Need advice. Consistently scoring in 155-160 range. Forum

[Nep11]

New user here, so pardon me if I'm not aware of some board posting policies. As background: I am a young professional holding a demanding, full-time job as a paralegal in the telecommunications industry while preparing for the LSAT. For the first part of the year, I focused on gaining familiarity with the sections and mastering the basic skills in the logical reasoning section and improving my time with reading comprehension. I seriously started studying in June for the October exam, but due to work obligations and a later bout with a viral bronchitis infection, I missed about three weeks of study time, so I've basically been studying for a little under 2 months instead of the 3-4 months I had initially planned for.

I'm a strong reader (was a few points shy of having a perfect score on the verbal section SAT), so my focus has been developing the mental endurance to go through 3-5 hours of focused critical thinking under timed conditions. My major Achilles Heel is definitely logic games. I have noticed that when I encounter the section on practice tests, I consistently panic and I've noticed my thinking abilities slow down. This past practice test, I missed 16 of those questions and obviously this has delivered a major blow to my confidence, since this pulled my score down to a 154. I knew exactly what the issue was, so waited a few hours, then went through the LG section again without the answer key in order to approach it as I would on the test: scan the 4 questions, attack any sequencing or easily exhaustible game first (my strongest areas), concentrate on doing the best I could in the 35 minute timeframe while identifying which questions were sapping time so I could skip them and come back. After I did this, my score jumped back into the top of my normal range at 159. I acknowledge that this is my weakest area and I've been concentrating on drilling these question types, but I definitely feel that 165 is within my capability.

Here is the problem. The October test is obviously in a little under three weeks. After focusing on logic games, I am noticing continued improvement. I prefer to withdraw or cancel rather than submit a weak score since my chances of getting into my ideal schools rely on hitting that magical 163-166 range, right on the cusp of the 90th percentile. Just as insurance, I've already registered for the December exam, in case I get to the test center and have a bad day. My dream school doesn't begin reviewing applications until late December so this takes some pressure off. However, does anyone believe it is possible to obtain 5-10 more points increase in the overall score over 3 weeks of focused study or is more prep time in order? Anyone else in the same boat?

[NoJob]

New user here, so pardon me if I'm not aware of some board posting policies. As background: I am a young professional holding a demanding, full-time job as a paralegal in the telecommunications industry while preparing for the LSAT. For the first part of the year, I focused on gaining familiarity with the sections and mastering the basic skills in the logical reasoning section and improving my time with reading comprehension. I seriously started studying in June for the October exam, but due to work obligations and a later bout with a viral bronchitis infection, I missed about three weeks of study time, so I've basically been studying for a little under 2 months instead of the 3-4 months I had initially planned for.

I'm a strong reader (was a few points shy of having a perfect score on the verbal section SAT), so my focus has been developing the mental endurance to go through 3-5 hours of focused critical thinking under timed conditions. My major Achilles Heel is definitely logic games. I have noticed that when I encounter the section on practice tests, I consistently panic and I've noticed my thinking abilities slow down. This past practice test, I missed 16 of those questions and obviously this has delivered a major blow to my confidence, since this pulled my score down to a 154. I knew exactly what the issue was, so waited a few hours, then went through the LG section again without the answer key in order to approach it as I would on the test: scan the 4 questions, attack any sequencing or easily exhaustible game first (my strongest areas), concentrate on doing the best I could in the 35 minute timeframe while identifying which questions were sapping time so I could skip them and come back. After I did this, my score jumped back into the top of my normal range at 159. I acknowledge that this is my weakest area and I've been concentrating on drilling these question types, but I definitely feel that 165 is within my capability.

Here is the problem. The October test is obviously in a little under three weeks. After focusing on logic games, I am noticing continued improvement. I prefer to withdraw or cancel rather than submit a weak score since my chances of getting into my ideal schools rely on hitting that magical 163-166 range, right on the cusp of the 90th percentile. Just as insurance, I've already registered for the December exam, in case I get to the test center and have a bad day. My dream school doesn't begin reviewing applications until late December so this takes some pressure off. However, does anyone believe it is possible to obtain 5-10 more points increase in the overall score over 3 weeks of focused study or is more prep time in order? Anyone else in the same boat?

With scores like that you have a great future in doc review when lucky or contributing to the unemployment figure.

[bp shinners]

This past practice test, I missed 16 of those questions and obviously this has delivered a major blow to my confidence, since this pulled my score down to a 154.

However, does anyone believe it is possible to obtain 5-10 more points increase in the overall score over 3 weeks of focused study or is more prep time in order?

If you're missing 16 questions on LG and getting a 154, you should be able to jump 5-10 points into the mid-160s by fixing that alone. It's definitely possible to do it in a few weeks.