@ said:

Hi everyone,

I am feeling really discouraged. My diagnostic was a 145 and did not change substantially until I did 7sage. Last week, I got a 156, which was AMAZING to me, and I couldn't believe it. Now my score has only gotten worse: I got a 154, then a 149, and today I got a 147. This has all been in the span of a week or so. I'm very sad and I was planning on taking all of Friday off to relax, and do some drills today in my problem areas. Saturday is August LSAT Day.

What do you guys think? Is this a good idea? Any words of advice or encouragement? It's hard to not feel hopeless. I'm really hoping to get into the 150s so I don't have to go through this again, and I think that is what is making me so anxious.

EDIT: Would like to note that I have essentially cherrypicked my needs in the CC, because I definitely did not have time to do all of it, as much as I would have loved to. I started using the LSAT Trainer and studied very inconsistently, but it wasn't until July that I started really picking up on concepts and stuff. I know that my situation is less than ideal, but I think it's important for the full context to be here too. Please don't be harsh, as I know what I should have done.

It sounds like in July, you began to get it and that’s where the true improvement began. You can retake in October, November, and even later if you need to. For context, I took the January 2020 LSAT and still had time to apply for the 2020 cycle. While cherry-picking the curriculum is not ideal, you have decided to take the test on Saturday and will be doing it regardless.

If you want your best score now, I would STOP and not retake again until the real thing on Saturday. I wouldn’t even practice anymore. I would do whatever relaxes you. Several times, I have seen a big score jump (sometimes upwards of 5 points) after a 1-3 week break. The cool thing is, that score jump was permanent. Give your brain time to relax and reflect. Trust what you’ve learned so far. Take the test with the mindset that you are probably going to retake anyway, so your whole life doesn’t rely on this one test. Give yourself freedom to relax and know that this isn’t your ONE chance at your dreams. It sounds like you are dedicated and willing to keep working if you need to. Also, trust your gut. I have found more often than not that my first instinct is the correct answer and if I go back and change it, it ends up being the trap answer that is incorrect.

You got this. Not in a flippant, ignorant way. You’ve practiced, you’ve worked hard, you’ve poured blood, sweat, and tears into it. You, truly, have got this. And guess what? After you got this, if you feel you could’ve performed better, you have many retries available to do it again. But I honestly believe that you got this. :)

@ said:

Is the flex exam on something similar to law hub? Because I can't highlight or underline on there at all. I don't know if it's just my computer but I'm worried I wont be able to on the test

I took the January 2020 LSAT which was in person, but on a tablet in the same format that the FLEX will be in. From what I remember, the format on 7Sage is similar to the format for the LSAT. There is some confusion as to whether or not there is more than one color to use for highlighting (as in 7Sage we have pink, yellow & orange). There may only be one color highlight. But from what I remember, there is at least one highlight color option. Best of luck in your studies!

I've heard that for most schools, your LSAT score is considered on a spectrum that is +/- 3 points, so you are nearly as competitive as someone who is 3 points above you. This was during a webinar from a dean of admission at a top 30 law school.

Absolutely take a break. My biggest score jump came after 2 and a half weeks of absolutely no studying or testing. I have heard enough anecdotal evidence to make me strongly believe in the power of a fresh mind and a break right before the real thing will help you accomplish that. Best of luck on Saturday and I hope you take time to refresh yourself!

Absolutely focus on LG. That is the easiest section to improve upon, in my opinion. With regular practice, -0 is not impossible. It will give you the highest score jump, especially since you are on a time crunch. I would focus improvement on LG and take all the newer PTs. Repetition is what makes you faster in LG.

I’d love to join as well. I scored 162 in the January LSAT and am planning to take October. I’m in Alabama so I’m CST as well. Count me in!

If you get that score in BR, that means you know (most of) the answers instinctively. Therefore, I recommend you aggressively, over confidently, and zealously choose an answer right away and move on. Here’s why:

You’re giving your instinct the chance to choose the right answer without enough time to second guess yourself. Chances are, you’d spend valuable minutes vacillating over which answer to choose, just to end up going with your original choice.

You’re giving yourself more time to see all the questions, so you can pick and choose which ones to answer and which ones to skip.

Sounds counter intuitive, but try it and see if it works for you. Best of luck!!

Wow. Literally just saw this today. Bad timing!

I am also taking the August LSAT and working full time. Let’s connect and keep each other accountable! What platform works best for you, Seriously? We could do Zoom, Facebook... Is there an option on here?