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Those of you who scored 170 plus on the LSAT (esp the tough Dec test) How on earth did you do it? How did you prepare? What course did you take if any? How much did you study? Thank you so much!

Kaplan Advanced Online course (including all additional work). Powerscore LGB. Traciela's Grouped by Game Type. PTs 50-59. About 5 months total studying.

Scored 170 on the June 2010 exam (PT 60).

If you can do the Kaplan thing, do it. Worth every dime.

Otherwise, PowerScore is the way to go. Practice the questions you get wrong. Learn Formal Logic inside and out; remember that LG is your friend. Don't hang go out to play unless it's to take a(n actual) break from study.

Remember to breathe.

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oxford_don wrote:I DON'T KNOW. I SELF-STUDIED FOR ABOUT TWO MONTHS WITH ALL THE PRACTICE TESTS AND THEN I ROCKED IT.

Pretty much this. I worked through the Logic Games Bible and certain parts of the Logical Reasoning Bible and then I did about 20-30 timed PTs, plus I drilled additional LG sections daily. I got a 175 in October. And I still think I could have done better. I had scored a 180 on PT59 a few days prior.

I took >20 PTs under test conditions and completed the Logic Games Bible. I also bought a few other logic games books for practice (since I failed hard at LG initially).

I scored a 172 in Oct. and I could have scored a few points higher (realistically up to 175/176) if a few "educated guesses" went my way.

As soon as possible, start reading everything you can (I purposely read articles in the WSJ that I wasn't interested in at all) and doing Sudoko puzzles.

Shooter wrote:I took >20 PTs under test conditions and completed the Logic Games Bible. I also bought a few other logic games books for practice (since I failed hard at LG initially).

I scored a 172 in Oct. and I could have scored a few points higher (realistically up to 175/176) if a few "educated guesses" went my way.

As soon as possible, start reading everything you can (I purposely read articles in the WSJ that I wasn't interested in at all) and doing Sudoko puzzles.

The 3 bibles then took each practice test over the course of 3 months and I was PT 170-173. But the stars aligned for me on test day for a 175.

BrightLine wrote:

Shooter wrote:I took >20 PTs under test conditions and completed the Logic Games Bible. I also bought a few other logic games books for practice (since I failed hard at LG initially).

I scored a 172 in Oct. and I could have scored a few points higher (realistically up to 175/176) if a few "educated guesses" went my way.

As soon as possible, start reading everything you can (I purposely read articles in the WSJ that I wasn't interested in at all) and doing Sudoko puzzles.

The 3 bibles then took each practice test over the course of 3 months and I was PT 170-173. But the stars aligned for me on test day for a 175.

Oh hell yeah! That's what I'm talking about!

Read LGB and LRB, started practice on untimed LR and RC sections from first 10 book. Practiced LG by type from various tests in the 7-38 PT series. Practiced timed LR and RC sections from the next 10 book. Did a few timed and untimed sections from the 10 more book, saved the rest as experimentals. Third month started doing timed full PTs starting from PT39 onward. Got to a few weeks before oct test and postponed because I wasn't happy with my performance on earlier PTs. Took a few weeks off and picked up PTing where I left off in november. Averaged around 172-173 for all the PTs I took, ended up with 170.

All in all I did every section from the first 3 books of 10, and every PT from 39-61. If I could do it again I would have spent more time on LG as I got too complacent with my performance in the 40-early 50 PTs. 55+ got a lot harder and I wasn't very ready for the games on 62.

beachbum wrote:Kaplan Advanced Online course (including all additional work). Powerscore LGB. Traciela's Grouped by Game Type. PTs 50-59. About 5 months total studying.

Scored 170 on the June 2010 exam (PT 60).

Also did the advanced live online for last june... maybe we were classmates haha

Starting in August, I began working through the Powerscore Bibles, beginning with LR, then RC, then LG. Afterwards I worked through the books again in reverse order (except for RC). I studied at least 3 to 5 hours every day after work (including Fridays) and weekends I took a PT, sometimes taking a break from studying on whichever weekend day I did not PT. My "studying" consisted of working through the bibles, doing untimed questions, then eventually timing myself on individual questions, then untimed sections, followed by timed sections, and so on.

In October I was forced to take a week and a half off because I was really sick, but it was good because it kept me from burning out. In November, I hired a Powerscore tutor for help on logic games - this was crucial. Throughout my studying I gradually purchased every PT available from LSAC; came close to doing them all, either timed or untimed. My average PT was probably 171, ended up with a 170 on the December 2010 test.

Most important things: give yourself plenty of time, take PTs from the various eras to practice adjusting to changes over time, be incredibly strict on your timing and grading - the less leniency you give yourself the more prepared you will be. Don't let the test frustrate you, if you're struggling and making silly errors, stop studying for the day. Lastly, be confident!

it all started when i was a young boy...my asian immigrant parents came over to this great nation and...

I christmastreed the bubble sheet and ended up with a 171....

Got a 161 with self-study in Oct. Jumped to 170 in December.

I studied from Nov 1st to the Dec test date: Knewton Online (every quiz, hw, and pdf PT) and LG Powerscore Bible

I taught for Kaplan. Teaching and tutoring challenged me to be able to explain my reasoning for everything which is a different skill than just crushing PT's. Ended up with a 173. So I suggest that if you are naturally good at the LSAT, find some friends or others to tutor.

I went from 166 (June) to 171 (Dec) once my kid started almost sleeping through the night I wasn't a sleep deprived wreck. Now that I looked over stats, I'm still annoyed that I didn't ace LG. (stoopid -4).

I also suggest being naturally great at RC because I feel like being a bit of a jerk about that.

brandiejm wrote:Those of you who scored 170 plus on the LSAT (esp the tough Dec test) How on earth did you do it? How did you prepare? What course did you take if any? How much did you study? Thank you so much!

Regular routine of aggressive masturbation. 173.

177. I started out perfect at RC and LR. Did the LG Bible and took a few practice tests.

My biggest piece of advice would be to focus on your weaknesses. Mine was LG, so I drilled all the games from 7-50 3 times each throughout the course of my study. Did far less pure drilling for LR and RC; mostly prepped for those through PTs. However, I would recommend tracking your LR/RC mistakes and reviewing them very carefully. I did this and worked on question types that I missed consistently.

Diagnostic: 160 -> 177 (October administration)

173 December

Just took a bunch of the more recent PTs. Probably took 20+ in total. No books or anything, just recent PTs.