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If this is your first real PT since your diagnostic, I don't think you should necessarily be alarmed. I know that for me, the jump between my diagnostic and my first PT was about 7 points, and the jump between my first PT and my second was another 6 points. It's entirely possible that you may have just been a little excited/nervous about actually taking a PT. I think it takes a while to acquire test taking 'acumen' so to speak (as you work out the kinks in your actual game-day strategy and become more accustomed to the test itself). Learning how to deal with timing and fatigue can easily add a few points onto your score, and acclimatization comes with further practice.

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Dude Jay I didn't realize your diag was 144. Good work bro.

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Great work man, keep it up

And, incidentally, 40 and 41 are NOT easy PTs

jaylawyer09 wrote:I'm currently studying for June 2014. I started in July 2013 (Diag of 144), and have drilled LG (1-40) about 3 times. Also, I drilled LR 1-40 twice, and RC 1-40 once.

Yesterday I finished drilling, and took a PT. (#40)

LR -4
LG -0
LR -6
RC -6

84/100 = 165

I finished both LR sections extremely fast, (~27 minutes) and felt like I rushed through and forgot some strategies because of the pressure of taking my first PT.

So, is this score normal? should I have scored higher given the amount of work I have thus far completed?

How did you improve on RC? Was it drilling one section at a time at 8 minutes or just doing full RC sections in 35 minutes?

Definitely review asap while some of the reasons why you picked certain answer choices might still be fresh in your head.

FWIW I drilled/read some books and went up about 10 points, and then went up another 10 points just by PTing/reviewing.

I think I've seen you post before that your missed Qs for sections drilled are pretty low, so it is most likely just nerves on your first post-diag PT.

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jaylawyer09 wrote:

Balthy wrote:Definitely review asap while some of the reasons why you picked certain answer choices might still be fresh in your head.

FWIW I drilled/read some books and went up about 10 points, and then went up another 10 points just by PTing/reviewing.

I think I've seen you post before that your missed Qs for sections drilled are pretty low, so it is most likely just nerves on your first post-diag PT.

Btw Balthy,

When I finish reviewing this PT today, what should I do tomorrow? Take #41?

Personally, I would burn out pretty quickly doing PTs (with review) on consecutive days, but you seem to have super-human discipline with all the drilling you've done lol. In any case, even with ~30 PTs at your disposal, taking them consecutively this far away from June seems like too much. I'd probably recharge and review some more before starting the next PT (I used to blind review so it was time-consuming). Also you've probably seen this advice before but throwing in some PTs from the 50s and 60s early on is a good idea.

minor amendment: I would throw in those 50s/60s PTs early on, but only after you've reached some normalcy with your scores and there's no longer any problem with nerves or anything like that. the whole point is to see how your normal performance may be affected by some of the changes in later PTs

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jaylawyer09 wrote:

Balthy wrote:Definitely review asap while some of the reasons why you picked certain answer choices might still be fresh in your head.

FWIW I drilled/read some books and went up about 10 points, and then went up another 10 points just by PTing/reviewing.

I think I've seen you post before that your missed Qs for sections drilled are pretty low, so it is most likely just nerves on your first post-diag PT.

Oh, so I should see an increase in my score after I take a bunch of PTs? you said you saw a 10 point increase during the PT phase.
The reason I ask is because I thought all the work in the beginning (drilling) is the only thing that increases your score, not pting.

But I guess I was wrong, PTing can actually increase your score. (or maybe you were just drilling in between?)

To be honest, I may have increased a lot during the PT phase because I did not drill much (maybe a fourth or fifth of what you did) so I still didn't have complete mastery of the a lot of the concepts/nuances when I started PTing. So for me a lot of the PT reviewing helped fill in those holes and lead to eventual gains. On top of that there are the improvements you make just bc of building test endurance, getting a better sense of timing and when, if necessary, to skip a Q, etc... not sure if those things are a problem for you but it was for me. With your performance on drills I bet you'll improve a lot (and probably pretty quickly), but im not sure if it will be for the same reasons I saw my PT improvements.

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Way to draft a strict game plan and execute. *bravo*

jaylawyer09 wrote:I'm currently studying for June 2014. I started in July 2013 (Diag of 144), and have drilled LG (1-40) about 3 times. Also, I drilled LR 1-40 twice, and RC 1-40 once.

Yesterday I finished drilling, and took a PT. (#40)

LR -4
LG -0
LR -6
RC -6

84/100 = 165

I finished both LR sections extremely fast, (~27 minutes) and felt like I rushed through and forgot some strategies because of the pressure of taking my first PT.

So, is this score normal? should I have scored higher given the amount of work I have thus far completed?

Hey,

I just want to say congrats on your new score. Honestly, a 144 to a 165 is a huge jump. I have no doubts you'll achieve a 170+ by June since we are still a few months out and you demonstrate a great work ethic.

I wanted to ask if you drilled the lg games 1-38 miscellaneous packet as well? I went through the miscellaneous games once but found the games to be too weird to be relevant so I was wondering if it's worth going over again. Thanks in advance for your input!

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jaylawyer09 wrote:Took pt 45, got a 168

LR -2
RC -6
LG -1
LR -5

so I guess the score will improve as time goes on.


ty for the supports guys/gals

-1 on LG? *Smack* get back to the books!

Just kidding man, great work.

Kill in' it! Keep it up

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PTs absolutely can help your score go up, as you are seeing. As you move from drilling to PTs: you will have good days and bad days, especially at first. Try not to freak out too much at your first bad PT. Take regular breaks. Taking PTs on back to back days is usually not a good idea for most.

jaylawyer09 wrote:Took pt 45, got a 168

LR -2
RC -6
LG -1
LR -5

so I guess the score will improve as time goes on.


ty for the supports guys/gals

As others have said, a considerable and at times artificial difficulty of the LSAT is the fact that it's timed the way it is. Five 35-minute sections (yes, you should always be doing five-section PTs rather than four) almost back to back is mentally draining. Until you learn to deal with it, your scores will suffer. That's the advantage of doing PTs rather than just timed sections. So keep doing PTs under condition.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you may have considerable variance in your scores. I took 15 PTs after I broke 170, and those 15 scores ranged from 171 to 180: the 171 came a week before the test (and freaked me the hell out) but the test I took after that was a 178. Others have reported more consistency so YMMV, but it is certainly the case that luck plays a nontrivial role in how you score on any given test. Keep drilling and sprinkle in PTs as you go to check your progress.