least getting a 158. I am afraid that if I keep prepping, I will reach a plateau at 158.

I'm not a T14 or bust type of guy (hell, I shouldn't be based on my scores), but I do dream of going to a school like UCONN, BC, BC, ND, GW, Vandy, and perhaps one of the lower T-14s if I can do well enough on the LSAT. I hope I can do it. The SATs and the ACTs make me believe that my ceiling for the LSAT might soon be reached which worries me. Most of you probably knocked the SAT out of the work.

Let me know what you guys think.

[Sourpunch]

Advice:

1) You shouldn't have approached the LSAT when you were only PTing at 153. You're an idiot. Even dumber for not cancelling after the exam. Sorry man, but come on. 3.9 gpa and you're going to throw that away by getting a piece of shit LSAT?

2) TAKE A FUCKING PREP COURSE.: Blueprint or Testmasters. Get a 169 minimum and you will be able to sign up to the best schools in the nation. Don't be a "i'm not a t-14 or bust kinda guy!!!" pussy. We all want t-14s, trust me, even if you dont admit it. If I could take back my undergrad years and that fucked up 3.4 I have, I would, in a heartbeat.

3) Business Administration won't be looked upon as an easy major. If you get that LSAT in the 169-175 range you are set. Take a Blueprint course and magic will happen.

Apply next cycle too.

[am060459]

Advice:

1) You shouldn't have approached the LSAT when you were only PTing at 153. You're an idiot. Even dumber for not cancelling after the exam. Sorry man, but come on. 3.9 gpa and you're going to throw that away by getting a piece of shit LSAT?

2) TAKE A FUCKING PREP COURSE.: Blueprint or Testmasters. Get a 169 minimum and you will be able to sign up to the best schools in the nation. Don't be a "i'm not a t-14 or bust kinda guy!!!" pussy. We all want t-14s, trust me, even if you dont admit it. If I could take back my undergrad years and that fucked up 3.4 I have, I would, in a heartbeat.

3) Business Administration won't be looked upon as an easy major. If you get that LSAT in the 169-175 range you are set. Take a Blueprint course and magic will happen.

Apply next cycle too.

a little rough but true. +1

[chadxviii]

wow, that was an awfully aggressive response.

[Sourpunch]

I'm only rough because I honestly don't want people to go through the misery I went through when I realized that applying to my dream school, NYU, would be as useful as looking for real women on Match.com.

[jaydizzle]

I did take a prep course, blueprint the movie.

[jaydizzle]

The business degree will be from Rensselaer by the way. This probably means nothing but it is a BS in business and management (different from business administration). The blueprint the movie course helped me improve on that 143, but I have much more left to learn seeing as I got a 153. I just really want to get something above 160 to go to at least UCONN Law my state school. I think a 160 and 3.9 would be enough for there but who knows.

[lawoftheland]

I'm only rough because I honestly don't want people to go through the misery I went through when I realized that applying to my dream school, NYU, would be as useful as looking for real women on Match.com.

You generalize too much which invariably means you're probably proven wrong a lot.

Here's one example: I met my dream woman (married for over a year) on Match.com. Exceptions..... they, like, happen.

[am060459]

get the bibles and use the kaplan mastery practice (or use Cambridge LSAT material). with a 153 im assuming the distribution of incorrect answers are spread. you might want to focus on LG first. its the easiest to improve on.

give us a breakdown of you score.

[Sourpunch]

You generalize too much which invariably means you're probably proven wrong a lot.

Here's one example: I met my dream woman (married for over a year) on Match.com. Exceptions..... they, like, happen.

Man the Match.com thing was a joke, calm the fuck down.

[Sourpunch]

And jaydizzle, take a real prep course, doing it online through a movie is not as helpful as it sounds. You can make serious gains on your current PTs of 158. You can turn that into 168. The investment is worth it.

For example, you can learn to master logic games (easy, trust me), and that might easily put you in the 165 range or more.

[lawoftheland]

You generalize too much which invariably means you're probably proven wrong a lot.

Here's one example: I met my dream woman (married for over a year) on Match.com. Exceptions..... they, like, happen.

Man the Match.com thing was a joke, calm the fuck down.

Uh, scroll up, read your original passive/aggressive response and then try to reassess who the one in need of calming down is. Mine was a lighthearted response. You said, "fuck."

[Sourpunch]

Since when is fuck an expression of anger? I'm assuming you have friends. And I assume they say fuck a lot. We all do.

You seemed to be really offended by my dig at Match.com. Just let it go.

[am060459]

lawoftheland: "I met my dream woman (married for over a year) on Match.com."

[inmans]

...

[lewis louis]

Since when is fuck an expression of anger? I'm assuming you have friends. And I assume they say fuck a lot. We all do.

