Retaking LSAT Second Time December 2014 Forum

[burtstei6]

I took a two month, in-class, Testmasters prep course in the Spring of 2013 and then took the June 2013 LSAT. After hard work and constant studying, I was averaging around a 165-166 on my practice tests (all timed/proctored) with the occasional 168-169 score if I was "on" that day. After taking the June 2013 exam, I received a score of 160... much below what I was anticipating.

First off, I was randomly seated in the front row, middle seat of my testing room where I took my test in front of 8 proctors standing on a stage. After the first section, once the head proctor had said "pencils down", one of the proctors got off the stage and went to another student's table and took his exam from him for filling out a question after the announcement, at which point I realized I better not play around with any of these proctors. This led me to leave the last question for the next four sections blank out of sheer caution (which I have never done on practice tests as timing is not my issue).

Secondly, while studying for this two month period in the spring of 2013, I was also a Junior in undergrad taking 15 credits so I only had about 1 "true" month of uninterrupted full-time LSAT prep. I have now graduated from undergrad and have decided to forgo this year of law school after getting into 12 law schools but being waitlisted at two T-20 schools and deciding that it is Top 20 or bust for me.

Simply put, I am looking for insight on how I should go about studying for the 2014 December LSAT since I have already taken one of the popular courses. I would be full-time studying for 3 months and be looking to score no less than a 166+, I know I have the ability to score in that range, I just do not know how to go about securing that score. Has anyone had a good experience with 7Sage or another online program? Open to both in-class and online programs, but I do like structure in terms of lesson plans and strategy building. Any insight on this topic would be appreciated as I am now restarting this journey to a top 20 law school after falling just short last cycle.

[penncon]

I am in the same boat as you. I sat for the December 2013 LSAT, scored the same score as you and am now retaking December 2014. I also suffered from an "off" day writing my LSAT, I forgot my watch and was forced to turn all the way around in my seat in order to see the remaining time on the wall clock behind me which really screwed up my rhythm and made me freak out unnecessarily about the time. In your situation, if it is that big of an auditorium with that many proctors, maybe it would be best for you to choose a different testing center.

Currently, I am taking the 7Sage premium course, which I believe is economical compared to other courses. I also appreciate all of the downloadable PTs and video explanation for every single question. Using the blind review method, I'm breaking into the 170s which I could not have done last year. I also found the instructors lesson on grammar super helpful. I'm not sure whether or not if it was the lesson or my somewhat new job as a paralegal at a small firm reading petitions and cases all day but I'm scoring perfect or -1 on RC now, which is kind of shocking to me.

Also, I think it was smart of you to wait a year in order to get a higher LSAT score. I've decided T20 or bust too!