Great Advice on How to get 160+ on the LSAT... Forum

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sirhitch

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Post by sirhitch » Tue Oct 16, 2007 3:11 pm

I know what you meant. I take it further by saying you should march up to the building with a scowl on your face.

M2008

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Post by M2008 » Tue Oct 16, 2007 3:39 pm

Heh. I did this too. My mantra for test day was "I am the baddest motherfucker in the building."

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sirhitch

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Post by sirhitch » Tue Oct 16, 2007 3:44 pm

And when I got back in my car after i took it, I did a ferocious fist pump. Then I got extremely drunk.

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Post by dbfinley » Thu Oct 18, 2007 3:10 pm

Umm hope you didn't drink and drive hitch, then all that test taking would have been for naught :D

Hopefully I'll be able to post in this thread tomorrow around 5:00pm but we shall see...dreaming of a 160 tonight..

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sirhitch

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Post by sirhitch » Thu Oct 18, 2007 6:12 pm

No, my friends met me at the bar and I did my very best not to bring up the LSAT and how great I felt about myself so that they wouldn't leave me there. And its nice to hear that you would be happy with a really good score-160. 160 and up really does put you in an elite class. There is nothing wrong with setting your goals high or trying to get a score that the school you badly want to get into places as their mean, but it really gets old hearing people talk about bombing with a 168. Utter nonsense. Its also damaging and discouraging to many thinking about law as a career option to hear everybody trashing on impressive performances on the LSAT. I can't imagine how many people come on this site looking for guidance and great advice only to hear people talk about suicide if they score a 169. Absolute stupidity.

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itdontmattertoJesus

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Post by itdontmattertoJesus » Thu Oct 18, 2007 6:49 pm

...
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Lyrrad

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Post by Lyrrad » Fri Oct 19, 2007 7:43 pm

Figured I should post here. Hopefully it's helpful.

1) What score did you get?
180 (PrepTest Average: 175, 176 in the few days running up to the test)

2) What books did you use?
Regular Kaplan Book (Premiere), Powerscore LR/LG/LGSetups, Kaplan 180

3) What prep courses did you take (if any)? Full length, weekend?
None

4) How long did you study for, and under what conditions? (during school, during the summer, etc)
1 Month. Nothing else to do that month except study.

5) How many preptests did you do? 27

6) What would you change if you were to do it again?
I wouldn't buy the LG Setups or Kaplan 180. I didn't use the LG Setups at all, and only looked at the tips in the Kaplan 180 book.

7) Any other misc comments/suggestions.
a) Get the LSAT Proctor DVD. It's helpful.
b) Don't worry about not getting much sleep the night before. Just make sure you get rest the few days before.
c) Never be satisfied with an almost perfect score when Practising. Look carefully at all mistakes you make on a PrepTest.
d) Don't over-study. I got burned out a couple weeks in.
e) Slow down studying the final week.
f) Understanding the Logic Games is more important than diagramming it the same way they do it in the PowerScore book. If you know you can remember a key rule, you may not need to write it out.
g) If there's an either-or in a Logic Game, consider two diagrams, one for each case and its implications. This was necessary to breeze through the Sept 07 LGs.

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Origin

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Post by Origin » Fri Oct 19, 2007 9:54 pm

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Post by Potential1L » Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:08 pm

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themillsman22

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Post by themillsman22 » Sat Oct 20, 2007 2:03 am

1) What score did you get? 166

2) What books did you use? (Kaplan, Powerscore LRB, Powerscore LGB, etc)

LR Bible: Mildly recommend.
Kaplan LSAT 180: Eh, it's ok. The Logic Games are so ridiculous that it makes the actual ones seem easy, but the other sections are weak.
Barron's Passkey: Nothing special.
McGraw Hill: Nothing special either. Gets you acquainted with the test like any basic review book.
All 3 of the 10 actual LSATs books: Obviously, as many have said before, this is the key. (Especially if you review and learn from mistakes ACTIVELY)

That said, if I could do it all over, I'd still probably buy all the books. The non powerscore books are usually around 20 bucks (Passkey is only 8 bucks), and they all have more practice problems and tests.

3) What prep courses did you take (if any)? Full length, weekend?

NONE.

