How much can I push the LSAT score up? Forum

[SR1313]

Of course, like everyone, I'm hoping for at least a 170. Scored 158 on the diagnostic for the LSAT offered by Kaplan...most of my wrong answers were on the logic puzzles because I ran out of time when I was less than half done. How much can I expect to get my score up between now and the June administration of the LSAT?

How far were you guys able to increase your score?

[20090922]

I went from a 155 (LSAC's practice LSAT) to a 171 on test day which I could have done better but got brain-tired and flubbed a bunch of questions towards the end of the test. I studied for three months taking the released LSATs and understanding my mistakes, etc.

For the logic games section I started off doing pretty bad on them (time issues mostly). You just need to practice a lot--within two months I was doing them without getting any wrong. I did some sudokus (The parallel thought processing is an important skill to develop for LG) and repeated old LG sections. Most of the questions in the LG sections can be done with little shortcuts that you discover only through repeated practice. It also helps to have a system for writing down logic statements (see symbolic logic, if you haven't done so already), diagramming, etc.

[SR1313]

I went from a 155 (LSAC's practice LSAT) to a 171 on test day which I could have done better but got brain-tired and flubbed a bunch of questions towards the end of the test. I studied for three months taking the released LSATs and understanding my mistakes, etc.

For the logic games section I started off doing pretty bad on them (time issues mostly). You just need to practice a lot--within two months I was doing them without getting any wrong. I did some sudokus (The parallel thought processing is an important skill to develop for LG) and repeated old LG sections. Most of the questions in the LG sections can be done with little shortcuts that you discover only through repeated practice. It also helps to have a system for writing down logic statements (see symbolic logic, if you haven't done so already), diagramming, etc.

That sounds encouraging...thanks for the sudoku tip, I've never done that but my mother loves it! Hehe.

I'm taking the Kaplan prep course and I can already tell the logic puzzles are going to get easier...I'm just worried about time. I'm the kind of person who HATES to skip questions, so it's tough for me to get past that mental block of not bubbling in everything without guessing.

[20090922]

That sounds encouraging...thanks for the sudoku tip, I've never done that but my mother loves it! Hehe.

I'm taking the Kaplan prep course and I can already tell the logic puzzles are going to get easier...I'm just worried about time. I'm the kind of person who HATES to skip questions, so it's tough for me to get past that mental block of not bubbling in everything without guessing.

Story about test day on the LG...
I breezed through the first part.

Got to second part, spent 5 minutes on the first question, started to panic when I realized I was taking WAY too long (thus setting off a slippery slope of 1. You aren't going to do well on this section, 2. You aren't going to do well on the LSAT, 3. You aren't going to get into Law School, 4. You're going to become a failure, i.e. you might as well commit suicide now)

I calmed myself down, skipped the section and continued on the next two, finished them, went back to the 2nd part and realized there was an easy way to do the questions and finished all five questions in about a minute--score report came back two weeks later, LG section had zero wrong.

Moral of the story: If you're taking too long just skip it. It's better to get 75% of the questions right than none because you spent 30 minutes working on the first problem.

[SR1313]

That sounds encouraging...thanks for the sudoku tip, I've never done that but my mother loves it! Hehe.

I'm taking the Kaplan prep course and I can already tell the logic puzzles are going to get easier...I'm just worried about time. I'm the kind of person who HATES to skip questions, so it's tough for me to get past that mental block of not bubbling in everything without guessing.

Story about test day on the LG...
I breezed through the first part.

Got to second part, spent 5 minutes on the first question, started to panic when I realized I was taking WAY too long (thus setting off a slippery slope of 1. You aren't going to do well on this section, 2. You aren't going to do well on the LSAT, 3. You aren't going to get into Law School, 4. You're going to become a failure, i.e. you might as well commit suicide now)

I calmed myself down, skipped the section and continued on the next two, finished them, went back to the 2nd part and realized there was an easy way to do the questions and finished all five questions in about a minute--score report came back two weeks later, LG section had zero wrong.

