I LOVED seeing this thread - these are so good! I'm in the same spot. Did not know I was ADD until my daughter was born, turns out that is super normal. Girls with ADD are often overlooked in K-12. I did request accommodation with extra time, and I have one thing to add to your list about that. If you have the accommodation for time and a half, do not underestimate how LONG this makes your exam. I discovered that it made the testing day feel extra burdensome. While I was taking practice tests under day-of testing conditions, I did not factor in additional time for problems. For example - the test did not kick off at exactly when I thought it would. It took more like 45 mins to an hour for the proctor to get things set up the way they wanted it. Physically sitting and getting fidgety waiting for the exam to begin threw me for a loop. Then the testing time with the breaks seemed routine, but there was a moment during my exam when we had to stop the test for a connectivity issue. This was another lengthy break. All said and done it took way longer to sit for the exam than I anticipated. This meant that my brain was focusing and felt stress longer than I practiced. And for my ADD, with intense focus for a very long amount of time, I want to nap. It was very exhausting. Practice this way over and over to improve your endurance. I wish I had. I tested on test day about 3-4 points lower than I do during practice tests.

Take the first PT now.

Ditch powerscore and move over here asap. The analytics section alone will help you improve - something I don't think powerscore can touch.

Go slowly through the entire core curriculum. Do not rush it. Notes or no notes, absorb the material. You'll return to it to refine areas for improvement that are specific to you.

Use the tests as your prep and use the analytics.

Do an LG section every day.

And make friends here. :) Everyone is helpful.

You can do this.

You are welcome to dm me - I'm in a mid career change here after lobbying in Washington federal legislative and regulatory affairs for the first part of my career. You aren't alone being older or doing something different - there are quite a lot of us who are non traditional here on 7Sage. Nothing about going into corporate or healthcare is scary, just unfamiliar, and you can do it. Many of those communities are really quite small (truly, think high school) once you get in the right doors. Happy to help cheer you on.

Oh bless you. First, go easy on yourself. Your score is not a reflection of your intelligence, and it does not define you. This is a marathon, and that diagnostic means nothing. You'll get to a point where you come to see that your PT scores will mean nothing. What you learn about yourself out of all of these tests is everything. And yes, you absolutely CAN improve more than 20 points. My first test was a 141 and I'm currently testing at 161. And still improving. Give yourself all the time you need on this test, go slow with the core curriculum to grasp all the concepts, practice practice practice, and reach out to all of the wonderful people on this forum to help you succeed. You can do this. We are cheering you on.

My word, congratulations! That is a big deal. You've earned the right to approach this part of your story with strength. A question though, in real life, do you avoid the topic/approach it with any shame or embarrassment? Or, do you use the power of it for some good in your own life or others? I hope you view this part of you with strength, because there is nothing about it that makes you any more of a flawed applicant than any single one of the rest of us. We all fall short of any glory. How you see yourself is everything - You get to frame your narrative. You've taken something hard, you beat the thing, then turned it into something life-altering and remarkable. That makes you stand out.

Addendum, or crux of personal statement: It's something to think through. If a personal statement showcases your personality, did the depths of addiction and later, sobriety, change you into who you are today? If a personal statement expresses experiences that made you pursue law, did overcoming addiction cause you to chart your path from there to here? If a personal statement demonstrates how you will make a great addition to an incoming class, can you positively, persuasively emphasize how your experience does just that? Do you know how relatable this could be with people who are experiencing failures in life that lead them before judges and juries? Can you speak to growth and empathy?

If it makes you feel more confident about the choice, maybe write two. Write one on something else that feels competent, and one with this narrative. Give both to an admissions advisor and see what he or she says. I think there's something to be said about integrating all the parts of your life, leaving no dissonance between the personal and the professional. Addendum or PS, it must be addressed, because of the grades and 3 year gap in undergrad. Either way, I see battle-tested strength, personal courage, and grit. I bet others will too.

Conditional lawgic diagrams? I try to during the test, but I heard JY once say that there may be only a handful of these kinds of questions, like 5 or 6. So I don't always. That used to worry me, like I was missing something big, but that's not always the case. If I take time to diagram it does help. But I'm not 100% consistent on it with every diagrammable question.

20 point climb is very doable - Started at 141, testing at 161 and still climbing. LOVED this post, thanks @sub0captures6, for perspective.

Agree. I think this is all a little bit like cross-training in athletics. Do consider slowing down. One guy whose story I read was former military and said, Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. The speed will come, but if I don't give my brain time to retain these things I am learning it will hinder me in the long run. This whole thing is a long game. Consider a later test date, even. YOU WILL GET THERE.

