High LSAT Scorers (170+) How did you Prep? Forum

[BlackWillHunting]

Hey all,

long-time lurker who is beginning to prep for the June 2017 LSAT.
Long story short, I scored an embarrassingly low 154 on my diagnostic. (Though, I am feeling hopeful thanks to some encouraging posters on here.)

What did people who ultimately scored in this range use?

I'm signed up for a 7Sage Ultimate + course, I bought every recommended book, got my hands on the Cambridge packets and every PT 1-79.
Where do I begin? How do I drill? How do I use the Drill packets?
I basically just have about 1001 questions about where to go from here.

Any advice is welcomed!

Thanks in advanced

[Alexandros]

First off, 154 is normal as a diagnostic - not embarrassingly low at all.

There's really no right or wrong way. Personally, I started with logic games. I think I went through the LGB lesson by lesson, getting familiar with the basics for about three weeks. Then moved on to LR and RC.

There's a point of maximum return here, but ultimately, I think it's a factor of time. Most people have to put in 4 or 5 months of studying for ~6 hours a day. (or, at least, I did - can't speak for everyone.) There's no secret or silver bullet - just patience, hard work, and some luck.

[grades??]

First, learn games. Master games. The easiest way to a high score is to get -0 wrong on games. Learn a consistent method for games and stay consistent. A small child could be taught how to get -0 on logic games. This is a huge key.

Second, take as many lsats as possible. For some, that is 20-30. For me, I took each one at least 3 times over a period of a full year. My diagnostic was low 140s, and on my third attempt, I scored a 175+. For me, that meant I took over 200 lsats under timed, full testing conditions. For others, it would be a waste of time.

Truth be told there is no magic formula for a high score. But the first key is to learn a consistent approach to games and master them. That will be the easiest way to score points. Second, start reading really boring, dry material all the time. Go read the economist every week. Go read all of plato's dialogues (to some like me, this is not boring, but whatever floats your boat). You need to train yourself to be focused while reading a lot of boring material and be able to see the arguments underlying them. Third, practice. Practice, practice, and more practice. Build up some stamina and then just start taking full tests. Blind review the answers (google LSAT blind review, there are helpful articles out there).

Good Luck! If I can do it, then you can too.

[BlackWillHunting]

First off, 154 is normal as a diagnostic - not embarrassingly low at all.

There's really no right or wrong way. Personally, I started with logic games. I think I went through the LGB lesson by lesson, getting familiar with the basics for about three weeks. Then moved on to LR and RC.

There's a point of maximum return here, but ultimately, I think it's a factor of time. Most people have to put in 4 or 5 months of studying for ~6 hours a day. (or, at least, I did - can't speak for everyone.) There's no secret or silver bullet - just patience, hard work, and some luck.

I know it isn't that bad, but I think I was expecting much higher haha.

Thanks for the help and guidance.

[BlackWillHunting]

First, learn games. Master games. The easiest way to a high score is to get -0 wrong on games. Learn a consistent method for games and stay consistent. A small child could be taught how to get -0 on logic games. This is a huge key.

Second, take as many lsats as possible. For some, that is 20-30. For me, I took each one at least 3 times over a period of a full year. My diagnostic was low 140s, and on my third attempt, I scored a 175+. For me, that meant I took over 200 lsats under timed, full testing conditions. For others, it would be a waste of time.

Truth be told there is no magic formula for a high score. But the first key is to learn a consistent approach to games and master them. That will be the easiest way to score points. Second, start reading really boring, dry material all the time. Go read the economist every week. Go read all of plato's dialogues (to some like me, this is not boring, but whatever floats your boat). You need to train yourself to be focused while reading a lot of boring material and be able to see the arguments underlying them. Third, practice. Practice, practice, and more practice. Build up some stamina and then just start taking full tests. Blind review the answers (google LSAT blind review, there are helpful articles out there).

Good Luck! If I can do it, then you can too.

You put in work. Congrats on the score though and thank you!

[SunDevil14]

First, learn games. Master games. The easiest way to a high score is to get -0 wrong on games. Learn a consistent method for games and stay consistent. A small child could be taught how to get -0 on logic games. This is a huge key.

Second, take as many lsats as possible. For some, that is 20-30. For me, I took each one at least 3 times over a period of a full year. My diagnostic was low 140s, and on my third attempt, I scored a 175+. For me, that meant I took over 200 lsats under timed, full testing conditions. For others, it would be a waste of time.

