LSAT Advice Forum

[mjsjr]

I am registered to take the LSAT on December 3rd, and I have been working through the Testmasters course in preparation for the test. So far, I've received PT scores as low as 159 and as high as 164. I really want to get into a better school than a score of 164 would allow. Thus, I've now considered withdrawing from the test in order to study for a longer period of time, an option that will, hopefully, garner better test scores over time. I guess my question is this: given another 6 months of studying, do you think I could achieve scores above 170? I've been studying for about 2 months, 20 hours a week, and haven't seen a major increase in the 4 PTs I have taken.

Thanks,

MJSJr

[GirlStop]

The consensus on the board is typically to wait and take it when you feel prepared..

How do you review your tests?

[mjsjr]

I've been taking the testmasters course. Basically, I've been working through the lessons at a pace of 2 or 3 lessons per week. At roughly every 4th lesson, I take a PT, and in between each lesson I complete the homework assignment that usually consist of a few hundred logical reasoning questions, about 70 logic games questions (usually 12 games), or 2 reading comp sections (two full reading comp test sections). I've continued to improve on the LG section, but my LR scores are still annoyingly low; my reading comp scores aren't the best either.

[thelogicalcontruct]

I went through the same exact experience. Unfortunately I didn't wait to take the exam and did worse then I anticipated. I was dead set applying on for the following year and it ended up hurting me which now has just prolonged the process even more if I just waited for another test date. What I recommend you do is continue practicing and maybe devote a full time schedule to it. It always helps to get a few one on one sessions as well. You can master this stuff with time. It's just finding the time thats usually the problem. Don't give up!

[hobojarpen]

Yes, 6+ months would be plenty of time (given proper and efficient study methods) to break a 170. My first two REAL LSAT scores (Dec 09 and 10) were 160 and 155. But both times I took them with less than 2 months of less-than-perfect study methods. Realizing this, I took a few months off, got a tutor, and cracked down from May/June until the end of September, took the October LSAT and broke 170 on it.

[mjsjr]

I went through the same exact experience. Unfortunately I didn't wait to take the exam and did worse then I anticipated. I was dead set applying on for the following year and it ended up hurting me which now has just prolonged the process even more if I just waited for another test date. What I recommend you do is continue practicing and maybe devote a full time schedule to it. It always helps to get a few one on one sessions as well. You can master this stuff with time. It's just finding the time thats usually the problem. Don't give up!

Yeah, this is exactly how I was feeling for the past month or so. I think waiting to take the test for awhile will definitely be beneficial. Thanks so much for the advice!

Regarding hobojarpen's reply: Besides continuing to work towards my testmaster course completion, any advice on how to continue to improve after that? You mention proper and efficient study methods; what are some?

[hobojarpen]

Until you finish Testmasters, you're obviously working on mastering the concepts you learn.

Afterwards, it's just a matter of doing the simple things like critically analyzing all the wrong answers or right answers you happened to guess correctly, avoiding getting burnt out, practicing as much as possible under real conditions, and in general, doing all of these things in a disciplined, scheduled manner. Once you finish, you want to focus on sharpening your strategy, your focus/comfort under test conditions, etc... these are things you probably/hopefully already are keeping in mind.