I agree with what Aseman said! Once you get used to thinking about why something is said instead of trying to memorize it, these passages will get easier. A lot of the science passages confused me a lot until I started focusing on the big picture and structure of the passage instead of trying to actually learn the science. Ultimately, the LSAT is not about seeing how quickly you can learn science or humanities, but how well you can understand the author's argument and reasoning.

Echoing what Phoebe said, a lot of time is lost re-reading. One way to limit this is to cover what you've already read with a sheet of paper during drills. This physically prevents you from re-reading and can give you more time to review!

100% agree with Phoebe. The best way to improve your understanding of hard stimuli is to put them in your own words. You can practice this by rewriting each sentence of the stimuli you see and eventually it will become second nature and you won't need to write it out. But, as with anything worth doing, it's not easy and it takes time to build those skills up to the point they will help you on the real thing.

I would recommend waiting until you have spent time learning how to approach each question type and RC. Your drilling can tell you where you are with what you have learned, but it isn't helpful to look at what you haven't learned yet. Once you have gone through the fundamentals, you can start doing full PTs and see your progress!

@PhoebeHopp Exactly this! The folks handling the admissions consulting are absolutely incredible at what they do!

I don't have any more information than you do, but a scored writing section would be a massive shift and likely come with a significant buffer before implemented. I understand the importance of writing nowadays, especially with so many people using AI, but writing doesn't really utilize reasoning or comprehension skills. Bottom line: it would take a long time and, if they do it, would likely be well after your last LSAT.

I agree with Phoebe! One more thing I would add is creating drill sets with an increasing variety of question types to get your mind used to switching between them. You could start out with 2 or 3 question types and once you get consistent there, start adding more.

Let's go beast! 19 points is a huge jump! Nice work.

One thing I changed was the order in which I answered the questions. Being mentally tired when you are facing the harder questions at the end is especially challenging. I messed around with my order on different PTs and changed from answering them in the order they appear to answering 1-10 as a warmup, then working backwards from the last question. This got my head in the right space after 10 easier questions, but still not trying to tackle the most difficult ones at the end. My advice would be to try some things out and see how your timing/ score changes! Luckily you have plenty of time before August to test it out.

Echoing what others have said - start moving on to full PTs and take the test once you consistently PT in a range you're happy with. It's good to take your time! I definitely rushed my first attempt too and saw the results of that process.

Woohoo!! 179 blind review is awesome too!

You beast! 7Sage loves you back

As long as you commit to being yourself in your essays and embracing your different experience, you'll stand out to the right people. You have the right mindset to just control what you can control, which is the best you can do. Ignore Reddit doomers and best of luck on your journey!

Sorry to hear that. Definitely frustrating when unnecessary stress is added to an already stressful situation. I'm glad you handled it well and thank you for sharing for others to learn from as well!

You've got plenty of time! The most important part of studying is the right process with targeted practice, which I'm sure a tutor will help sort out. The next most important part of studying, in my opinion, is... rest! You can study full-time, but make sure you build in off days where you commit to not thinking about the LSAT at all. I saw some of my best improvements after taking a day and not feeling guilty about it, so my mind could actually rest and refresh!

It seems from other posts that they have. Technical difficulties are definitely an unwelcome added level of stress. But what helps the stress is knowing the New York Knicks are NBA champions once again!!

I had the same issue until I started focusing more on the bigger picture of the passage like the other comments mentioned. Asking the purpose and main point of each passage helps in that sense. Another thing I found helpful was highlighting lists or examples instead of trying to remember them. My last recommendation is to use a flashcard or paper to cover the part of the passage you’ve already read so you don’t allow yourself to reread anything. If you write good low-res summaries you can find the answer using those if you need to look back. But there’s no point in rereading parts of a passage the first time through that may not be important for any questions!

I completely agree with what Aseman suggested. Another way to start getting more used to increased variety in question types is to create filtered drill sets. You can include just two question types at first and then increase to 3, 4, 5, etc. as you get more accurate. This can help make it less daunting initially but still get you used to the type of sections you’ll see on tests!

You and the LSAT are 0-0. Control what you can control: effort, persistence, and confidence. Just go out there and get it done like my GOAT!

@MohammedObaid It is time consuming at the start, but building the fundamentals is crucial. Going through the lessons certainly helps solidify how to approach each question type and build that strong foundation as you continue. After you take practice tests or practice sections, you should document the question types of what you got wrong and why you got them wrong. This can help guide you to the areas you should focus on. Ultimately, it's better to spend the time to improve your understanding of the test up front and trust that your process is right. I was misguided in my studies for too long and only saw meaningful improvements after getting the process right. Best of luck - you can do it!

Unfortunately the LSAC GPA is what every school uses. It definitely hurts students who didn't know they wanted to apply to law school years later. Regardless, don't let it discourage you from applying yourself and controlling what you can control now!

It's definitely subjective, but in about 99% of cases I would recommend not cancelling your first score. At worst, admissions committees will see a big score jump after you retake if you didn't do as well as you wanted the first time.

You mentioned you might want to cancel because you have been studying for a while, but admissions committees don't know how long you studied for! For all they know, it could be your cold diagnostic. I would treat your first one with that in mind and probably not cancel, but of course, it's up to you! It's also important to keep in mind most schools only care about the highest score since that is what they report.

Good luck! I hope you see what you're hoping for on score release day!

Seconding what Phoebe said - that's a great place to be with your score! Experimental section have the joys of potentially being much more difficult or much easier depending on the test. They are still questions that could realistically be seen on the LSAT though, so not doing as well on the experimental is a great opportunity to look at the extra data points! As with any practicing, it's important to carefully review your wrong answers to understand why you got them wrong and not make the same mistakes in the future. Don't get discouraged! It's just an opportunity to keep improving!

I would always do one RC passage (hopefully ~5 questions) and 5 LR questions. You can tailor it to your preference but I tried not to use any hard difficulty questions in the warmup so I could have some confidence going in. Whatever makes you click is the way to go!

I have found that sometimes reusing passages helped improve my ability to pick out the relevant information from the passage. Having that subconscious feeling of what is or might be in the questions actually started to translate to new passages as well. Being able to identify and jot down the important information is a huge time saver and greatly improves accuracy too!

You could also treat other texts like a passage. Scientific American and The Economist are similarly situated sources that can improve your RC without the questions attached to them. As long as you pick out the main points well, the correct answers will follow.