Truth be told there is no magic formula for a high score. But the first key is to learn a consistent approach to games and master them. That will be the easiest way to score points. Second, start reading really boring, dry material all the time. Go read the economist every week. Go read all of plato's dialogues (to some like me, this is not boring, but whatever floats your boat). You need to train yourself to be focused while reading a lot of boring material and be able to see the arguments underlying them. Third, practice. Practice, practice, and more practice. Build up some stamina and then just start taking full tests. Blind review the answers (google LSAT blind review, there are helpful articles out there).

Good Luck! If I can do it, then you can too.

You put in work. Congrats on the score though and thank you!

^what he said, plus drilling weak question types on logical reasoning.

[jjcorvino]

I am also a user of 7sage and thought it was a fantastic system (ended up with a 177 this September). The only part of their course I didn't enjoy was their advice on reading comprehension. I didn't think it was too helpful.

My advice is to treat studying like a marathon, not a sprint. Start to get into the test and try to really enjoy the problems. Of course there are times when you will be frustrated, but I found that logic games and LR were really fun for me after I got the hang of them (RC not so much). Finish the 7sage course (you do not have to do every practice set, I did about 5 per section out of the 15 or so they give you). Once you have a good grasp on the problems and can answer them correctly without worrying about timing, then you get to the practice tests. Increase your timing and get used to test conditions. From there, it is just a matter of critically reviewing your work for mistakes.

You can do it!

[BlackWillHunting]

I am also a user of 7sage and thought it was a fantastic system (ended up with a 177 this September). The only part of their course I didn't enjoy was their advice on reading comprehension. I didn't think it was too helpful.

My advice is to treat studying like a marathon, not a sprint. Start to get into the test and try to really enjoy the problems. Of course there are times when you will be frustrated, but I found that logic games and LR were really fun for me after I got the hang of them (RC not so much). Finish the 7sage course (you do not have to do every practice set, I did about 5 per section out of the 15 or so they give you). Once you have a good grasp on the problems and can answer them correctly without worrying about timing, then you get to the practice tests. Increase your timing and get used to test conditions. From there, it is just a matter of critically reviewing your work for mistakes.

You can do it!

Dude, thank you so much! It's funny because I was going to ask around and see if doing all of the problem sets was imperative to doing well. I signed up for the Ultimate + course, and some have 15-20 sets of problems per question type.

Congrats on your 177! That is my ultimate goal as well.

May I ask a few questions:

What was your diagnostic?
How long did it take you to go through the 7Sage core curriculum / how long did you prep for?
What did you ultimately find helpful for RC?

Thanks again

[LSRAT]

154 isn't a predictor of your ultimate success. My diagnostic was a 154 and I ended up with a 171 this September. I used the LSAT Trainer and 7sage (I didn't pay for the course, I just used the videos for LG). I highly recommend the trainer. I used the 16 week schedule. Make sure you schedule in time to review. Be diligent about how many hours you put towards the LSAT. I made sure that I studied an hour in the morning, and hour during my lunch break, and at least three after work. Give yourself time. I put about 4 months towards my prep. And lastly, review, review, review, and drill, drill, drill. Target your weaknesses and drill the crap out of them.

[BlackWillHunting]

154 isn't a predictor of your ultimate success. My diagnostic was a 154 and I ended up with a 171 this September. I used the LSAT Trainer and 7sage (I didn't pay for the course, I just used the videos for LG). I highly recommend the trainer. I used the 16 week schedule. Make sure you schedule in time to review. Be diligent about how many hours you put towards the LSAT. I made sure that I studied an hour in the morning, and hour during my lunch break, and at least three after work. Give yourself time. I put about 4 months towards my prep. And lastly, review, review, review, and drill, drill, drill. Target your weaknesses and drill the crap out of them.

I'm actually extremely optimistic now that so may helpful people have come forward and shown me that a low diagnostic isn't the ultimate predictor of success. So thank you!

I also am considering using the Trainer in tandem with 7Sage. Did you use anything other than the Trainer's drills/PTS 52-71? If so, what exactly did you do. I've started reading the first chapters of The LSAT Trainer and really like it so far!

Congrats on the 171!

