Change Es words from opinion to belief and I feel like it becomes a whole lot more attractive. Even if you have a hard time eliminating the other answers the strength of E should grab you. Got this one on Blind review unfortunately.

Oh... It's so clear now. :(

lucked into the right answer. This question is a time sinker.

@ @ it took a while. 20+ PTs in or so. The truth is one test I just realized i was making obvious mistakes again and again and what helped was doing things JY says to do. I wrote down on the back of the answer sheet a bunch of stuff for myself to do next PT.

LR: Always identify Premise and conclusion. Read all the answer choices. Question stem first. Know the question types. I just wasn't doing this stuff properly before even though i thought I was.

RC: SERIOUSLY give the passage as much time as you need. Understand it. It's so common sense but i suspect a lot of people are doing what I was doing and tricking themselves into thinking they know where everything is and what it means by skimming. It takes time but this was the real thing holding me back. Went from - 8 to - 6 to - 3/4.

LG: they repeat themselves so just do them all and fool proof them. Inferences just come up all the time that I've seen before or if they are new I just spend a little more time flushing them out.

And weird bit of advice but really force yourself to focus in on the test. I found myself kinda going through the motions a few times and not really paying close attention to the test. We have to be focused in on what we are doing or we won't do our best. I personally need to stop thinking about what I will be doing with my life after the test.

I'm gonna really try to make sure I can carry this success over to test day. Good luck to us all!

Sorry! Not trying to bother anyone but i just want to share some exciting news!

I scored a 172 on a PT today :o I'm so happy. I never thought I'd score that high on a PT!

If you are like what I was and struggling on a few tests in a row maybe just take a day to relax and another day to tune up some small stuff. Review a few past tests here and there. And then hammer and focus on a pt when you can. I'm now positive I was overdoing it at the time of my rut of 159/160. I think some tests are in fact harder than others but they do seem to reward you with easier sections to counterbalance the hard ones. 50s, 60s, and 70s feel roughly the same.

Dec 6 is right around the corner! Anything within 3 points plus or minus of that 172 would make my Christmas. Back to it!

Mike of every ethnicity and genre under the sun. He seems so familiar to us at this point. Yet, the next LSAT he will inevitably show us how he can distinguish himself from other Mongolian American limerick poets.

Thanks for the post :)

A few things I have found that help me:

1. Fake your interest. I started doing that and it really helped me stay at -3 to -6 more consistently. Before I was butchering RC at -8 or more. It's still my weakest section, but every little bit helps.

2. I've been trying to really invest more time up front on the passages for some time now.

3. I've started doing a new thing that I think is helping. It sounds sort of like common sense, but apparently it wasn't what I was doing. So here it is...

If you read a whole paragraph and go "I have no idea what that just said or meant" go back and figure it out. It doesn't matter if you spend 2 or 3 minutes on the paragraph (although it isn't ideal). I was getting 5/7 questions wrong sometimes because I ignored one paragraph that I just didn't give time to comprehend. I rather go into those 7 questions and attack them with a complete understanding with only 30 seconds remaining on the section than go into those 7 questions with 4 minutes left and lacking something important. No joke, I've done both before and I can make use of the 30 seconds and give my self a better shot at those questions (not ideal).

tldr: reread paragraphs that stump you.

Final thing I want to say:

Go watch some motivational videos and get back to it. It's actually 100% false that you can't improve on reading comprehension. The gains come slower than LG and LR but it is possible and likely if you work at it.

At JY or anyone I guess,

If this was a NA question type, could a correct answer be that Creativity and Resourcefulness are necessary to enhance Cognitive Development? I just started thinking about it when you mentioned that C and R are only a subset to CD, which was something the author failed to realize. Am I making some kind of mistake in my way of thinking? Just curious, it might help me grasp NA/SA question types better.

Skipped cause I was short on time... BR I cut through the wrong answer choices like a light saber through butter. I need to get faster on the first 10 or so questions... I would have got this one.

Question 4... I wanted to pick B but I couldn't help but think that an answer choice saying there isn't a solution is wrong.

You can't read too much into a test result when you take it at the end of a full day of studying. I took 2 tests back to back once before as endurance training and my score dropped significantly on the second one. I think it is to be expected.

RC is also my worst, and I am in the same boat when it comes to trying to narrow the gap to -5 or less every test. I find that I can get my best score on RC when I really spend a lot of time up front on the RC passages and try to not get caught up wasting time on the tricky questions. If you can get through the 4 passages with enough time to grasp the concepts and carefully read each question before taking your best shot it can really help your score.

Also, If it counts for anything I took PT 70 today and found RC easier than PT 50-55. Difficulty might be subjective to each test taker or maybe they are harder, but either way the strategy for taking the test is the same. We shouldn't worry about it.

If you aren't getting perfect LGs then review all of them using the fool proof method.

You must skip questions that take up time in LR. Identify these question types and you will get to 160. If you waste 6 mins on a PF question 15 and don't get to 20,21,22,23,24,25,26 because of it then you made a bad choice. Just an example, but it used to happen to me. I skip and often even have time to go back.

dedicate time up front to understanding the passages in RC. Try to fly through the questions by knowing the passage.

Good luck to both of us!

I took test 70 today. I found the logic games much harder so I will be dedicating some time to reviewing newer harder logic games. I'm not getting perfect LG sections anymore like I was in the 40s and early 50s. The RC seemed fine.

My score went back up slightly to 164. I think I needed some mental rest. I was able to attack the questions more aggressively than the last two.

i'll carefully look at my mistakes this time and hopefully I can go into test day with more confidence of scoring a highter 160. (Maybe a high of 169)

Thank you for everyone's opinions and advice. The discussion forum here is filled with good people. :)

@ Yup, I am jumping up to them soon. I was just trying to work through as many lower tests as possible.

