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Instead of continuing the merry-go-round of people refusing to believe they can improve on their LSAT, we should have a thread where people share their successes and what it took to get there.

Diagnostic: 154
Final LSAT: 168
Prep: drilled for 6 months under timed, test conditions. Fit it in at night while working full time. Primarily used previous exams under strict testing conditions, and was PTing toward the end at 171-173. Decided not to retake because I had tuition covered at any T14 I wanted to attend.

Share how you vanquished the LSAT devil here!

I'll call it first, humblebrag

mvp99 wrote:I'll call it first, humblebrag

Maybe, but also potentially important in light of "Stop Telling People to Retake" and similar threads/exchanges.

mjb447 wrote:

mvp99 wrote:I'll call it first, humblebrag

Maybe, but also potentially important in light of "Stop Telling People to Retake" and similar threads/exchanges.

Exactly. I'm beyond caring whether my LSAT improved. I was very fortunate to improve, and others could benefit from seeing the improvements others make.

I don't want to humblebrag, because my LSAT is irrelevant at this point. All I want is for people to realize there is a higher ceiling they can reach.

mjb447 wrote:

mvp99 wrote:I'll call it first, humblebrag

Maybe, but also potentially important in light of "Stop Telling People to Retake" and similar threads/exchanges.

+1
Also been seeing a lot of "will I be able to improve enough if I have such n such diagnostic" etc questions. I think there's value in seeing the kinds of improvements people actually do make.

You mean like this?: http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... &p=9339963

lymenheimer wrote:You mean like this?: http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewt ... &p=9339963

Exactly like this. Every reminder helps.

Just play the game peeps

Diagnostic - 146
Official Score - 169 (taking it one more time)

Prep - one year, though it was dragged out. I spent the first three months with the power bibles, then 6 months of doing just a section a day while working full time, and then doing full tests on the weekend (saw most of my improvement here). Then 3 months of 3 tests a week with blind reviews, but didn't improve much in my score. However, I feel my understanding did.

somedeadman wrote:Just play the game peeps

Diagnostic - 146
Official Score - 169 (taking it one more time)

Prep - one year, though it was dragged out. I spent the first three months with the power bibles, then 6 months of doing just a section a day while working full time, and then doing full tests on the weekend (saw most of my improvement here). Then 3 months of 3 tests a week with blind reviews, but didn't improve much in my score. However, I feel my understanding did.

Things like this are what I need. 146 was my diagnostic, 170 is my goal.

Bibles, Trainer, 7sage videos, heavy drilling. That's it for me. I'm tuning out the rest.

Diagnostic- 139
Final test score- 171
Material- Manhattan guides for LR and RC and Powerscore for LG. Explanations from the Manhattan forums.
Prep: Did every PT at least thrice and several 4 times.
Key learning: Use the elimination method in LR & RC to select the relatively best answer instead of looking for the 'right' one. LG was a mix of outright selection of the right answer and elimination, depending on the Q and game type.

Swear by the elimination method advocated and taught by the Manhattan guides. HTH.

freekick wrote:Diagnostic- 139
Final test score- 171
Material- Manhattan guides for LR and RC and Powerscore for LG. Explanations from the Manhattan forums.
Prep: Did every PT at least thrice and several 4 times.
Key learning: Use the elimination method in LR & RC to select the relatively best answer instead of looking for the 'right' one. LG was a mix of outright selection of the right answer and elimination, depending on the Q and game type.

Swear by the elimination method advocated and taught by the Manhattan guides. HTH.

!!!!

uh, woah.

You should quite rightly feel super proud of that.

You would also be an excellent LSAT instructor.

freekick wrote:Diagnostic- 139
Final test score- 171
Material- Manhattan guides for LR and RC and Powerscore for LG. Explanations from the Manhattan forums.
Prep: Did every PT at least thrice and several 4 times.
Key learning: Use the elimination method in LR & RC to select the relatively best answer instead of looking for the 'right' one. LG was a mix of outright selection of the right answer and elimination, depending on the Q and game type.

Swear by the elimination method advocated and taught by the Manhattan guides. HTH.

This just gave me a ton of motivation to keep pushing

Voyager wrote:

freekick wrote:Diagnostic- 139
Final test score- 171
Material- Manhattan guides for LR and RC and Powerscore for LG. Explanations from the Manhattan forums.
Prep: Did every PT at least thrice and several 4 times.
Key learning: Use the elimination method in LR & RC to select the relatively best answer instead of looking for the 'right' one. LG was a mix of outright selection of the right answer and elimination, depending on the Q and game type.

Swear by the elimination method advocated and taught by the Manhattan guides. HTH.

!!!!

uh, woah.

You should quite rightly feel super proud of that.

You would also be an excellent LSAT instructor.

