- Official Score
- 173
Phoebe graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Michigan with a degree in Film, Television, and Media. After improving 10 points over 3 months of studying, Phoebe achieved her goal score on her first LSAT attempt.
Phoebe thinks that mastering the LSAT boils down to learning the rules of a language-centric game. She prioritizes building confidence through deep, fundamental understanding and developing systems for navigating even the most convoluted of questions.
Though Phoebe genuinely enjoys the LSAT, she can be found bouldering, watching soccer, or spending too much time at the Met.
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A little variance is to be expected, especially in this score bracket! Different tests have different question distributions, so some play to your strengths and exploit your weaknesses more than others. Echoing the below advice, do an in-depth review of the tests. Look at the questions you got wrong, but also the ones it took you more time to answer, or ones where you went back and forth between answers. Understanding why the right answer is right is great, but understanding why you chose your answer and why it wasn't right are also incredibly beneficial. Then drill those question types, focusing on one question type at a time.
That's a really exciting score! In terms of a goal score, it depends! If you interpret "best law school" as the highest ranked, then I'd say full send 180. This is by no means me saying that you need 180 to get into any school, but since you have the time and are already scoring in the high 160s, why not shoot for the top?
As for targets, reaches, and safeties, it's really subjective! You can check out 7Sage's admissions predictor and database here, or you can do a free consult with our admissions team to see what kind of tailored advice you might be looking for.
Happy studying, and good luck in your application journey!
A couple things!
You absolutely shouldn't be upset about the 162! We got a little tired in the second half, but that's just building endurance.
Look at that 175 BR. Beautiful.
128 prediction is crazy.
At least you're not a Clippers fan.
It's up to you! Some people like writing stuff down, but you'll always have the lessons to refer back to. If you just want to read the information and move on to answering/reviewing, that's completely fine!
It's very possible! I agree with the below. I'd also suggest not doing a section every day! The majority of growth at this stage is going to come from drilling. If you're missing a question type on the section, drill it! It's a far more efficient use of your study time, and gives you a chance to break down how you answer questions and figure out a strategy and approach. Once you've got a good handle on all the question types you missed, then you can hit a section again to look for more weak spots.
Yes! Definitely study with the accommodations. Studying is all about quality, not quantity; I wouldn't trip about the fewer questions!
I'd take another look at your timing strategy! As the later questions like these are typically more difficult, we want to make sure we're allotting enough time. Getting the first 15 questions in 15 minutes is one touch point that's helpful.
I'd also take a look at how/why you're getting them wrong! Are you misreading? Making goofy mistakes? Or is it a question you genuinely struggled with? Even if you're getting them on BR, if you were 100% solid on those question types, you'd be getting them right the first go around.
I hope that helps, and good luck!
Hey there! There's a big mental difference between doing 10 questions and doing 26. Your brain gets tired!
It also depends on what those drills look like: if all 10 are from the same question type, you get into a rhythm. If it's mixed, then there still just aren't enough questions to account for all the different types of questions you might see on a full section. Maybe you get 100% on a 10 question drill, but there weren't any NA questions, and on your section, there were 2 NA questions you missed.
I'd also make sure that you're blind reviewing after each section you do to account for the difference between question types you understand but maybe aren't super confident on/need more time and questions that you're missing even with unlimited time.
I hope that helps! Happy studying.
This is really common! It's important to note that even if you're getting something right on BR, it's worth paying attention to that question type. Speed accompanies proficiency; if you were totally comfortable with that question type, you would have been able to get it the first go around under timed conditions. When you do a Wrong Answer Journal (I'd recommend it if you don't already), really take the time to understand why you chose the answer you did, and why that answer isn't right.
Most of your study time should be spent drilling; focus on one question type at a time!
Finally, I'd also take a look at your testing strategy! How do you approach timing? What's your system for making sure you don't get caught up on one question?
Congrats! That's incredible. I hope you're taking some time to celebrate yourself and all the hard work you put in :)
For me, the majority of my study time would come from drilling. I'd take one PT a week, making sure I'm saving the most recent PTs for closer to the test. From those PTs, I'd note which question types I was missing, even if I got them right on BR, as well as the question types that I guessed on, took extra long on, or toggled between ACs on. I'd do a WAJ for all of those.
Then, I'd target each question type one by one with small drills (no more than 5 questions). I'd do elimination drilling: not only picking the right answer, but eliminating every other AC and explaining why. I'd start by doing drills of 3* questions, untimed at first. When I was consistently hitting 100% accuracy, I'd move up to 4*, and repeat. I wouldn't consider that question type mastered unless I was consistently hitting 100% in every timed drill of 4-5* questions. but if I could feel myself getting frustrated and seeing diminishing returns, I'd switch to another question type for awhile.
Timing-wise, I'd do one day of a PT, one day of reviewing/wrong answer journaling, and four days of mainly drilling. I might do LR days and RC days, or I might do both on a given day depending on how I was feeling.