4) How long did you study for, and under what conditions? (during school, during the summer, etc)

I started about 2.5 months before, and spent about a month reading basic books and getting acquainted with the test. Then during finals and after school I probably took one preptest a day for a solid month. About 2 weeks before the test I broke my leg and didn't take as many preptests religiously, which probably affected my rhythm come test day.

5) How many preptests did you do?
~40 total, ~30 official preptests.

6) What would you change if you were to do it again?
I would have taken a few more tests with other people or done something to better mimic the pressure of the actual exam. It didn't factor in too much on the exam day, but anything can happen. I think I would have focused less on taking preptests everyday, and done more studying. I think that's the only way I could have improved my peak because I plateaued at the low 170s.

7) Any other misc comments/suggestions.

Before the test I was ranging from 169-172 or so on my prep tests. Test day, 166. Such is life.

My best advice is to actually read this thread, because I would have modified my study habits much earlier had I been a member of TLS then. I don't think a prep course is necessary if you have the dedication and self-discipline to study consistently by yourself, and if you can learn well from reading. The Powerscore books are definitely a good investment.
Good luck to everyone, and I hope my advice helped someone else like other people's advice helped me.


I'll post in about 3.5 months after I get my retake score and update how things went that time around.
THOSE WHO PLAN TO RETAKE AND STUDIED HARD THE FIRST TIME-PLEASE READ
Well it's been 3.5 months, and I've retaken.

1) Score: 172

2) Books: 3 Books of 10 preptests plus 8 individual ones

3) No class

4) Like the first time, I started studying about 2.5 months before. However, I did a lot of things differently. I spread out my studying. Rather than take complete tests, or take them every single day, I took a section or two (or perhaps the full thing if I had time). I aimed for 3 tests a week. This was a great pace as I did not get burned out. The week before the test I took one test everyday, and twice I took 2 tests in one day. My entire study method was strictly testing and seeing what I did wrong.

The problem at the start of my studying was that I had already taken all the practice tests for June (at least the 30 in the books). It really doesn't matter. I mean, some questions might be familiar, but it's really all about learning the test, and the more you take, the better you'll do. When I took each section, one thing I did was strive for fast times (i.e. 25-30 minutes). The benefit of practicing faster is that on the real test, you can go back to the 2 or 3 that are tricky and use your extra time to solve those.

5) The second time around I took 38 preptests.

6) Luckily, I actually had the chance to do it all again. The only thing I might change this time would be to find a way to relax before the test. I was actually more anxious the second time. I kept thinking " I underperformed once, what if I do it again. " You have to do everything possible to try to push those pesky negative thoughts away, because they'll drag you down (and destroy your intestines during the exam)

7) I was truly shocked by my score. After the test I truly thought I needed to cancel (that first lsat messed me up so bad...). Thankfully I decided not to cancel and just let it fly. I was praying I did not do worse than the first time. I put a lot of work into studying, and I advise anyone who thought/knew they could do better to give it a try. Even if you don't do any better, at least you don't have any regrets.
I practiced a lot better the second time around as well, (high 170s on the ones I already took-- I really didn't put much stock in those scores) but 170-180 on the few preptests I didn't. Even if your confidence is shot after the first one, seriously, don't give up. If you do better you can always write an addendum if you have a good reason, too. Best of luck to all, and I hope my post encourages someone to toss their hat in the LSAT ring one more time.

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Post by Lyrrad » Sat Oct 20, 2007 3:10 am

Two other things I just thought of:
1) There's a Princeton Review Podcast "LSAT Logic in Everyday Life". I found it helpful to listen to it when I wasn't studying per se in the weeks leading up to the test. It helps you continue to think in the LSAT style more and there are some good tips buried in them.
2) Kaplan's test day podcasts: Somewhat useful. Hearing the Test Centre horror stories helped me to prepare for the worst.

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Post by wesleybs » Sat Oct 20, 2007 5:27 pm

1) What score did you get?
173

2) What books did you use? (Kaplan, Powerscore LRB, Powerscore LGB, etc)
Powerscore LRB (Mildly useful) Powerscore LGB (not useful for me, great for those who struggle with LG), Kaplan 180 (Everytime I used these practice questions my score jumped a little bit).