[jjcorvino]

I am also a user of 7sage and thought it was a fantastic system (ended up with a 177 this September). The only part of their course I didn't enjoy was their advice on reading comprehension. I didn't think it was too helpful.

My advice is to treat studying like a marathon, not a sprint. Start to get into the test and try to really enjoy the problems. Of course there are times when you will be frustrated, but I found that logic games and LR were really fun for me after I got the hang of them (RC not so much). Finish the 7sage course (you do not have to do every practice set, I did about 5 per section out of the 15 or so they give you). Once you have a good grasp on the problems and can answer them correctly without worrying about timing, then you get to the practice tests. Increase your timing and get used to test conditions. From there, it is just a matter of critically reviewing your work for mistakes.

You can do it!

Dude, thank you so much! It's funny because I was going to ask around and see if doing all of the problem sets was imperative to doing well. I signed up for the Ultimate + course, and some have 15-20 sets of problems per question type.

Congrats on your 177! That is my ultimate goal as well.

May I ask a few questions:

What was your diagnostic?
How long did it take you to go through the 7Sage core curriculum / how long did you prep for?
What did you ultimately find helpful for RC?

Thanks again

No problem. The problem sets are great for getting some real practice. I did them until I wasn't missing any questions under un-timed conditions then I moved on. To me that was the measure of if I understood it. After that it is just a matter of increasing speed. To answer a few questions:

1. My diagnostic is not the best figure to go off of. I did it pretty much un-timed (I know this is the wrong way to go about it). I got a 169.
2. I think it took me about 5 months of pretty intense studying. I ended up doing about 20 practice tests (probably on the low end) but once the curriculum was finished, all of my 20 tests were between 173-176. Oddly, I never got a 177 in practice, but test day seemed to work out well.
3. RC was my worst section. My average was -2.5. On test day I got -2. I never really found anything that made me great at RC compared to the other sections. The only thing that helped me was trying to really get into the passages and internalize everything while I was reading. Sorry that I can't be more help on that! LG was my best section, I only missed two questions in all 20 of my practice tests (oddly I missed two on test day).

[BlackWillHunting]

Very helpful - thank you immensely!

Congrats again!

[SunDevil14]

I am also a user of 7sage and thought it was a fantastic system (ended up with a 177 this September). The only part of their course I didn't enjoy was their advice on reading comprehension. I didn't think it was too helpful.

My advice is to treat studying like a marathon, not a sprint. Start to get into the test and try to really enjoy the problems. Of course there are times when you will be frustrated, but I found that logic games and LR were really fun for me after I got the hang of them (RC not so much). Finish the 7sage course (you do not have to do every practice set, I did about 5 per section out of the 15 or so they give you). Once you have a good grasp on the problems and can answer them correctly without worrying about timing, then you get to the practice tests. Increase your timing and get used to test conditions. From there, it is just a matter of critically reviewing your work for mistakes.

You can do it!

Dude, thank you so much! It's funny because I was going to ask around and see if doing all of the problem sets was imperative to doing well. I signed up for the Ultimate + course, and some have 15-20 sets of problems per question type.

Congrats on your 177! That is my ultimate goal as well.

May I ask a few questions:

What was your diagnostic?
How long did it take you to go through the 7Sage core curriculum / how long did you prep for?
What did you ultimately find helpful for RC?

Thanks again

Out of the 3 subjects, the proper strategies and approaches for RC are the most ambiguous. Ultimately, the approach/strategies that you end up using are largely going to come down to personal preference. I recommend Manhattan Prep's RC prep book. In short, the book lays out the general thought process for RC along with collection of methods and examples of approaches/strategies that top scorers have used. As you work through the book you get familiar with the different approaches and ultimately make a choice of which one to employ.

Once you have came up with you personal style, then a lot of improvement is going to come through repetition and familiarity with RC passages. My recommendation is that after reading each passage and answer the questions, that you read the passage again without time restrictions. Really mark up the passage on the second read: make notes of the general format of the passage along with where you are gathering support for each individual question. Also contemplate why particular questions would direct you/be supported by certain portions of the text. Doing all this over time will help you recognize the trends in the passage so that you can improve both speed and accuracy.

