Dropping Score - Stop Intense Prep for Feb. and Wait till June? Forum

[RamTitan]

I've been studying about 8-10 hours a week since late May. I was unemployed in the summer, so I spent that time learning the concepts of the LSAT with the occasional practice test. Then, once I started working full-time, I did a section of LR, RC, or AR at lunch and then a practice test every other weekend. I worked my way from 146 to 170, and was feeling confident. However, starting last week I began intense prep by taking 3 practice tests a week and reviewing the tests. My scores have been 171, 171, 166, and 167. I don't feel burnt out (in fact, my stamina has been great), but I'm wondering if this cramming is detrimental? For example, I used to miss zero questions on AR, but now I miss 1-3, have been stuck in the 2-5 range for LR for quite sometime, and went from missing 2-4 on RC to missing 6-7. Should I postpone the test to June, and instead take a practice test every single weekend, especially since I won't enroll in law school till fall of 2017 anyways?

P.S. I want to score 175-180

[TheRealSantaClaus]

.

[RamTitan]

but I'm wondering if this cramming is detrimental?

Yes. Cramming for the LSATs is often detrimental.

Scoring in the 175-180 range requires a true mastery of the concepts that you likely won't get by studying too hard, too fast. Remember, most of your progress will come from reviewing tests, not taking them. It may be better off waiting until June IMHO.

I don't much see the point of taking the February test for Fall 2017 admissions unless you absolutely feel you are ready. The tests are unreleased and you won't be able to see what happened on the actual test day if you mess up.

I definitely always review my tests; however, there are always a few problems I don't understand why the right answer is right.

I think that I may be prematurely freaking out. My current course of action is to take the other two tests I have planned for this week, and see how those go. If the scores aren't favorable, then I'll wait for June and drop my practice tests to one a week and drill during the week. Does that sound like a good idea?

[TheRealSantaClaus]

.

[RamTitan]

My current course of action is to take the other two tests I have planned for this week, and see how those go. If the scores aren't favorable, then I'll wait for June and drop my practice tests to one a week and drill during the week. Does that sound like a good idea?

Why not just take the week off? You've already mentioned that you may be cramming too hard. Relax this week, maybe do some light review, and take the one or two tests next week. If you're still performing poorly, make the decision to switch to June.

Idk, I feel like I haven't really been studying that much, just that cramming the tests so closely together without getting a chance to effectively drill may be the problem. Either way, it sounds that you're right. Maybe I'll wait to take a test on Saturday and make my decision from that performance.

[Broncos15]

To be honest about it - you should be throughly reviewing your PT's and then drilling. You don't want to burn out your PT's in case you have to retake.

It's better to do 35 tests throughly by test day than all 80 quickly

[RamTitan]

To be honest about it - you should be throughly reviewing your PT's and then drilling. You don't want to burn out your PT's in case you have to retake.

It's better to do 35 tests throughly by test day than all 80 quickly

What I've been doing is taking a test in the morning, then going over all of the problems I got wrong as well as ones I felt I had trouble with, and then spending my lunch-break the next day drilling a weak area (flawed reasoning LR problems for example). I've heard of people blind reviewing their tests....does this mean that they retake the entire test essentially? Is that something that would be more effective?

It sounds like to reach my goals I should postpone to June. However, I think I'll still take a test on Saturday and see how I feel/do, and then make a decision.

I'd love to hear what others have to say!

[RamTitan]

Bump

[chicharon]

Post removed...

[RamTitan]

Blind review: http://7sage.com/the-blind-review-how-t ... at-part-1/

In my limited, non-high-scoring experience, blind review has helped me refine my mental processes and made me take a closer look at things I can improve on (aka things that always, always trip me up). Because the blind review process forces me to review my work without knowing whether it is right or wrong, I get to look at it with fresh eyes and be a lot more critical. Kind of like reviewing someone else's draft at work, you know?

Thanks for that; I'll definitely start blind reviewing.

UPDATE:

I took a test today, and scored 170 (LR: 20/24, 22/25 AR: 23/23 RC: 23/27, 18/27 (lowest RC score I've had in months))

Like I said earlier, my diagnostic was 146....do you think there's a certain point that I'll stop improving on the LSAT, that I've reached a natural limit, or would an additional 6 months of studying with effective blind reviewing be the optimal path to take?