So, unless I just totally crushed it in December and scored 5 points higher than my average score (not anticipating this outcome) I'm going to be retaking the LSAT. That said, I have long completed the CC and have taken about 25 PT. However, I am still failing miserably at LG. I usually can complete 2 and on my best days 3, but I've never completed all 4 games during a timed PT. I had one of my better days during the December test completing 2.5 games, but that's beside the point.

So, obviously I'm focusing on LG. Starting in a week, I'm going to use the fool-proof method on every LG from 1-39. My question is, should I still be taking one full PT every week and BR so that I don't regress on the other sections? Or, should I just focus on LG and start taking full PT again after completing the FPM on games 1-39?

Sorry to be melodramatic, but all of life is hopeless and I want to die. Just kidding, at least about the dying part, but I need some advice about to what to do.

I just walked away from PT 79 (SPOILER, I'm going to discuss the order of the sections) in the middle of the RC section - which is usually my best section. I didn't feel like the RC section or the LR section before it was any more difficult than any other PT, but I just felt like my mind was in a haze. I was moving much slower than usual and felt like I wasn't comprehending what I was reading.

Some background - I went to bed early last night, slept well, got up early, exercised, ate breakfast, had coffee, warmed up with half of a LR section and 2 easy Logic Games. I felt confident - I really felt like this was the day I would get a 170. I have done well (for me) on my last 5 PT with an average of 164.8 (166,166,167,162,163). I took a timed, proctored PT 73 last Saturday under test-day conditions and I didn't do as well as I had been doing (163). This damaged my confidence some, but I attributed the score to nerves which caused me to choke on the LG section. But that's always my worst section. I normally get -2/-3 on RC and LR and today I felt like I was choking on those!

So, what do I do? Don't say postpone. I know it's good advice, but my situation is different than most of you and I have to take the test on Saturday. I'm taking advantage of the University of Oklahoma's "early entry" program and I need a score to finish my application. I can retake in Feb and even June for scholarship purposes, and my lowest score is still in the top 25% for OU. Do I take a day or two off? Is this just regular burnout or something else?

I saw someone post in a different discussion a video of Nichole Hopkins (from ilovelsat.com) going over her notation method. Does anyone else use her method? I just wanted to get some thoughts from others who have tried it. While watching the video, I was excited because I really thought it was going to be helpful. However, trying to implement it has been difficult.

I haven't had a lot of trouble with the RC section, except when I'm taking a full practice test. I haven't really employed any notation method because during the core curriculum, I was doing very well on RC. My notation method was pretty much just circling random things I thought might come up and notating the argument structure loosely. Before I started doing full tests, I was getting -1 or -2 on full, timed RC sections. But on the full test, I've been getting -5 to -7.

So, I thought I'd try Nichole's method. So far, it's really slowing me down and I don't comprehend as much as I used to. I'm just wondering, is it just a matter of doing it over and over until it becomes second nature before it becomes helpful? Or should I just go back to what I was doing before?

Excuse me while I vent and ask for encouragement.

During my diagnostic, I did fairly well on LR and RC and totally failed LG (70-80% correct on LR and RC and 27% on LG...) 4 months later... I'm really not fairing that much better with LG. I've completed the CC months ago, have been employing the method that many of us use, trying to go through every LG and keeping track of my time on a spreadsheet. I felt like I was getting a lot better and recently during a full PT I completed 3 games with almost all questions correct and I got through about half of the last game. However, on my most recent PT, I just completely failed LG, doing hardly any better than my diagnostic (although I greatly improved on my LR and RC scores).

Anyway, I don't really know what I'm asking for. I know what to do. I'm going to revisit the CC and keep trying to get through all of the LG before test day (Dec). I guess I'm just hoping others have had a similar experience and could offer encouragement that they eventually had a moment when it "clicked". I just don't understand why I'm not getting any better. I understand the foundations. I follow JY when watching the videos. It's just that when I'm confronted with some variation that I haven't seen before, I totally freak and want to give up.

I know the forums always gets inundated with frantic, nervous posts around this time, and I hate to add to them, but I need some advice on how to spend the next two weeks.

