Stuck in the mid 150s thread (for June test takers) Forum

[am060459]

there's a thread for those stuck in the 160s so i decided to make on for those stuck in the 150s.

i have taken PT 29 - PT 33 with a 151 - 158 - 161 - 156 - 157 respectively.

does anyone have any advice on how to improve and score in the low to mid 160s?

thanks and good luck all.

[beidoun]

there's a thread for those stuck in the 160s so i decided to make on for those stuck in the 150s.

i have taken PT 29 - PT 33 with a 151 - 158 - 161 - 156 - 157 respectively.

does anyone have any advice on how to improve and score in the low to mid 160s?

thanks and good luck all.

What have you been doing so far? Also, what are your problem areas?

[am060459]

well i've been doing practice questions for all the sections and taking a PT every week with review.

im pretty much spread evenly throughout the scale now.

i thought i was good at games but have been averaging a -7 on them. guess the time is really getting to me.

for LR i tend to do horrible when im rushing. the last two PT i've taken i see myself going to fast and ending the section with at least 3 mins.

RC was my deathbed but with practice im doing around a little better with -8 (coming from -12).

going to take two PT this week. one on friday and one (hopefully) on sunday.

[am060459]

bump

[typ3]

If you can bang out a -0 on LG and get your lr/rc down to -6 per section you should be good for consistently hitting over 160. LG is the easiest section to improve on. So, nailing that section first is easiest way to improve. It shouldn't take more than a week or two of practice + LGB to get to -2- -0. That's my advice. You"ll improve at the other sections naturally, LG can be learned and beaten quickly through prep.

[am060459]

If you can bang out a -0 on LG and get your lr/rc down to -6 per section you should be good for consistently hitting over 160. LG is the easiest section to improve on. So, nailing that section first is easiest way to improve. It shouldn't take more than a week or two of practice + LGB to get to -2- -0. That's my advice. You"ll improve at the other sections naturally, LG can be learned and beaten quickly through prep.

i agree with you on LG. ironic thing is my average, before PT'ing, was -3. also when i was doing them untimed (although i know i finished each game less than 8 mins) i was getting at most -2 on a game (rarely -2, usually -1/0).

going to do some LG and possibly LG timed sections.

[alicrimson]

Unlike all of the 160 plusers out there, I too had my first diagnostic in the mid 150's. I'm not proud of it; however, from what I hear, the LSAT follows enough of the same patterns that a 10 point plus improvement is not unheard of--especially because we are in the 150s and not the 160s. I also have problems with Logic Games. As in, my logic games are terrible. We're talking low 40's in terms of percentage correct. I guess I have my problem area clearly defined. I'm very enthused though that everyone seems to think LG's are the easiest to improve on. Good luck to you and I'm sure, with diligent practice, we can raise our scores.

[dynomite]

It sounds like you're scrimmaging instead of practicing. (In other words, you're just taking Practice Test after Practice Test and racing to look at your score instead of studying WHY you're missing questions)

Have you bought the Powerscore Logic Games Bible? If not, do yourself a favor and do so now.

Here's a link to the online sites selling it and their prices: http://www.google.com/products/catalog? ... ps-sellers

Another great suggestion elsewhere on here is that, after you take your Practice Tests timed -- BEFORE YOU LOOK AT THE ANSWERS -- to go back through the entire test again untimed and try to catch any mistakes. After that, check the answers. That should give you a sense of which questions you're missing and why -- the second time through you're going to realize that you didn't read/understand a certain word, or forgot to write down a rule in a logic game, etc.

Also, if you're still struggling after another month (or even if you're nervous now) and can afford it I'd suggest an online course like Blueprint.

[dynomite]

Unlike all of the 160 plusers out there, I too had my first diagnostic in the mid 150's. I'm not proud of it; however, from what I hear, the LSAT follows enough of the same patterns that a 10 point plus improvement is not unheard of--especially because we are in the 150s and not the 160s. I also have problems with Logic Games. As in, my logic games are terrible. We're talking low 40's in terms of percentage correct. I guess I have my problem area clearly defined. I'm very enthused though that everyone seems to think LG's are the easiest to improve on. Good luck to you and I'm sure, with diligent practice, we can raise our scores.

Ugh this is why I hate hate hate diagnostics. Don't worry about the score! Ali -- if you search around the board you'll find that most people on here started out on their cold diagnostic in the 150s.

Personally, my cold diagnostic was a 156. I ended up with a 171 in February, and was PTing in the mid-170s.

You are also part of the 90% of LSAT takers for whom the Logic Games are initially your hardest section. Buy the Logic Games Bible (referred to on here as the LGB) and you'll watch your score jump.

As long as you diligently study (as you say), you'll be fine and dandy.

[pattymac]

Hello I'm Pattymac and I'm stuck in the 150's .

Ugh, I hate my life right now. School is crazy and I just want to sit and focus on the test. I think I'm going to start taking 5 section tests from now on and that should help my LR. After a a diagnostic of 140 , I did some minor review and I got a 153. Did the bibles, got 155 then 161 followed by a lot of 153's and 156's. I dialed up 158 the other day but the following tests I scored 153 and 152. I am doing the older tests and one game ALWAYS kills me (0/6-7, guaranteed)...hopefully not on gameday though. As soon as I get some sort of strategy for RC and LR starts to click a little bit more, I think I can get up there!

