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Hi all - I have been studying for the LSAT all summer and have been doing a steady stream of practice tests. But up until this point, because I just finished working for the summer, I have not been able to be as consistent in taking practice tests everyday as I would've hoped. As always, life happens.

Although I have taken practice tests before and scored in the mid 150s (the highest I've scored is a 158), none were under formal testing conditions (e.g., four sections and an experimental section, 3 consecutive sections followed by a 15 minute break and then the last two sections) or in a formal setting. This past Saturday, I took a free practice test at a prep test company location that I found and scored a 152.

I am shooting for a T14 school and am really passionate about what I want to do - which absolutely requires a law degree. I already postponed the test once to September (after planning on taking it in June) because I was not doing as well as I wanted to but I have not seen improvement. As much as the resources here on TLS and other websites have helped me, I just feel lost at this point. I could never afford any type of class or tutoring until I spoke with my parents, who have offered to help me by paying for a few private tutoring sessions.

But being that it is August 11, and the test is September 27, I wanted to reach out to all of you and find out your thoughts...whether you think that, at this point in time, even an excellent private tutor could help me make the big jump into the 160s by September with four or five sessions? Do you feel like it would be foolish at this point? (And a quick additional question: do you even think a private tutor would take me at this point?) I was already planning to really hike up my studying since I just finished work this past Friday--as in an everyday regiment for hours on end, since I now have the time, but when it comes to identifying my mistakes, improving section time management (I've tried everything that has been written and still have not improved--perhaps have even gotten worse), and just improving overall on my section scores, I have seen barely anything.

(BTW, the reason for the 'urgency,' per say, is that I want to apply in this upcoming cycle to enter law school next Fall.)

I'd really appreciate your (honest) input, regardless of whether you see my circumstances as grim or positive. Many thanks.

You shouldn't be taking a steady stream of PTs until you're well into your prep. What has your studying looked like so far?

If you want T-14, you probably should take it December. You're nowhere near ready now. You should do PTs once you have a firm grasp of the fundamental, which you don't right now. You should do drills untimed. Buy the Cambride series and drill questions by type. Do them one by one, making sure you know exactly why each wrong answer is wrong and why the right answer is right. Take as much time as you need and eventually you will get better at them. You'll start to see the patterns.

Thanks for your responses. I bought the Powerscore bibles and workbooks in January and have read through all of them and done all of the problems in the workbooks. I created notes and flashcards that I have been reviewing consistently to understand how to identify problems and tackle them. Additionally, for the past few months, I have been doing both timed and untimed sections. I have done far more untimed sections than timed sections at this point. So to the extent of my untimed prep, I think that it has been moderately exhaustive.

When the time sets in though I lose most of the fundamentals and often lose a lot of the skills I have acquired doing the sections untimed. I often think that I am basically two different people.

I feel like I have to take the test in September at this point. Not because I am rushing myself but because I really believe I have the time and energy to turn myself around and do better by then. I now just wonder if doing a couple private tutoring sessions will be of any value ...

Thanks for your advice. Any more help or suggestions would be much appreciated.

Setting up a goal is great but if you're not anywhere near where you want to be then why set yourself up for disappointment? You have 7 weeks left and under timed conditions during the mock LSAT you scored a 152. It is imperative that you spend the time (as much time as you need) without the pressures of an LSAT date to study and advance your LSAT learning. The LSAT and your GPA are the two most important factors when it comes to your law school application. People spend 4 years working on their GPA but think they can only spend 3 months on the LSAT.

I would focus on drilling by question types which will help you a lot as well as doing blind reviews for every preptest/section you complete. You want to perfect your scores in LG as that is the easiest section to learn. Use Manhattan forums for solutions to the LR problems you have the hardest time with. Youtube 7Sage LG videos for every game you didn't get a perfect score in. I think it is very possible for you to jump into the 160s but if you want T14 why wouldn't you maximize your LSAT potential first?

You shouldn't be doing sections untimed. You should be doing drills untimed. That is, questions by type. Google "Cambridge LSAT" and buy their packets. They organize them by question type and increasing difficulty.