Can't break 170 on LSAT. Help? Forum

[lsat2011]

For those who scored > 173. What did you do to prep? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Voltaire_X]

Just wondering what was your major?

[MrKappus]

Just wondering what was your major?

Not something that required any online research, apparently.

[lats19nys]

I just took test after test. Question, how did you do on the SATs? I'm just wondering if you have a history of doing poorly on standardized tests. (Not saying 167 is poor but...you know what I mean.)

[SublimeStyle]

Hey everyone, I took the LSAT back in October and scored a 167. I thought more practice with Powerscore and Nova would bump my score to 170+ given my diagnostic was a 167. But I took this December sitting and am virtually certain I did just as poorly

For those who scored > 173. What did you do to prep? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Just took the test today, obviously don't have my score but I feel really good about it.

I studied for about 2 weeks and my last 5 practice tests were all 175+. I think you just have to find you your weakest section and do as many problems as you can. On my diagnostic LSAT I got a 170, and missed the most questions on LG. So I ordered 3 of the 10 LSAT books, and did the first 20 LG sections the first week. Then the second week of studying I did 2 practice tests a day for 5 days, gradually moving up from a 170 to an average of 176 (I got 2 180s ). Now most people think you need to study for months in advance and this is simply not true. I probably put in around 65 hours total time studying in 2 weeks, which is probably just as much time as people spend in 2 months.

Not sure if this helps but I got a 2280 on my SAT's, minimal studying.

[lsat2011]

I'm a humanities major and i scored 2300 on the SAT on my first try after about 1 month of prep.

I seriously don't know what is going on with the LSAT. I've done almost every past paper in record and my mistakes seem so obvious but only AFTER I go back and look at them. Anyone else have the same problem?

[Younger Abstention]

Your 4.0 is completely irrelevant, as is your prior university. Despite your "prestigious" background, you aren't entitled to a 99th percentile score on the LSAT. Moreover, you won't be entitled to a high class ranking in law school. And a 167 is not a poor score.

[QuincyWagstaff]

I'm a humanities major and i scored 2300 on the SAT on my first try after about 1 month of prep.

I seriously don't know what is going on with the LSAT. I've done almost every past paper in record and my mistakes seem so obvious but only AFTER I go back and look at them. Anyone else have the same problem?

Maybe you're not as smart as you thought you were?
Try again, I guess.

[swc65]

If your mistakes are obvious after you have taken the test, you might want to try making a checklist of those mistakes. You problem may be that you are racing through the questions. If so, try toUse the checklist to slow yourself down during the exam (you will have to memorize it).

[hollermahler]

I'm somewhat in a similar situation. 4.0 from an Ivy and "struggled" on the December test. And yet I have a sense of entitlement (not really; more just the self-enforced pressure) to go to a school like YLS.

The problem is really not the LSAT anymore, at least for me. It's more of an existential crisis--realizing that you're "mediocre." No, just because you did well in one aspect does mean you are "owed" or "guaranteed" the equivalent on the LSAT. For me, I have to re-adjust my expectations. It's a tough pill to swallow.

Do I want to wait another year--to retest--and to apply again? Or should I just go to law school, a law school through this application cycle? You should be asking yourself the same question.

[Grizz]

lol @ Ivy. How's Brown?

[JamMasterJ]

I'm somewhat in a similar situation. 4.0 from an Ivy and "struggled" on the December test. And yet I have a sense of entitlement (not really; more just the self-enforced pressure) to go to a school like YLS.

The problem is really not the LSAT anymore, at least for me. It's more of an existential crisis--realizing that you're "mediocre." No, just because you did well in one aspect does mean you are "owed" or "guaranteed" the equivalent on the LSAT. For me, I have to re-adjust my expectations. It's a tough pill to swallow.

Do I want to wait another year--to retest--and to apply again? Or should I just go to law school, a law school through this application cycle? You should be asking yourself the same question.

or, you know, do what I did. I scored a 166, and had trouble swallowing it so I studied for four months and got a 176.


OP, how much did you study?

