How I got a perfect score on the LSAT. Forum

[r6_philly]

You used EVERY preptest out there? I highly doubt this.

I used every preptest before my first take this weekend. There are not THAT many of them.

What was your score on these tests? Taking preptests is a good indicator of how you will perform on test day, so unless you royally screwed things up on test day, you should have known you would not score well.

I never took a test together - could never had the time. I did sections over a year pretty much. Whenever I had time. Worked out ok, I am not retaking. Not knowing what my raw score was, I say I did about the same or slightly better than usual. But I never really had the kind of interruption free time to work on the test until the actual test, so I was expecting to do better on the real test. I was about -3 to -6 per LR, -2 to -5 per RC and -0 to -1 per LG. So I think I scored on the low(better) end of my norm. considering I skipped/guessed 3 LR questions.

[allison34363]

Ah see the trick is to take them just like the real thing. Your method is good for learning technique, but that's all.

[justwhisper]

You used EVERY preptest out there? I highly doubt this.

I used every preptest before my first take this weekend. There are not THAT many of them.

What was your score on these tests? Taking preptests is a good indicator of how you will perform on test day, so unless you royally screwed things up on test day, you should have known you would not score well.

I never took a test together - could never had the time. I did sections over a year pretty much. Whenever I had time. Worked out ok, I am not retaking. Not knowing what my raw score was, I say I did about the same or slightly better than usual. But I never really had the kind of interruption free time to work on the test until the actual test, so I was expecting to do better on the real test. I was about -3 to -6 per LR, -2 to -5 per RC and -0 to -1 per LG. So I think I scored on the low(better) end of my norm. considering I skipped/guessed 3 LR questions.

Yikes..

[r6_philly]

Ah see the trick is to take them just like the real thing. Your method is good for learning technique, but that's all.

Oh sorry, I forgot to mention that I got a 170 on the Feb test. Without knowing the curve I think I did better than my sectional raw scores would indicate.

I think you guys misunderstood me, I was trying to say that my method worked out BETTER because I didn't have to deal with the pressure of a known preptest score. I was expecting around 168. My accuracy was much better on the real test I presume. Had I finished the skipped questions I might have gotten a 173/174.

My point is many test taker are pressured into doing worse than practice because of high expectations. Most "choking" are due to self-expectation and self imposed pressure. Lacking that pressure (without having a "practice" score) is going to help anyone prevent choking. I didn't mind this approach (other than the fact that I didn't have time) because I have years of professional sports competition experience and I teach young competitors how not to choke, and I know not having a "imaginary bar" to have to get over helps to prevent choking a great deal.

[tomwatts]

As I recall, I rarely took an entire test all in one sitting when I was originally studying either. I'd love to tell you guys what my PT scores were over my couple of months of studying four years ago, but frankly, I only took as many as 4 sections in a row at the very beginning, maybe once in the middle, and once at the very end. Endurance was never my problem, so I didn't bother.

I blame my few points lower on the first try on not being able to practice on all the sections (really just did a couple of games sections and sat for the test), so it's important to cover all the section types. That's different, though. And if keeping focus for 3+ hours is a problem (which it is for most people), then taking 5-section tests (maybe even 6-section tests) is important.

[vivalalsat]

As I recall, I rarely took an entire test all in one sitting when I was originally studying either. I'd love to tell you guys what my PT scores were over my couple of months of studying four years ago, but frankly, I only took as many as 4 sections in a row at the very beginning, maybe once in the middle, and once at the very end. Endurance was never my problem, so I didn't bother.

I blame my few points lower on the first try on not being able to practice on all the sections (really just did a couple of games sections and sat for the test), so it's important to cover all the section types. That's different, though. And if keeping focus for 3+ hours is a problem (which it is for most people), then taking 5-section tests (maybe even 6-section tests) is important.

Practice each section at one time or all at once? Like one week logic games, one week logical reasoning, etc, or mix them up?

