90 days to a 180 Forum

[180asBreath]

Who's with me?

I will not be stressing about doing PT's, at first; I am going to focus more of my prep on learning the test and learning about my own performance (strengths and weaknesses), instead of just practicing and moderately refining my suboptimal abilities.

I think I will wait to take my first PT in 5 weeks, spending all of my prep on going through Velocity's videos and books - again - and then do 1 or 2 PT's a week for my final 8 weeks; for now, I want to start anew and act like I've never seen a question on the test. It has been quite awhile since I've looked at test materials, but the nice thing is I have such fluency that I should be able to get back to where I was, rather quickly, and then I can really get to work on my understanding of what is really being asked and what some of my common mistakes are; I need to learn about myself as much as I need to learn the test.

Here is a record of my previous PT's (let's just say there will be a fair amount of meta-gaming, but at least the most recent tests will be completely new to me and, therefore, my performance on them will be a bit more representative of how I'd perform on test day).

09/24/11 - PT 63 - LR1: -4. LR2: -4, RC: -8, LG: -4, LRexp: -4, 81/101, 163
09/28/11 - PT 43 - LR1: -5. LR2: -6, RC: -8, LG: -3, LGexp: -7, 79/101, 163
10/01/11 - PT 44 - LR1: -3. LR2: -6, RC: -7, LG: -5, RCexp: -8, 79/100, 161
10/05/11 - PT 45 - LR1: -4, LR2: -1, RC-13, LG: -0, LRexp: -6, 81/099, 165
10/08/11 - PT 46 - LR1: -1, LR2: -2, RC: -9, LG: -0, LRexp: -5, 87/099, 167
10/12/11 - PT 47 - LR1: -2, LR2-11, RC: -2, LG: -0, LRexp: -5, 86/101, 166
10/15/11 - PT 48 - LR1: -6, LR2: -2, RC: -5, LG: -0, LGexp: -4, 88/101, 166
10/19/11 - PT 49 - LR1: -7, LR2: -2, RC: -7, LG: -1, RCexp: -9, 83/100, 164
10/23/11 - PT 50 - LR1: -5, LR2: -3, RC: -7, LG: -4, LRexp: -10, 81/100, 163
10/26/11 - PT 51 - LR1: -4, LR2: -6, RC: -4, LG: -1, LGexp: -3, 85/100, 167
10/29/11 - PT 52 - LR1: -4, LR2: -0, RC: -2, LG: -0, RCexp: -6, 93/99, 174
11/02/11 - PT 53 - LR1: -4, LR2: -6, RC: -6, LG: -0, LRexp: -6, 84/100, 166
11/05/11 - PT 54 - LR1: -1, LR2: -5, RC: -5, LG: -1, RCexp: -2, 89/101, 168
11/09/11 - PT 55 - LR1: -5, LR2: -2, RC: -5, LG: -0, LGexp: -0, 88/100, 167
11/12/11 - PT 56 - LR1: -4, LR2: -2, RC: -4, LG: -1, LGexp: -0, 89/100, 170
11/14/11 - PT 57 - LR1: -4, LR2: -1, RC: -4, LG: -1, LRexp: -6, 91/101, 171
11/16/11 - PT 58 - LR1: -2, LR2: -7, RC: -6, LG: -2, LRexp: -5, 84/101, 165
11/19/11 - PT 59 - LR1: -3, LR2: -2, RC: -7, LG: -1, RCexp: -2, 88/101, 170
11/21/11 - PT 60 - LR1: -5, LR2: -4, RC: -6, LG: -3, LGexp: -4, 81/99, 165
11/23/11 - PT 61 - LR1: -4, LR2: -4, RC: -4, LG: -0, LRexp: -4, 89/101, 170
11/26/11 - PT 62 - LR1: -5, LR2: -3, RC: -1, LG: -1, RCexp: -4, 92/102, 173
11/28/11 - PT 63 - LR1: -2, LR2: -4, RC: -6, LG: -1, LRexp: -3, 88/101, 168
11/30/11 - PT 64 - LR1: -6, LR2: -4, RC: -6, LG: -3, RCexp: -7, 82/101, 166

So, after 23 tests, my averages were:

LR1: -3.9
LR2: -3.8
RC: -5.7
LG: -1.4
Total: -14.8
Overall: 166.9

So, who's with me?

By the way, this is not about being so arrogant as to expect a 180 or be upset if I fell a few points short -- I just feel like there is no reason why any of us couldn't gain a 180 mastery of the test (where you could get every question right, if time were not an issue) and I believe I can get to the point where I have a chance to walk into the testing room 90 days from now and walk out with a 180 on my LSDAS report.

[the_pakalypse]

Dude, I remember you from last time...."10 weeks to 180" I believe.

Good luck!

[alexrodriguez]

Good luck.