And my specific thoughts on RC- slow way down on the passage. Spend time there, even if you only do 3 sections. You will improve! Cheering you on.

Get a study group together or join one and listen to how other people process the information and questions. You will see improvement! There are lots of helping hands here! You can do this!

I’ve been meaning to send you a note- thank you so much for doing this last week. Just hearing thoughts on how to approach this test helped me see it differently, helped me think about it differently. Excited to see improvement. Definitely appreciate your time. Thanks!

Thanks :) !!

If you listen to the podcast one of the girls does talk about this - I can't remember if it is #38 with Sami or #39 with Rochisha but what stuck with me about her comments is that in the real test under timed conditions you may not be able to trust your instinct. Other factors like stress may cause brain fog/paralysis (she didn't say it exactly like this but similar) and so she learned to rely on full out form, the mechanics. I'm going back through LR to do this too. I may be leaning on instinct too much, and that may be opening me up to a failure around the corner.

That's fantastic, and encouraging. Congratulations! And good luck! Elizabeth

I specifically use it for flaw questions during review after blind review.

Clarify on the internship - are you on the Hill? If you are interning in a member's office, you will not get the most out of the experience if you need to leave the office and study after work. Capitol Hill time is like gold on a resume. If you have been offered that opportunity, it most likely will turn in to a job for you later, whether with that office or another one. You need to meet as many people as you can, go to as many events as you can, spend as much time with the member as you can, (or LD or COS or LA, whomever) to get every single bit of it as possible. Treat it like running for student government in college. And I bet you don't live in Washington now. You need to explore that city with the new friends you will make, build a basis of real, trusting friendships. Politics is all about relationships. These friends may stick with you long term, and you never ever ever know when one will be a door to a new job opportunity down the road in your life. It's just the way that town works. If you need to study the LSAT at the same time, you are making a choice to limit your opportunities. They are both important, the choices are yours. If you are not on the Hill, for example, in a law office on K street or at a nonprofit downtown, the opportunities will not be the same as being around the politicians or people who may someday be the politicians. Be diligent, leave the office after work and go study. You can laser focus and do both. But if you have a Hill internship, consider waiting a little on your LSAT. The test will always be there. Your internship chances will not.

Are you trying to practice in the Dallas area, or anywhere in Texas?

Very worth it. JY's instruction has been so great for me, but it never hurts to hear material from a different teacher. This lady is a word expert. Literally. She uses words in a way that could provide different clarity for you on concepts we are tested on in the LSAT. Try it.

This one was hard, and it was fun. I got the right answer on PT but only by luck. In review I missed it. But it was fun!

Takeaways:

Remember some statements read backwards, too.

Zero in on "since" to find premises/conclusions.

Ditch invalid argument forms.

These three things would have made this go a lot faster.

JY's explanation with my paraphrasing:

A. If x then you don’t get to ban it. We need if X (SOMETHING) then you DO get to ban it.

B. More good than harm. If novel has wholesale violence ban it if doing so would do more good than harm. No – none of this is right.

C. Ban the novel ONLY IF. So this one looks like Ban -> (something). We need (Something) -> Ban

D. If the novel has two or more objectionable characteristics (SOMETHING) -> Ban. This is perfect.

E. Banning is ok if (SOMETHING) this is not the right form to find, it says B ->(SOMETHING)

I did not get this question right either time, PT or review! I need to focus on the form of the first argument in these questions. TRYING AGAIN.

A written schedule helps. I had to look at my schedule and block time, try it and stick to it until I found what works. For me, I get two hours in the morning from 7-9A, I persistently carve out a lunch hour to study (otherwise I'd work through it), and then I get another two hours from 4-5:55P. Sometimes I can get a longer study session in the afternoons if work is slowing, usually on Thursdays. On Friday afternoons I do not work past noon unless something at our firm is urgent. I usually can get 5-6 hours of study in on Fridays if I am diligent, so 28 hours during a work week.

Weekends are harder. We have a three year old, so I try to schedule somewhere between 2-5 hours each on Sat and Sun but that is flexible, for when I know my husband can cover time with our daughter. Doing this schedule, I can pretty consistently get 30-35 hours a week, more or less. But I have to diligently guard that time. It's there for me if I am protective of it. Not just that but I have to sit down to study, mentally ready to study. I have to ward off fatigue, emotion, distraction etc. and I remind myself I'm training for a test that will be OVER AND DONE in a few months. This schedule is not permanent.

This made me laugh and laugh. Over coffee and LSAT study. Thanks JY.