[motiontodismiss]

I'm a little scared. 155 on a cold diag (well the third cold diag-first was frosh year at 143, second 152, and the most recent at 155) and need to be at 177 to get into my first choice (Penn/NU). I'm a pretty good test taker and usually improve tons with practice....got an 1810 on my first diag SAT and when I took the PSAT right afterwards got a 216 then I was stupid so I waited a 9 months and ended up with a 1940 but that's not the point.

On every single diag though I either go through the whole section in like 20 minutes or I run out of time halfway through and C out the answer sheet. I think I just suck at pacing.

How do I go from 155->177 for December?

Breakdown:
62% correct on LR
61% correct logic games
81% reading comp

Makes me want to cry.

[motiontodismiss]

You used EVERY preptest out there? I highly doubt this.

I used every preptest before my first take this weekend. There are not THAT many of them.

Aren't there 60 of them?

[vivalalsat]

At least 50.

[Shrimps]

Er.. PT1-59, Superprep A, B, C and June 2007 are easily available (63). I plan to take all of them by June.

Plus, there may be a couple that are not as easily available/expensive.

[tomwatts]

As I recall, I rarely took an entire test all in one sitting when I was originally studying either. I'd love to tell you guys what my PT scores were over my couple of months of studying four years ago, but frankly, I only took as many as 4 sections in a row at the very beginning, maybe once in the middle, and once at the very end. Endurance was never my problem, so I didn't bother.

I blame my few points lower on the first try on not being able to practice on all the sections (really just did a couple of games sections and sat for the test), so it's important to cover all the section types. That's different, though. And if keeping focus for 3+ hours is a problem (which it is for most people), then taking 5-section tests (maybe even 6-section tests) is important.

Practice each section at one time or all at once? Like one week logic games, one week logical reasoning, etc, or mix them up?

Just noticed that I never replied to this. I mixed them up in my original studying. I did a section of logic games and LR one day, then a section of games and RC the next, then games and LR, then games and RC. When I was feeling ambitious, I'd add another LR, so it'd be games and 2 LRs or games, LR, and RC, depending on the day (just because LR is half of the test). That was the actual workout part of the exercise; I'd start with a glance back at what I'd done the previous day for a few minutes, and I'd review what I did for a looong while after, so I think I got about an hour of studying out of each section. This worked really nicely for me.

[ecrew]

Do any of you top 1 percent test takers pre-phrase the answers. I'm in the beginning of my studying and I want to get into good habits. When I looked it up on other post, no one gave a definitive answer. Should I pre-phrase or not? Powerscore advises that you do but that doesn't mean its correct. Just as importantly, do any of you get those high scores without pre-phrasing? Thank You

[am060459]

Do any of you top 1 percent test takers pre-phrase the answers. I'm in the beginning of my studying and I want to get into good habits. When I looked it up on other post, no one gave a definitive answer. Should I pre-phrase or not? Powerscore advises that you do but that doesn't mean its correct. Just as importantly, do any of you get those high scores without pre-phrasing? Thank You

not a 1 percent test taker but pre-phrasing does save a lot of time.

[ecrew]

Now it is costing me more time because I think longer before reading the question choices.I'm afraid of falling into the trap answer if I see my pre-phrase.

[tomwatts]

Now it is costing me more time because I think longer before reading the stem.

Wait, before the stem? How can you answer a question that you haven't read yet? I definitely recommend having some idea what you're looking for before looking at the answer choices (less likely to fall for a tempting but off-topic wrong answer), but do it after you've read the stem, not before.

Yes, predicting the answer will take time at first. Eventually, it's nearly automatic (shouldn't take more than a couple of seconds, and if it does, you may skip the step on a particular question).

[am060459]

Now it is costing me more time because I think longer before reading the stem.

Wait, before the stem? How can you answer a question that you haven't read yet? I definitely recommend having some idea what you're looking for before looking at the answer choices (less likely to fall for a tempting but off-topic wrong answer), but do it after you've read the stem, not before.
Yes, predicting the answer will take time at first. Eventually, it's nearly automatic (shouldn't take more than a couple of seconds, and if it does, you may skip the step on a particular question).

this clarifies it.

