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Ouch!
Took my first PT and got a 156. It was the 2/93 LSAT.

16/25 on LR Section 1
18/24 on LG
19/27 on CR
12/25 on LR Section 2


Should I cancel my June registration and spend the whole summer prepping? I read through the Princeton Review and PowerScore books. Not planning to take any classes. I also need to mention that I'm a Mexican-American with a solid GPA (3.7 I believe)

MarkyMarkChez wrote:Ouch!
Took my first PT and got a 156. It was the 2/93 LSAT.

16/25 on LR Section 1
18/24 on LG
19/27 on CR
12/25 on LR Section 2


Should I cancel my June registration and spend the whole summer prepping? I read through the Princeton Review and PowerScore books. Not planning to take any classes. I also need to mention that I'm a Mexican-American with a solid GPA (3.7 I believe)

Umm..what? Is this your first PT...EVER? How long have you been studying?

Edit: Being a Mexican-American is not going to give you an extra boost on the LSAT and is irrelevant.

WhiteGuy5 wrote:

MarkyMarkChez wrote:Ouch!
Took my first PT and got a 156. It was the 2/93 LSAT.

16/25 on LR Section 1
18/24 on LG
19/27 on CR
12/25 on LR Section 2


Should I cancel my June registration and spend the whole summer prepping? I read through the Princeton Review and PowerScore books. Not planning to take any classes. I also need to mention that I'm a Mexican-American with a solid GPA (3.7 I believe)

Umm..what? Is this your first PT...EVER? How long have you been studying?

Yeah first PT ever. I've been studying for a good month or two. I feel like such an idiot right now. I had a stretch in the first LR section where I got six straight questions wrong.

I would hate for you to waste your exemplary GPA... Why are you against taking a course? If you got a 156 with some brief self-study I am sure you can achieve at least a 160 with some help and get you into some more competitive schools.

UnderrateOverachieve wrote:I would hate for you to waste your exemplary GPA... Why are you against taking a course? If you got a 156 with some brief self-study I am sure you can achieve at least a 160 with some help and get you into some more competitive schools.

I don't have the financial means to pay for a course. I feel pretty good except for LR. And I think my games score on this PT should have been higher but I didn't quite understand one of the more complicated games and got 3 questions wrong on that particular game.

MarkyMarkChez wrote:Yeah first PT ever. I've been studying for a good month or two. I feel like such an idiot right now. I had a stretch in the first LR section where I got six straight questions wrong.

Don't know if this is an April Fool's joke or not, but...

Scoring a 156 on your first PT (even after 2 months of studying) means you have a lot of potential. You should seriously consider taking a course, or at least devoting yourself full-time to studying for the October exam. I'm not sure you'll be able to hit the 170 barrier by June, but if you apply yourself thoughtfully, you can pull off scoring in the 99th percentile with consistency.

My advice: don't take the test until you're scoring 172+, and I believe it is absolutely realistic to be able to do so by October. You should take a course (the money is worth it).

WhiteGuy5 wrote:

MarkyMarkChez wrote:Yeah first PT ever. I've been studying for a good month or two. I feel like such an idiot right now. I had a stretch in the first LR section where I got six straight questions wrong.

Don't know if this is an April Fool's joke or not, but...

Scoring a 156 on your first PT (even after 2 months of studying) means you have a lot of potential. You should seriously consider taking a course, or at least devoting yourself full-time to studying for the October exam. I'm not sure you'll be able to hit the 170 barrier by June, but if you apply yourself thoughtfully, you can pull off scoring in the 99th percentile with consistency.

My advice: don't take the test until you're scoring 172+, and I believe it is absolutely realistic to be able to do so by October. You should take a course (the money is worth it).

Are you serious? I feel like I've peaked out. I think with a better understanding of LR I can get in the 160s but wow.... 170? That'd be nuts. Maybe I should just cancel my June registration and get a summer j*b to pay for an LSAT class.
The thing is that I kinda wanted the added advantage of getting to apply early in the fall to help my chances.