[LSRAT]

154 isn't a predictor of your ultimate success. My diagnostic was a 154 and I ended up with a 171 this September. I used the LSAT Trainer and 7sage (I didn't pay for the course, I just used the videos for LG). I highly recommend the trainer. I used the 16 week schedule. Make sure you schedule in time to review. Be diligent about how many hours you put towards the LSAT. I made sure that I studied an hour in the morning, and hour during my lunch break, and at least three after work. Give yourself time. I put about 4 months towards my prep. And lastly, review, review, review, and drill, drill, drill. Target your weaknesses and drill the crap out of them.

I'm actually extremely optimistic now that so may helpful people have come forward and shown me that a low diagnostic isn't the ultimate predictor of success. So thank you!

I also am considering using the Trainer in tandem with 7Sage. Did you use anything other than the Trainer's drills/PTS 52-71? If so, what exactly did you do. I've started reading the first chapters of The LSAT Trainer and really like it so far!

Congrats on the 171!

I actually had access to all of the tests, so I utilized them all. I used the old trainer 16 week schedule which included drills back from test 35 or so (I can't find the schedule now, but it's somewhere hidden on his site). I found it very helpful to keep track of all the questions I got wrong. I didn't do this at first (if I had, it probably would have been a very long list!), but once I honed in my skills more, it was very important in tracking my flaws. I would go back to those questions and drill them. Make sure you utilize 7Sage's Blind Review section as well! During the second half of my prep I also kept a log of the questions I got wrong on PT's and during blind review I would write one paragraph for each question explaining exactly what my failure was. This helped me better understand where I went wrong and I avoided it in the future. When I didn't have time to fully study (vacation or something), I made a binder of logic games from the first 30 tests and just drilled them. Go through all the LGs. You won't regret it.

[BlackWillHunting]

I am also a user of 7sage and thought it was a fantastic system (ended up with a 177 this September). The only part of their course I didn't enjoy was their advice on reading comprehension. I didn't think it was too helpful.

My advice is to treat studying like a marathon, not a sprint. Start to get into the test and try to really enjoy the problems. Of course there are times when you will be frustrated, but I found that logic games and LR were really fun for me after I got the hang of them (RC not so much). Finish the 7sage course (you do not have to do every practice set, I did about 5 per section out of the 15 or so they give you). Once you have a good grasp on the problems and can answer them correctly without worrying about timing, then you get to the practice tests. Increase your timing and get used to test conditions. From there, it is just a matter of critically reviewing your work for mistakes.

You can do it!

Dude, thank you so much! It's funny because I was going to ask around and see if doing all of the problem sets was imperative to doing well. I signed up for the Ultimate + course, and some have 15-20 sets of problems per question type.

Congrats on your 177! That is my ultimate goal as well.

May I ask a few questions:

What was your diagnostic?
How long did it take you to go through the 7Sage core curriculum / how long did you prep for?
What did you ultimately find helpful for RC?

Thanks again

Out of the 3 subjects, the proper strategies and approaches for RC are the most ambiguous. Ultimately, the approach/strategies that you end up using are largely going to come down to personal preference. I recommend Manhattan Prep's RC prep book. In short, the book lays out the general thought process for RC along with collection of methods and examples of approaches/strategies that top scorers have used. As you work through the book you get familiar with the different approaches and ultimately make a choice of which one to employ.

Once you have came up with you personal style, then a lot of improvement is going to come through repetition and familiarity with RC passages. My recommendation is that after reading each passage and answer the questions, that you read the passage again without time restrictions. Really mark up the passage on the second read: make notes of the general format of the passage along with where you are gathering support for each individual question. Also contemplate why particular questions would direct you/be supported by certain portions of the text. Doing all this over time will help you recognize the trends in the passage so that you can improve both speed and accuracy.

Nice - I went overboard and ordered the Manhattan LSAT Trilogy, The Bibles, and The Trainer. So I will certainly be using the MLSAT RC book! It looks pretty thin, so hopefully I'll be able to read through it soon.

Thanks for all your insight SunDevil!

[BlackWillHunting]

154 isn't a predictor of your ultimate success. My diagnostic was a 154 and I ended up with a 171 this September. I used the LSAT Trainer and 7sage (I didn't pay for the course, I just used the videos for LG). I highly recommend the trainer. I used the 16 week schedule. Make sure you schedule in time to review. Be diligent about how many hours you put towards the LSAT. I made sure that I studied an hour in the morning, and hour during my lunch break, and at least three after work. Give yourself time. I put about 4 months towards my prep. And lastly, review, review, review, and drill, drill, drill. Target your weaknesses and drill the crap out of them.