3) What prep courses did you take (if any)? Full length, weekend?
None

4) How long did you study for, and under what conditions? (during school, during the summer, etc)
Month and a half. Started in August, working part-time and finishing school.

5) How many preptests did you do?
25-30, not sure exactly

6) What would you change if you were to do it again?
I might have taken a Kaplan or similar course.

7) Any other misc comments/suggestions.
Take the test away from home, find a library or classroom or whatever you can that is quiet and time yourself everytime. Don't break the test down into sections, take the whole preptest.

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lizzy1280

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Post by lizzy1280 » Sat Oct 20, 2007 5:36 pm

1) What score did you get?
176

2) What books did you use? (Kaplan, Powerscore LRB, Powerscore LGB, etc)
Testmasters prep books

3) What prep courses did you take (if any)? Full length, weekend?
Testmasters full length in NYC

4) How long did you study for, and under what conditions? (during school, during the summer, etc)
During the summer, starting in June for the September test. Took 4-hour classes twice a week with probably about 10 hours a week of homework, then once school started again studied maybe 4 hours a week.

5) How many preptests did you do?
6 or so.

6) What would you change if you were to do it again?
Nothing.

7) Any other misc comments/suggestions.
I took a formal logic course last fall which really helped me to understand things right away during my Testmasters course. I also read the Economist pretty regularly while studying to improve RC and ended up improving about 8 questions on RC alone.

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edgarderby

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Post by edgarderby » Sat Oct 20, 2007 6:22 pm

1) What score did you get?

166

2) What books did you use? (Kaplan, Powerscore LRB, Powerscore LGB, etc)

Kaplan 180, LSAT Logic Games (80 logic games), Powerscore Bibles

3) What prep courses did you take (if any)? Full length, weekend?

None. I'm broke as a joke, son.

4) How long did you study for, and under what conditions? (during school, during the summer, etc)

The first time, I studied constantly and got a 160. The 2nd time, I barely studied and got a 166. I honestly think a lot of the time it just comes down to focus and anxiety and avoiding reading mistakes.

5) How many preptests did you do?

~20 or so

6) What would you change if you were to do it again?

Memorize more logic game setups and drill harder. I think the other stuff is more or less a crap shoot of who can read the fastest and most efficiently, but even the dumbest kid on the block could score perfect or near-perfect on LG.

7) Any other misc comments/suggestions.

Figure out what score at which you will retake BEFORE you get your score back. Mine was a 163. Got a 160, retook for a 166. The people on here crying over a 174-176 are absolutely insane. Perspective is important.

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Post by imdashep » Sat Oct 20, 2007 8:22 pm

If you get 178-180s consistently on prep tests, and get a 174 on the real thing, why not retake?

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Origin

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Post by Origin » Sat Oct 20, 2007 8:41 pm

Because as we've seen here, preptests are not necessarily indicative of real performance.

Most score lower. I was one of the few to score significantly higher (averaged 89 raw/169.7 on my last 18 preps). Go through the score thread. Lots of people talking about prepping in the mid-high 160s or 170s and scoring much lower.

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edgarderby

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Post by edgarderby » Sat Oct 20, 2007 8:50 pm

I was mostly referring to the fact that it gets tighter as far as admissions chances the higher the score anyway, and so the difference between a 160 and a 170 is worlds away from the difference between a 170 and a 180.

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roman

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Post by roman » Sun Oct 21, 2007 12:13 am

...
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KGZotU

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Post by KGZotU » Sun Oct 21, 2007 11:54 pm

1) What score did you get?
177

2) What books did you use? (Kaplan, Powerscore LRB, Powerscore LGB, etc)
I used PR's Cracking the LSAT, and the PS Bibles. I felt that Cracking the LSAT was a great introduction to the LSAT. Going through it I realized I didn't really know what a 'main point' was, for example. It gave a good foundation for both LR and the games. I read the bibles about halfway through my study, which worked well for me.

3) What prep courses did you take (if any)? Full length, weekend?
None

4) How long did you study for, and under what conditions? (during school, during the summer, etc)
I studied fairly infrequently throughout July and the first half of August. I started studying intensely at the very end of August. During the summer I had no job and during September I had school.

