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I scored 162 on the June 2007 LSAT that's up on the LSAC website. My best guess is that puts me at a mid-high 80th percentile. I googled a converter, from which I got a percentile of 86 based on my scaled score, or 95 based on my raw score. Obviously it's pretty general, so my first question is approximately what percentile is a raw score of 81 on the sample LSAT worth? I would assume something closer to the 86 result.

I timed myself, using my phone, with the screen hidden so I couldn't see where I was actually at in the time. I wrote the test from the PDF, copying my answers into a notepad document. I finished with time to spare on sections two and three (4ish minutes to spare for both). Considering that writing in a notepad document takes less time than filling out a scantron, I didn't review any of the questions I answered on those. On the first, I timed out, so I dropped my last answer. You could probably argue for dropping more. I was feeling generous. On the last section I had about 10 minutes to spare, but I was in a bit of a hurry and was being harassed by my roommate to "stop being a nerd", so I just left it. Needless, the fourth section was written under what I would describe as less-than-ideal circumstances. I couldn't say how much that impacted my mark, so I left it as is. I guess I wasn't feeling generous that time.

Anyways, without further ado:

21/23 (I counted this as 20 - I got every question I answered on the first section right)

20/25

21/25

20/27

I was a bit surprised my reading comprehension clocked in so low - I suspect the environmental distractions had a lot to do with it. However, let's just assume these scores are accurate.

My questions are as follows:

How good is this for a first LSAT, assuming I want to get in to a competitive school? (If it matters, I live in Ontario and am most interested in Osgoode or UoT)
How much improvement can I expect?
Which sections are easiest/hardest to improve on?
Roughly how far in advance should I begin rigorous preparation? I plan to write in September of 2013.

Good diagnostic. 170+ easily within range. 162 is about 86th percentile.

U of T and Osgoode possible, but GPA must be pretty high for U of T..and obviously GPA and LSAT combos can vary widely and I don't know what your GPA is or what your LSAT will be so it's impossible to answer that question.

RC hardest to improve on. LG and LR extremely learnable. RC is very learnable too but may take more time and less of a step-by-step guide to succeeding there besides doing many passages.

For October test, I would start 5-6 months early but it's entirely based on your preference. I would say 2-3 months being the MINIMUM.

My plan as of this writing was to not study too hard until August, take the entire month off and practice 6-8 hours each weekday and write a full practice LSAT on the weekend. Would I be better off adopting a more long-term approach and studying a couple hours 3-4 nights a week over a much longer period?

What's your GPA? A 162 diagnostic puts you in a pretty good position to improve enough for both U of T and Osgoode. If I'm not mistaken, Osgoode's median LSAT is a 160 so assuming you have a high GPA you're almost a lock at Osgoode. U of T, however, has more stringent requirements for both the GPA and LSAT but you're still in awesome shape for being competitive there as well. Like the previous poster said, LR and LG are the easiest to improve on as they're the most learnable but RC is a little tougher but definitely not impossible.

Your plan isn't the best. It's better to space out studying more because it's really hard to study 6-8 hours a day for the LSAT IMO. Also, by the time August/September comes around, ideally you will be doing 2-3 PTs per week. The LSAT is definitely not something you can cram, and it doesn't bring huge benefits of recency by studying so much right before the test. Think of studying for the LSAT more like learning to ride a bike rather than cramming for a history test.

msmith19 wrote:Your plan isn't the best. It's better to space out studying more because it's really hard to study 6-8 hours a day for the LSAT IMO. Also, by the time August/September comes around, ideally you will be doing 2-3 PTs per week. The LSAT is definitely not something you can cram, and it doesn't bring huge benefits of recency by studying so much right before the test. Think of studying for the LSAT more like learning to ride a bike rather than cramming for a history test.

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