I'm actually extremely optimistic now that so may helpful people have come forward and shown me that a low diagnostic isn't the ultimate predictor of success. So thank you!

I also am considering using the Trainer in tandem with 7Sage. Did you use anything other than the Trainer's drills/PTS 52-71? If so, what exactly did you do. I've started reading the first chapters of The LSAT Trainer and really like it so far!

Congrats on the 171!

I actually had access to all of the tests, so I utilized them all. I used the old trainer 16 week schedule which included drills back from test 35 or so (I can't find the schedule now, but it's somewhere hidden on his site). I found it very helpful to keep track of all the questions I got wrong. I didn't do this at first (if I had, it probably would have been a very long list!), but once I honed in my skills more, it was very important in tracking my flaws. I would go back to those questions and drill them. Make sure you utilize 7Sage's Blind Review section as well! During the second half of my prep I also kept a log of the questions I got wrong on PT's and during blind review I would write one paragraph for each question explaining exactly what my failure was. This helped me better understand where I went wrong and I avoided it in the future. When I didn't have time to fully study (vacation or something), I made a binder of logic games from the first 30 tests and just drilled them. Go through all the LGs. You won't regret it.

Gracias! I'm going to find that damn schedule, haha!

[SunDevil14]

I am also a user of 7sage and thought it was a fantastic system (ended up with a 177 this September). The only part of their course I didn't enjoy was their advice on reading comprehension. I didn't think it was too helpful.

My advice is to treat studying like a marathon, not a sprint. Start to get into the test and try to really enjoy the problems. Of course there are times when you will be frustrated, but I found that logic games and LR were really fun for me after I got the hang of them (RC not so much). Finish the 7sage course (you do not have to do every practice set, I did about 5 per section out of the 15 or so they give you). Once you have a good grasp on the problems and can answer them correctly without worrying about timing, then you get to the practice tests. Increase your timing and get used to test conditions. From there, it is just a matter of critically reviewing your work for mistakes.

You can do it!

Dude, thank you so much! It's funny because I was going to ask around and see if doing all of the problem sets was imperative to doing well. I signed up for the Ultimate + course, and some have 15-20 sets of problems per question type.

Congrats on your 177! That is my ultimate goal as well.

May I ask a few questions:

What was your diagnostic?
How long did it take you to go through the 7Sage core curriculum / how long did you prep for?
What did you ultimately find helpful for RC?

Thanks again

Out of the 3 subjects, the proper strategies and approaches for RC are the most ambiguous. Ultimately, the approach/strategies that you end up using are largely going to come down to personal preference. I recommend Manhattan Prep's RC prep book. In short, the book lays out the general thought process for RC along with collection of methods and examples of approaches/strategies that top scorers have used. As you work through the book you get familiar with the different approaches and ultimately make a choice of which one to employ.

Once you have came up with you personal style, then a lot of improvement is going to come through repetition and familiarity with RC passages. My recommendation is that after reading each passage and answer the questions, that you read the passage again without time restrictions. Really mark up the passage on the second read: make notes of the general format of the passage along with where you are gathering support for each individual question. Also contemplate why particular questions would direct you/be supported by certain portions of the text. Doing all this over time will help you recognize the trends in the passage so that you can improve both speed and accuracy.

Nice - I went overboard and ordered the Manhattan LSAT Trilogy, The Bibles, and The Trainer. So I will certainly be using the MLSAT RC book! It looks pretty thin, so hopefully I'll be able to read through it soon.

Thanks for all your insight SunDevil!

Short of the trainer, I ordered all of those as well. If anything it may be redundant, and you will end up with a great grasp of the fundamentals.

[The_Pluviophile]

There's already a lot of good advice here, so I'm not going to repeat it. Personally, I found the bibles to be pretty helpful, at least for LG (which, as other's have said, is a good place to start focusing your efforts because it's the one section you really can get -0 if you've got a good system). I never even opened the reading comp one, but I didn't really need it.

My big piece of advice, which I swear I will have written on my tombstone, is don't be afraid to take a break. If you're starting this early, you're bound to get burnt out at least once. Three weeks or so before my test I was PTing around 175 and feeling great. But between working and writing my thesis, I also hadn't seen the light of day in what felt like forever. My PT scores starting dropping and I panicked. I took a whole bunch more practice tests, hoping to overcome the deficiency, but the stress got to me and my scores started dropping even more. It was a vicious circle. Thankfully, my thesis advisor (who went to law school) told me to get my shit together and take a break. After a full four days with no LSAT whatsoever, I came back to it and went right back to PTing in the mid-170s.