5) How many preptests did you do?
I did about 15 full timed preptests and probably an equivalent amount of material as individual sections.

6) What would you change if you were to do it again?
4 answers on the test. 8)

7) Any other misc comments/suggestions.
There's my too often heard strategy for studying LG, of course. (;

First, go through a section once timed, as a benchmark for how you're progressing. Then, go through it a second time to do it right. Doing it right means picking up all the critical inferences; if a game is hard to understand you're probably missing a critical inference. Then, go through it a third time to practice doing it right as quickly as possible. This will help when you encounter similar problems which require similar inferences. To revisit a game, fold a sheet of paper into fourths and use a fourth of a sheet as scratch paper for each game.

--Joe
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Dadric

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Post by Dadric » Mon Oct 22, 2007 3:32 am

1) What score did you get?

177 (September 07)

2) What books did you use? (Kaplan, Powerscore LRB, Powerscore LGB, etc)

All the Kaplan course books (Lesson Book, Homework, Stratosphere, Endurance/Mastery/Pacing Practice), bunch of PrepTests including all of the most current released ones. Regardless of what you think of Kaplan and their classes, their course books are EXCELLENT if you can get your hands on them, if only because you get a ton of real LSAT questions at your disposal. And obviously, PrepTests are absolutely necessary. I also bought the Princeton Review book and never used it. I thought it was awful and the questions were nothing like the real deal.

3) What prep courses did you take (if any)? Full length, weekend?


I took the Kaplan month long course. It was nice to have someone to answer questions whenever I needed, and the proctored practice tests were nice, but I scored a 167 cold on my diagnostic and the class was geared more toward those wanting to score in the 150/160 range and the classes themselves didn't really help all that much. If you're in that range or looking to be there, I really do recommend Kaplan. If you're higher, it's hard to recommend throwing out $1300, but I'm glad I took it for two reasons. First, it forced me to study more than I would have and as I said, the proctored tests were nice. Secondly, I really did like some of the online materials. It was nice to be able to input all of my practice test scores and along with my in-class tests, see what kinds of questions I was struggling on (i.e. Flaw, Sequencing Games, Parallel Reasoning, etc.). The breakdowns they give you are excellent. Like I said, it's a lot of money, but even though I didn't get much out of the classes it was worth it for me.

4) How long did you study for, and under what conditions? (during school, during the summer, etc)


Like I said, I had the Kaplan class for three hours three days a week. I started studying with my diagnostic that I took cold on August 25. Outside of the class, I took a few preptests a week, including one per day Sunday-Thursday leading up to the test, and I made sure to save the most recent ones for that week.

5) How many preptests did you do?

About 15 in all, but they were the 15 most recently released ones so as to most closely reflect the type of stuff I was going to see on test day. Like Kayos, I was one of the few that actually did considerably better on the real thing than preptests, I had been consistently in the 172 area, with one 178 outlier.

6) What would you change if you were to do it again?


I probably would have started studying earlier. One month is not enough, regardless of where your starting point is, and the more time you give yourself the less intense and stressful studying will be because you can spread it out more. That being said, I won't pretend like I have any complaints about the score that my study habits brought in the end, so there's not a lot I'd change.

7) Any other misc comments/suggestions.


One thing I found incredibly useful was cutting out all the questions I got wrong (or making photocopies of unusually difficult LG/RC sections) and sitting down and typing out why I thought I picked the wrong answer I did and why the correct answer was correct. It helped so much in ensuring that I had the best possible understanding of both each question type and when particular strategies were best used.

Additionally, the Friday before the test should NOT be an intense study day. I didn't even take a preptest, and that's what I recommend. It should be a relax and review day...I hung out all day and just let myself be lazy, went out for dinner with my girlfriend, prepared everything for the next morning (breakfast, 1 gallon bag full of stuff, clothes) and before I went to bed, leisurely read over a few of the aforementioned cut-out questions and explanations. Unfortunately, I literally didn't sleep at all that night, but it worked out in the end.

