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I hit a 150 on my first practice test. This was with 0 preparation, next to nothing to eat throughout the day, and in the midst of a conference I was attending.

Is this cause for concern or do I need to just develop an effective study plan? What is a good score for just "winging it"?

derekdissell wrote:I hit a 150 on my first practice test. This was with 0 preparation, next to nothing to eat throughout the day, and in the midst of a conference I was attending.

Is this cause for concern or do I need to just develop an effective study plan? What is a good score for just "winging it"?

It's not cause for concern. You can definitely practice your way up to a higher score. Exactly how much higher depends on the person. I know some people improve their scores drastically from the diagnostic, but I got a 163 on my diagnostic and was only able to raise my PT score by 7 points on average

diagnostic means nozeeng

That's reassuring. I am planning on taking the February test. I talked to a law student today who said he'd help me get connected to all the resources I need.

That law student suggested devoting an hour a day, maybe a bit more on weekends. Is that reasonable?

I also plan to take a diagnostic test at least monthly, probably bimonthly. Also, if I want to get more practice tests, where do I go?

derekdissell wrote:That's reassuring. I am planning on taking the February test. I talked to a law student today who said he'd help me get connected to all the resources I need.

That law student suggested devoting an hour a day, maybe a bit more on weekends. Is that reasonable?

I also plan to take a diagnostic test at least monthly, probably bimonthly. Also, if I want to get more practice tests, where do I go?

https://os.lsac.org/Release/Shop/Publications.aspx

Or you can shop through Amazon and other such places.

Eberry wrote:

derekdissell wrote:That's reassuring. I am planning on taking the February test. I talked to a law student today who said he'd help me get connected to all the resources I need.

That law student suggested devoting an hour a day, maybe a bit more on weekends. Is that reasonable?

I also plan to take a diagnostic test at least monthly, probably bimonthly. Also, if I want to get more practice tests, where do I go?

https://os.lsac.org/Release/Shop/Publications.aspx

Or you can shop through Amazon and other such places.

HAHAHAHHAHA an hour a day and a bit more on weekends. This blog is called top law schools. Full time workers should spend three hours a day, full time students four, weekends 6 hours min.

alex.feuerman wrote:

Eberry wrote:

derekdissell wrote:That's reassuring. I am planning on taking the February test. I talked to a law student today who said he'd help me get connected to all the resources I need.

That law student suggested devoting an hour a day, maybe a bit more on weekends. Is that reasonable?

I also plan to take a diagnostic test at least monthly, probably bimonthly. Also, if I want to get more practice tests, where do I go?

https://os.lsac.org/Release/Shop/Publications.aspx

Or you can shop through Amazon and other such places.

HAHAHAHHAHA an hour a day and a bit more on weekends. This blog is called top law schools. Full time workers should spend three hours a day, full time students four, weekends 6 hours min.

I think you mishandled the quote feature, brother.

Each person spends a different amount of time per day. I got a 152 on my cold diagnostic and was PT'ing mid to low 170's as of last week. I think I should have scored similarly on Octobers test.

Once you start studying you'll get an idea of how much time/day /week/month /total you'll need to reach your goals.

There's also the 80/20 predicament that applies. That is, it takes only 20% of the time/effort to make 80% of the gains on the lsat, but the last 20% of gains you need (to be perfect, or breaching a plateau) will take 80% of the time/effort.

Easy to get a handle on the LSAT, very, very difficult/time consuming to master.

I currently work full time and do about 3 hours a day studying, sometimes two, depending on how "up" I am feeling.

I'm not saying you need to study six hours a day, but you'll need to devote more than an hour a day, certainly. There are a ton of resources on this site that can help your prep, and posting here is a good way to get feedback (as well as distraction).

I'm not saying you absolutely must, but with a 150 you might need a bit more time than just November to January. You may want to put the test off until, hold your breath here, June, if necessary. I guess register for the Feb and see how you feel by late December. I started at 154 and have had a real hard time pushing myself up into my target (170) which I hope to get in Dec. I started in June but kind of bs'ed the first month or so during the study and didn't really get serious until a month or two ago. It might happen to you as well; it takes a bit of time to get into study mode.

NoodleyOne wrote:I'm not saying you need to study six hours a day, but you'll need to devote more than an hour a day, certainly. There are a ton of resources on this site that can help your prep, and posting here is a good way to get feedback (as well as distraction).

I may be an outlier, but I studied for only about an hour a day, sometimes two on weekends, and took a full practice test every weekend for about 4.5 months and ended up with an average PT score of around 176.