WhiteGuy5 wrote:

MarkyMarkChez wrote:Yeah first PT ever. I've been studying for a good month or two. I feel like such an idiot right now. I had a stretch in the first LR section where I got six straight questions wrong.

Don't know if this is an April Fool's joke or not, but...

Scoring a 156 on your first PT (even after 2 months of studying) means you have a lot of potential. You should seriously consider taking a course, or at least devoting yourself full-time to studying for the October exam. I'm not sure you'll be able to hit the 170 barrier by June, but if you apply yourself thoughtfully, you can pull off scoring in the 99th percentile with consistency.

My advice: don't take the test until you're scoring 172+, and I believe it is absolutely realistic to be able to do so by October. You should take a course (the money is worth it).

All of this minus the 172+. Don't set lofty goals that may discourage you. Set a goal once you actually have a good grasp of your potential for improvement. For me I knew after about 2 months of class I was not getting over a 170 and was completely okay with it.

MarkyMarkChez wrote:

WhiteGuy5 wrote:

MarkyMarkChez wrote:Yeah first PT ever. I've been studying for a good month or two. I feel like such an idiot right now. I had a stretch in the first LR section where I got six straight questions wrong.

Don't know if this is an April Fool's joke or not, but...

Scoring a 156 on your first PT (even after 2 months of studying) means you have a lot of potential. You should seriously consider taking a course, or at least devoting yourself full-time to studying for the October exam. I'm not sure you'll be able to hit the 170 barrier by June, but if you apply yourself thoughtfully, you can pull off scoring in the 99th percentile with consistency.

My advice: don't take the test until you're scoring 172+, and I believe it is absolutely realistic to be able to do so by October. You should take a course (the money is worth it).

Are you serious? I feel like I've peaked out. I think with a better understanding of LR I can get in the 160s but wow.... 170? That'd be nuts. Maybe I should just cancel my June registration and get a summer j*b to pay for an LSAT class.
The thing is that I kinda wanted the added advantage of getting to apply early in the fall to help my chances.

It is not going to "improve your chances" if you score a 158. With a 3.7 and a 162+ I bet there are some great law schools that you will love that will yield some acceptances. If you end up doing much better than that, hell you will be even better off.

MarkyMarkChez wrote:Are you serious? I feel like I've peaked out. I think with a better understanding of LR I can get in the 160s but wow.... 170? That'd be nuts. Maybe I should just cancel my June registration and get a summer j*b to pay for an LSAT class.
The thing is that I kinda wanted the added advantage of getting to apply early in the fall to help my chances.

Very.

My GPA is around your neck of the woods (a little better), and that was my exact score on my first PT after maybe 3-4 weeks of studying.

Devote yourself to this FULL-TIME over the summer and you can pull off a 17X score. It's obviously not a guarantee, but the LSAT is such a learnable test that this is definitely not a "lofty goal"--everyone who has ever scored in the 99th percentile started out where you are, if not worse. Also, with your GPA and URM status, that type of score gets you into HarvardYaleStanford territory.

I leave it to others to +1 this.

Good luck.

lol mods trolling on april fools

UnderrateOverachieve wrote:

MarkyMarkChez wrote:

WhiteGuy5 wrote:

MarkyMarkChez wrote:Yeah first PT ever. I've been studying for a good month or two. I feel like such an idiot right now. I had a stretch in the first LR section where I got six straight questions wrong.

Don't know if this is an April Fool's joke or not, but...

Scoring a 156 on your first PT (even after 2 months of studying) means you have a lot of potential. You should seriously consider taking a course, or at least devoting yourself full-time to studying for the October exam. I'm not sure you'll be able to hit the 170 barrier by June, but if you apply yourself thoughtfully, you can pull off scoring in the 99th percentile with consistency.

My advice: don't take the test until you're scoring 172+, and I believe it is absolutely realistic to be able to do so by October. You should take a course (the money is worth it).

