I'm embarrassed to post this. Forum

[aj8877]

Well, here goes. I took a diagnostic tonight (1st one ever, never studied) and got a 134. So bad!!! At some points I just lost focus.

Is my chance at law school over with? I have until June to study. Was thinking about a Kaplan course, might just study on my own. I'm so discouraged after this score. The test was pretty tough. Didn't think I was this stupid. I'd like to shoot for 155-160. I have practice books with prac tests in them. Was thinking of hammering one out tomorrow and one on saturday. Is this the best way to start studying?

[tanes25]

Well, here goes. I took a diagnostic tonight (1st one ever, never studied) and got a 134. So bad!!! At some points I just lost focus.

Is my chance at law school over with? I have until June to study. Was thinking about a Kaplan course, might just study on my own. I'm so discouraged after this score. The test was pretty tough. Didn't think I was this stupid. I'd like to shoot for 155-160. I have practice books with prac tests in them. Was thinking of hammering one out tomorrow and one on saturday. Is this the best way to start studying?

Your chances at law school are certainly not over. You have plenty of time to get it together. My diagnostic was 141 so I'm not that far from you. I hadn't picked up an LSAT book in almost 5 yrs so I'm not worried. Since this is your diagnostic I'm assuming you haven't been studying right? It's cool. For me self studying didnt really work because I didnt know what I was doing. Taking a course is certainly beneficial. I chose 7Sage. Check them out if you havent already. They're super cheap and I've gained so much knowledge from the little time that I've been taking the course. The course consists of several videos with an instructor explaining everything in detail. I had no idea how much I didnt know until I took this course. I cant speak for Kaplan because I havent taken it, but 7Sage is less than $200 for it's basic course and I've gained tons of knowledge. You can also check out their free videos for LG to get a sense of the teaching style. Once you complete a lesson you'll want to drill that section until you've got a clear understanding and then move on. Unfortunately I cannot give you an estimate of how I've improved because I haven't taken another test since my diagnostic. I just dont see the point because there are still LR questions that I haven't gotten to on the course. Others like Manhattan. I only have their LG and LR guides but I haven't really used them much. I guess they're cool to have in case something doesnt click with me with 7Sage. Anyway I'm not sure if you have any other questions but you shouldn't be worried. You have plenty of time to improve if you put in the work. Good luck!

[toshiroh]

Well, here goes. I took a diagnostic tonight (1st one ever, never studied) and got a 134. So bad!!! At some points I just lost focus.

Is my chance at law school over with? I have until June to study. Was thinking about a Kaplan course, might just study on my own. I'm so discouraged after this score. The test was pretty tough. Didn't think I was this stupid. I'd like to shoot for 155-160. I have practice books with prac tests in them. Was thinking of hammering one out tomorrow and one on saturday. Is this the best way to start studying?

No, you're not doomed. My LSAT diagnostic score was a 137, and I'm currently scoring in the mid 160s. Your score is bound to jump at least 10 points when you start to at least know what the test will look like. ANDDDDDDDD don't take Kaplan

Futhermore, I always get confused when people post questions like "Should I just give up on Law School?" Say for instance someone says, "Yes, you should give up." What are you going to do, give up because some random internet nobody told you to give up.

[barrelofmonkeys]

As people have said, you're absolutely not doomed.

If you don't feel like you can self-study (get some books, either Manhattan or Powerscore), then start with a class (I don't have any recommendations there as I only self-studied.)

Don't just jump into taking practice tests: that won't be helpful. You first need to break the test down into its three sections and learn about each of them separately and practice each of them separately. Only once you start to have a firm understanding of each section should you switch into mixed practice. (That said, maybe mix it up week by week, or study session by study session.)

Since you have until June, I'd spend AT LEAST a few months studying each section on its own.

I agree that your score will jump pretty dramatically just from understanding how the test works, and then after that improvements will be more difficult but still possible.

Good luck!

eta: (That said, maybe mix it up week by week, or study session by study session.)

[SteelPenguin]

If you're looking for a live course, I took Powerscore and found it very helpful for establishing a strong foundation.

[tuffyjohnson]

If you're interested in the truth, it is going to be an uphill battle. If you enjoy the LSAT and have the resolve to keep going then do it. I also had a very low diagnostic and honestly the improvements don't come easy but they do come if you're persistent. Forget the classes--they are a waste. Consider Velocity, The blueprint book for LG, 7 sage, manhattan LR/RC. Buy every PT and take them all. Break them up. Take a couple of 35 minute sections per day for a 9-12 months. This is what I'm doing and I still haven't hit 160 but I enjoy it so maybe one day I'll get there.

[magickware]

Read these-
http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 6&t=195603
http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 6&t=212294
http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... 6&t=120471

And keep in mind that you're going to have to put in A LOT OF WORK.

The same is true for anyone who scores less than a 160 on their diagnostic with no study whatsoever.

[iamgeorgebush]

All is certainly not lost, but truthfully, it will be very difficult and involve a lot of hard work for you to to obtain a score that makes you a competitive applicant to law schools worth the cost of tuition. You should shoot for a score in the 160s, not the 150s, because most law schools who accept students with scores in the 150s are not worth going $150k into debt. It may involve hundreds of hours of prep for you to get there. If you're determined enough to commit that much time to study, then go for it. If not, perhaps consider options other than law school.

If you do decide that law school is the right path for you, there are plenty of guides posted in the stickies for ideas about how to prep.

[Hotguy]

How bad did you do on LG? Once you master this section(the easiest one to learn), your score will easily be in the 150s. Improving on LG is all about practice. There are only a few types of different games, learn to do all of them really well by redoing them until mastery.

[tuffyjohnson]

LR was easier for me to learn as compared to LG.