LSAT Retake After 3 Yr Hiatus? Forum

[AimingHigher]

Hi LSAT alumni,

Has anyone retaken the LSAT after a long reprieve (i.e. years) from studying?

Here's a quick background... I took the LSAT in 2013 and got a score in the low 160's after 1- 2 months of study. I entered law school in 2014 with a relatively small scholarship to a T-30 state school, but had to withdraw due to medical issues. Now that I am recovered, I hope to reapply for the 2017 academic year. However, I would like to aim for a larger scholarship (I'm hoping for nearly a full ride). This requires that I get a score in the upper 160's/ lower 170's on the December exam.

Is it realistic to hope for a 6- 10 point increase over my 2013 score after 3 months of study, if I haven't been exposed to the LSAT study materials in 3 years? I used the PowerScore Bibles for everything in 2013, but plan to amp up my game this time with the basic 7sage course. Also, after a few years of law school and the working world, suffice it to say that my learning abilities are greatly increased since 2013. (Factoring in my increased learning ability, I think I can probably get back to my 2013 score fairly quickly.)

I guess the question is, can I clean out those cobwebs quickly enough to relearn everything and increase my score significantly in 3 months?

Any advice would be much appreciated! This is my first "real" post on TLS and it's great to see that there's so many people willing to lend a helping hand.

Thanks again!

[Barack O'Drama]

Hey,

Yeah - I think it is possible, but probably not realistic. 10 points in 3 month though, idk. Going from the low 160s to the 170s is exponentially harder than going from the 150s to the 160s. If you were trying to go from 150 to 160, I'd say sure. So if it took you 2 months to get there, I would assume it would take a bit longer to get to the 170s consistently. This time around don't focus so much on an LSAT date; focus on your score. This time around you want a 170 to get a full scholarship at a better school. Take the LSAT when your last 5 PTS are in the 170s.

Also, good call on getting the 7Sage course. That has been what has helped me most - especially with logic games.

Advice:

Use 7Sage + The LSAT Trainer or Manhattan LSAT (I like all 3 and think they can all be used in some capacity)
Set your goal as a score and not an arbitrary date and don't give up until you get there.
Blind Review your PTS with a fresh copy before you score them.
Do a lot of untimed RC passages until you can predict what they are going to ask about.
Work on getting LG down to -0/-2 There is no reason to leave these points on the table
For LR really understand support and be able to find and dissect the argument core with surgical precision. Be able to find the assumption made quickly.
Be consistent with your studying and plan for the long run. Getting into to 170s can take while, but don't get discouraged.

Hope this helps!

[AimingHigher]

Thanks for the helpful advice!

You confirmed my suspicion that it's harder to increase from a 160 to a 170 than from a 150 to a 160... *Gulps* Nevertheless, I will definitely give it a go (or a couple of goes!).

Also, I really like your point about focusing on the *score* rather than a specific test deadline. That will take a load of pressure off (test anxiety is REAL!). I would rather not wait an additional year to start law school again, but it's worth it for the scholarship.

Finally, thanks for the tip in regards to study materials. I was struggling to create a good mix of books/online resources, and I think your suggestions might just be the ticket. And I agree that it's a good plan to work towards -1/2 on LG. It's my weaker section, but I think I can master it with the resources you mentioned above.

Well, it looks like I'll be living online between the TLS forums and 7Sage for a while...

Hope you have a good holiday weekend!

[Barack O'Drama]

Thanks for the helpful advice!

You confirmed my suspicion that it's harder to increase from a 160 to a 170 than from a 150 to a 160... *Gulps* Nevertheless, I will definitely give it a go (or a couple of goes!).

Also, I really like your point about focusing on the *score* rather than a specific test deadline. That will take a load of pressure off (test anxiety is REAL!). I would rather not wait an additional year to start law school again, but it's worth it for the scholarship.

Finally, thanks for the tip in regards to study materials. I was struggling to create a good mix of books/online resources, and I think your suggestions might just be the ticket. And I agree that it's a good plan to work towards -1/2 on LG. It's my weaker section, but I think I can master it with the resources you mentioned above.

Well, it looks like I'll be living online between the TLS forums and 7Sage for a while...

Hope you have a good holiday weekend!

No problem man!

It can be a pain getting started, but once you get back in the groove I think you'll be back to where you were in no time. 7Sage is the absolute best in my opinion, especially for logic games.

I was in the same boat about not wanting to sit out a cycle, but it will be worth it for the scholarship and just better prospects overall with a higher LSAT.

The LSAT is one of the few tests you can take whenever you are ready. You literally can decide to take it whenever so it never made sense to me to sign up on X date and have no idea if you are ready. And the reason is the unnecessary stress is conducive to cutting corners during prep and rushing through the material.



I'm on the 7Sage forum and my name is Alex Divine. So when you sign up on the forum be sure to say hi!

[RamTitan]

Barack gave the correct advice; do that OP

[AimingHigher]

Yes! I completely agree that choosing an arbitrary exam date adds uneeded stress. And it's good to hear that someone else (presumably, a successful law student) chose to sit out an application cycle in favor of a shot at a higher scholarship.

Alright; sounds like a plan! I'll ping you when I upgrade to the paid version of 7sage in the next few weeks. (I won't lie... I've already downloaded the 7sage app and have the itch to dive in head first. But I'm going to pull back on the reins a bit until I finish work to avoid the burnout that inevitably awaits my inner race horse.)

Thanks so much for the help and enjoy your weekend!

[Blueprint Mithun]

Thanks for the helpful advice!

You confirmed my suspicion that it's harder to increase from a 160 to a 170 than from a 150 to a 160... *Gulps* Nevertheless, I will definitely give it a go (or a couple of goes!).

Also, I really like your point about focusing on the *score* rather than a specific test deadline. That will take a load of pressure off (test anxiety is REAL!). I would rather not wait an additional year to start law school again, but it's worth it for the scholarship.

Finally, thanks for the tip in regards to study materials. I was struggling to create a good mix of books/online resources, and I think your suggestions might just be the ticket. And I agree that it's a good plan to work towards -1/2 on LG. It's my weaker section, but I think I can master it with the resources you mentioned above.

Well, it looks like I'll be living online between the TLS forums and 7Sage for a while...

Hope you have a good holiday weekend!

+1 on everything Barack said, especially about score increases being harder to achieve the higher up you go. The better you start doing, the less room for error there is. For one, there's the scoring scale, which gets less beneficial the higher up you go. For example, looking at the June 2016 test, a 170 was around 10 questions wrong, meaning -1 for each wrong question. A 160, however, was for around 26 questions wrong.

Most LSATs are very well balanced in terms of difficulty - you'll see a test that was slightly harder than others now and then, but not by much. The test will always have a certain amount of "hard" questions on it, ones that most test takers will get wrong. To get these consistently right, you need to practice and hone your strategies, and be able to maintain concentration throughout the test. You can still do pretty well on the LSAT getting a bunch of the really hard questions wrong, but once you start shooting for a top score, you'll need to be able to handle those, as well.

Anyway, sorry if all that sounds very intense! You're just getting back into prep, so take it steady and focus on learning/re-learning how to approach each question type and section. I just wanted to give you an idea of the challenges that come with aiming for a top score.

[AimingHigher]

Hi Blueprint,

It looks like I'm a bit late on the reply here, but thanks for the input! I'll have to keep this in mind as I move forward. It definitely seems significantly harder to break into the highest score bracket, so it will be useful to adjust my study schedule based on performance rather than an arbitrary exam date. TO THE BOOKS!