I think if you're diagnostic was in the 138s, you really need to spend less time doing practice tests and more times on problem sets. You shouldn't touch another practice test until 1) you're getting 9/10 on the practice tests, 2) you can confidently explain why the right answer is right, 3) you can confidently explain why the wrong answers are wrong. It's so important to make sure your logic is solid before moving onto another question. That could mean spending 1 hour on a question in order to really understand its arguments, tricks, and logical reasoning.
If I decide to use my last take, I will put all my chips in one basket and write the June 2016 exam and apply the next cycle, which would put me at 3 years off from undergrad
This may not be enough time to get your score up to where you want it, plus being 3 years out of undergrad is not a bad thing. You will find all age groups in law school.
@hjlee1992246
said:
-Applied to a bunch of schools without a test score, now everything is under review.
What was the median for the schools you were applying to? How far away are you from reaching that score?
The only advantage I see to June, is that you might be able to leverage a new score to get off of wait lists or negotiate scholarship money at the schools you were accepted. Unfortunately, once a school declines you for this cycle you can not use a new LSAT score to be reconsidered, so you will need to wait to next cycle. If that is the case a Sept or December LSAT might work even more in your favor.
I'd be tempted to give it another go in June, or more likely September. Your GPA is really high, and it would be a shame to sell yourself short for the sake of one extra year.
You have to think hard about what went wrong in September, causing you to miss an extra 15ish questions compared to your PT scores. Fixing that gap alone would get you into the 160's. Thorough BR and a few more months of studying might get you into the mid 160's, and that would be a whole different set of schools than a 153. And/or more money.
Looks like you might have to reuse some PT's, as you seem to be out of fresh recent material, but great learning can happen even on retakes - if anything, you'll be less focused on the score (which will be somewhat inflated) and more on the learning process. Take the last three fresh PT's closer to the test date (but not in the last week or anything like that).
My take - I would postpone until the October test. The reason is that, if you were PTing in the low 160s, you could definitely push yourself to get at least a 165. That would put you into at least the Top 20 schools and give you a better shot at $$$ and admissions. BUT, this is going to take time.
Since your diagnostic was a 138, you're probably going to have to adjust your mindset significantly. This is not impossible, but it will take time. I'd definitely recommend the LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim to help you out with that. The 7sage curriculum is also great, since it goes from basic to more complex/advanced understanding.
After a month or so of studying with the Trainer and/or 7sage, see where you're at. If you don't see improvement, I would hire a private tutor. Yes, it's expensive, but you might need that specialized attention to really hone in on your errors and faulty thought processes.
I have to disagree with @connollykev567 here. My assumption is that you don't totally have problems working hard because you have a high GPA and you've been studying for close to a year now (obviously, correlation does not equal causation so this next part could be moot). My guess is that you aren't studying smart. How exactly have you been studying?
Is your goal the mid 160s? Have you gone through the whole 7sage curriculum?
I don't want to come on too harsh here, but sounds like you need to buckle down and evaluate how hard you're willing to work/how badly you want to do well on this test. The LSAT rewards putting in the man-hours and following a system. The real score improvement, especially in LR, comes with practice and BR. I mean real, clean copy, BR. Don't see which ones you got wrong or how many in a section you missed. It's about training your brain to understand the thought process. Taking all of the PTs won't be able to do that.
In my opinion there is always room for score improvement until you hit a certain level. It's perfectly natural for people to hit plateaus in their prep. I hit a HUGE plateau in the 161-164 range; it lasted for months. I was convinced that 164 was my absolute max. Especially since my diagnostic was in the 140s. In response to the plateau, I focused on improving my LR/RC, developing better time management strategies, and my most recent PTs have been 167-171.
Dude, you got a 3.92 GPA. You're smart and willing to work hard. 3.9s don't get handed to people. Buckle down and get focused for June. Dig deep. You're a lock for T14/Big $$$ somewhere with that GPA and a good LSAT.
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10 comments
.
