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Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 4:56 pm
by lawschool2014hopeful
Short story:
145 (Diag)-159-162-170
Should I try again?
I have self-studied most of the time, I used power score/manhattan/velocity/7sage for games.
Should I try a course this time around?
Edit: I used up pretty much all of the prep tests, except few super prep ones and some in between 1-40 range.
Edit 2: Dec (2013): 170.
If there is enough interest, I will write a rather comprehensive guide on what I learnt in this journey. But I will probably start working on it early Feb at the earliest as I am working on apps right now.
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 6:00 pm
by trojandave
jimmierock wrote:Short story:
Diag (2010): 145
First Test (Oct 2012): 159
Second Test (June 2013): 162
Should I try again?
I have self-studied most of the time, I used power score/manhattan/velocity/7sage for games.
Should I try a course this time around?
What were your self-study materials / methods? If you do better with outside motivation, a classroom environment, or a teacher to ask questions of, a course could be helpful. You keep going up so what reason do you have to think you won't continue that trend? And breaking that 165 mark can open up some big doors. 162 is right there on the cusp... I'd say take it again if you've got the time and the drive to put in hours per day and master the test. A few points DO make a big difference in both admissions and scholarship dollars
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 6:58 pm
by desiballa21
jimmierock wrote:Short story:
Diag (2010): 145
First Test (Oct 2012): 159
Second Test (June 2013): 162
Should I try again?
I have self-studied most of the time, I used power score/manhattan/velocity/7sage for games.
Should I try a course this time around?
I got a 162 in October and brought it up to a 168 in December using NoodleyOne's guide and Velocity for games. I only had about 5 weeks after I got my October score to prep for December so I crammed it all in. You'll have much more time than I did to find your pace and rhythm and be confident, so don't settle! Good luck.
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:10 pm
by lawschool2014hopeful
trojandave wrote:jimmierock wrote:Short story:
Diag (2010): 145
First Test (Oct 2012): 159
Second Test (June 2013): 162
Should I try again?
I have self-studied most of the time, I used power score/manhattan/velocity/7sage for games.
Should I try a course this time around?
What were your self-study materials / methods? If you do better with outside motivation, a classroom environment, or a teacher to ask questions of, a course could be helpful. You keep going up so what reason do you have to think you won't continue that trend? And breaking that 165 mark can open up some big doors. 162 is right there on the cusp... I'd say take it again if you've got the time and the drive to put in hours per day and master the test. A few points DO make a big difference in both admissions and scholarship dollars
I had everything, I was doing timed prep tests with experimentals, closer to the end with 32minutes. The nerves really got to me in the first section and I missed 10 on LR. My average prep scores were mid 160s in strictly time situations, so it wasnt completely off. I just dont know if I can be much better.
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:14 pm
by Nova
jimmierock wrote:
Should I try again?
Obviously. Duh.
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:21 pm
by lawschool2014hopeful
Nova wrote:jimmierock wrote:
Should I try again?
Obviously. Duh.
The only thing is that if I were to invest in a live/class room course Id have to move away, is it worth it to trying something new this time around? I dont really care about the money.
Or should I just keep trying to whack away at the prep tests by myself?
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:24 pm
by Br3v
Yes try again. from 160's to 170's is like the specialty of the TLS LSAT material. I would not invest in a live class as those are usually for people aiming to get to 160's in the first palce. I would find a LSAT study guide on TLS (pithypike is what I used) and follow that to the T. You will be happy you did as even a few points of a score increase will make a differnce for you if only in terms of scholarship $
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:26 pm
by lawschool2014hopeful
Br3v wrote:Yes try again. from 160's to 170's is like the specialty of the TLS LSAT material. I would not invest in a live class as those are usually for people aiming to get to 160's in the first palce. I would find a LSAT study guide on TLS (pithypike is what I used) and follow that to the T. You will be happy you did as even a few points of a score increase will make a differnce for you if only in terms of scholarship $
I tried, I read all of the popular guides here. I honestly flip flop strategies alot because sometimes it works for this Q, sometimes it doesnt, and sometimes I feel like something is not working. My issue is I guess there is just so much information I dont know exactly what to execute.
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:36 pm
by Br3v
Most of us who retake dedicated several additional months of prepping where we concentrated on certain types of questions we tended to miss and did timed PT after timed PT. 5, 6, sometimes 7 days out of the week the whole time. If you can honestly say you did this and you exhausted all of the PTs then maybe you can get away with saying you gave it your all. if you haven't done that, then I think you know what to do
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:59 pm
by lawschool2014hopeful
Br3v wrote:Most of us who retake dedicated several additional months of prepping where we concentrated on certain types of questions we tended to miss and did timed PT after timed PT. 5, 6, sometimes 7 days out of the week the whole time. If you can honestly say you did this and you exhausted all of the PTs then maybe you can get away with saying you gave it your all. if you haven't done that, then I think you know what to do
Although I was going pretty close to 7days week, PT/review rotation, I felt like I was just missing some sort of guidance. The problem was that when I was doing so hard sometimes I miss a Q i wasnt sure because I was tired or that I couldnt tackle the Q. But in any case, I feel like I can try harder, man I forgot the intensity of the actual testing. Although I was doing full 5-section each prep test, I was pretty laxed. I didnt really worry much, I really need to bring on the pressure during the prep tests.
