Help me!!!!!!!!!! Forum

[younghan21]

Hey you all!

I am just going through really depressing stage of LSAT prep and I have no one I can consult about this...so you guys are my only hope
I have been studying for LSAT for about 40 days now...I am planning on taking the test in February 2012...
I thought it was a lot of time when I began in August, but as I proceed with PTs and Bibles...I realize it might not be that much of time! Scary...

This is what's happening with me:
I have gotten 155 on my first diag. test, and I guess that was not tooo bad but I was, surely, a bit dissapointed...
However, 40 days into my prep, my test is not showing ANY kind of improvement. I do weekly timed simulation test, and my score has actually gone down a bit? so I am thinking maybe 155 was luck too?
I do an hour and a half to two hour study everyday except for wednesday, take one test weekly and other days I dig bibles....

I know I have not quite gotten down all the technics that Bibles teaches, but I thought I would get better by just familiarizing with test...it really sucks that my score is not showing ANY kind of improvement.

I did try to take the test without time limit for two weeks, and I got 165 and 168, which really rebuilt my confidence, then I took another timed test yesterday and it was just disaster.

I know I do sound like a crying baby...sorry! but it's just that I am currently studying abroad at a developing country and maybe I am missing home or something...I just need some advices....

Thanks a lot guys.

[Angrygeopolitically]

There are plateaus. And, when you learn new information it normally drops you score initially because you are trying to tap into it before it has settled in, causing you to slow down. Eventually the work you put in will bare fruit, keep at it.

-take more than one test a week.
-make sure you recognize questions and know what makes a wrong answer/right answer.
-analyze exactly why you are getting questions wrong.
-Start putting in more hours a day to build up your conditioning.

specific questions? ask..

What country are you in?

[hyakku]

Honestly, you have so much time it's absurd. I was in your boat like a month and a half ago or less. I don't really know all about this plateau nonsense, I skimmed some of the LR/LG books and took a PT before I read them since I didn't want to be "tainted". I got a 163 or something, which should've probably been like a 159 without that brief reading.

That was in like July, and I've had to take a few weeks off, doing stuff, etc. One of my last PTs this week was a 173 and I completely screwed up a game and made two ridiculous errors in LR. It's possible to improve. You need to change your mindset though, not just practicing over and over without reviewing properly. Honestly, I'm not trying to plug stuff, but if you intend on buying anything else, look into some of VelocityLSATs products. I didn't get a chance to use them unfortunately (which will probably cost me my 180 -_-), but at the very least if you go through Dave Hall's "180" thread read his twelve part series of tips and check out his youtube (youtube.com/velocitylsat) His paradigms should help you make the shift you need. You need to take time off from the timed drilling, and focus on understanding the structure of this test and the thinking required to defeat it. Normally I don't advocate for things so strongly, but I was feeling quite similar to you (although my score had improved marginally, but not by what I "knew" it should be). Once I began to understand the thinking that was necessary, my flaws became evident and it's been straight up from there mate.

Trust me though, this is a test, that has words that, for the most part, you are intimately familiar with, just rearranged in ways that confuse you. If you can retool your thinking to be prepared for this, this test becomes infinitely easier.

Good luck.

[PDaddy]

OP, you have plenty of time...February is four months from now. By the time you take the test, you will have had essentially six months of practice, which is ideal. But if you need to wait until June, I would suggest doing it. There's nothing a February score can do for you that a June score can't, and it's nice to have a "disclosed" test (which February doesn't offer) so you can see what errors you made.

Another tactic - employed more frequently now that your highest score is the one that matters - is to take the test, cancel the score if you don't feel good about it, and take the next one with the intent of keeping the score. If you take the February exam to see what the conditions are really like, then cancel it if it doesn't feel right, you can take the June test, and/or even the October test. It's essentially two-for-one because schools don't frown upon cancelled scores, especially if you've never taken the test before.

Ideally, you want to take the test just once, score your best, and keep the score. My advice would be to prepare for February; if it doesn't feel right, take the June exam instead.

[SisterRayVU]

Don't PT yet. Don't do any questions on the last 15-20 tests.

Take the LG, learn each type of game and drill games of that same type. Use the Piithypike post to find links that tell you which test has which game. Do like 5 a day and have it become rote. You'll miss a couple, but eventually you'll get v good at them. That'd be the first step imo bc your improvement on games is usually quick and noticeable. Then, you have plenty of time to learn LR