I think if you're diagnostic was in the 138s, you really need to spend less time doing practice tests and more times on problem sets. You shouldn't touch another practice test until 1) you're getting 9/10 on the practice tests, 2) you can confidently explain why the right answer is right, 3) you can confidently explain why the wrong answers are wrong. It's so important to make sure your logic is solid before moving onto another question. That could mean spending 1 hour on a question in order to really understand its arguments, tricks, and logical reasoning.
.
If I decide to use my last take, I will put all my chips in one basket and write the June 2016 exam and apply the next cycle, which would put me at 3 years off from undergrad
This may not be enough time to get your score up to where you want it, plus being 3 years out of undergrad is not a bad thing. You will find all age groups in law school.
-Applied to a bunch of schools without a test score, now everything is under review.
What was the median for the schools you were applying to? How far away are you from reaching that score?
The only advantage I see to June, is that you might be able to leverage a new score to get off of wait lists or negotiate scholarship money at the schools you were accepted. Unfortunately, once a school declines you for this cycle you can not use a new LSAT score to be reconsidered, so you will need to wait to next cycle. If that is the case a Sept or December LSAT might work even more in your favor.
I'd be tempted to give it another go in June, or more likely September. Your GPA is really high, and it would be a shame to sell yourself short for the sake of one extra year.
You have to think hard about what went wrong in September, causing you to miss an extra 15ish questions compared to your PT scores. Fixing that gap alone would get you into the 160's. Thorough BR and a few more months of studying might get you into the mid 160's, and that would be a whole different set of schools than a 153. And/or more money.
Looks like you might have to reuse some PT's, as you seem to be out of fresh recent material, but great learning can happen even on retakes - if anything, you'll be less focused on the score (which will be somewhat inflated) and more on the learning process. Take the last three fresh PT's closer to the test date (but not in the last week or anything like that).
Good luck!
My take - I would postpone until the October test. The reason is that, if you were PTing in the low 160s, you could definitely push yourself to get at least a 165. That would put you into at least the Top 20 schools and give you a better shot at $$$ and admissions. BUT, this is going to take time.
Since your diagnostic was a 138, you're probably going to have to adjust your mindset significantly. This is not impossible, but it will take time. I'd definitely recommend the LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim to help you out with that. The 7sage curriculum is also great, since it goes from basic to more complex/advanced understanding.
After a month or so of studying with the Trainer and/or 7sage, see where you're at. If you don't see improvement, I would hire a private tutor. Yes, it's expensive, but you might need that specialized attention to really hone in on your errors and faulty thought processes.
Good luck!
I have to disagree with @connollykev567 here. My assumption is that you don't totally have problems working hard because you have a high GPA and you've been studying for close to a year now (obviously, correlation does not equal causation so this next part could be moot). My guess is that you aren't studying smart. How exactly have you been studying?
Is your goal the mid 160s? Have you gone through the whole 7sage curriculum?
I don't want to come on too harsh here, but sounds like you need to buckle down and evaluate how hard you're willing to work/how badly you want to do well on this test. The LSAT rewards putting in the man-hours and following a system. The real score improvement, especially in LR, comes with practice and BR. I mean real, clean copy, BR. Don't see which ones you got wrong or how many in a section you missed. It's about training your brain to understand the thought process. Taking all of the PTs won't be able to do that.
In my opinion there is always room for score improvement until you hit a certain level. It's perfectly natural for people to hit plateaus in their prep. I hit a HUGE plateau in the 161-164 range; it lasted for months. I was convinced that 164 was my absolute max. Especially since my diagnostic was in the 140s. In response to the plateau, I focused on improving my LR/RC, developing better time management strategies, and my most recent PTs have been 167-171.
Dude, you got a 3.92 GPA. You're smart and willing to work hard. 3.9s don't get handed to people. Buckle down and get focused for June. Dig deep. You're a lock for T14/Big $$$ somewhere with that GPA and a good LSAT.
Get it done
.
What's your breakdown per section?