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I can't understand how some people scored a 165+ on a diagnostic with no prep. That would mean you easily handled at least two or three of the logic games with no previous understanding of how these things operate. Kudos. Seriously, because I've been working my ass off on LG.

Which brings me to my real questions: how should self studiers properly go about diagnosing themselves? How often in the process of study should we diagnose and is it better to wait until you've got a bit of study finished?

I'd wait until you've read a few LSAT books and are at least familiar with the general format of the test. It really doesn't matter whether you "diagnose" yourself; just reading those books will probably help you gain 10 pts bc you'll know what your in for; i.e. like knowing how a Logic game works. it is important to know your PT score range however. But you don't really know your accurate score range until you actually start PTing, thats when you wil know how much you actually need to improve still. Save most of your PTs for until then, don't waste too many in the constant need to diagnose yourself.

It's not like LSAC invented logic games.

I scored a 165 on my first LSAT PrepTest and it was only because I didn't take it until I at least partially understood how to approach about 80% of the questions asked on the test. It's nearly impossible to do Logic Games with any kind of accuracy in 35 minutes if you've never seen those types of problems before. Read at least half of the 2 PowerScore bibles before you start caring about your scores.

goldbh7 wrote:It's nearly impossible to do Logic Games with any kind of accuracy in 35 minutes if you've never seen those types of problems before.

Most people I know who diagnostic in the 160s grew up doing puzzles and reading a lot (my mom, for instance, had a subscription to Games magazine, and I'd do a lot of the puzzles in there growing up). So they have seen similar games before, and that definitely contributes to their initial score.

goldbh7 wrote:I scored a 165 on my first LSAT PrepTest and it was only because I didn't take it until I at least partially understood how to approach about 80% of the questions asked on the test. It's nearly impossible to do Logic Games with any kind of accuracy in 35 minutes if you've never seen those types of problems before. Read at least half of the 2 PowerScore bibles before you start caring about your scores.

Yeah, this helps.

bp shinners wrote:

goldbh7 wrote:It's nearly impossible to do Logic Games with any kind of accuracy in 35 minutes if you've never seen those types of problems before.

Most people I know who diagnostic in the 160s grew up doing puzzles and reading a lot (my mom, for instance, had a subscription to Games magazine, and I'd do a lot of the puzzles in there growing up). So they have seen similar games before, and that definitely contributes to their initial score.

This. I got a 161 on my first diagnostic without studying and taking it after work. I credit this to games books my mom bought for me when I was young. About two weeks later I'm at about a 175. So I wouldn't put too much stock into it.