Let me start off by saying that I'm not going to postpone, even though I know many of you will think that I should. I am taking advantage of an "early entry" program that my school (OU) offers to its undergraduates. I am pretty much already accepted unless I just completely blow it. The top 25 percent LSAT score at OU is a 159 and my current average is a 164. I would love to eventually get a 170 for scholarship reasons, but I've been told that if I retake in February, they will take that score into consideration as well. I just need an LSAT score now so that I can finish my application ASAP.

Last week, I took 3 recent PT and scored 166 on two and 167 on one. Then, I took a proctored test under test conditions and scored a 163 mostly due to freaking out during LG which continues to be my worst section. If I am able to get through 3 games, I should have no problem getting a 166-167 or higher because I'm getting -2 to -3 in the other sections. I have never been able to get through an entire LG section during a timed test and they are just the bane of my existence.

So, how do you guys think I should spend these last two weeks? Here are my current possible scenarios, but I'm open to other suggestions:

1. Take 3 timed PT/BR this week (72, 77, 79 on MWF) and then retake a test I've already done (78) on Monday but timed per section then focus on drilling LG T-TH the week of the test.

or

2. Take 2 timed PT/BR this week (77 and 79) and otherwise focus on drilling LG until the Friday before the test.

Maybe the differences are subtle but basically should I spend the majority of my time taking timed PT/BR or focusing on LG?

Did anyone take notes for @"Cant Get Right"'s webinar about what to do after you finish the CC? I'm just finishing going through the CC again and want to begin taking PTs soon, but I really wanted to follow the "phases" of study outlined in this webinar. Unfortunately, it's not up in the webinar section and I forgot to take notes when I attended :(

Where exactly can we print the PTs that are available to print? I'm trying to print every LG 1-40 after going through the LG CC again. I have PDFs, but they are older and have the LGs on one page...I would like to be practicing with two-page LGs.

Hear me out. My situation is a bit different than most of you.

I'm not trying to get into a top school. In fact, I'm not worried at all about getting accepted to the top school in my state - the University of Oklahoma. I want to work in Oklahoma, so there's really no need for me to go elsewhere. That being said, the top 25 percentile LSAT score of OU is a 159 and I've been averaging a 161 but haven't taken that many PTs (8, to be exact).

My goal is to get a 167-170, which I know is not possible for next week's test, so I will be taking it again in December regardless of what I decide to do next week. Anyway, I'm aiming for that score because I already have quite a lot of undergraduate debt and I would like to receive a substantial scholarship so I won't have to slave for a big (for Oklahoma) law firm in order to pay my student loans - I am more interested in public policy, but don't really know exactly what I want to do yet (don't try to talk me out of law school, I have my reasons, but I don't want to explain them here).

Anyway, all of that to ask - in my situation, would it be smart to just take the test next week because there would be little pressure and I could get a good feel for what test day is like? Or, since I'm fairly certain I will be able to get at least a 165 in December, should I just wait and have one score?

So, I was looking for advice in the TLS forums, and pretty much everyone told me to rethink my entire life plan. The plan is (or was?) to take part in OU's early entry program, which allows me to start 1L a year early. The catch is, I don't technically have my BA until after 1L. The plan all along is that my husband and I would stay in Oklahoma, but recently we've been wondering if we would really be happy here forever. So, I was planning on doing well enough (top 5%) and applying to transfer to a T14 school. If I got in, we would move. If not, we'd stay.

Everyone in the TLS forums (all current or former law students) told me that I should reconsider this path and that I cannot bank on being in the top 5% of my class. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a risky plan. If I'm not able to be in the top 5% of my class, then I would be stuck in Oklahoma...forever.

Anyway, now I'm rethinking my entire life plan. Since we're not sure we would be happy living here forever, I'm leaning toward finishing my BA (graduate a year from now) and retaking the LSAT in June (unless I somehow miraculously scored over a 170 in Dec) and applying to T14 schools next cycle.

Thoughts? Good plan? Or should I stick with my previous plan? I should also mention that I am a little older than your average 1L...29. (sorry I am so needy for advice on here...)

Heyo,

Unless I just totally bombed the Dec LSAT, I will be attending the University of Oklahoma School of Law next year. OU has a "1LS" summer program where you can get one 1L class out of the way and have 1 fewer class to take during the regular 1L semester. I've been planning on taking advantage of this program because I'm hoping to be in the top of my class so that I can possibly transfer to another school, or at least get a full ride from OU. However, I'm hesitant because 1LS classes begin just 10 days after my undergrad finals...not much of a break. Then, 1L classes begin just under 20 days after 1LS finals.

