How to Approach Studying After Just Taking the Diagnostic Forum

[echamberlin8]

Just got a 155 on my initial diagnostic. I've studied a little bit before this, but really nothing of note at all (about a week's worth of reading through the Powerscore Bibles and not really doing any drills and barely any practice questions first). I have to admit, this kinda scares me half to death. But everyone on here says they started in the 150s, too, and got into the 170s. 170s has always been my goal. I missed the most questions in the Logic Games part (no surprise there), but I also missed about 8 per section on the reading comprehension and logical reasoning sections (I missed 11 in logic games, for a reference). This shows me that I have work to do all around, clearly.

I'm not bad at reading comprehension at all. It's just a matter of the very strict time limit. I really have to figure out how to make everything more streamlined.

Here is another more general question. What I was going to do was read through the Powerscore Bible trilogy, and then begin doing practice tests once I've mastered all of the techniques in the trilogy. My goal was to take the LSAT in June, so that I could have a score that would help me with early admission to the colleges I wanted (basically any good school that feeds into NYC). However, being as I only started studying about a week or two ago, I'm wondering if I will have enough time to even write the test in June or not. Do you guys think that I use this technique of reading the trilogy first (I read one second one day, one section the next, etc.) and then doing practice tests till my eyes bleed, or should I start mixing in practice sections or entire practice tests in before I even finish these books?

One thing I do feel would be beneficial would be learning how to properly diagram the Logic Games before I take any other practice tests, since I basically winged it on this diagnostic (although I did use a few tips from the 30 or so pages I've read of the Logic Games Bible). I do want to learn that before getting deeper into any more practice LSATs.

I suppose I will see in the beginning of May (when the registration deadline is for the June LSAT) if I'm practicing anywhere near where I want to be (again, 170+), and then decide if I should even register for June or not. Otherwise, I can wait until October and study a couple hours every day until then, which I do feel will be enough for me.

Sorry if this is a bit long and rambling. Basically my post boils down to this: should I read through the Powerscore Bible trilogy first, or should I start supplementing that with practice tests thrown in? Also, I hope I'm not alone in being frightened after getting a 155 diagnostic at the end of March when my goal was the June LSAT.

Thanks!

[Br3v]

Just got a 155 on my initial diagnostic. I've studied a little bit before this, but really nothing of note at all (about a week's worth of reading through the Powerscore Bibles and not really doing any drills and barely any practice questions first). I have to admit, this kinda scares me half to death. But everyone on here says they started in the 150s, too, and got into the 170s. 170s has always been my goal. I missed the most questions in the Logic Games part (no surprise there), but I also missed about 8 per section on the reading comprehension and logical reasoning sections (I missed 11 in logic games, for a reference). This shows me that I have work to do all around, clearly.

I'm not bad at reading comprehension at all. It's just a matter of the very strict time limit. I really have to figure out how to make everything more streamlined.

Here is another more general question. What I was going to do was read through the Powerscore Bible trilogy, and then begin doing practice tests once I've mastered all of the techniques in the trilogy. My goal was to take the LSAT in June, so that I could have a score that would help me with early admission to the colleges I wanted (basically any good school that feeds into NYC). However, being as I only started studying about a week or two ago, I'm wondering if I will have enough time to even write the test in June or not. Do you guys think that I use this technique of reading the trilogy first (I read one second one day, one section the next, etc.) and then doing practice tests till my eyes bleed, or should I start mixing in practice sections or entire practice tests in before I even finish these books?

One thing I do feel would be beneficial would be learning how to properly diagram the Logic Games before I take any other practice tests, since I basically winged it on this diagnostic (although I did use a few tips from the 30 or so pages I've read of the Logic Games Bible). I do want to learn that before getting deeper into any more practice LSATs.

I suppose I will see in the beginning of May (when the registration deadline is for the June LSAT) if I'm practicing anywhere near where I want to be (again, 170+), and then decide if I should even register for June or not. Otherwise, I can wait until October and study a couple hours every day until then, which I do feel will be enough for me.

Sorry if this is a bit long and rambling. Basically my post boils down to this: should I read through the Powerscore Bible trilogy first, or should I start supplementing that with practice tests thrown in? Also, I hope I'm not alone in being frightened after getting a 155 diagnostic at the end of March when my goal was the June LSAT.

Thanks!

A lot of people, including myself, cold in the 150's. Don't worry. But I would follow pithypikes guide, which will have you reading certain parts of the Powerscores as you progress towards June. Get a start on it however, as in like now, because the timeline he laid out for it is 3 months.

[collegebum1989]

Welcome to the LSAT journey! I'm studying for the June test too so I can share some of my experiences which might help you.

After your diagnostic, you should begin dissecting which section you had trouble with, an then for each section try to figure out which specfic question type gave you the most trouble.

