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Hello all!

I've been studying for the LSAT for the past two weeks, and I'm using the PowerScore bibles for each section. Right now I'm on the LSAT LR. I've been going through each chapter, and when they give the problems to analyze I get them correct. But when I do the practice set at the end of each chapter or look at similar problems in other review books (Princeton and Kaplan) I'm only getting about 67% of those that were similain question types correct. I read the explanations, and understand afterwards. After I read the explanations, I'm having trouble applying my errors to new sets of problems. Am I just frustrated right now? What am I doing wrong? Is it just more practice?

And by the way, I bought 30 practice tests. When should I start utilizing them?

FYI- I'm 18, and I just finnished my first year of college at a top public school. I'm about to start my junior year in the fall because I'm graduating a year early. I'm planning to take the LSAT in either in October or December even though most people suggest the June 2012 exam which is 3 months before I begin applying to law school. I'm studying abroad in Spain second semester, and I do not want to study for the LSAT in June because I want to enjoy my time in Europe.

Thanks.

First off, make sure those other books are REAL preptest questions. Fake questions are notoriously bad.

Second, 67% correct is consistent with a 156, which is already above average, and not a terrible place to be after only 2 weeks. Stick with it. This is a skill test, and skills take time and repetition to build.

Also, post some specific questions (not the actual text) that stumped you along with your thinking on each answer choice. There are a lot of experts who hang out here who will be happy to help.

Yea I would say shoot for Oct or Dec, so you can retake if necessary. Also, make absolutely sure you use real questions or you might actually hurt your progress.

I know you´re not asking this, but you should carefully analyze the convenience of going to law school. Many graduate lawyers think that law school was not worth their time or money and that they should have chosen an alternate career path.

Real life experience is often very useful to evaluate this because law is not necessarily what you imagine at 18. In addition, the admission process (especially the LSAT) is often frustrating and time consuming, so unless you´re highly motivated the result may not be what you expect.

Now, from my experience, you should go through two different stages in your LSAT prep. First, you should familiarize with the test and its core concepts. Do not attempt to take a lot of real PTs at this stage because you may be burning up valuable material. Just make sure that you analyze thoroughly every test you take while trying to work on your weaknesses. Using guides such as the bibles is useful to this objective (I also liked Examcrakers and Atlas guides). Don´t worry too much about your score or effectiveness at this stage, you will get better with practice as those concepts become second nature. Remember that many LSAT questions are designed to fool most of the test takers so be patient.

Once you feel comfortable and as the test day approaches, you should move to take practice tests on a regular basis (at least 3 x week in my opinion). Take as many as you can under strict time conditions and thoroughly review each one of them.

It’s very difficult to predict your improvement, it may be slow and steady or sudden at a point, but you should not simply assume that you will be ready at a certain date; it may take more effort than you initially thought. If you are not happy with your practice scores, don´t take the real thing unless you think you´re at the top of your capacity.
I went from a 152 diagnostic to a 165 on the real thing and I´m planning to retake.