Starting Off with a High Diagnostic Forum

[glitterypurple]

I'm planning on entering law school in the fall of 2016.

I took an old LSAT completely cold on Friday with a timer and all and got a 174. Then, I took a free mock LSAT on Saturday morning with Kaplan (real testing conditions and all) and got a 169.

Ideally, I'd like to score in the 170s on test day. I would really like to get this out of the way and off of my mind so I can focus on my academics. My GPA is currently a 4.1 according to LSDAS (I got a few A+ grades), and I'm aiming for T14 or some sort of scholarship.

How much prep do I need to do? What works best for a student just starting to study at this level? A lot of the threads that I've read and the book that I looked at all seemed aimed toward people with lower scores . . . the book actually said to skip one of the logic games altogether.

I would almost like to take the test in December and be done with it . . . is that possible? Should I wait until February and spend more time preparing instead?

Thanks for any advice

[gatesome]

if your diagnostic scores are really that high then just take it in december. with a 4.1 GPA you'll be in almost anywhere with a 170+

if you want yale study for 6 months and go for 175+

[eriedoctrine]

I took an old LSAT completely cold on Friday with a timer and all and got a 174.

http://i.imgur.com/ciqx9UZ.jpg?1

[nlee10]

I hate you....

But really, keep up that GPA (if you're still in school), and don't stress too much about the LSAT.

[EricHosmer]

Many testers score around 3 less points on the actual test than their prep tests. Since your most recent test was a 169 with the most realistic conditions, I would not suggest doing nothing to prepare. The LSAT Trainer is a great resource for logical reasoning and reading comprehension. 7Sage works really well for logic games.

A month of training might actually work out for you. If you are planning on only doing a month, then I would probably skip the books in favor of identifying your weaknesses, drilling them, and doing more practice tests. If you are consistently 173+, I'd say you are ready.

[Kimikho]

There's no reason not to study.

Tests vary. When you walk into it for the real thing, you don't want to be thinking "I hope the only LG on here are the ones used in [insert that Kaplan test and the PT you took]." You want to walk in knowing whatever is thrown at you, you are going to do fine. Sure, you did fine on these two PTs. But what happens if the December test has an experimental RC, with RC back-to-back as sections 4 and 5? That would have killed me*.

There are plenty of guides on here for high-scoring people. But you don't even need to read the guides. It's not that hard to grab Manhattan** LR and start plowing through. Throw away Kaplan.

Diagnostics are bullshit. Even if you scored a 180, that's no guarantee you will replicate that on the test day.

* Note that RC has gotten substantially more difficult in the recent tests.
**I did find Manhattan and the LSAT Trainer better for >170s than Powerscore.

[glitterypurple]

Oh, I definitely plan to study! Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come off like I don't... I was just curious what the best techniques are for this level. Thanks for all the input!

[Elston Gunn]

Oh, I definitely plan to study! Sorry, I didn't mean for it to come off like I don't... I was just curious what the best techniques are for this level. Thanks for all the input!

I was in this boat (172 timed diagnostic). You should be shooting for a 180--it is absolutely in play, and you would be nearly guaranteeing yourself a full ride at least one of CCN.

I don't think techniques vary that much from the normal person, except definitely do not pay for a course. Where were you dropping points? I'm guessing Logic Games, and you can help that a lot by doing the Logic Games Bible. Then just do drilling and a lot of practice tests, focusing intently on understanding what you did wrong.

[TLSanders]

You can absolutely take the test in December.

I'm not sure which book you looked at that suggested skipping an entire logic game, but that's bad advice for anyone, not just a high scorer.

The best approach for someone in your range would be to analyze the questions you missed on both of the practice tests you took, look for common threads (scoring at the level you are, odds are that your pattern recognition skills are high and you will be able to identify the commonalities), analyze where you're going astray on those questions, and then retest and repeat (I'd try to do about a full-length test per week between now and test day).

At this level, you probably don't need formal preparation, but don't rule it out. I have seen people who came in scoring high pick up several points even in courses that are (as you correctly identified) designed for people who come in scoring 20 points or more lower than you are.

[hillz]

I think Powerscore says that some test takers may need to skip a game because they can't get to all of them in time, but I don't think it advocates for anyone to skip games if they don't need to.

OP, I would start out by buying one of the books that has 10 PTs and then taking timed PTs under different conditions. Nerves can really get you on test day. If you haven't read Powerscore LG/LR Bibles, you might want to do that, too. Even though you have already had a solid performance, learning about technique could help you solidify yours. Once you start PTing, you will probably realize your weaknesses (whether its a specific type of question or stamina) and can then buy drilling packets/practice specific skills as needed.

[schmelling]

Post removed.

[Auxilio]

I got a 175 on my diagnostic (although it was a bit of a fluke and got a little lower on my other early PT). In the end I finished with a 173, with probably about 30 total hours of studying (it should have been more). While I would not use my experience as a good rubric as a complete, I can tell you what seemed to be effective as test taking for me.

Brush up on converting arguments to basic language (such as y -> x), make sure you know the definitions of things like sufficient and necessary conditions. These can be odd if you just intuitively can do this, and I lost a fairly easy question on the September test due to an incomplete understanding of these terms.

I wouldn't bother doing any proper course, since most of it will seem redundant and timewasting for you. Instead focus on doing prep tests and ideally using the 7Sage blind review method (Google it). Make sure you get familiarity with the various different forms just by practicing them, to improve consistency and time management. While I don't think you need a course, make sure you look up any explanation on a question where you feel less than 100% convinced after learning the right answer.

Again, take all this with a grain of salt, I did not do that well in the end, but I think it can still help. Your biggest goal should be familiarity to get consistency and time management.

[TLSanders]

Fwiw, I took that same mock LSAT my sophomore year of UG since it was free and scored a 151, two years later with no additional studying I scored a 156 on the June 2007 exam. I think there is a good chance that Kaplan purposely deflates the score on that test to encourage people to buy their course out of apparent necessity. It would also make them appear responsible for a higher score on the actual exam.

There is some truth to that, though I don't believe the motivation is as you (reasonably) surmise. Several years ago, I helped create Kaplan's first full-service bar review course. In the creation of multiple choice questions, we strove to make the questions somewhat harder and the mix somewhat harder than what students would see on test day--though those students had already purchased the course. The goal was to create a situation in which students were over-prepared and would actually be a bit relieved that the questions were somewhat easier than anticipated and timing was somewhat less pressured when it counted. The last thing we wanted was to have a student encounter something that seemed harder and intimidating on test day.