Losing Faith in LSAT Prep? Low Scores? Forum

[thequigley]

As of late (we are approaching the September test), I have seen that many people are posting about their insecurities. Many people are posting that they haven't cracked 160 or they think they have "maxed-out" their scores. Please just take a minute to read what I have done to date, which is different and the same as some of the postings.

I was never a great standardized test taker, and this truly only applies to the Reading Comp section of this particular exam. In any case, the idea of studying materials, strategies, and "proven" methods has never helped me. When I was studying for financial securities exams (former career), I would always place emphasis on doing as many similar questions to the real thing as possible. This isn't to say that a prep class won't help with many of the basics, but people generally learn by different means. In a lecture, for instance, some learn by vision, hearing, writing, or a combination of such.

What I have seen over and over again is that the best way to learn, flat-out, is to take tests. We are fortunate to have many tests that have been previously administered to adhere to. Many of you are doing that, reviewing, and getting frustrated when you don't see immediate increases in your scores. Below is a list of my tests and scores, as they have progressed over the past two months. I have learned the strategy, mastered the timing, and am hoping to continue to improve my weaknesses until the 27th.

29: 152
30: 154
31: 154
32: 155
33: 156
34: 153
35: 158
36: 157
37: 159
38: 157
52: 157
53: 160
54: 160
55: 160
56: 161
57: 159
58: 164
59: 165
60: 166

Yet to take: 61 - 71

Keep your head up. Keep drilling. Keep Reviewing. I have been very frustrated after hours of prepping to see the same score as the former, but it makes the last three all the more satisfying.

[blueberrycrumble]

Just wanted to pop in and say: awesome improvement you're gonna kill it - and all the other TLSers prepping right now too

[thequigley]

Just wanted to pop in and say: awesome improvement you're gonna kill it - and all the other TLSers prepping right now too

Thanks

[KDLMaj]

Just wanted to pop in and say: awesome improvement you're gonna kill it - and all the other TLSers prepping right now too

Thanks

Congrats on the improvement. That's really an amazing trajectory. I'm going to disagree with you though. It's definitely true that taking tests is crucial to a great score, but any good LSAT Instructor will tell you that taking tests over and over again by itself isn't going to do much. Necessary but not Sufficient, as it were. (yeah, I went there) Taking a section helps you practice section management. But reviewing the test is what lets you actually learn the content.

Good prep has a lot of components built in. But one of the biggest points of advice I can give is that every time you sit down to take a test, work on some questions, or do a section- you MUST have a goal in mind. And the goal can't be things like "I will only miss 2" or "I'll do better on flaw questions". Those are horrible goals- they don't actually give you any way to get better. These goals should drive the kinds of exercises/practice you're doing and your mindset during them.

Goals should be things like: this time, I'm going to force myself to skim the details of the passage and just hone in on the main idea. or "this time, I'm going to paraphrase my arguments back to myself as <Conclusion> because of <Evidence> and make a prediction". They should be behaviors, not results.

Every time you sit down to review something, make a list: in one column list 2-3 things you did well that your'e glad you did (and consequently want to keep doing), and in the other column list 2-3 things you wish you had done differently. (For full tests, do this for each section)

Then when you sit down to work on something next, re-read that list. Pick 2 things you want to make sure you keep doing, and then one thing you want to do differently.

That's something you can do no matter what the exercise, and it'll help you do the two things you always need to be focusing on: recognizing and developing your strengths and recognizing and avoiding your weaknesses.

[lsatkillah]

.

[KDLMaj]

^^ Truth. We gon kill it.
^ Truth. KDL also killin it with his posts as of late.

^^^Not meaning to hijack your post, but after looking through at your progress I was compelled to go through my own scores. Figured I might write them out below in numerical and chronological order for anyone who wants to see the down and dirty of progress that takes a step forward and two steps back. Within the last two months, I've taken 32 tests since my diagnostic, PT A: 155. I've spent hundreds of hours on this shit and am hoping to get into the 170s soon.

10 Actual, Official LSAT PTs (7-18 sans 8 and 17):
149, 154, 151, 158, 154, 156, 152, 161, 163, 163

10 More Actual, Official LSAT PTs (19-28 sans PT 28):
162, 161, 164, 164, 163, 164, 163, 165, 165

10 New Actual, Official LSAT PTs (52-61):
166, 164, 160, 161, 167, 170, 166, 170, 165, 169

10 Actual, Official LSAT PTs (62-64):
165, 167, 170

To self and everyone else: Hang in there!!!!!!!!!!!

That's awesome LSATKillah- seriously.

It's so easy to get so stuck on what you haven't yet accomplished that you lose sight of what you HAVE accomplished. I used to have to remind my students of that all the time.

NEVER forget how far you've come. Be as fair to yourself as you'd be to anyone else.

[lsatkillah]

.

[rbrown0824]

As of late (we are approaching the September test), I have seen that many people are posting about their insecurities. Many people are posting that they haven't cracked 160 or they think they have "maxed-out" their scores. Please just take a minute to read what I have done to date, which is different and the same as some of the postings.

