Taking Feb. 6th LSAT and need some advice... Forum

[bango]

Quick summary. For reasons I'm not going to go into on this post I decided mid December to try and enroll in law school for fall of 2010. I am taking the Feb. lsat and began prepping for it the second week of december. First diagnostic I scored a 160. Began reading LSAT Premier Live Online test prep book and took first timed test 12-20-09 and scored a 162.

Over half of my misses were from Logic Games, so I bought the logic games bible and on second timed test scored a 165. I took this test 1-2-10.

Finished Logic games bible and purchased logic reasoning bible. I have completed first five chapters of the reasoning bible and took the third practice test from Kaplan book this morning and scored a 172 after missing just 11 questions. (6 LG, 4 LR, 1 RC) My split before this test is has been 10+ LG, 8-10 LR, 3-5 RC.

My questions are: 1) how legit is that score? Does Kaplan make the test easier as you progress to make you feel as though you are getting better?
2) how do I get where I can accurately complete all 4 game?
3) Keeping in mind I regularly work 10-11 hour days as well as often working Saturdays, how should I prioritize my study time these next few weeks?

[Aias]

Take as many recent timed pts as you can and go over the mistakes you make. I also recommend doing the LG section for each pt again when you are reviewing mistakes.
good luck

[kazu]

-11 and 172? Do you know which preptest that was?

While the recent 2009 December lsat had a curve of -14 (14 wrong = 170), that was an exception, and I'm pretty sure the last 10+ preptests have all had a curve around -10. I think a couple might have even been -8 or -9.

I would suggest taking a recent preptest, strictly timed, in order to accurately judge where you're at. The Kaplan one may have been an old preptest, which would mean that logic games would have been harder than they are now and LR / RC would have been slightly easier (although it differs individually of course). Actually, since you don't have that much time left you should really focus your studying to recent PTs, making sure to review thoroughly.

LG is usually the easiest to improve on and with enough studying many people manage to get -0, especially those who score 170+. However, given that there's less than 3 weeks left until the February test, I honestly don't know how much you'll be able to improve by then... Is it a time issue? Do you miss random questions or entire games? Personally, for me when I just finished the LGB I found it useful to just do an entire LG section untimed, trying to get every single inference I could and aiming for -0. Also, making multiple copies of the games that you have trouble with and doing them over and over again helps too. (Try to redo them after a couple of days though so you don't automatically go for the right answer)

[spearnreel]

My questions are: 1) how legit is that score? Does Kaplan make the test easier as you progress to make you feel as though you are getting better?
2) how do I get where I can accurately complete all 4 game?
3) Keeping in mind I regularly work 10-11 hour days as well as often working Saturdays, how should I prioritize my study time these next few weeks?

It appears you are taking PTs other than actual official previously administered by LSAC.

[kan201]

Quick summary. For reasons I'm not going to go into on this post I decided mid December to try and enroll in law school for fall of 2010. I am taking the Feb. lsat and began prepping for it the second week of december. First diagnostic I scored a 160. Began reading LSAT Premier Live Online test prep book and took first timed test 12-20-09 and scored a 162.

Over half of my misses were from Logic Games, so I bought the logic games bible and on second timed test scored a 165. I took this test 1-2-10.

Finished Logic games bible and purchased logic reasoning bible. I have completed first five chapters of the reasoning bible and took the third practice test from Kaplan book this morning and scored a 172 after missing just 11 questions. (6 LG, 4 LR, 1 RC) My split before this test is has been 10+ LG, 8-10 LR, 3-5 RC.

My questions are: 1) how legit is that score? Does Kaplan make the test easier as you progress to make you feel as though you are getting better?
2) how do I get where I can accurately complete all 4 game?
3) Keeping in mind I regularly work 10-11 hour days as well as often working Saturdays, how should I prioritize my study time these next few weeks?

Only take PT that are Real LSAT's

[chewdak]

1) very legit, with 160 first diagnostic you and focused prep you can do extremely well on this test
2) practice games as much as you can, there are hundreds of them available. figure out which techniques work for you and master them
3) any chance you can lighten your schedule before the test? looks like you are working very hard without the added burden
of studying for the LSAT. It is a hard test, and prepping hard for it pays off.
Recent Kaplan books use real LSAT questions.
What are the dates or PT numbers of the tests in your book?
I suspect they are some of the oldest ones available, 15 or more years old.
The most recent December 2009 administration was #59.
Be sure to practice with the recent tests, they are noticeably different from the early ones.
LSAC makes the June 2007 test available online, have you tried taking it?

[bango]

The book says it's Prep Test 13 December 1994.

The scoring key is a generic one that it says to use for all three PT's in the book, that's why I don't feel like it's a legit 172.

On logic games, I usually complete three of the four and usually get all of the questions for the three games correct, but occasionally miss one or two (I missed one on the last test). I usually finish the third game with less than 3 minutes remaining on the section.

I have a copy of the 2007 LSAT and it is the last PT I have in my possession currently. I'm going to Border's tonight, however and purchasing a testing book. From the sounds of it I need to make sure to get recent tests. That's good to know.

practice games as much as you can, there are hundreds of them available. figure out which techniques work for you and master them

What is the best resources for collecting a bunch of logic games?

[keg411]

OP, that is an old test. Kaplan has PT's in the 40's and 50's and you should be taking those, not tests from 1994.