I'm personally trying to decide if it's possible to make notable gains in just over a months time.

I hit a 163 on the OCT 2013 LSAT. My anxiety was unreal of test day, even woke up with a migraine. My last 8 PT's were in the 165-172 range.... So I don't know what to do. I don't know how not to freak out of test day.

Really underperformed on the OCT LSAT. Ended up with a 163.

I did the worst on what is usually my best section, LR- Missing a total of 16 b/w the two sections. I couldn't believe it. On PT's I was averaging around 170+ with -5 b/w both LR's.

BR'd PT 70 Today... Missing only questions total. I made a lot of foolish mistakes on LR.

I will be retaking .

K,

I don't think there's anything wrong with reviewing. Just avoid cramming. I.e. studying endless hours day and night. I don't see a problem with reviewing a few hours a day.

To go off of CJ's analogy... Fighters still train up until the day of the fight. They don't go all out the last week, but they certainly don't avoid training for an entire week before the fight.

I'm going to take my final pre test PT on Tuesday. Review it by Wednesday night. Then take it easy on Thursday and Friday.

I plan on taking the day before the test to do absolutely nothing.

I work full time and lift 5 days a week. You stand corrected. Lifting is my escape. It helps control all of the negative side effects of intense lsat training.

It's experimental. It won't be outrageous, but perhaps bit of a stretch. Just look at the evolution of the lsat ... Nothing extreme . Even if it were , who cares- its not scored

Yes check in by 8:30, test around 9.,

If you've been prescribed ADHD medication, your physician should have given you instructions, and you should follow those. If you have not been prescribed such medication, I would advise you not to do so on test day unless you abuse it regularly are familiar with all of the pros/cons. For some its counterproductive.

Best of luck, Kerri. You're going to kill the test in December.

For LR

1. For the first 4-6 weeks, work without timing yourself. The goal is quality.

2. For every question that you do during that time frame do the following.

A. Write down what type of question you’re being asked.

B. Write a paraphrase of the main conclusion of the argument.

C. Write down a flaw in the argument (there may be many; in that case, choose two).

D. Write down the answer to the question you’ve been asked. (For Flaw, Necessary and Sufficient assumption, weaken, strengthen, and evaluation questions, your answer from part (C) will suffice). For most of the questions , you will now be able simply to choose an answer choice that matches what you’ve written down.

E. If none of the answers match what you’ve written in down, identify with precision and with thought the reason that you will choose one answer, and write down that reasoning. Next, write down the reason/s that you are not choosing each of the other four choices . Now, you have a record to refer to after you check your answers against the key, and you can intelligently assess your progress.

Check out some of the TLS threads.... they have one by people who have scored 160+ . They also have 3 good articles by individuals that scored 180.

I have found full length tests to be more beneficial than drilling. After awhile you start seeing patterns. That's when I started seeing improvements on LR.

I'm waiting for my Oct score before I sell mine.

Also I've never had issued with mine . It shouldn't reset itself. On mine you have to stop it and then hit reset.

K,

You never know. Maybe you aced it.

I feel the same as you . The more I think about it the more sick I feel.

You did help me ID which rc was experimental , though. Thanks for that. I also had one question on that passage (probably the same) that didn't seem to have an answer.

Anyway, good luck with your other studies. If we didn't kill it this time, we will on the next round we choose.

@ Short Thank you for your humbling response. You are correct to have revealed my flawed thinking. That mind set, in itself, is enough to prevent success. After having read all of these generous responses I am forced to admit that I deluded myself into thinking that I had done all that I could. For that I am thankful, because I know that with the PROPER approach there should be improvement, and that failure to improve is most likely my failing to approach it correctly. So, as many of you have said, I need to break down RC into smaller areas and develop fundamental skills to tackle the whole.

@ S thank you, again, for all of your advice. I do need to develop consistency. It shouldn't be a coin toss on test day. Many of the suggestions presented in this thread will help that, and I will implement and review them when I resume studying. And thanks for the Nietzche reference (big fan).

@ S Thank you for the RC recommendations. I'm so far from being able to succeed in your methods. I'm actually surprised I score as high as I do on RC, because it's not uncommon for me to read it and have no idea what the main point is... re-read it and still have no idea. I may just sign up for the economist, as you have suggested, and force myself to deconstruct the passages.

@ because the date of my Oct 2013 LSAT was early in Oct, I could take Oct 2015 LSAT. It's hard for me to give up, especially knowing that if I apply now with a 161, I could've done the same 2 years ago. I'll let you know how it goes.

@ Wang I don't want to accept it, but because I have been unable to improve it, I've accepted that I'm a below average reader. I've tried the method recommended here in the full course, I've paid for the velocity LSAT RC course, I've used the LSAT trainer, and I've read just about every RC recommendation out there. It's ruining me. It, for me, seems like the only section that I can't drill. Reviewing doesn't help me. I could retake the same RC a month later, and miss the same amount of questions.

I'm really regretting not participating on here these last two times. I forgot how focused and motivated I was the first time because of the community.

@ I agree. I haven't been partaking in the LSAT prep community and everyone "out there" tells me to accept the score and apply to lower schools. They don't understand.

Unfortunately, I know Northwestern won't happen this year... I missed their application deadline. It was before the February release and I didn't want to waste the money applying without knowing my raw numbers would at least get my application a glance.

My personal statement should be decent. I'm a first generation college student that worked and paid my way through undergrad. I've had a enough hardship to write a compelling statement. However, I'm trying not to resort to emotional appeals, though it is difficult.

@ I will be sending out a few applications this week. Hopefully I can leverage some serious funding. Otherwise it's another year for me.

@ In regards to family and friends, that's exactly how I've been feeling. If I take it again, I honestly don't want to tell anyone... I'm sick of feeling the disappointment, albeit self-imposed, that comes with revealing the same unsatisfactory score again and again.

If I didn't truly believe it was a curse before, I'm struggling not to now. But you have given solid advice, and so has everyone else. I should've been training to cope with my test day anxiety. I think it's my biggest enemy. There's really no reason I should score a 170-173 on my last three PT's and then fall to a 161. If/when I start studying again, I will definitely take all of this into consideration.

I've already considered the transfer strategy and I'm not confident enough in my law school potential to risk it. So I'm going to avoid that, unless I get near a full ride scholarship at good, but not top, school, one that I'm willing to graduate from. Then I would try if the grades allowed.

Right now I'm seriously considering waiting until next year, but even though i know applying this late In the cycle with weak scores isn't ideal, I'm sick of delaying my future.

Big thanks to all of you. I've been very depressed about this since December, even more so after my score was released last night. You've all been very encouraging. I'll probably retake in Oct 2015, ED at Northwestern, and go from there. I'll probably submit some last minute applications this cycle before I start studying, again. Not looking forward to giving the LSAT my soul again. Thanks again guys and gals.

@

@

You're right, though, I should've committed to every Saturday at the exact time, under the exact conditions, and on campus or in a similar classroom.

If I hit a 170+ Saturday, ill sell you mine .

^^^ same. lol