For what it's worth, I also took basically an entire week off from prep right before my test and ended up outscoring almost all of my practice tests. Take that with a grain of salt, though.

[Lexaholik]

Hey all,

long-time lurker who is beginning to prep for the June 2017 LSAT.
Long story short, I scored an embarrassingly low 154 on my diagnostic. (Though, I am feeling hopeful thanks to some encouraging posters on here.)

What did people who ultimately scored in this range use?

I'm signed up for a 7Sage Ultimate + course, I bought every recommended book, got my hands on the Cambridge packets and every PT 1-79.
Where do I begin? How do I drill? How do I use the Drill packets?
I basically just have about 1001 questions about where to go from here.

Any advice is welcomed!

Thanks in advanced

There's a lot of great tactical advice in here. I went from a score in the 150s to a 170 years ago and here's how my prep looked.

Prep Materials: Generally you'll find that some materials are better if you want a 165+. Back in my day that meant Testmasters and Powerscore. But now there are so many great high-caliber LSAT prep sources that you really can't go wrong with any. I've seen the LSAT Trainer and 7Sage mentioned in various places on TLS.

First stage: This is probably the first month or two of your prep. You'll see the fastest improvement here. For me, it meant taking 5-10 preptests and jumping 10 points in my practice scores. At this stage prep can be fun, and you might even start believing that a 180 is possible (I know I did.)

Second stage: After the first 5-10 practice tests you will hit a wall. Your scores will stop improving and even seem to decline. The vast majority of LSAT takers stop here and just take the exam and start applying.

Third stage: Plateau. This is a deeply frustrating stage. You work on your weaknesses but no matter what you do it seems like improvement is impossible. It might come, one or two points at a time (over the course of months) but you will become super stressed that your practice scores have only gone from 166 to 168 or something. Don't give up. Keep putting in the work and drill your weaknesses. If you feel burnt out, take some time off--often this can lead to sudden jumps in practice scores (see below).

Fourth stage: Sudden improvement. I can't explain it but one day you'll be taking a preptest and your score suddenly jumps by 2-3 points, possibly into the 170s.

The moral of the story is that your materials won't make a huge difference in the beginning. And they only make kind of a difference in the middle/end. The key point is to keep plugging away, keep working on your weaknesses. There's a reason why law schools love 170+ scorers--it's because they're pretty rare, despite what it may seem on TLS.

[Blueprint Mithun]

Hey all,

long-time lurker who is beginning to prep for the June 2017 LSAT.
Long story short, I scored an embarrassingly low 154 on my diagnostic. (Though, I am feeling hopeful thanks to some encouraging posters on here.)

What did people who ultimately scored in this range use?

I'm signed up for a 7Sage Ultimate + course, I bought every recommended book, got my hands on the Cambridge packets and every PT 1-79.
Where do I begin? How do I drill? How do I use the Drill packets?
I basically just have about 1001 questions about where to go from here.

Any advice is welcomed!

Thanks in advanced

A 154 is a solid diagnostic score. I got a 153, and I ended up with a 175 after three months of intense prep.

I studied on my own. I used the Powerscore LG book, and the Manhattan LR. I also got a ton of information and advice from TLS, especially some of the stickied topics around here.

Whichever resources you end up using, you should start by focusing on learning the material on the test. For you, I think this would involve working through the 7sage course. Your goal should be to become comfortable with identifying different question/game types, mastering how to set up the different types of logic games and their rules, and internalizing the strategies for each question type.

After learning the material, I would do lots of drilling. Drill different question types, drill whole sections, just drill, drill, drill. And REVIEW CAREFULLY. You can learn just as much if not more from reviewing closely than from doing problems. Go through each answer choice, and make sure you can articulate why each one of them is wrong. This will improve your ability to spot common wrong answers, and your attention to detail.

Eventually, you should start doing timed sections and then practice tests. But don't rush into this phase - while it is the best way to prepare for the actual LSAT, it's hard to improve your score by only doing full PTs. When you review your PTs, make a tally of which question types you tend to get wrong, and look for any trends. Go back and revisit the strategies for those question types, and drill them specifically.