[BlueDiamond]

I'm somewhat in a similar situation. 4.0 from an Ivy and "struggled" on the December test. And yet I have a sense of entitlement (not really; more just the self-enforced pressure) to go to a school like YLS.

The problem is really not the LSAT anymore, at least for me. It's more of an existential crisis--realizing that you're "mediocre." No, just because you did well in one aspect does mean you are "owed" or "guaranteed" the equivalent on the LSAT. For me, I have to re-adjust my expectations. It's a tough pill to swallow.

Do I want to wait another year--to retest--and to apply again? Or should I just go to law school, a law school through this application cycle? You should be asking yourself the same question.

I bet you are awesome to hang out with at parties

[hollermahler]

I'm somewhat in a similar situation. 4.0 from an Ivy and "struggled" on the December test. And yet I have a sense of entitlement (not really; more just the self-enforced pressure) to go to a school like YLS.

The problem is really not the LSAT anymore, at least for me. It's more of an existential crisis--realizing that you're "mediocre." No, just because you did well in one aspect does mean you are "owed" or "guaranteed" the equivalent on the LSAT. For me, I have to re-adjust my expectations. It's a tough pill to swallow.

Do I want to wait another year--to retest--and to apply again? Or should I just go to law school, a law school through this application cycle? You should be asking yourself the same question.

or, you know, do what I did. I scored a 166, and had trouble swallowing it so I studied for four months and got a 176.


OP, how much did you study?

Except it's December now. Taking it in February for most schools would not count this cycle.

[hollermahler]

I'm somewhat in a similar situation. 4.0 from an Ivy and "struggled" on the December test. And yet I have a sense of entitlement (not really; more just the self-enforced pressure) to go to a school like YLS.

The problem is really not the LSAT anymore, at least for me. It's more of an existential crisis--realizing that you're "mediocre." No, just because you did well in one aspect does mean you are "owed" or "guaranteed" the equivalent on the LSAT. For me, I have to re-adjust my expectations. It's a tough pill to swallow.

Do I want to wait another year--to retest--and to apply again? Or should I just go to law school, a law school through this application cycle? You should be asking yourself the same question.

I bet you are awesome to hang out with at parties

Dude I fully recognize how toolish that sounds

[JamMasterJ]

I'm somewhat in a similar situation. 4.0 from an Ivy and "struggled" on the December test. And yet I have a sense of entitlement (not really; more just the self-enforced pressure) to go to a school like YLS.

The problem is really not the LSAT anymore, at least for me. It's more of an existential crisis--realizing that you're "mediocre." No, just because you did well in one aspect does mean you are "owed" or "guaranteed" the equivalent on the LSAT. For me, I have to re-adjust my expectations. It's a tough pill to swallow.

Do I want to wait another year--to retest--and to apply again? Or should I just go to law school, a law school through this application cycle? You should be asking yourself the same question.

or, you know, do what I did. I scored a 166, and had trouble swallowing it so I studied for four months and got a 176.


OP, how much did you study?

Except it's December now. Taking it in February for most schools would not count this cycle.

I admit that I didn't read all the posts in the thread. But my option was to either go to Notre Dame this year with a small scholarship or retake. I'm glad I did, and if you think you underperformed, you will be too. I haven't really had any interaction with people that regret sitting out a cycle

[hollermahler]

I'm somewhat in a similar situation. 4.0 from an Ivy and "struggled" on the December test. And yet I have a sense of entitlement (not really; more just the self-enforced pressure) to go to a school like YLS.

The problem is really not the LSAT anymore, at least for me. It's more of an existential crisis--realizing that you're "mediocre." No, just because you did well in one aspect does mean you are "owed" or "guaranteed" the equivalent on the LSAT. For me, I have to re-adjust my expectations. It's a tough pill to swallow.

Do I want to wait another year--to retest--and to apply again? Or should I just go to law school, a law school through this application cycle? You should be asking yourself the same question.

or, you know, do what I did. I scored a 166, and had trouble swallowing it so I studied for four months and got a 176.


OP, how much did you study?