@ Not looking forward to the ball busting games... I'm pretty good at making inferences but I struggle on unfamiliar setups. Ideally I can speed through easy ones and brute force tricky ones if I can't setup properly.

@ @ Just took my first PT since the test on the 6th of December. Scored a 167, lol. Going to blind review it now.

So it doesn't look like I lost much in 3+ months of no studying, and I already know some of the mistakes I made. Had my most problems for sure with LG, which makes sense since it's the most like an actual game and requires practice. But that's awesome because I know how easy it is to get LG perfect compared to the rest of the sections.

172+ with an early application and more individualised personal statements for the top schools will probably give me better chances than what I had this time. Do you think applying to some of these schools two years in a row will help? I can't imagine it hurting at least.

I'll get back to the grind and hopefully I can get a 172+ and finally put the LSAT behind me in June.

@ "No one wants to let someone in just to see them fail."

Well, I'm not sure if conditional scholarships make law schools much money if at least some people aren't failing. But I am in a very cynical mood about non elite law schools lately, so don't mind me.

I think that the LSAC should disclose the extra time given. The disability in question will be brought up eventually if it is so severe it requires extra time. What about LS exams? What about work in the future? I think the debate should really be "Should the LSAC be giving extra time?"

I've seen some awesome points above as well, including what @.11235 said. It's not a very fair test to begin with, although I think it is a very useful indicator. Besides the cognitive reasons for why it is unfair, there is data suggesting that higher income individuals just score better (presumably due to money for tutors/classes/time off to actually study), therefore they get more scholarships and/or go to better law schools.

There should be a full application process for a grant which would allow you to live and study for 3+ months for this test to level the playing field. It could come from all that government money that shouldn't be spent on loans.

Sorry, being negative and off topic. Don't mind me.

Positive motivation is really good. Think about your dream school and how happy you will be to go there. Read about it in your free time. I like to go on runs and just think. Or hike to places where there aren't many people and just sit. Or walk the dogs. Getting outside is highly undervalued.

On the other end of the spectrum, something that I will be using more this time around, is how bad the job market is and how vital it is to do well. Previously my goal was to do my best and go to the best school I can. This time it's get the right score or move on to a new career.

@ based of that I'd be better off at BC. They gave me75k compared to GWU with the 60k. I also got 90k from WUSTL, but I'm not sure I want to practice in that region.

Do you think any of them would consider a deferral?

@ @

Yea, I'll redo a PT soon to see what my score is like 4 months since the actual test.

I've got a real shot of getting off the waitlist at Cornell. My numbers stack up well. Still retake? Or does it become a harder choice then?

I look at GWU, which is one of the schools I got into with money. Am I being foolish waiting another year? Or am I being foolish mailing myself a bill for $250,000 3 years later?

I know this thread has answered these questions. I think I should retake. But it's hard walking away from these offers. I actually enjoy studying the LSAT because it is challenging and a very accurate measure of a skill level (the skill of taking the LSAT). But I also don't like wasting time. I also don't like wasting money.

I'll need to keep thinking about this. I've got time before deposits are due.

@ @

Leaning heavily towards a retake. I talked with my partner about this today. I tried to be honest with myself... if I retook the test would I be able to improve upon the 167? Yup. I can. And when you put it like that, can I score at least a 168 or 169? Yup. But I think I won't settle for anything less than over 170. I had a really bad test day and my score was good considering the distractions.

Over $150k debt for BC and GWU is just too big a risk.

Only thing I am slightly nervous about is I did go through quite a large amount of PT's. So I will have to be careful about rationing the remaining PT's I didn't take.

Also, will law schools look down upon me for being not employed or underemployed while studying for this test?

@ Yea, I did get into BC with money, but it still ends up being quite a large debt after 3 years. My big thing right now is I don't mind taking on the debt with decent job prospects at the end, but the truth is it is GRIM out there.

I think I would love biglaw but you're right, I wouldn't mind having the option to go into academia just in case.

@ @

Do you really think applying in January caused me great harm in this application cycle? I didn't realize that was considered very late.

Should I have any concern about law schools not liking that I was admitted to them but didn't go without the full ride(t25)? Or that I was previously denied and reapplied (t10 school)? Or that I took the LSAT a third time? Or that I graduated undergrad in 2013?

How much difference would a 170 cause? 172? 175? 180?

This time I think I'll be aiming for the 180 or close to it since I have the fundamentals established and the time to hone the rest. I feel like that's the best way I can make a statement that I needed to retake this test and I deserve to be in t14.

I'll negotiate a little more with the schools, mull it over, and then decide whether to go or retake...

@

First of all Congratulations!

Waitlisted at GULC and Cornell, which also tells me above them is unlikely... did they give you any money? And I started sending applications in early January, so pretty late compared to a lot of people. Took the test in December.

I'm debating being frank with some of these top 30 schools and saying "I'm on the edge between a retake or going for full tuition. I can't afford your $60,000 a year tuition with 4% raise every year weighed against the abysmal job prospects." But of course phrased more politely.

I'm pretty confident that I can score higher. Taking it in December was a must as I was scoring 172's on PT's. But I recognized even then another month would have helped significantly.

So you say retake... I can't deny the family and friends pressure is there but I know that retaking gives me the best shot at t14 with money and ultimately biglaw.

Ms paint works :)

I feel like this is a case of common sense the LSAT writers expect from you. Second hand smoke causes harm to others. Smoking in private...doesn't.

I know C makes sense but E just felt stronger, but I suppose Ana mentioning harm should have tipped me off.

I did okay.