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I just took a cold diagnostic test at Kaplan and got a 163. My logical reasoning needs work, and I made almost all of my mistakes in that section.

I plan on taking the October LSAT, and am aiming for a 173-175 in order to get into NYU. What kind of study routine should I be looking at?

Thanks!

This one
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... =6&t=41657

One that Blueprint/Testmasters/Powerscore/ScorePerfect provides...

One that Blueprint/Testmasters/Powerscore/ScorePerfect provides... doesn't cost $1500 and isn't designed for people who are shooting for a score you got on your diagnostic. Seriously, save the money, read the bibles, go through the PT's, and you should be able to hit mid 170's sans a meltdown on test day.

D-ROCCA wrote:One that Blueprint/Testmasters/Powerscore/ScorePerfect provides... doesn't cost $1500 and is designed for people who are shooting for a score you got on your diagnostic. Seriously, save the money, read the bibles, go through the PT's, and you should be able to hit mid 170's sans a meltdown on test day.

Self-study doesn't work for everyone. Moreover, I think $1500 is a good investment if it's going to get you a score you want, which will get you the offers you want, which will get you the job you want. I'd say that's a pretty decent ROI, imho.

Also, TestMasters does a lot of promotions where they post a difficult LR question. If you get it right you get a voucher for half off the class, pricing it at around $700.

Seriously, classes are usually worth the investment assuming you can afford it.

mst wrote:Seriously, classes are usually worth the investment assuming you can afford it.

Do you really think so? I feel like for people who only need work on a couple specific areas, and who already PT pretty high, doing multiple PTs and studying the bibles would probably be more effective than sitting through a class designed for people who score well beneath them. I'm not claiming to be an expert, it just seems like most LSAT prep companies don't focus on taking as many actual tests as possible, instead focusing on their own tactics (which they use as their selling point). Just seems like you have 50+ primary documents to study, so why rely on other people's interpretations is all.

Whatever, I'm late for happy hour and my friends are probably already 2 pitchers in...why am I on TLS right now???

I had a similar diagnostic and found TestMasters helpful. Classroom settings are good for me, because otherwise I'd just put it off. Also their explanations for things that had eluded me helped. If you learn well in a class, it's more than worth the $1500.

mst wrote:Seriously, classes are usually worth the investment assuming you can afford it.

I think they're worthless for anyone who starts with a 163 and wants to score in the 170s.

I started with a 162, got powerscore bibles and all the old preptests and self-studied.

I can see taking a prep class if you are in the 140s or 150s on the diagnostic, but in the 160s? I mean come on... Scoring that high provided you didn't prep beforehand indicates you are doing quite well already. Self-study will be more than enough. I actually hoped to get a 163 on test day though.

mst wrote:Seriously, classes are usually worth the investment assuming you can afford it.

-1

There are plenty of people who did great just using self-study. If you put the effort in, there's not much need for a class. And especially in the OP's case, a class probably won't help him/her much because he/she is already so far ahead of the people who typically take those classes.

It doesn't matter what works for all of you, or even for most of you, it matters what works for OP. Some people do better with a class, some do better with self study. The $$$ argument seems pitiful because I think most people would easily trade $1500 for 1-2 LSAT points. If an expensive class is better than self-study for someone, even marginally so, I feel that that person is justified in taking it, despite the cost difference between self-study and the class.

Every study method can work, the OP just needs to find the one that works best for him/her.

I did well on the SATs by just self-studying, so I don't lack self-discipline. The people at Kaplan even told me that I probably don't need their classes.

I'm going to pocket the $1200 and buy something shiny instead.

kpuc wrote:I did well on the SATs by just self-studying, so I don't lack self-discipline. The people at Kaplan even told me that I probably don't need their classes.

I'm going to pocket the $1200 and buy something shiny instead.

good call. you definitely don't need their classes. my parents offered to pay and I signed up for Kaplan. I stopped going after a couple of classes because it was a complete waste of my time.

bk187 wrote:It doesn't matter what works for all of you, or even for most of you, it matters what works for OP. Some people do better with a class, some do better with self study. The $$$ argument seems pitiful because I think most people would easily trade $1500 for 1-2 LSAT points. If an expensive class is better than self-study for someone, even marginally so, I feel that that person is justified in taking it, despite the cost difference between self-study and the class.

Every study method can work, the OP just needs to find the one that works best for him/her.

This. I'm tempted to get angry at the people who say that classes are a dumb idea for anybody who scores in the 160s on a diagnostic. BAD! BAD FORUMITES! *nosewhack with newspaper*

OP, if you do better sitting in a class having someone feed you information, that $1500 can turn into many LSAT points, which are insanely valuable. If you are good at self-study, by all means, pick up the powerscore books and a bunch of practice tests, pocket your money, and knock the LSAT out of the park.

kpuc wrote:I did well on the SATs by just self-studying, so I don't lack self-discipline. The people at Kaplan even told me that I probably don't need their classes.

I'm going to pocket the $1200 and buy something shiny instead.

Good call mate, best of luck

Save it and get a tutor if you hit a speed bump along the way.

I had the same score on cold diagnostic. Self-studied for 2 months, took December and scored a point lower. Self-studied for 2 more months, took in June and canceled. Everyone isn't a mental midget like me but I might be looking for a tutor to help me out.

Hahahaha... you cheated!

MBZags wrote:

mst wrote:Seriously, classes are usually worth the investment assuming you can afford it.

-1
a class probably won't help him/her much because he/she is already so far ahead of the people who typically take those classes.

agreed. I took a class... shelled out $1100 thinking I would learn some big secret to getting a high score. Instead, I was the one catching the teacher's mistakes.

As someone who also scored well on his cold diagnostic, the best advice I can give you is to avoid complacency. It's difficult to jump 10-12 points from anywhere on the scale. Don't underestimate the amount of work and dedication it will take to achieve your goal. Best of luck!

citrustang wrote:As someone who also scored well on his cold diagnostic, the best advice I can give you is to avoid complacency. It's difficult to jump 10-12 points from anywhere on the scale. Don't underestimate the amount of work and dedication it will take to achieve your goal. Best of luck!

Agreed. 163 cold, a little bit of work including consistently scoring in the 170s on PTs got me a 164 on test day. I should have spent a lot more time learning the little details to break down questions rather than feeling like I was going to pwn.

I still don't suggest taking a class, though. If I take a year off and start prepping for September I'm doing the Pithypike system. No question about it.

Put the time in, take the test once and don't look back.

Powerscore LG Bible and hella practice tests.

Happy to report that after a month of Bible-studying and a few practice tests, I'm at 173.

Great job! Keep it up. 173 was my most common score too. In my experience I dropped 2-5 points on test day (little desk, odd proctors,stress, test meltdown etc)

If he has one section he needs to work at and he dominates the other sections, I wouldn't go through a class. At least 1/2 the class won't be applicable to you. Fortunately, I think logical reasoning section is the easiest to see an improvement on. Grab some bibles, self study, time yourself, review the answers, take more pts & review them, take the test, enjoy the seat at a very good law school.