Yo, I have been studying the LSAT since last year. I started June last year, went somewhat consistently for about a month and a half and then dropped it. I picked it up again heavily around february, stopped again after about a month and have been going at it actually consistently since beginning of June. I've increased around 7 points in total since I have started. I have done over 700+ questions and many, many hours. I just cannot seem to get past a curve that I dont even know where it begins. Im at the point now, with such a low score, that I am not even sure if this test is even feasbile for me to even continue to do. Applying with my current score (around 155) is not worth it in my eyes.
Right now, I am drilling with timed and untimed, doing review journals, did another course outside of 7sage, and have been trying a lot. I am not sure if anyone else has encountered something like this before, but I would love to hear if you are currently here and especially if you got out of a spot like this. For me, I really want to get a higher score, but I do not even think its feasible...
Any tips, advice, or anything like that is needed.
4 comments
Something that has been helpful for me is doing everything untimed and going really slow until I fully understand the concept/question type and the patterns in correct answers. Doing it fast doesn't matter if half the questions are wrong. Take double or triple the amount of time, figure out what is correct and why it's correct and what is wrong and why it's wrong. Then once you have more practice doing that, you'll get the hang of it and notice patterns for each question type or RC type. Eventually, it'll get faster and start hitting the time recommendations. You got this!!
hi! make sure you feel as confident as possible with conditional reasoning. that was the thing that gave me the biggest jump. ANY time you encounter a question that you don't know how to approach, write it down and come back to it during review. overhaul your review system-- you should be understanding why the right answer is correct, why the wrong answers are each incorrect, and (imo most importantly) WHY you chose the wrong answer. getting really granular and detailed on the review will help a lot, it's just kind of arduous to sit with the same question for upwards of 20 minutes just thinking LOL
lastly i like to focus on quality over quantity to an extreme degree. if i make any quantifiable progress in a study session (am i measurably better at identifying the conclusion? did i get a streak of whatever when i've never done that before? etc) then i count it as a win. helps me avoid those 5 hour study sessions where it feels like you are just sitting there rotting in front of the screen
happy to answer anything else! i hope this helped/made sense
Actually just hit this same wall — started studying in March. My first PT was a 145 in May, then my June PT jumped to a 152 simply from changing the way I attack sections. My highest untimed accuracy on LR/RC sections is (-4) to (-5), so I’m still fumbling some of the 4-5 stars.
My July PT was similar to my June PT. My biggest issue is timing; my current ceiling is stuck in the 150s because I’m working to maximize my “first 18Q” accuracy, thus sacrificing a decent chunk of the later Qs. I’m getting questions right, just not fast enough to tackle the 20s. I’ve taken a bit of a detour from timed back to untimed work to really sit with my worst question types — specifically targeting NA, Phenom/Hyp Qs, etc. One thing I can say is that I’ve been super consistent, almost to a fault. Doing this with a full time gig really is no joke.
I was in the same boat studying for over a year and an half but could not get out of the 150s. Unfortunately, you have to do the same thing over and over again. Picking it up and putting it down and having long breaks does not reinforce good habits. I felt like I was still answering questions based off of “intuition” that was not correct and falling for the same trap answers. Once I got consistent doing the same method I started to see results. First, I went back to the content on my weakest answer types, actually learned conditional reasoning, and read The Loophole. Take a break from drilling problems and figure out why you don’t know what the correct answer is. That helped me see immediate progress. Prioritize your predictions, accuracy (doing more questions right, not just more questions) before moving onto tackling timing, and finally, reviewing your mistakes so detailed that you never commit that mistake again. I hope you break this plateau!