I was never a great standardized test taker, and this truly only applies to the Reading Comp section of this particular exam. In any case, the idea of studying materials, strategies, and "proven" methods has never helped me. When I was studying for financial securities exams (former career), I would always place emphasis on doing as many similar questions to the real thing as possible. This isn't to say that a prep class won't help with many of the basics, but people generally learn by different means. In a lecture, for instance, some learn by vision, hearing, writing, or a combination of such.

What I have seen over and over again is that the best way to learn, flat-out, is to take tests. We are fortunate to have many tests that have been previously administered to adhere to. Many of you are doing that, reviewing, and getting frustrated when you don't see immediate increases in your scores. Below is a list of my tests and scores, as they have progressed over the past two months. I have learned the strategy, mastered the timing, and am hoping to continue to improve my weaknesses until the 27th.

29: 152
30: 154
31: 154
32: 155
33: 156
34: 153
35: 158
36: 157
37: 159
38: 157
52: 157
53: 160
54: 160
55: 160
56: 161
57: 159
58: 164
59: 165
60: 166

Yet to take: 61 - 71

Keep your head up. Keep drilling. Keep Reviewing. I have been very frustrated after hours of prepping to see the same score as the former, but it makes the last three all the more satisfying.

Dates?

[rbrown0824]

^^ Truth. We gon kill it.
^ Truth. KDL also killin it with his posts as of late.

^^^Not meaning to hijack your post, but after looking through at your progress I was compelled to go through my own scores. Figured I might write them out below in numerical and chronological order for anyone who wants to see the down and dirty of progress that takes *two steps forward and a step back. Within the last two months, I've taken 32 tests since my diagnostic, PT A: 155. I've spent hundreds of hours on this shit and am hoping to get into the 170s soon.

10 Actual, Official LSAT PTs (7-18 sans 8 and 17):
149, 154, 151, 158, 154, 156, 152, 161, 163, 163

10 More Actual, Official LSAT PTs (19-28 sans PT 28):
162, 161, 164, 164, 163, 164, 163, 165, 165

10 New Actual, Official LSAT PTs (52-61):
166, 164, 160, 161, 167, 170, 166, 170, 165, 169

Dates?

10 Actual, Official LSAT PTs (62-64):
165, 167, 170

To self and everyone else: Hang in there!!!!!!!!!!!

[sashafierce]

This thread is giving me life Thanks for the motivation guys

[flash21]

Just wanted to pop in and say: awesome improvement you're gonna kill it - and all the other TLSers prepping right now too

Thanks

Congrats on the improvement. That's really an amazing trajectory. I'm going to disagree with you though. It's definitely true that taking tests is crucial to a great score, but any good LSAT Instructor will tell you that taking tests over and over again by itself isn't going to do much. Necessary but not Sufficient, as it were. (yeah, I went there) Taking a section helps you practice section management. But reviewing the test is what lets you actually learn the content.

Good prep has a lot of components built in. But one of the biggest points of advice I can give is that every time you sit down to take a test, work on some questions, or do a section- you MUST have a goal in mind. And the goal can't be things like "I will only miss 2" or "I'll do better on flaw questions". Those are horrible goals- they don't actually give you any way to get better. These goals should drive the kinds of exercises/practice you're doing and your mindset during them.

Goals should be things like: this time, I'm going to force myself to skim the details of the passage and just hone in on the main idea. or "this time, I'm going to paraphrase my arguments back to myself as <Conclusion> because of <Evidence> and make a prediction". They should be behaviors, not results.

Every time you sit down to review something, make a list: in one column list 2-3 things you did well that your'e glad you did (and consequently want to keep doing), and in the other column list 2-3 things you wish you had done differently. (For full tests, do this for each section)

Then when you sit down to work on something next, re-read that list. Pick 2 things you want to make sure you keep doing, and then one thing you want to do differently.

That's something you can do no matter what the exercise, and it'll help you do the two things you always need to be focusing on: recognizing and developing your strengths and recognizing and avoiding your weaknesses.

Sometimes when I read things they resonate with me more than others for some reason, this is a great point I hope a lot of people didn't over look. I guess you really cannot control your score when you are about to dive into a section but practising proper behaviours will certainly help get a higher score.

[rbrown0824]

How long did it take you guys to progress like this? I've just finished drilling fundamentals and took my first PT since my diagnostics (152) and scored 160 on PT54- due mostly to the fact that I had to blindly guess on the final 8 RC questions; also I felt burned out by the time I hit the final section of the test which led to a number of smack-yourself-in-the-face dumb mistakes. I'm trying to reach 170+ by September.

[Lacoste]

Im taking powerscore's class and all the explanations make sense. The examples that they go through all make sense, but when I drill them, I am unable to pick up the fundamentals learned during class and applying them to the questions that they provide.

Any advice? Or would you recommend just taking PTs??