Except it's December now. Taking it in February for most schools would not count this cycle.

I admit that I didn't read all the posts in the thread. But my option was to either go to Notre Dame this year with a small scholarship or retake. I'm glad I did, and if you think you underperformed, you will be too. I haven't really had any interaction with people that regret sitting out a cycle

What was your situation with the 166? didn't study much, messed up on a section, what?

Where did you get in so far now? I'm glad it's worked out for you.

[chasgoose]

If you got a 2300 on the SAT you are definitely capable of getting a 170+ on the LSAT. Yes, they are different, but they are just standardized tests. Having tutored both SATs and LSATs, no one gets a 2300 without being "good" at standardized tests in general. People who are good at standardized tests are much easier to train and see big improvements (even if they have been hitting a wall) than those who aren't. You might want to put off applying this cycle (if you really feel bad about it maybe even cancel your December score) and just plow through as many TIMED PTs as you can between now and June or now and September/October. Taking them timed is crucial. People who are good at SATs oftentimes didn't have timing issues on them, but the LSAT is an extremely unforgiving test in terms of time limits so even the best scorers usually have time issues.

Another thing I recommend is circling the number of any answer you are unsure about. That way, after the tests you can go through and make sure you understand the concepts behind ALL the questions that caused you problems, not merely the ones you got wrong. I found that to make a big difference on my PT scores. I didn't study at all for the SAT did well and then got a 168 the first time I took the LSAT because I didn't study effectively. I drilled timed PT's and focused on my troublesome questions as I recommended and raised my score to a 177. Obviously YMMV, but you are pretty close to the 170 line, which even with a 4.0 is kind of a cutoff the T6 (the 4.0 definitely helps and Chicago and Stanford are notably more forgiving of a lowish LSAT with a really high GPA from a good school). Even a 3-4 point increase (which is doable) changes your prospects dramatically in terms of both acceptances and money.

[lsat2011]

I go to HYP. I'm sorry for sounding so toolish with the title of this post. The disappointment got the better of me. Apologies to all.

[JamMasterJ]

or, you know, do what I did. I scored a 166, and had trouble swallowing it so I studied for four months and got a 176.


OP, how much did you study?

Except it's December now. Taking it in February for most schools would not count this cycle.

I admit that I didn't read all the posts in the thread. But my option was to either go to Notre Dame this year with a small scholarship or retake. I'm glad I did, and if you think you underperformed, you will be too. I haven't really had any interaction with people that regret sitting out a cycle

What was your situation with the 166? didn't study much, messed up on a section, what?

Where did you get in so far now? I'm glad it's worked out for you.

I actually have a pair of them. Both were due to not enough studying (basically a month before each one).


I haven't gotten in anywhere yet. The 176 was this October, so I applied basically on Halloween.

[Campagnolo]

Work >>>>>>>>>>>> talent

[09042014]

Don't worry. Most good schools will ding you for the 167, even if you did well this time around. No loss.

[drdolittle]

The problem is really not the LSAT anymore, at least for me. It's more of an existential crisis--realizing that you're "mediocre."

So sad that a standardized test is defining your mediocrity. Also, isn't the massive grade inflation at Ivies and such schools pretty well known and accepted?

[adc18]

The problem is really not the LSAT anymore, at least for me. It's more of an existential crisis--realizing that you're "mediocre."

So sad that a standardized test is defining your mediocrity. Also, isn't the massive grade inflation at Ivies and such schools pretty well known and accepted?

Sweeping generalization.

[lats19nys]

The problem is really not the LSAT anymore, at least for me. It's more of an existential crisis--realizing that you're "mediocre."

So sad that a standardized test is defining your mediocrity. Also, isn't the massive grade inflation at Ivies and such schools pretty well known and accepted?

Sweeping generalization.

yea, i don't understand the hate on ivies-oh wait jealousy. frankly, most undergrads suffer from massive grade inflation. you can look it up and find that ivies generally have the highest LSAT scores. Also, honestly, we do have smarter people lol. I'm sure he would have had a 4.0 in a lot of the schools these haters went to or probably even higher.