Btw, you can read more about my prep journey here: https://blueprintlsat.com/lsatblog/lsat ... lvaratnam/

[BlackWillHunting]

Hey all,

long-time lurker who is beginning to prep for the June 2017 LSAT.
Long story short, I scored an embarrassingly low 154 on my diagnostic. (Though, I am feeling hopeful thanks to some encouraging posters on here.)

What did people who ultimately scored in this range use?

I'm signed up for a 7Sage Ultimate + course, I bought every recommended book, got my hands on the Cambridge packets and every PT 1-79.
Where do I begin? How do I drill? How do I use the Drill packets?
I basically just have about 1001 questions about where to go from here.

Any advice is welcomed!

Thanks in advanced

A 154 is a solid diagnostic score. I got a 153, and I ended up with a 175 after three months of intense prep.

I studied on my own. I used the Powerscore LG book, and the Manhattan LR. I also got a ton of information and advice from TLS, especially some of the stickied topics around here.

Whichever resources you end up using, you should start by focusing on learning the material on the test. For you, I think this would involve working through the 7sage course. Your goal should be to become comfortable with identifying different question/game types, mastering how to set up the different types of logic games and their rules, and internalizing the strategies for each question type.

After learning the material, I would do lots of drilling. Drill different question types, drill whole sections, just drill, drill, drill. And REVIEW CAREFULLY. You can learn just as much if not more from reviewing closely than from doing problems. Go through each answer choice, and make sure you can articulate why each one of them is wrong. This will improve your ability to spot common wrong answers, and your attention to detail.

Eventually, you should start doing timed sections and then practice tests. But don't rush into this phase - while it is the best way to prepare for the actual LSAT, it's hard to improve your score by only doing full PTs. When you review your PTs, make a tally of which question types you tend to get wrong, and look for any trends. Go back and revisit the strategies for those question types, and drill them specifically.

Btw, you can read more about my prep journey here: https://blueprintlsat.com/lsatblog/lsat ... lvaratnam/

This is beyond encouraging, Mithun! Thank you! I am actually a big fan of yours and have read so much of your thread! Also, your journey is very inspiring! I'm hoping if I prep hard I can be ready by June 2017 with Sept 2017 as a backup.

[lauren22]

If it makes you feel better, I went from a 167 on my first LSAT (and way less on my initial diagnostic practice test) to a 172 on my last LSAT. It did take me months of studying, but you can definitely improve drastically.

I used the PowerScore Bibles, and I would whole-heartedly recommend them, especially the Logical Reasoning one. Also, I really liked the 7sage Logic Games on Youtube, they were helpful in talking me through the steps. My weakness was Logic Games, and it wasn't until I read the LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim a that I actually started completing them on time and really understanding the big picture.

Also, I literally took dozens of practice tests. Those are the most important, IMO. If you can download a proctoring app on your phone, I would recommend that, too - that way you can get comfortable with the time limits, etc. Also, work your way up! You don't need to take a test until you study the basics in each section, etc. Good luck!

[BlackWillHunting]

If it makes you feel better, I went from a 167 on my first LSAT (and way less on my initial diagnostic practice test) to a 172 on my last LSAT. It did take me months of studying, but you can definitely improve drastically.

I used the PowerScore Bibles, and I would whole-heartedly recommend them, especially the Logical Reasoning one. Also, I really liked the 7sage Logic Games on Youtube, they were helpful in talking me through the steps. My weakness was Logic Games, and it wasn't until I read the LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim a that I actually started completing them on time and really understanding the big picture.

Also, I literally took dozens of practice tests. Those are the most important, IMO. If you can download a proctoring app on your phone, I would recommend that, too - that way you can get comfortable with the time limits, etc. Also, work your way up! You don't need to take a test until you study the basics in each section, etc. Good luck!

That does make me feel better actually.

Congrats on such an awesome improvement and amazing score!

I will try out your advice.

Thanks again!

[Inversion]

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[Future Ex-Engineer]

Probably not interested in my experience (haven't yet received 170+, but PTing 173 often, still waiting for Dec score).

PowerScore Logic Games Bible is a must. I was already pretty good at games (went -4 on cold diagnostic of PT 79 - virus game section), but after the PS LG bible, I'm consistently doing LG sections in <27 minutes with perfect accuracy. It works.