Moral of the story: If you're taking too long just skip it. It's better to get 75% of the questions right than none because you spent 30 minutes working on the first problem.

I know that slippery slope well! Sometimes I think standardized tests are all mental, because if you spend all the time worrying about how you're taking too much time...then you will...

[hwmyones]

I took testmasters...first diag i got a 156, I got a 170 on the actual test..

[bartletforamerica]

first practice: 157
test day: 176

work on graphing/mapping/drawing for the LG's. Figure out what works for you. Know that the second logic game is usually hardest, and every logic game has at least one, if not two, super easy questions. at the very least, get those.

having LG's as your worst section is a good place to be, it's the easiest to improve.

in all sections of the test you should be gaming the order you answer questions, talk to your kaplan teacher about this. starting at one and just pushing through is not always the best option.

good luck

[smaakit]

I started out at 156 and ended up with a 173.

It's definitely ok to skip questions, as long as you go back. I was like you SR1313, I didn't want to skip any questions ever--but I found it to be necessary for me to get my timing right. If I stared too long at the hard problem in the middle of the section, I didn't even have time to read the no-brainer that's second from the end.

[18488]

...

[edgarderby]

i started witih 157. highest practice test was 177. actual score was 166.

Me too, IIRC

Seriously, wtf.

You're like an in-at-cornell version of me.

[00TREX00]

...

[BlueDevilSarah]

I went from a 158 to a 175 with a Kaplan course. They tell you not to expect more than a 10 point jump, but don't let them stop you! It's totally possible!

[cls2009]

to people who took a Kaplan prep class:

I’m taking a Kaplan class right now. my diag was a 157, and 10 sessions in I’m still ranging from 157-159. My diag seemed to be much higher than most of my classmates’ diags, so I feel like what is taught in class helps them a lot, but doesn’t really help me. I’ve been trying to do more on my own (doing mastery assignments, taking practice tests), but my score remains about the same. Any suggestions?

[Alex84]

You can jump all over the place in my opinion, and I get tired of hearing people say there is some sort of ceiling. Logic is a skill, just like learning math- given, some are ultimately going to be better than others, but you really can jump dramatically in my opinoin - hard work is definitely required to do so though.

[tx2102]

I went from a 158 to a 170 with Powerscore and I had similar problems with the logic games. I don't think I improved at all in any of the other areas, but I went from not finishing the logic games, to getting them all right on the real LSAT. So if that's your weakness, I would think you can expect a pretty decent bump.

[edcrane]

Moral of the story: If you're taking too long just skip it. It's better to get 75% of the questions right than none because you spent 30 minutes working on the first problem.

Totally credited, and not just for the games section. When you do other problems your brain has to switch gears to deal with different logical architectures. As a result of this, when you head back for a second time, your brain is a different state than it was when you skipped over the question. For me this was tremendously important on the test day. After finishing the games section five minutes early, I went back and looked at the hardest problems and found two errors--I ended up with 0 wrong on the games section because of this.

Anyway to the OP: you have a good shot at 170+ if you can learn how to kill the games section--in large part this will be determined by your dedication rather than your inherent mathematical aptitude or computational speed.

[airefresco]

With a 158, the most you can push your score up is 22 points.

[bjmichel77]

My first proctored diagnostic with testmasters was a 154. The last practice test on my own came out at a 171 and a 169. Im still hoping to move up a few more points from there... my original goal was a 170, i think i'll aim for 175 now.

as for the games, you definitely need to get out of the rut of not being able to skip a question. taking 2 or 3 minutes to think about one question in the middle might mean missing 2 or 3 easy ones closer to the end. also, make sure you are getting practice with each type of game. I ran across a circular sequencing on one of my practice tests and i got raped.

definitely get used to a specific way to diagram the rules and whatnot. when you find a method that works for you, don't stray from it. I'm usually only missing at most 2 questions on LG sections now.

On a sidenote, what do you think of Kaplan's course? I'm in Testmasters, so I was just curious how your class is structured.