I guess I knew the answer all along, but just needed an extra bit of reassurance, because studying for this thing is quite psychologically draining.
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 8:24 pm
by Br3v
jimmierock wrote:Br3v wrote:Most of us who retake dedicated several additional months of prepping where we concentrated on certain types of questions we tended to miss and did timed PT after timed PT. 5, 6, sometimes 7 days out of the week the whole time. If you can honestly say you did this and you exhausted all of the PTs then maybe you can get away with saying you gave it your all. if you haven't done that, then I think you know what to do
Although I was going pretty close to 7days week, PT/review rotation, I felt like I was just missing some sort of guidance. The problem was that when I was doing so hard sometimes I miss a Q i wasnt sure because I was tired or that I couldnt tackle the Q. But in any case, I feel like I can try harder, man I forgot the intensity of the actual testing. Although I was doing full 5-section each prep test, I was pretty laxed. I didnt really worry much, I really need to bring on the pressure during the prep tests.
I guess I knew the answer all along, but just needed an extra bit of reassurance, because studying for this thing is quite psychologically draining.
No harm in that. If it helps, when I had problems I would read the explanations by Manhattan which are free and available online. If you cant find the link let me know and I can help but I think just google it. It has explanations for like 75% of all questions and like 95% of the questions you would need explanations for to begin with.
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 9:32 pm
by lawschool2014hopeful
Br3v wrote:jimmierock wrote:Br3v wrote:Most of us who retake dedicated several additional months of prepping where we concentrated on certain types of questions we tended to miss and did timed PT after timed PT. 5, 6, sometimes 7 days out of the week the whole time. If you can honestly say you did this and you exhausted all of the PTs then maybe you can get away with saying you gave it your all. if you haven't done that, then I think you know what to do
Although I was going pretty close to 7days week, PT/review rotation, I felt like I was just missing some sort of guidance. The problem was that when I was doing so hard sometimes I miss a Q i wasnt sure because I was tired or that I couldnt tackle the Q. But in any case, I feel like I can try harder, man I forgot the intensity of the actual testing. Although I was doing full 5-section each prep test, I was pretty laxed. I didnt really worry much, I really need to bring on the pressure during the prep tests.
I guess I knew the answer all along, but just needed an extra bit of reassurance, because studying for this thing is quite psychologically draining.
No harm in that. If it helps, when I had problems I would read the explanations by Manhattan which are free and available online. If you cant find the link let me know and I can help but I think just google it. It has explanations for like 75% of all questions and like 95% of the questions you would need explanations for to begin with.
Already use it! Along with 7 sage for games, thanks for the suggestions definitely though!
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 9:57 pm
by Jeffort
Sounds like you could benefit from a good private tutor, an experienced one that can diagnose your problem areas that need to be improved. You may have some conceptual understanding issues that need work, not everyone that reads the prep books and explanations gets the same level of understanding from them by themselves. You may also have practical issues with how you go about attacking questions that could be improved for better accuracy.
A good tutor would have you work through some questions and show/talk through your approach and thought process to figure out what you are doing/thinking correctly vs. incorrectly to figure out what needs to be fixed. You can talk through a lot of that stuff over the phone or online too with a tutor if you can't find a good one to meet in person near you.
If I were your tutor the first thing I would want to discuss in detail is this:
jimmierock wrote:
I tried, I read all of the popular guides here. I honestly flip flop strategies alot because sometimes it works for this Q, sometimes it doesnt, and sometimes I feel like something is not working. My issue is I guess there is just so much information I dont know exactly what to execute.
Yes, you should try again and re-take to get a better score. If you really want it and figure out and then do what you need to, you can get it.
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 12:37 pm
by lawschool2014hopeful
Jeffort wrote:Sounds like you could benefit from a good private tutor, an experienced one that can diagnose your problem areas that need to be improved. You may have some conceptual understanding issues that need work, not everyone that reads the prep books and explanations gets the same level of understanding from them by themselves. You may also have practical issues with how you go about attacking questions that could be improved for better accuracy.
A good tutor would have you work through some questions and show/talk through your approach and thought process to figure out what you are doing/thinking correctly vs. incorrectly to figure out what needs to be fixed. You can talk through a lot of that stuff over the phone or online too with a tutor if you can't find a good one to meet in person near you.
