Low initial Diagnostic (low 140s) - Is 3 months enough time? Forum

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DC_Patent_Law

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Low initial Diagnostic (low 140s) - Is 3 months enough time?

Post by DC_Patent_Law » Mon Mar 07, 2011 2:00 am

Hi all,

I took two diagnostics and scored a depressing 143 on each :( . I could use some Charlie Sheen Tigerblood/Adonis DNA winning right about now :oops: . I read all 3 bibles halfway through in Jan/Feb and started a Testmasters course last week. My main problem is speed. I miss exactly half the questions in every section! If I can just complete the test I should be able to at least crack 160 with my level of accuracy.
My target is 168 for the schools I want to get into. The testmasters coarse is really good but I don't know if I can get up to 168 (tall order) in 3 months time. The testmasters HW is brutal but well structured which is what I needed to get going. My testmasters course ends in May after which I will just be taking timed practice tests until the June exam.
Is 3 months enough time? I'm guessing it is not. October seems more realistic. Thoughts?

- DCPL

polevaulter

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Re: Low initial Diagnostic (low 140s) - Is 3 months enough time?

Post by polevaulter » Mon Mar 07, 2011 10:57 am

3 months is enough time if you buckle down...
As for the time thing...I have the same problem...but someone once told me that it is because I am not familiar enough with the question types or materials (my diag was mid-160's). I think it holds true in your case as well. Keep on drilling. You'll get it.

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EarlCat

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Re: Low initial Diagnostic (low 140s) - Is 3 months enough time?

Post by EarlCat » Mon Mar 07, 2011 2:52 pm

Don't worry too much about speed early on. Grasp the material and the speed will come naturally. As test day approaches you'll want to work on pacing just so you know how long to stay on a tough question before picking from among a couple answers and moving on.

I'd recommend doing lots and lots of untimed practice. Take as long as you need to on each question with the goal of 100% accuracy. Make sure you can articulate exactly why you're picking certain answers and rejecting the others.

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Nulli Secundus

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Re: Low initial Diagnostic (low 140s) - Is 3 months enough time?

Post by Nulli Secundus » Mon Mar 07, 2011 2:56 pm

Generations of applicants all believed, believe and seemingly will continue to believe making a "Correlation between diagnostic and actual performance" thread is a novel idea and surely was never done before. This is really amazing. I would actually be surprised if someone doesn't try to patent the idea.

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DC_Patent_Law

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Re: Low initial Diagnostic (low 140s) - Is 3 months enough time?

Post by DC_Patent_Law » Mon Mar 07, 2011 3:58 pm

Thanks guys.
Polevaulter - I am trying to buckle down. Its going to be a busy 3 months! I spent close to 16 hours this weekend on the LSAT. I have a dick for a boss at my fulltime job that's sucking up my time on the weekdays. :x
Earlcat - I'm working on accuracy while going through the Tesmasters HW patiently. Hopefully I'll be accurate enough to improve my timing by June!
Nulli - I wasn't correlating diagnostic and actual performance. I was wondering whether 3 months is enough time to improve actual performance to my desired goal. I've seen plenty of posts where people went from 140's to 160's - just not how long it took.

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EarlCat

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Re: Low initial Diagnostic (low 140s) - Is 3 months enough time?

Post by EarlCat » Mon Mar 07, 2011 5:16 pm

Nulli Secundus wrote:Generations of applicants all believed, believe and seemingly will continue to believe making a "Correlation between diagnostic and actual performance" thread is a novel idea and surely was never done before. This is really amazing. I would actually be surprised if someone doesn't try to patent the idea.
Are you sure this is the thread you meant to post in?

sighsigh

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Re: Low initial Diagnostic (low 140s) - Is 3 months enough time?

Post by sighsigh » Mon Mar 07, 2011 5:47 pm

IMHO 25 point increase is doable but not likely in that timespan unless you treat the LSAT like a full-time job (30+ hours/week).

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