[Relientkate]

I cannot recommend ALL the Powerscore bibles enough (Reading Comp, Logic Games, AND Logical Reasoning Bibles).

For self-study, I tried both Princeton and Kaplan without raising my scores. I credit Powerscore with raising my PT score from 150's to 162 on the actual test. The reading comp bible helped me go from -10 to -1 or -2.

[alicrimson]

Took a practice test today. Bad, bad, bad. Scaled score was a 155. Granted, its two points better than the cold diagnostic but still not enough. Luckily, there's still time. My LG score increased exponentially. LR...not so much. About 2/3 through the test my brain was just like "F this..." Well, that reflected in my score. Now to look over answers and keep training my brain to think when I just want to chill.

LG -4
RC-8
LR-19

My two LR's were right in a row. In fact, they were the last 2 sections. Not good....Will study this week and do homework and look at answers/explanations in hopes of 158/159 for next weekend.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

well i've been doing practice questions for all the sections and taking a PT every week with review.

im pretty much spread evenly throughout the scale now.

i thought i was good at games but have been averaging a -7 on them. guess the time is really getting to me.

for LR i tend to do horrible when im rushing. the last two PT i've taken i see myself going to fast and ending the section with at least 3 mins.

RC was my deathbed but with practice im doing around a little better with -8 (coming from -12).

going to take two PT this week. one on friday and one (hopefully) on sunday.

Don't worry about finishing LR for now. It would actually be better pacing yourself to an extent where you only finish ~20 q's right now, but you are able to improve accuracy on those 20. Don't be afraid to skip difficult Q's. The hardest Q's should be answered last, it doesn't matter whether a person is scoring in the 150s or the 170s.

You should be spending at least as much time as your spent taking a test when reviewing it. You should be redoing ALL your missed Q's and your guesses. If you have time and it is helpful, review correct answers as well. Focus on figuring out what absolutely kills the others answers and what makes the right answer correct. If you can't explain that to someone, then you need to spend more time trying to understand that particular Q.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

Took a practice test today. Bad, bad, bad. Scaled score was a 155. Granted, its two points better than the cold diagnostic but still not enough. Luckily, there's still time. My LG score increased exponentially. LR...not so much. About 2/3 through the test my brain was just like "F this..." Well, that reflected in my score. Now to look over answers and keep training my brain to think when I just want to chill.

LG -4
RC-8
LR-19

My two LR's were right in a row. In fact, they were the last 2 sections. Not good....Will study this week and do homework and look at answers/explanations in hopes of 158/159 for next weekend.

I know it's hard to do this, but put less emphasis on actual scores for now. You want to increase understanding right now, while it's nice to see an increase in score you don't have to make that a primary focus right now. Make sure you understand the test a little better with each practice test you take and each wrong answer you go back over. Having a positive mindset and getting to the point where you actually enjoy answering q's and taking practice tests is a huge benefit as well.

[am060459]

doing some timed sections to get more familiar with the timing. this is what breaks me. i feel so rushed when doing LR that i speed up and then i end up with 2-3 minutes to spare. because of that i make some careless mistakes.

doing a LR RC and LG timed section a day for 3 days. tomorrow is last day and then i move onto PT'ing for the months of april and may.

good luck all.

[Richie Tenenbaum]

doing some timed sections to get more familiar with the timing. this is what breaks me. i feel so rushed when doing LR that i speed up and then i end up with 2-3 minutes to spare. because of that i make some careless mistakes.

doing a LR RC and LG timed section a day for 3 days. tomorrow is last day and then i move onto PT'ing for the months of april and may.

good luck all.

Don't force yourself to finish sections; it's not worth rushing through the easier questions to miss the harder ones. Slow down and allow yourself to leave a few blank. Speed will come in time, but accuracy needs to be worked on first.

[honestabe84]

I cannot recommend ALL the Powerscore bibles enough (Reading Comp, Logic Games, AND Logical Reasoning Bibles).

For self-study, I tried both Princeton and Kaplan without raising my scores. I credit Powerscore with raising my PT score from 150's to 162 on the actual test. The reading comp bible helped me go from -10 to -1 or -2.

I've been hesitant to buy the reading comp bible. What could it possibly teach you? It seems like with RC either you have it or you don't.

[alicrimson]

So, took another diagnostic in class and scored a 159. That's 4 up from last time. I really hope I can continue to see improvements. Hoping with some more study, I will hit 160+ on Sunday and be "unstuck" in the the 150s.
LR:36/50
LG:15/23
RC:22/27

[am060459]

So, took another diagnostic in class and scored a 159. That's 4 up from last time. I really hope I can continue to see improvements. Hoping with some more study, I will hit 160+ on Sunday and be "unstuck" in the the 150s.
LR:36/50
LG:15/23
RC:22/27

congrats. try focusing on LG for a while. you can easily get that to at least 18+ in a week (-1/0 by june).