If I were your tutor the first thing I would want to discuss in detail is this:
jimmierock wrote:
I tried, I read all of the popular guides here. I honestly flip flop strategies alot because sometimes it works for this Q, sometimes it doesnt, and sometimes I feel like something is not working. My issue is I guess there is just so much information I dont know exactly what to execute.
Yes, you should try again and re-take to get a better score. If you really want it and figure out and then do what you need to, you can get it.
Definitely gonna take your advice and discuss a proper strategy. Looks like I am signed up for a course. Thanks everyone! Hope 3rd time is the Charm.
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 1:17 pm
by trojandave
jimmierock wrote:Jeffort wrote:Sounds like you could benefit from a good private tutor, an experienced one that can diagnose your problem areas that need to be improved. You may have some conceptual understanding issues that need work, not everyone that reads the prep books and explanations gets the same level of understanding from them by themselves. You may also have practical issues with how you go about attacking questions that could be improved for better accuracy.
A good tutor would have you work through some questions and show/talk through your approach and thought process to figure out what you are doing/thinking correctly vs. incorrectly to figure out what needs to be fixed. You can talk through a lot of that stuff over the phone or online too with a tutor if you can't find a good one to meet in person near you.
If I were your tutor the first thing I would want to discuss in detail is this:
jimmierock wrote:
I tried, I read all of the popular guides here. I honestly flip flop strategies alot because sometimes it works for this Q, sometimes it doesnt, and sometimes I feel like something is not working. My issue is I guess there is just so much information I dont know exactly what to execute.
Yes, you should try again and re-take to get a better score. If you really want it and figure out and then do what you need to, you can get it.
Definitely gonna take your advice and discuss a proper strategy. Looks like I am signed up for a course. Thanks everyone! Hope 3rd time is the Charm.
Which course?
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 1:19 pm
by Nova
Good luck bro
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 2:58 pm
by lawschool2014hopeful
trojandave wrote:jimmierock wrote:Jeffort wrote:Sounds like you could benefit from a good private tutor, an experienced one that can diagnose your problem areas that need to be improved. You may have some conceptual understanding issues that need work, not everyone that reads the prep books and explanations gets the same level of understanding from them by themselves. You may also have practical issues with how you go about attacking questions that could be improved for better accuracy.
A good tutor would have you work through some questions and show/talk through your approach and thought process to figure out what you are doing/thinking correctly vs. incorrectly to figure out what needs to be fixed. You can talk through a lot of that stuff over the phone or online too with a tutor if you can't find a good one to meet in person near you.
If I were your tutor the first thing I would want to discuss in detail is this:
jimmierock wrote:
I tried, I read all of the popular guides here. I honestly flip flop strategies alot because sometimes it works for this Q, sometimes it doesnt, and sometimes I feel like something is not working. My issue is I guess there is just so much information I dont know exactly what to execute.
Yes, you should try again and re-take to get a better score. If you really want it and figure out and then do what you need to, you can get it.
Definitely gonna take your advice and discuss a proper strategy. Looks like I am signed up for a course. Thanks everyone! Hope 3rd time is the Charm.
Which course?
Not Kaplan or Princeton
Thanks everyone.
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 2:59 pm
by Br3v
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 12:05 pm
by lawschool2014hopeful
I forgot to bump this thread earlier, but I made the curve, 170!
Thanks everyone.
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 12:44 pm
by WaltGrace83
jimmierock wrote:I forgot to bump this thread earlier, but I made the curve, 170!
Thanks everyone.
I am actually ecstatic for you. Do you know why? I clearly don't know you and I have no emotional connection to you. I am happy because you got crushed the first time, kicked the second time, and you came back for more, doing everything that you needed to do to make this happen. Awesome man, awesome. I am happy that I will be working in the same field as you one day. I am tired of people quitting. I have a friend who got a 15x, then a 163. She wants WUSTL. I told her that getting literally 5-7 more questions right could be the difference between getting rejected and getting a full ride. Her response?
"I'm done with studying."
Fuck that. I am happy for you man

Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 2:01 pm
by unodostres
Awesome stuff man!
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 2:05 pm
by PepperJack
Even if you don't go to law school, there are really no careers where logical reasoning, deductive reasoning and critical reading aren't helpful. I was going to say maybe stripping, but even there logic can be useful in your day to day interactions. Unlike skills you develop in law school, skills you develop studying for the LSAT are universally useful.
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 2:08 pm
by Jacked_Historian
Br3v wrote:Nova wrote:Good luck bro
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 2:13 pm
by Fiero85
jimmierock wrote:I forgot to bump this thread earlier, but I made the curve, 170!
Thanks everyone.
Excellent job. I hope you inspire many more retakers.
Re: Worth Trying Again?
Posted: Fri Jan 10, 2014 2:34 pm
by BPlaura
145 ---> 170 is incredible! Fantastic work.