Hello, everyone,
My name is Ryan, and I've been reading the forum and site for awhile now. It has been a tremendous resource in my preparation for applying to law school. I'm sure you've had about a billion questions like this, but since each case is different, I thought I would start an original thread.
Right now I'm registered for the October LSAT, hoping to apply for next fall. I started studying lightly in July (say about an hour a day on average), ramped up in August, and am now putting a few hours a day into it. Monday, I took my first preptest. I've taken two more since then. My scores have been a 168, 168, and 165. As my top choice of schools are Stanford, Chicago, and Duke, I will need to significantly improve if I want to make one of those a reality.
My question is stated above. Is the five weeks of enough to raise my score to the level I'm talking about? Or would it be beneficial to wait until December? My worse section is Logical Reasoning, where I miss about 10 over the two sections.
Thank you for the time!
Do I have enough time to raise my score? Forum
- Cerebro
- Posts: 235
- Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 9:22 pm
Re: Do I have enough time to raise my score?
Well, counting from today, you actually have about 4 full weeks left before the October test (assuming you're registered for Oct. 6). Actually less than that, if you consider that you probably don't want to be studying all the way up until the day of the test.RyanP wrote:Hello, everyone,
My name is Ryan, and I've been reading the forum and site for awhile now. It has been a tremendous resource in my preparation for applying to law school. I'm sure you've had about a billion questions like this, but since each case is different, I thought I would start an original thread.
Right now I'm registered for the October LSAT, hoping to apply for next fall. I started studying lightly in July (say about an hour a day on average), ramped up in August, and am now putting a few hours a day into it. Monday, I took my first preptest. I've taken two more since then. My scores have been a 168, 168, and 165. As my top choice of schools are Stanford, Chicago, and Duke, I will need to significantly improve if I want to make one of those a reality.
My question is stated above. Is the five weeks of enough to raise my score to the level I'm talking about? Or would it be beneficial to wait until December? My worse section is Logical Reasoning, where I miss about 10 over the two sections.
Thank you for the time!
Having said that, you can always cancel your registration up until Midnight EST the day before the test, so if you don't feel comfy by then, you can cancel and re-register for December.
Good luck.
-
- Posts: 3086
- Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:05 pm
Re: Do I have enough time to raise my score?
Most people see a lot of their gains back-loaded, as that's the point where the methods start to sink in, and the test starts to click. It's certainly possible to go into the mid-170s by test day.
Likely? Who knows. That's different for everyone. Some people go up 20 points in a month; others go up 10 points in 6 months. I'd prep as if you're taking October, but be willing to cancel if you're not ready by then. A 175 on December is better than a 170 in October.
Until then, just keep taking PTs and reviewing them. At the 165+ point, it's more about figuring out how they're getting you to pick wrong answers (and skip over right ones) than about learning new methods (unless, of course, you're going -0/-0/-17 on the sections).
Likely? Who knows. That's different for everyone. Some people go up 20 points in a month; others go up 10 points in 6 months. I'd prep as if you're taking October, but be willing to cancel if you're not ready by then. A 175 on December is better than a 170 in October.
Until then, just keep taking PTs and reviewing them. At the 165+ point, it's more about figuring out how they're getting you to pick wrong answers (and skip over right ones) than about learning new methods (unless, of course, you're going -0/-0/-17 on the sections).
- cloudhidden
- Posts: 193
- Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2011 9:29 am
Re: Do I have enough time to raise my score?
I'm in a similar situation. I feel like it's a matter of time before everything clicks. I just need to get a few minutes faster. But I'm going to keep preparing as if I'm taking in October, and then make that decision the week before.bp shinners wrote:Most people see a lot of their gains back-loaded, as that's the point where the methods start to sink in, and the test starts to click. It's certainly possible to go into the mid-170s by test day.
Likely? Who knows. That's different for everyone. Some people go up 20 points in a month; others go up 10 points in 6 months. I'd prep as if you're taking October, but be willing to cancel if you're not ready by then. A 175 on December is better than a 170 in October.
Until then, just keep taking PTs and reviewing them. At the 165+ point, it's more about figuring out how they're getting you to pick wrong answers (and skip over right ones) than about learning new methods (unless, of course, you're going -0/-0/-17 on the sections).
- Zensack
- Posts: 125
- Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2012 10:05 pm
Re: Do I have enough time to raise my score?
If you practice, you will improve, simple as that. Whether you can hit a specific score in a month, I can't tell you.
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