[keener123]

I believe I am in a similar situation with you, I've developed a comprehensive strategy for tackling the tests and I've been scoring in the 163-172 range under timed conditions. My goal is to complete every single LSAT PT under timed conditions and I agree that given enough hard work, high 170's to 180 should not be impossible. Good luck.

[kiyoku]

gooood luck~

[UnderrateOverachieve]

Good luck

[the_pakalypse]

Who's with me?
09/24/11 - PT 63 - LR1: -4. LR2: -4, RC: -8, LG: -4, LRexp: -4, 81/101, 163
09/28/11 - PT 43 - LR1: -5. LR2: -6, RC: -8, LG: -3, LGexp: -7, 79/101, 163
10/01/11 - PT 44 - LR1: -3. LR2: -6, RC: -7, LG: -5, RCexp: -8, 79/100, 161
10/05/11 - PT 45 - LR1: -4, LR2: -1, RC-13, LG: -0, LRexp: -6, 81/099, 165
10/08/11 - PT 46 - LR1: -1, LR2: -2, RC: -9, LG: -0, LRexp: -5, 87/099, 167
10/12/11 - PT 47 - LR1: -2, LR2-11, RC: -2, LG: -0, LRexp: -5, 86/101, 166
10/15/11 - PT 48 - LR1: -6, LR2: -2, RC: -5, LG: -0, LGexp: -4, 88/101, 166
10/19/11 - PT 49 - LR1: -7, LR2: -2, RC: -7, LG: -1, RCexp: -9, 83/100, 164
10/23/11 - PT 50 - LR1: -5, LR2: -3, RC: -7, LG: -4, LRexp: -10, 81/100, 163
10/26/11 - PT 51 - LR1: -4, LR2: -6, RC: -4, LG: -1, LGexp: -3, 85/100, 167
10/29/11 - PT 52 - LR1: -4, LR2: -0, RC: -2, LG: -0, RCexp: -6, 93/99, 174
11/02/11 - PT 53 - LR1: -4, LR2: -6, RC: -6, LG: -0, LRexp: -6, 84/100, 166
11/05/11 - PT 54 - LR1: -1, LR2: -5, RC: -5, LG: -1, RCexp: -2, 89/101, 168
11/09/11 - PT 55 - LR1: -5, LR2: -2, RC: -5, LG: -0, LGexp: -0, 88/100, 167
11/12/11 - PT 56 - LR1: -4, LR2: -2, RC: -4, LG: -1, LGexp: -0, 89/100, 170
11/14/11 - PT 57 - LR1: -4, LR2: -1, RC: -4, LG: -1, LRexp: -6, 91/101, 171
11/16/11 - PT 58 - LR1: -2, LR2: -7, RC: -6, LG: -2, LRexp: -5, 84/101, 165
11/19/11 - PT 59 - LR1: -3, LR2: -2, RC: -7, LG: -1, RCexp: -2, 88/101, 170
11/21/11 - PT 60 - LR1: -5, LR2: -4, RC: -6, LG: -3, LGexp: -4, 81/99, 165
11/23/11 - PT 61 - LR1: -4, LR2: -4, RC: -4, LG: -0, LRexp: -4, 89/101, 170
11/26/11 - PT 62 - LR1: -5, LR2: -3, RC: -1, LG: -1, RCexp: -4, 92/102, 173
11/28/11 - PT 63 - LR1: -2, LR2: -4, RC: -6, LG: -1, LRexp: -3, 88/101, 168
11/30/11 - PT 64 - LR1: -6, LR2: -4, RC: -6, LG: -3, RCexp: -7, 82/101, 166

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the bolded is why you are very, very, very unlikely to get a 180. Your study habits and review aren't good enough. Doing a million tests won't do anything if the only improvement you get after you retake a tests is a 5 point increase. If you want to get a 180 on the real thing, then you have to score at least 175+ on any retake of an old test, which means you have to absolutely analyze every mistake, every tempting answer choice, every tiny mental error you made. And after that you have to change your strategy to reflect that you will not make the same mistake again.

Getting a 168 on a retake essentially means that you didn't learn a whole lot of stuff from the first test.

[180asBreath]

You're right; if I prepare like I did last time, I have (IMO) NO shot of a 180 and a minute chance at a 170+. Everyone warned me, but I stubbornly focused on practicing instead of learning; not saying I didn't do any meaningful work, but I'd say 80/20 - practice to learning. I didn't even really review the problems I got wrong like I should've. I basically just refined and solidified my skills instead of improving them.

This time will be different. For the next 6 weeks, I'm not going to do any timed work whatsoever. Don't know what kind of result I'll have in the end, but no one will be able to accuse me of trying the same thing and expecting a different result.

I'm also thinking of offering free tutoring on CL to someone who is scoring really low (<150's). Not that I'm some expert, but I do think I could help someone like that and, as it is well-known, there's no learning like the learning you undergo when teaching.

Thanks for the post!