My other option is to take the summer off, work, save money, relax and do "0L Prep" (in the manner of this famous TLS user's advice: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=77628). On the surface, I like this plan better. I just wonder if it would be better to participate in the summer program so that I will have one fewer class in the fall...my hopes to transfer are dependent on me being in the top of my class or at least in the top 5%.

Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts :)

(FYI I'm not going to OU because my GPA or scores are low...I'm participating in an "early entry" program where I get to begin 1L a year early and forgo my undergrad "free elective" requirements)

If a test is going to accurately predict the capability of one to be a great law student, then a test must accurately assess the ability of one to master skills that enable one to be a great law student. The LSAT fails this necessary condition.

We all know that certain practice tests play to our particular skills, and thus all of our scores fluctuate a little (or a lot). Even with our renowned Sages, some of them were averaging much higher than the 170 score that they were able to scrape by with. If we are able to put so much effort into studying for this test, and yet our scores still fluctuate significantly, then how can this test be an accurate assessment of our skills?

We've all been there. Every once in a while, you encounter a test and your score suddenly drops. You are shocked. How could this happen? Perhaps you just had a bad day. But it is also possible that this particular tests did not align with your particular skills. But wait, shouldn't this test always be assessing the ability of the same skills?

I have sympathy for LSAC, I really do. Designing such a test would be daunting, especially if you add in the fact that some people are able to spend thousands on test prep and take time off work/school to focus solely on the test while others must fit it time before and after work with only minimal resources to spend on prep. But still, the LSAT fails.

As you can probably guess, I am writing this out of frustration. I have put so much time into studying, have been within the 168-172 range for months, and suddenly, I scored a 164 on a test just a week from test day. I guess for confidence's sake, I should just write it off as a fluke or a bad day. But the truth is, law schools have become reliant on a test that really just isn't a great predictor of being a great law student. With law schools beginning to accept the GRE, I think the test needs to be revamped significantly in order to stay relevant.

I don't know what this means but just for kicks:

Invalid, right?

So, really I just want to pat myself on the back. It's really not that much to brag about, but after a month or so of my PT scores being stuck around 160, today my score jumped to a 166! And, that's with only finishing 3 logic games (better than I've ever done, LG is my worst section) and doing worse on the LR sections than I normally do!

All of that to say - don't give up. I had almost given up on reaching a 170, but now it doesn't seem all that unattainable. I know I have a lot of work to do, but just focus on the things that are tripping you up and be diligent with taking PTs and BR!

Anyway, I'm having a good day :)

And, thanks, 7Sage <3

I think some of us could use some inspiration ;)

This was my first time taking the LSAT and I scored a 160. It's not what I hoped, but I know I wasn't ready. I missed 26 questions but twelve of them were LG. So, if this was your second or third time, I'd love to hear how you improved! Thankfully, I had already planned on sitting out this cycle. I don't plan on retaking until my average is at or above a 171. So please, if you improved, let me know - and tell me how you did it!

XOXO

Hope everyone has a great night tonight and day tomorrow! Here are my plans:

Tonight:

1. Watch a Harry Potter movie

2. Take a bath

3. Have a half glass of wine (sorry JY, I'm not full giving up my wine)

4. Read Harry Potter

5. Go to bed at 9:30PM

Tomorrow:

1. Get up at 5AM

2. Exercise (but not so much that I need to drink a lot of water)

3. Take a shower/shave/get ready like usual

4. Cook a hearty breakfast of eggs, toast, and greens

5. Have one cup of coffee

6. Warm up with 2 easy LG and half of a LR section

7. Drive to the test center

8. Listen to ABBA's "Dancing Queen" in the parking lot

9. Slay the test

10. Go to my BFF's and pop a bottle of champagne

11. Listen to more ABBA

Good luck everyone! We got this! Or if we don't, then I guess we'll be seeing more of each other at least until Feb ;)

I know this question shouldn't and won't affect my studying habits (except for maybe lighting a fire under my ass), but I noticed that UCLA, my goal school, jumped to #15 in the most recent US News rankings. Is this going to make them more selective? I'm doing my best to make a 170 the next time I take the test, but I felt a little comfort knowing that if I have a bad day, UCLA's average LSAT score is a 167...