Thanks for the kind words. Hope this cycle turns out well.

cantyoloforever wrote:

freekick wrote:Diagnostic- 139
Final test score- 171
Material- Manhattan guides for LR and RC and Powerscore for LG. Explanations from the Manhattan forums.
Prep: Did every PT at least thrice and several 4 times.
Key learning: Use the elimination method in LR & RC to select the relatively best answer instead of looking for the 'right' one. LG was a mix of outright selection of the right answer and elimination, depending on the Q and game type.

Swear by the elimination method advocated and taught by the Manhattan guides. HTH.

This just gave me a ton of motivation to keep pushing

The test is more of an adjustment in thought process than anything else. My initial thinking was way off and I took time to get aligned. More than happy to be of whatever little assistance I can offer. PM me whenever. All the best!

diag: around 130
final LSAT: low 170s

Prep: self-prepped. did enormous prep. the main thing that was keeping me from scoring well was RC as even with a lot of prep i didn't improve as much in this section as in others. i had timing issues with LR and RC and anxiety issues that took a lot of effort to work on. was hit by surprising and rare pattern games on the actual test that kept me from a high 170s score on the final game day. went -0 in both LR on the final administration.

Congrats on the improvement guys

freekick wrote:

Voyager wrote:

freekick wrote:Diagnostic- 139
Final test score- 171
Material- Manhattan guides for LR and RC and Powerscore for LG. Explanations from the Manhattan forums.
Prep: Did every PT at least thrice and several 4 times.
Key learning: Use the elimination method in LR & RC to select the relatively best answer instead of looking for the 'right' one. LG was a mix of outright selection of the right answer and elimination, depending on the Q and game type.

Swear by the elimination method advocated and taught by the Manhattan guides. HTH.

!!!!

uh, woah.

You should quite rightly feel super proud of that.

You would also be an excellent LSAT instructor.

Thanks for the kind words. Hope this cycle turns out well.

oh you'll do quite well.

appind wrote:diag: around 130
final LSAT: low 170s

Prep: self-prepped. did enormous prep. the main thing that was keeping me from scoring well was RC as even with a lot of prep i didn't improve as much in this section as in others. i had timing issues with LR and RC and anxiety issues that took a lot of effort to work on. was hit by surprising and rare pattern games on the actual test that kept me from a high 170s score on the final game day. went -0 in both LR on the final administration.

That's impressive as hell, congrats. -0 on LR is phenomenal.

This thread is gold, it's great to hear the improvement stories, it really helps to stay motivated. Its so easy to talk yourself out of prepping seriously if you don't believe significant improvements are possible. Congrats to everyone

appind wrote:diag: around 130
final LSAT: low 170s

Prep: self-prepped. did enormous prep. the main thing that was keeping me from scoring well was RC as even with a lot of prep i didn't improve as much in this section as in others. i had timing issues with LR and RC and anxiety issues that took a lot of effort to work on. was hit by surprising and rare pattern games on the actual test that kept me from a high 170s score on the final game day. went -0 in both LR on the final administration.

Beast!

appind wrote:diag: around 130
final LSAT: low 170s

Prep: self-prepped. did enormous prep. the main thing that was keeping me from scoring well was RC as even with a lot of prep i didn't improve as much in this section as in others. i had timing issues with LR and RC and anxiety issues that took a lot of effort to work on. was hit by surprising and rare pattern games on the actual test that kept me from a high 170s score on the final game day. went -0 in both LR on the final administration.

How long did you study for?

All smiles over here! Currently studying for the June LSAT. Thank yo so much for giving me the push that I needed to hear! Good luck with all you do friend!

Diagnostic: 154
LSAT Score(s): 168 then 174

I used The Trainer the first time out and Powerscore plus Cambridge packets the second time. I think I spent about 6 mos. total of studying for both tests. Retaking is a great thing. Going from praying to get into certain schools to being likely to get scholarships at those same schools feels great.

Diagnostic: 156
Final LSAT: 169

Studied for four months and was averaging a 168 on my PTs prior to the September test, but my nerves got the best of me and I got a 162. Immediately signed up for the December test and raised my PT average to a 171. Managed to get a 169 on test day. Was slightly disappointed I didn't make it into the 170 range, but I was happy enough to move forward with that score. Difficult not to be when it says you're in the 96th percentile.

#gobroncos wrote:Diagnostic: 154
LSAT Score(s): 168 then 174

I used The Trainer the first time out and Powerscore plus Cambridge packets the second time. I think I spent about 6 mos. total of studying for both tests. Retaking is a great thing. Going from praying to get into certain schools to being likely to get scholarships at those same schools feels great.

Wow! This is super encouraging, congratulations. Getting a 6 point jump on a retake, especially when you already scored in the high 160's is amazing.