For LG, you need to practice different game types and understand what your weaknesses are. For LR, practice different question types by drilling and try to develop a consistent approach for each question type. For RC, you should figure out a consistent annotation style and a way to approach a passage to understand the author's purpose, the structure and interpreting the author's underlying argument.

The most important thing I will emphasize is changing your study schedule/approach if you see that it is not working for you. This happened to me, I was drilling by type for almost month in a half without taking practice tests/sections. Id recommend taking practice sections intermittently to see if drilling is actually helping your scoring ability.

You will need to initially gather preptests to practice with. Reserve about 10-15 of the most recent PTs for timed practice, and use the rest for drills and practice.

Good luck!

[echamberlin8]

Thanks, guys. Yeah, I will look into the pithy method more deeply. I have looked at it a bit.

I ordered all of the "Actual LSAT" books from Amazon. They just haven't come yet.

I'm beginning to wonder if I should just wait to take the LSAT in October. I will try to study a ton, but I also have a full-time job at a law firm, which often requires me to work over 40 hours a week. I guess I'll see how I'm practice testing in May, right before I have to register for the LSAT, to determine if I will just wait until October to take it.

I do want to apply early, however. Do you guys think I should make sure I take the LSAT in June to apply early to a school I want (NYU or Penn or....Chicago???), or should I wait until October if I don't feel totally prepared for the June LSAT?

Thanks! Going to study some LR tonight....

[Micdiddy]

Thanks, guys. Yeah, I will look into the pithy method more deeply. I have looked at it a bit.

I ordered all of the "Actual LSAT" books from Amazon. They just haven't come yet.

I'm beginning to wonder if I should just wait to take the LSAT in October. I will try to study a ton, but I also have a full-time job at a law firm, which often requires me to work over 40 hours a week. I guess I'll see how I'm practice testing in May, right before I have to register for the LSAT, to determine if I will just wait until October to take it.

I do want to apply early, however. Do you guys think I should make sure I take the LSAT in June to apply early to a school I want (NYU or Penn or....Chicago???), or should I wait until October if I don't feel totally prepared for the June LSAT?

Thanks! Going to study some LR tonight....

Research the school you really want to apply for and find out if they look at just the best score or an average of all. If it's just the best score take the LSAT in June and then also in October if you don't like your score (you can always cancel it as well if you feel you did truly awful).
If most of the schools you want take both scores into account, it may be best to wait and study, however the problem with this is if you definitely do awful in October then you have to wait much longer still to apply.

Also, I agree with the advice above, whatever study method you choose make sure to take preptests frequently to continue feeling comfortable with the test and put your new skills to practice!

[echamberlin8]

http://www.lsattips.com/test-prep/how-d ... at-scores/ According to this site, most of the T14 seem to take all of your LSATs into account. I'm a little worried, though, that if I take only the October one, that I won't be able to apply early, and what if, like the previous poster said, I botch my October score?

How strongly does applying later in the cycle affect one's chances of getting in? My goal was honestly to apply as early as possible in the regular cycle, but wouldn't I still have to wait for a bit to get my October numbers back anyways?

Ugh.

[Jeffort]

http://www.lsattips.com/test-prep/how-d ... at-scores/ According to this site, most of the T14 seem to take all of your LSATs into account. I'm a little worried, though, that if I take only the October one, that I won't be able to apply early, and what if, like the previous poster said, I botch my October score?

How strongly does applying later in the cycle affect one's chances of getting in? My goal was honestly to apply as early as possible in the regular cycle, but wouldn't I still have to wait for a bit to get my October numbers back anyways?

Ugh.

October scores are released in time for you to be able to apply for EA/ED at every law school that offers EA/ED, so that is not a problem. As already stated above, the risk of waiting until October to take it rather than June is if something goes wrong and you have to re-take in December, since that would put you out of the time frame for EA/ED consideration.

My suggestion is to stop focusing so much on all these factors and stressing yourself out about them. Instead, use as much available time you have to study, practice and review in order to master the test so that whenever you take it you perform to the best of your ability. For now, just focus on getting good at taking the LSAT.

If you wait and take the October test, you can have everything in your applications prepared and submitted to your chosen schools before scores are released. Once scores are released LSAC reports it to the schools you applied to via their electronic application system, your application becomes complete and then will be reviewed.

[echamberlin8]

Thanks for the feedback! A couple of questions/comments:

That's interesting to know that you can still apply early ED/EA with an October LSAT. I was under the assumption that some of the schools needed a June LSAT, but that that is somewhat comforting to know.

If I did poorly on October, and retook it in December for a better score, would that be an issue in applying regular cycle to these schools?

Also, yes, I'm going to try to maximize my focus on the LSAT from now on. I really want a high score badly. I could even do the June LSAT, the October one, and finally the December one, although I suspect everyone will tell me not to do that, since that will use up my 3-LSAT-in-2-years option.

Here's another question: if I submit my application before I receive my October LSAT scores, and then it turns out to be a sub-par score, can I submit another application after receiving my December scores?

Thanks.