Improving LSAT Score Forum

[Law2020hopeful]

Hi,

I'm pretty new to TLS. I am taking the December exam and applying this cycle (I know I may be disadvantaged but I'm already 7 years out of undergrad, I don't want to wait another year to apply 2017-2018 because I'd be 32 when I graduate).

I am taking TestMasters. I love the course. I'm doing the homework (as much as I can, one hundred pages of LR problems in 2 days is a bit unrealistic given that I work full time).

I diagnosed at 159 and my teacher tells me that I am improving very rapidly and he feels I'll have no problem scoring low to mid 170's in December.

My LSAT question is this: has anyone actually improved to score in the 170s in three months? Every post I read on this site seems to indicate that people spend a year studying to get that kind of score. Am I being naive to think it's possible for me?

Miscellaneous facts:
RC is my best section (-0 to -2 on passages/averaging -3 per section)
LG was my worst but now it's practically on par with my RC scores (I generally get -0 to -1 on every game with a couple of outliers of -2 or -3 but it's maybe one or two games) *I did the much talked about Dinosaur game this morning and went -0
LR is also improving, though not as quickly. I didn't start in an bad place for LR though. 75% accuracy at this point.
I'm only on lesson 6/15 in TestMasters so I still have a ton to learn/do
I dedicate a minimum of 2 hours per weekday to LSAT studying and much more on the weekends

I guess I just want to know if I'm being too optimistic thinking i'll hit 170 in December. Any advice/guidance is appreciated as well as any studying tips!

[Mikey]

RC is your best section is GREAT! It's the most difficult to improve in so since its your best, that's better for you.

LG: drill tons and tons of games, do the same games and sections over again as well until you do them FAST and go -0 on each.

LR will take some time since there's a ton of different types of questions. If you can, drill a bunch of questions of the same question type and then get used to each q type and then do sections.

[Blueprint Mithun]

Hi,

I'm pretty new to TLS. I am taking the December exam and applying this cycle (I know I may be disadvantaged but I'm already 7 years out of undergrad, I don't want to wait another year to apply 2017-2018 because I'd be 32 when I graduate).

I am taking TestMasters. I love the course. I'm doing the homework (as much as I can, one hundred pages of LR problems in 2 days is a bit unrealistic given that I work full time).

I diagnosed at 159 and my teacher tells me that I am improving very rapidly and he feels I'll have no problem scoring low to mid 170's in December.

My LSAT question is this: has anyone actually improved to score in the 170s in three months? Every post I read on this site seems to indicate that people spend a year studying to get that kind of score. Am I being naive to think it's possible for me?

Miscellaneous facts:
RC is my best section (-0 to -2 on passages/averaging -3 per section)
LG was my worst but now it's practically on par with my RC scores (I generally get -0 to -1 on every game with a couple of outliers of -2 or -3 but it's maybe one or two games) *I did the much talked about Dinosaur game this morning and went -0
LR is also improving, though not as quickly. I didn't start in an bad place for LR though. 75% accuracy at this point.
I'm only on lesson 6/15 in TestMasters so I still have a ton to learn/do
I dedicate a minimum of 2 hours per weekday to LSAT studying and much more on the weekends

I guess I just want to know if I'm being too optimistic thinking i'll hit 170 in December. Any advice/guidance is appreciated as well as any studying tips!

First off, yes, there are definitely people who have gotten up to the 170s in three months. I did it myself, starting with a 153 diagnostic in July 2013 and ending up with a 175 on the October test. If you're interested in the full story, check out this blog post: https://blueprintlsat.com/lsatblog/lsat ... lvaratnam/

Second, you had quite a high diagnostic score, which is a good sign. And more importantly, it sounds like your work ethic is strong - putting in two hours+ of consistent LSAT study everyday while maintaining a full-time job is difficult, and I've seen plenty of students struggle to maintain that. So I'd say that you're on the right track, and it's definitely possible for you to hit 170 by December.

You still have plenty of LR question types to learn, and once you master those strategies, that section will not be as much of crapshoot. Focus on mastering the question types that you're learning every lesson. Most LR question types build off of concepts used in other q.types (it's all about breaking down arguments, after all), so if you can build a strong foundation, then the later q.types will be much easier to handle. For example, I'd strongly recommend mastering Flaw questions, because doing so will help you understand Sufficient/Necessary Assumption and Strengthen/Weaken questions better.

In short, you're not being naive. Keep at it, and get some rest if you feel yourself burning out. You're at the stage where you're still absorbing a lot of material, so focus on learning it well and don't stress about timing or practice tests just yet. Good luck!