Are you serious? I feel like I've peaked out. I think with a better understanding of LR I can get in the 160s but wow.... 170? That'd be nuts. Maybe I should just cancel my June registration and get a summer j*b to pay for an LSAT class.
The thing is that I kinda wanted the added advantage of getting to apply early in the fall to help my chances.

It is not going to "improve your chances" if you score a 158. With a 3.7 and a 162+ I bet there are some great law schools that you will love that will yield some acceptances. If you end up doing much better than that, hell you will be even better off.

True dat. I'm such a scrub right now.
Well at least I feel really confident about LG. RC isn't too hard either but I just hate those damn science passages.
I think I'll take in June anyway. I have 39 more PTs on hand between now and then so maybe I can start improving or something.

WhiteGuy5 wrote:

MarkyMarkChez wrote:Are you serious? I feel like I've peaked out. I think with a better understanding of LR I can get in the 160s but wow.... 170? That'd be nuts. Maybe I should just cancel my June registration and get a summer j*b to pay for an LSAT class.
The thing is that I kinda wanted the added advantage of getting to apply early in the fall to help my chances.

Very.

My GPA is around your neck of the woods (a little better), and that was my exact score on my first PT after maybe 3-4 weeks of studying.

Devote yourself to this FULL-TIME over the summer and you can pull off a 17X score. It's obviously not a guarantee, but the LSAT is such a learnable test that this is definitely not a "lofty goal"--everyone who has ever scored in the 99th percentile started out where you are, if not worse. Also, with your GPA and URM status, that type of score gets you into CCN territory.

I leave it to others to Calling bullshit. this.

Good luck.

Haha. OK then. So you would say don't take it in June then because there's a good chance I could screw up and ruin my life?

For me the practice tests were more about getting timing down more than anything. Actually work shopping problem types and doing time trials in a class was what really improved my score.

Imagine if you wanted to get better at bowling, if you just played a 100 games you will get better, but how much better? You will probably be committing a multitude of mistakes that someone more learned than you could correct extremely quickly.

Getting a teacher will probably help you immensely. These classes all offer something in terms of a "plan of action" and also structure, which is something you sound like you really do lack.

Hey guys! Just took my second PT.
October 1993.

Got a 162.

20/27 on CR
15/25 on LR Section 1
21/24 on LG
17/25 on LR Section 2


I was definitely more in the zone on this PT. Is a 162 a huge improvement?

MarkyMarkChez wrote:Hey guys! Just took my second PT.
October 1993.

Got a 162.

20/27 on CR
15/25 on LR Section 1
21/24 on LG
17/25 on LR Section 2


I was definitely more in the zone on this PT. Is a 162 a huge improvement?

Improvements are always good, but a subset of two tests is not enough for anyone to base a broad-reaching generalization. I will agree with the others who have chimed in that you have a strong chance of hitting 170+ if you dedicate the time to truly studying. Look at the study guides on here if you can't afford a class and follow those. Also, make sure you allow youself enough time (at least a month) to take the most recent tests and to drill the slightly tweaked questions that those hold.

FWIW my first PT was not good at all and I ended up with a 169 (which was a couple of points below my PT average leading into the test, but within the 3 point window) and I self-studied while working FT.

MarkyMarkChez wrote:Ouch!
Took my first PT and got a 156. It was the 2/93 LSAT.

16/25 on LR Section 1
18/24 on LG
19/27 on CR
12/25 on LR Section 2


Should I cancel my June registration and spend the whole summer prepping? I read through the Princeton Review and PowerScore books. Not planning to take any classes. I also need to mention that I'm a Mexican-American with a solid GPA (3.7 I believe)

156 diagnostic is fairly normal/higher by a few points for many people on this site. Dedicate the next however many weeks till June date and kill it. THough you are about 3 weeks behind of a true 3 month study plan which seems to be about the norm for high scorers.