I would make sure that whenever I was studying, I was locked in. If I felt myself starting to phone it in, I'd take a break or call it for the day. For me, depending on the day, that could be after anywhere from 2-4 hours. If you're not getting quality study time in, the quantity doesn't matter. 1 or two great, focused hours is worth way more than 4-6 hours of 70%.
I'd also make sure I still had a life: seeing friends, going for a walk, hitting the gym, goofing around. This test can get in your head, so keeping everything in perspective helps.
No pity, but congrats on no longer having a job you hate!
That's so exciting! I hope you're proud of yourself.
For RC:
A general rule of thumb is to finish your second passage with 20 minutes left so you have 10 minutes each for your last 2, which are usually harder.
Practice "full-send" drills: once you read the passage and make your low-res summaries, you're not allowed to look back at the passage (the exception being questions that reference specific words or sentences). This forces you to a) get in the habit of retaining more on the first go around and b) use reasoning to get rid of answer choices (RC is ultimately just big LR). Pre-phrasing answers as much as possible is also helpful!
Good luck, and happy studying!
-Elimination drilling! It's good to know why the right answer is right, but it's even better to also know why each wrong answer is wrong. This helps reduce your likelihood of falling for trap answers.
-Looking at your test-taking strategy! Are you wavering between answers a lot? Do you have enough time at the end, or are you rushing? Touchstones like the first 10 in 10 are good, but also knowing how you want to use flagging, if you want to structure your time so you're able to go back and check, etc.
-I'm not sure what your RC is like, but full-send drills (after you read the passage, you can't look back once you go to the questions) are also really effective for retaining information, improving timing, and forcing you to use reason rather than just brute-force memorization. Also: the point of RC is not for you to learn about X topic. The point of RC is to analyze an argument. Your north star is, "what is the author trying to convince me of? How do they try to do it?"
The below is excellent advice! I'd also recommend taking an LR pass over your answer choices. There could be multiple ACs that seem compatible with the passage, but there might be a single word that makes an AC inaccurate or difficult to support. Maybe the author is in favor of method X, but do you have support that they believe it's the most effective method? Is it really that A will always result in B?
Unless you're sending your application in at the actual last minute, the benefits of applying earlier are negligible compared to the benefits of applying with a higher LSAT score. Higher score in January >> lower score in October every time!
I've never heard of this strategy, and it's an interesting one! My only hesitation would be that if you're taking too long on a "harder" question, that's sucking up a lot more time than taking too long on an easier question. So you'll be rushing easier questions, but you'll really be rushing them, be frazzled from the lack of time, and leaving easy points on the board. Still, it's worth trying out in a PT to see if it changes anything!
As someone who also struggled with letting go, developing a liberal flagging system helped. If I was less than 90% sure about an AC, I would flag the question and move on. If I was feeling really lost on it, I would go with my gut and write the question number down. This meant by the end of the section, I had about a dozen questions flagged, but only a couple written down that really needed another look and about 8-12 minutes left to go back and do them. For the other flagged ones, coming back with a fresh head really just helped me confirm I was right the first time.
I hope that's at least somewhat helpful.
Highlighting the premise and conclusions are great! It's also help to pause after the stimulus and ask yourself what you know for sure to be true, and where you have to end up.
Ex:
Law enforcement experts, as well as most citizens, have finally come to recognize that legal prohibitions against gambling all share a common flaw: no matter how diligent the effort, the laws are impossible to enforce. Ethical qualms notwithstanding, when a law fails to be effective, it should not be a law. That is why there should be no legal prohibition against gambling.
facts:
-impossible to enforce legal gambling prohibition
-if it isn't effective, it shouldn't be a law
where you have to end up: there shouldn't be a prohibition against gambling
Rephrase things into your own words when possible to make sure you're digesting what's being said.
I hope that helps! Happy studying
Congrats! I'd go hard on your WAJ, even for the ones you got right in BR. This is a lot of useful data. Take a look at the question types you were getting wrong, and focus on drilling one question type at a time. I recommend doing smaller drills (5-6 questions) so that you can lock in and be intentional about your process. Elimination drilling is also a great way to make sure you're leaving no stone unturned: in addition to choosing the right answer, you also have to eliminate all the other ACs and explain to yourself why it's wrong. It's also worth looking at the questions that you may have gotten right, but took a little extra time on, or were back and forth between answers.
I hope that helps, and happy studying!
That's incredible and so exciting! Those are excellent strategies, although it looks like you don't need me to tell you that :)
Hey!
Taking notes does tend to suck up time. But taking a moment after each paragraph to capture it in 3-6 words (or symbols) can be incredibly helpful as it forces you to process the information and distill it into a couple key terms. While it may feel burdensome in the beginning, as you develop a shorthand with yourself it becomes much, much faster.
Another thing that helps is constantly putting new information in conversation with what you've read earlier in the passage. How does this piece fit with the last piece? Does it support it? A counterargument? A passage is essentially a paint-by-numbers, as you fill stuff in, you start to see the picture taking place.
I hope that helps, and happy studying!