You seemed to be really offended by my dig at Match.com. Just let it go.

Your agression post after post is astonishing.

[LSATfromNC]

Step 1: Break 160
Step 2: ED to UVA

[jaydizzle]

Hah, harsh criticism is good criticism. The reason I took it was I was going to give in and go to a T3. I wish I did not take a prep course. Hopefully my ceiling is not around 160. Guys don't fight over the whole match.com thing, I am not offended at all.


On December my raw score was 62: -11 on Analytical Reasoning (didn't get through the last game, bubbled in randomly for the remaining questions), -10 on Logic Reasoning 1 (bubbled in randomly for about 4 or 5 questions due to timing), -7 on logic reasoning 2 (timing issue on 3 questions), -11 on RC (I didn't get to the last passage, bubbled in randomly for the remaining questions. I wish I did this for the sculptor passage, and the first comparative reading passage threw me off. I usually do much better on RC). That's the breakdown. It looks to me like timing is a big issue, and accuracy could definitely be improved.


160 and ED to UVA would do it? This seems awfully optimistic to me. I would jump on it.

[beesknees]

OP: I had lots of trouble with timing at first and didn't complete an entire RC passage and got a 162. I got the Powerscore bibles, read them twice, took 2 practice sections a day and one full PT a week and walked into my 2nd LSAT with way more confidence and managed my time well (even finished a LR section early to use the bathroom). I got a 169 - up from my diagnostic of 159.

But be warned, hard work and competent study structure will do wonders to bring you to the limits of your abilities, but don't assume that it will land you that 170. Natural talent kicks in somewhere, so don't get disillusioned like sourpunch and expect that 170. You have to be realistic about such large jumps in scoring - that it doesn't happen all that often. SO definitely wait, change your study methods, and retake, but keep your goals realistic. If you exceed them, then you'll just be pleasantly surprised, instead of utterly crushed if you set an unrealistic goal.

[jaydizzle]

I want a 163+, and with my GPA that should be good enough for a lot of good places. Right? Based on what you guys have done, I think it is clear I need to work much harder. I don't think I am as smart as most of you. My diagnostic of 143 probably speaks for this. An improvement of 20 points seems kind of tough especially since I already got to that 153.

[jaydizzle]

get the bibles and use the kaplan mastery practice (or use Cambridge LSAT material). with a 153 im assuming the distribution of incorrect answers are spread. you might want to focus on LG first. its the easiest to improve on.

give us a breakdown of you score.

Cambridge LSAT and Kaplan Mastery have good explanations to all the LSAT questions? I still have all my blueprint materials, but I would like explanations to everything.

[am060459]

work on LG first. that -11 can easily (yes easily) turn into at least -3. by that virtue alone your looking at a raw score of at least 70 (156ish [this isnt a big jump because the December lsat had a generous curve]).

i would then work on LR. work on accuracy first and then time yourself on individual questions. then move onto timed sections. if timing is an issue dont try to do all 25. quality over quantity. you might just want to do only 20 and get those all right.

same with RC. quality over quantity. do three passages and try get perfection.

assuming you do as i said that would leave you with -10 (both LR), -7 (one RC) and -3 for a total raw score of 80 (161ish). this is good because im assuming the questions you guess you get completely wrong (which is highly unlikely since you will be able to get at least 2-3 of them). however im also assuming the question you do do are done with perfection (which is an even bigger assumption).

nonetheless, remember quality not quantity. good luck.

[rw2264]

wow, that was an awfully aggressive response.

sometimes people need stern words. its for his own good.

[am060459]

get the bibles and use the kaplan mastery practice (or use Cambridge LSAT material). with a 153 im assuming the distribution of incorrect answers are spread. you might want to focus on LG first. its the easiest to improve on.

give us a breakdown of you score.

Cambridge LSAT and Kaplan Mastery have good explanations to all the LSAT questions? I still have all my blueprint materials, but I would like explanations to everything.

i believe the kaplan mastery does.

cambridge does a good job of breaking down the sections into their repsective order. http://www.cambridgelsat.com/category/lsat/by_Type/8

[rw2264]

I want a 163+, and with my GPA that should be good enough for a lot of good places. Right? Based on what you guys have done, I think it is clear I need to work much harder. I don't think I am as smart as most of you. My diagnostic of 143 probably speaks for this. An improvement of 20 points seems kind of tough especially since I already got to that 153.

you got a 3.9. you're fucking smart. maybe your confidence is your problem.

and getting from a 143 to a 153 is probably about as hard as getting from a 153 to a 160, or a 160 to a 165. i got from a 164 diagnostic to a 170 (PTs at 172 average, 177 highest). you can do it.