Also, stress yourself out during preptests. Take most of them in real-ish environments, such as a library, where there will be other people around you making a small amount of noise. However, I made sure to take a few in places where the distractions would be much worse than (theoretically) on test day so as to ensure that distractions wouldn't screw me over. I think it helped a lot in the end.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, try to have fun with it...and I'm not kidding. One of the biggest advantages for me was that I managed to let myself enjoy a lot of the test. I think the LSAT is much more fun than most other standardized tests...there's no math (yay!) and things like Logic Games really can be enjoyable if you let them be. Honestly, just always remember that it's not about scoring higher than the person next to you...it's about competing with yourself and always driving yourself to score the best that you can.

P.S. The headband avatars are key. I attribute at least 5 points of my score to them.

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Post by 18488 » Tue Oct 23, 2007 2:16 pm

1) What score did you get? 166

2) What books did you use? (Kaplan, Powerscore LRB, Powerscore LGB, etc) Kaplan LSAT 180, LRG, LGB. I recommend the latter two, and the Kaplan 180 only for RC and LR.

3) What prep courses did you take (if any)? Full length, weekend? full-length Powerscore

4) How long did you study for, and under what conditions? (during school, during the summer, etc) during the summer and during school for about 12 weeks.

5) How many preptests did you do? probably around 20

6) What would you change if you were to do it again? i'd start 2 weeks earlier, and really master the games before doing anything else with the test.

7) Any other misc comments/suggestions. for RC, read op/eds or scholarly articles and write out the main point and author's perspective. take an intro to logic class for LR (won't help on games, though).

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Post by prettypithy » Sat Oct 27, 2007 1:11 am

Did anyone here spring for the Powerscore Ultimate Set-Ups book in addition to the LGB? If so, was it helpful?

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Post by zeezoo » Mon Oct 29, 2007 6:48 am

1) What score did you get?
170

2) What books did you use?
Testmaster coursebooks, Powerscore bibles, Kaplan LSAT Mastery

3) What prep courses did you take (if any)? Full length, weekend?
Testmasters full length

4) How long did you study for, and under what conditions? (during school, during the summer, etc)
Testmaster course while working FT. Because I canceled JUN06, I studied for a LONG time in total... like 5 months of dedicated studying

5) How many preptests did you do?
25+

6) What would you change if you were to do it again?
Study LG harder from the beginning, instead of giving myself a false sense of security when I started doing well on them.

7) Any other misc comments/suggestions.
Do not focus on your practice scores. Focus on improving your conceptual understanding of the exam. Focusing on practice scores serves little purpose, and either makes you study too little or stress too much.

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Post by tradams » Wed Oct 31, 2007 7:30 pm

1) What score did you get?

173. -2 LG, -3 RC, -3 combined LR. Or something like that.

2) What books did you use? (Kaplan, Powerscore LRB, Powerscore LGB, etc)

I used the LGB, and found it very helpful. Digest it ASAP so that you can start taking full tests early. I bought the LRB but I could tell it wouldn't help much once I skimmed through it. I approach the test very instinctively.

3) What prep courses did you take (if any)? Full length, weekend?

None

4) How long did you study for, and under what conditions? (during school, during the summer, etc)

2.5 months (while working full time), about an hour a day average. The last few weeks were pointless. 2 months is probably the perfect amount of time while working full time.

5) How many preptests did you do?

I did around 30. 1-2 every weekend, and 1-2 sections a day.

6) What would you change if you were to do it again?

I would have redone logic games ad nauseam. I was far too lazy to scan the games at first so that I could do them again without cheating.

7) Any other misc comments/suggestions.

LGB plus practice, practice, practice. Classes are not necessary for most people I think. You will get the speed and familiarity with the test in time.

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dcisneat

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Post by dcisneat » Mon Nov 05, 2007 8:26 pm

1) 170

2) Powerscore LGB/LRB/LG Set-ups, 10 Actual Official LSATS (two most recent), PrepTests 39+

3) None

4) From May to June (canceled June test), then end of August to September. While studying I was working 9-5:30p, M-F.

5) Around 30.

6) Taken a proctored preptest. It would have eased some nerves the first time I took it. Also, don't bother with the Kaplan 180/Premier books. Total waste of time, which is why I didn't add them to the list of study materials.

7) I also tracked the LR questions I missed (or took too long to answer) and worked on them.

Canceling was the right choice for me, and I'm glad that I did.

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