[ecrew]

Now it is costing me more time because I think longer before reading the stem.

Wait, before the stem? How can you answer a question that you haven't read yet? I definitely recommend having some idea what you're looking for before looking at the answer choices (less likely to fall for a tempting but off-topic wrong answer), but do it after you've read the stem, not before.
Yes, predicting the answer will take time at first. Eventually, it's nearly automatic (shouldn't take more than a couple of seconds, and if it does, you may skip the step on a particular question).

this clarifies it.

tomwatts, I edited my previous post about the stem. I did mean question. Sorry to scare you with that.

[Shrimps]

You used EVERY preptest out there? I highly doubt this.

I used every preptest before my first take this weekend. There are not THAT many of them.

Redo them.

Redoing the LR sections is useless for me, I'm afraid - and I suspect for most of those who review their mistakes carefully and have a reasonably good memory. Difficult questions with tortured language and reasoning in both the stem and the answer choices are very memorable.

[allison34363]

You used EVERY preptest out there? I highly doubt this.

I used every preptest before my first take this weekend. There are not THAT many of them.

Redo them.

Redoing the LR sections is useless for me, I'm afraid - and I suspect for most of those who review their mistakes carefully and have a reasonably good memory. Difficult questions with tortured language and reasoning in both the stem and the answer choices are very memorable.

Agreed. You remember more than you think. Every section that I redid, I had a close to perfect score on.

[jpSartre]

The point that you don't really forget LR questions you've done before makes it really important for me to do well in June. By then I'll have done 19-59. Having to retake in October would be painful because of a lack of materials, and the fact that studying would be predominately review... the most mind-numbing part of this study process.

For some humor: that'll be 2000 LR questions, 160 LGs, and 160 RC passages. Feels a little like over-investment, but I suppose time will tell.

[honestabe84]

I used every preptest before my first take this weekend. There are not THAT many of them.

Redo them.

Redoing the LR sections is useless for me, I'm afraid - and I suspect for most of those who review their mistakes carefully and have a reasonably good memory. Difficult questions with tortured language and reasoning in both the stem and the answer choices are very memorable.

Agreed. You remember more than you think. Every section that I redid, I had a close to perfect score on.

I don't think is necessarily true. For the tests that I've redone, I've scored below what I scored before, the same that I scored before, and above of what I score before. Then again, there was 6-7 months in between the time I redid them.

[ecrew]

I am in a Powerscore course and just completed the second lesson. We are diagramming the conditional reasoning to death. For me diagraming is harder then doing the actual question. Should I stick with it? Right now, it is making me nuts, but I do not want to abanden it if diagraming will eventually become important.

[alphagamma]

It's important, IMHO. Some LR questions are very hard to figure out without diagramming. Also, the diagramming carries over into the LG section, where it is also very useful.

[dutchstriker]

I am in a Powerscore course and just completed the second lesson. We are diagramming the conditional reasoning to death. For me diagraming is harder then doing the actual question. Should I stick with it? Right now, it is making me nuts, but I do not want to abanden it if diagraming will eventually become important.

If there's one thing you should know inside out, it's conditional reasoning and the diagramming that goes with it.

If you're an overachiever, or you just want to score better on the LSAT, this may help: http://www.top-law-schools.com/conditio ... oning.html

[hemm]

I am in a Powerscore course and just completed the second lesson. We are diagramming the conditional reasoning to death. For me diagraming is harder then doing the actual question. Should I stick with it? Right now, it is making me nuts, but I do not want to abanden it if diagraming will eventually become important.

I think it's really important, not only for those couple of formal logic questions in the LR sections, but definitely for LG as well. Stick with it. It took me a long time to diagram at first - I started thinking, what's the point of doing all this if I'm not even going to have enough time to finish? - but now it's second nature.