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Hey guys,

I've been studying for three months now, did the bibles and I've taken about 25 Pts. I started off horribly on my diagnostic but I had no experience with standardized tests whatsoever...and once I did the bibles I was steady in the 150-155 range.

After taking a 2 month break and delaying my test til this October, I was averaging around 157-160 on a regular basis over the last month...but lately I've experience a drop in my scores to the 154-156 this past week. I've had a ton of stress and drama going on in my life, and as much as I'd like to chalk it up to that, I realize I am not really great at this whole LSAT thing.

My problem seems to be with games. I miss typically 10-12 per section and never seem to get to the last game. Ironically, I think I have a decent understanding of the games. For example, I got -14 on a section, retook it the next day and missed one question in 30 minutes this time around. I retook the games from around pt's 17-24 and missed like 5 questions out of 125 total. I did all this in under 30 minutes, in a noisy area (Starbucks usually) after not seeing these questions for a few months.

I donno what to do from here out. I retake my tests using the SOS method and I'm usually around 163-165 which tells me that I naturally am making plenty of errors and lots of things are slipping by me. I realize a retake is probably going to be inevitable (in almost any event though), but I still want to write in October. I don't know if I should start taking a PT every 2 days (I've been doing 1 every three and I'm up to pT 35 now) for the next month or start looking at the newer tests where I have experienced more success than older ones. My LR and RC aren't budging it seems, at the moment anyways...even when I hit 160 and over, my lowest section is always games.

Even if you aren't good at the LSAT, stress is going to hurt you. Almost everyone is going to be affected by serious drama in their lives, whether it is someone who averages 175 dropping to 170 or someone averaging 165 going down to 160.

I'm also confused. You say that you think you are good at games because when you redo them you go from 50% correct to 90% correct? To me this doesn't indicate that you are good at games but that you are able to do better on them the second time around, which is true for everybody on anything they try for the second time.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

Yeah, thats true. Like I'll do my PT, mark it and leave it. Then, I'll go back timed and redo them and score 10 points higher without reviewing, looking at them at all, etc. This has happened like 10 pt's in a row. I haven't scored higher than 15 on a games section in my last 10 tests. My confusion stems from the fact that when I redo them, somehow I know what is going on and I don't make the same mistakes....in even less time (usually takes me 30 minutes to redo). Its like the games marinate in my head on some subconscious level and I come back and rock them.

If I even gained 6 points in this section, I'd probably be around a 160. I'm worried about burning through the rest of the practice material, thats all.

That does make sense. Games are about making deductions and the longer you have to internalize the rules, the easier it is to make deductions. It's like looking at a word search, more things jump out at you the second time you do it. Also, doing questions helps make deductions clearer and since you have worked through the questions once, your diagram will likely be more fleshed out the second time.

SO maybe if I fixate the rules in my head longer and spend more time on my diagram? I'm willing to try anything...lol.

pattymac wrote:Hey guys,

I've been studying for three months now, did the bibles and I've taken about 25 Pts. I started off horribly on my diagnostic but I had no experience with standardized tests whatsoever...and once I did the bibles I was steady in the 150-155 range.

After taking a 2 month break and delaying my test til this October, I was averaging around 157-160 on a regular basis over the last month...but lately I've experience a drop in my scores to the 154-156 this past week. I've had a ton of stress and drama going on in my life, and as much as I'd like to chalk it up to that, I realize I am not really great at this whole LSAT thing.

My problem seems to be with games. I miss typically 10-12 per section and never seem to get to the last game. Ironically, I think I have a decent understanding of the games. For example, I got -14 on a section, retook it the next day and missed one question in 30 minutes this time around. I retook the games from around pt's 17-24 and missed like 5 questions out of 125 total. I did all this in under 30 minutes, in a noisy area (Starbucks usually) after not seeing these questions for a few months.

I donno what to do from here out. I retake my tests using the SOS method and I'm usually around 163-165 which tells me that I naturally am making plenty of errors and lots of things are slipping by me. I realize a retake is probably going to be inevitable (in almost any event though), but I still want to write in October. I don't know if I should start taking a PT every 2 days (I've been doing 1 every three and I'm up to pT 35 now) for the next month or start looking at the newer tests where I have experienced more success than older ones. My LR and RC aren't budging it seems, at the moment anyways...even when I hit 160 and over, my lowest section is always games.

idk if you've noticed but a lot of the questions on the LSAT take a lot of thought. even if you are a 180 scorer, id venture to say that outside of the games, you have to put a lot of focus into the more difficult questions. if your focus is not there, you're going to be scoring worse end of story.