Swimp wrote:

NoodleyOne wrote:I'm not saying you need to study six hours a day, but you'll need to devote more than an hour a day, certainly. There are a ton of resources on this site that can help your prep, and posting here is a good way to get feedback (as well as distraction).

I may be an outlier, but I studied for only about an hour a day, sometimes two on weekends, and took a full practice test every weekend for about 4.5 months and ended up with an average PT score of around 176.

What did you start with?

Did you diag at 150? Some people have a smaller mountain to climb. I studied probably 10 hours a week not counting PTs on average, and less than that closer to the test. I still wouldn't recommend that for many people.

luxlisbon wrote:

derekdissell wrote:I hit a 150 on my first practice test. This was with 0 preparation, next to nothing to eat throughout the day, and in the midst of a conference I was attending.

Is this cause for concern or do I need to just develop an effective study plan? What is a good score for just "winging it"?

It's not cause for concern. You can definitely practice your way up to a higher score. Exactly how much higher depends on the person. I know some people improve their scores drastically from the diagnostic, but I got a 163 on my diagnostic and was only able to raise my PT score by 7 points on average

I was around that area (a little higher) on my first practice test. I went up double digit points. It can be done. Especially if you're messing up in the games. I went from getting 8 or 9 wrong per test to almost never getting any wrong. I think it is the most teachable part of the test.

i started off at 149 after a few days of study. after about 3 months i hit 173 on my last PT and I feel like I'm capable of a 180 if everything goes my way. A month ago I was in the low/mid 160s (0/-1 on LG, -12 LR, -6 RC on average) and then just drilled the hell out of LR with the aid of lsatqa.com and now am close to perfect. this improvement has been due mostly because i've had the last month off and devote at least 3-4+ hours a day to the LSAT.

but seriously if you have time now then it's better to study too much early than have to cram later. i messed up and didn't have a chance to study much in August and tried to cram for October but decided to sit out till december so I can guarantee a 170+. also, it takes time for things to sink in so it's better to get basic concepts down now.

bananashotgun wrote:i started off at 149 after a few days of study. after about 3 months i hit 173 on my last PT and I feel like I'm capable of a 180 if everything goes my way. A month ago I was in the low/mid 160s (0/-1 on LG, -12 LR, -6 RC on average) and then just drilled the hell out of LR with the aid of lsatqa.com and now am close to perfect. this improvement has been due mostly because i've had the last month off and devote at least 3-4+ hours a day to the LSAT.

but seriously if you have time now then it's better to study too much early than have to cram later. i messed up and didn't have a chance to study much in August and tried to cram for October but decided to sit out till december so I can guarantee a 170+. also, it takes time for things to sink in so it's better to get basic concepts down now.

Just PMed you, hope you don't mind.

150 is pretty normal range for cold test little bro, no worries

If you're taking in February you have plenty of time to study. I'd advise you to sit this cycle out if that's your intended test date, though.

NoodleyOne wrote:Did you diag at 150? Some people have a smaller mountain to climb. I studied probably 10 hours a week not counting PTs on average, and less than that closer to the test. I still wouldn't recommend that for many people.

Fair enough. My cold PT was in the low 160s.

150 is a very solid diagnostic score.

Weigh yourself out. Some people are different and catch on to certain concepts faster. If you feel like your the type of individual that needs to dedicate hours upon hours towards prepping, go for it. However, some people learn differently, they learn more efficiently and thus, faster -only requiring minimal prep. I suggest analyzing your goals --score wise-- in relation to your learning abilities. Formulate a study plan that focuses on maximizing your potential.

ShiningDown wrote:150 is a very solid diagnostic score.

Weigh yourself out. Some people are different and catch on to certain concepts faster. If you feel like your the type of individual that needs to dedicate hours upon hours towards prepping, go for it. However, some people learn differently, they learn more efficiently and thus, faster -only requiring minimal prep. I suggest analyzing your goals --score wise-- in relation to your learning abilities. Formulate a study plan that focuses on maximizing your potential.

I see what does you...

Theopliske8711 wrote:

ShiningDown wrote:150 is a very solid diagnostic score.

Weigh yourself out. Some people are different and catch on to certain concepts faster. If you feel like your the type of individual that needs to dedicate hours upon hours towards prepping, go for it. However, some people learn differently, they learn more efficiently and thus, faster -only requiring minimal prep. I suggest analyzing your goals --score wise-- in relation to your learning abilities. Formulate a study plan that focuses on maximizing your potential.

I see what does you...

I don't understand what you are typing.