Well... needless to say the wheels came spinning off - I tried to read and answer the remaining 10, and essentially guessed at all of them since I couldn't retain a word in my panicked state. The rest of the test went ok, I guess, but I was so rattled I am sure I did horribly - so I cancelled. June. Felt much better about it - ended each section maybe 1 or 2 questions short (yes, I know speed was my issue, but when you're completing practice sections with 7-4 minutes to spare every time, how much faster can you practice?), was able to put down a 50/50 shot answer, and I felt at least I had given it a solid, if not my best effort. I ended up with a 157. Now, let me say this - I am not the traditional student. I'm 38, looking to get my JD after working on Wall St. for 10 yrs, and looking to go part time at night, which allows for lower scores. I have a decent story, with my degree in English/writing, and a civil service background, so I think I have a good shot at the 2 schools I wanted to attend - Fordham or Brooklyn Law. At 157 I can probably swing Brooklyn, however, Fordham has a better rep and, more importantly, offers a nice scholarship through the City of New York if you're an employee, which I am. So if only for the tuition purposes I really wanted to be accepted to Fordham, which takes a 163 or so for the night program. With this in mind, after seeing the 157 I signed up for Oct's test. I have done pretty much every practice test in the 3 real LSAT books, a couple of Princeton review books (which I think actually hurt instead of helped), and the LG Bible which I found terrific. That said, I am still averaging 163-168 on my PT's, which is right where I was before June. I reviewed my score and saw I did fine on questions 1-20 in every section, then clumps of wrong answers in the last 5-7 in EVERY section. Clearly I was feeling hurried, though I hear the questions get harder as you go along. So what's my point? Despite all my testing and practicing (I cant afford the time for the courses with a FT job) I don't seem to have made any gains. There are certain fundamental things I seem yto be unable to grasp - like parallel-the-reasoning or certain logic games. If iI HAD to go with a 157 app I guess that would be ok - I wouldn't mind going to Brooklyn if that's my best option. I really wanted to do better this time, though, and now I am panicking I will blow up on the test, get a WORSE score, and drag my average, and hopes of attending, down.... Any thoughts?
