Self-study
I am planning to take my LSAT in October, but I have been plateauing for months. I took the official LSAT twice so far and had scores in the 140's. I feel like I understand the the content (mostly), and on blind reviews I have been getting 157-160s. I just feel like my actual PT score hasn't gotten any better, and I am feeling the pressure of the days passing by and my actual score not improving. I genuinely don't know what to do, and I feel like nothing is working. I feel like I've been studying wrong or something, and every one else is getting it, but I am not.
help?
1
4 comments
Hello! I totally understand the emotional ride you're going through. Please know that plateaus are a completely normal part of this process, and you are definitely not alone in feeling this way!
Adding onto all the great things others wrote, while you save fresh PTs for later, I highly recommend re-taking older PTs that you completed a few months ago. You might be surprised by how much you don't actually remember. You will probably get a few questions wrong again, and those specific questions will be absolute gold for you to review because they highlight deeply ingrained habits.
Re-working older PTs also helps you build the mental stamina required to endure the full exam without burning through your precious remaining fresh material.
Lastly, since you are hitting your goal during your BR, know that you absolutely have the foundational knowledge and the right tools in your head to reach your goal. I hope this helps, and best of luck!
Heyy! I just wanted to say that you still have plenty of time until October! I'm sure you can reach your score goal!
I also think the approach @PhoebeHopp suggested works really well for this kind of situation. Even when you feel like you understand the questions, the mistakes people make are often the result of mental patterns they keep repeating without realizing it.
If you take a step back and focus on a deep review, you'll be able to develop rules and notice things that you simply wouldn't have time to see under the pressure of a timed exam. Then, by drilling the question types you struggle with the most, you can reinforce those rules and gradually eliminate those recurring mistakes. I really think that kind of targeted practice can make a huge difference!
I hope the instructor's comment helps. Just dropping in to say you got this!!
Hey there! In that score bracket, the vast majority of your studying should come from targeted drilling. Take a look at the PTs you've done recently and do an in-depth wrong answer journal of all the questions you initially got wrong, even if you got them right on BR. Then you can move onto drilling the question types you missed. Focus on one at a time, making smaller (5-10 question) drills of just one question type. Start with them all at the 3* level, when you're consistently getting 100% on them, you can move on to drills of the same question type mixing in 4 and 5* questions.
If you're not planning on taking your test until October, try taking a pause on PTing until August. PTs aren't the most efficient use of study time as the majority of the questions you encounter are ones you have a good handle on. If you've ever played a sport, the same training principles apply: you wouldn't show up to practice and scrimmage the whole time; you'd work on different skills individually, and then put them all together later. Sections are a good way to find areas of improvement, but you probably only really need to do 1 each of RC and LR/week.
Finally, plateaus are incredibly frustrating and very, very normal. It sounds like it might be time to switch up your methods, but that doesn't mean all the time you've put in was time wasted. You've got this!