Your tiredness comes from hyperfocus (hypervigilance). You have to be better in the test—especially in RC. The hyperfocus comes from not understanding what your goals are while you are reading. The secret is to get to know what to focus on. First, you need to focus on only three questions while reading. What must be true? What can't be true? What can be true?

It has to do with my school. I’m sure the other schools are different.

Simulation of the study. The most important classes (Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Legal Writing and Research, Legislation & Regulation, Property, and Torts) are taught during the first year. And almost all of them, except writing, are giant in volume and importance. Each class is twice a week, and you need to read 500+ pages every day. Of course, nobody does. But I must know them for the exam.

The professors hide the ball. Because professors are required to give most students a B or B-, they teach the way most students would not know the materials. Most of my professors were of extremely low caliber. For contracts, for example, the professor talked about 2-3 topics per class (!), and you could not even hear her.

In civil procedure, the opposite happened - we discuss mostly only one topic (personal jurisdiction) and few others.

Any school is supposed to prepare its students for the bar exam. The NY bar has the pretests published on its website. However, the school does not take this into account. They could have used similar fact patterns and topics and used these materials for the class. But instead, they do not prepare for the bar. You must pay Barbri additional money after graduation for bar prep.

Instead of using legal treaties (partly, of course), which are free via Westlaw, we must buy expensive, more complicated textbooks that mainly include case law and random, somitemes unhelpful commentary.

However, some classes and professors are exceptions. So far, I have had one professor who published his PowerPoint slides before the class, and I could find the cases on my own without a textbook. The other great class consists of 4 different simulations, where you, as a lawyer, meet with a client or the opposite side for consultation or negotiations.

So overall, my experience is ok so far.

They are "must be true questions".

Negate each answer choice.

The facts in the correct answer choice always repeat the conclusion or premise.

There is inconsistency across sections. In Logical Reasoning (LR), scores vary from -1 to -3 at times; they drop to -6 at other times. Reading Comprehension (RC) consistently scores around -4. You also experience occasional timing issues that lead to rushed questions. There isn't a clear pattern in the missed questions; therefore, the problem may not lie with a specific question type but could be related to test-taking strategy, endurance, or a deeper understanding of the material. Since your scores are already high, the margin for improvement is small, and each question carries more weight in the higher range. You should focus on minimizing errors in the areas where you are already strong while addressing your weaker spots.

Regarding the inconsistency in LR: When you miss more questions, is it towards the end of the section? If that's the case, fatigue or time pressure could affect you. Alternatively, certain question types may appear less frequently but still trip you up when they do appear. Analyzing your past tests to identify any hidden patterns would be beneficial. For example, you might be consistently missing a particular type of question, such as parallel reasoning or necessary assumption, without realizing it because those questions are not frequent.

You could create a list of your mistakes, and I can help you determine what you might be doing wrong.

It's common for people to see fluctuations, especially when learning new methods. When you start studying, you might overthink or second-guess yourself, leading to a temporary drop. Maybe the Foundations gave a slight boost, but as you began the LR curriculum, you're trying to apply new strategies that aren't yet automatic, causing a dip in performance.

I just wanted to let you know that this is a known phenomenon. For example, when learning any skill, the initial stages can make you more conscious, leading to worse performance before improvement. Maybe you're focusing too much on the new techniques and not trusting your instincts yet—also, perhaps the tests you took varied in difficulty. Different practice tests can have different scales, so a 153 on one might not be directly comparable to a 157 on another.

You might be burning out or not reviewing the practice tests effectively. Reviewing is crucial. You must analyze your mistakes deeply, understand why you're getting questions wrong, and adjust your approach. Also, timing could be an issue. As the focus is more on accuracy, the timing might suffer, leading to more incorrect answers or guessing.

Please know that this is part of the process and that persistence pays off. Take another test but with a focus on review afterward. You should take timed sections instead of complete tests to build stamina and focus on weak areas.

After learning formal logic, I dropped from 166 to 162, then climbed to 173+

Let me know if you’d like to help to dissect a specific section or question type! You’ve got this.

I was in the same situation. I never could finish one out of 4 games on my official test. I ended up going to school with 168. However, since you no longer have logic games, if you decide to retake the test, I can share my approach to Reading Comprehension and Logical Reasoning.

Please don’t hesitate to ask for help as you did here. I recommend meeting with a few people who understand the test to review a passage or two together. Try to internalize their way of thinking.

That's a good point. The same applies to law school. I proposed to my ex during my 1L and attended her graduation, but she secretly had a week-long romance with another man. I discovered this just three days before my finals during 2L. Even the proctor asked me, “Are you okay?” As a result, my exams didn’t go well, and I had to say goodbye to my big law ambitions. So, my advice is to avoid dating or falling in love while in school, too

PTs themselves

I am sure RC is not as hard to improve in your situation as it seems. To get from -18 to -9 is double in a couple of months.

I can help you with RC for free. Please don't hesitate to PM me to meet via Zoom

Cancel for sure. Don't waste an attempt.

Congratulations!

2-3 days

Congratulations!

4/17/23 - 5/1/23 Property law

Get a good webcam (for example Onn. Webcam with Ring Light-3 LED levels, Autofocus, Up to 1440p Resolution, $30)

So the proctor can see at the same time you and your desk, and most of the room

@paulabagaporo55 said:

Congratulations on getting into your dream school, @kostyaterekhov110! We're so happy for you!

Wishing you good luck with your law school journey!

Thank you!

@jhaldy10325 said:

Congrats @kostyaterekhov110 ! You've been around these forums a long time and have given a lot of help to a lot of folks. So happy to see you land so well, and best of luck in law school!

Thanks, I learned a lot from you!

90%. You need to be as humble as possible. Including the way you write application materials, communicate with schools, and something about your previous life that shows that you understand hardship.

Just reverse-engineer 5-6 passages from RC. Anything that takes you away from PTs is the wrong direction.

Too ambitious? Roughly a year of studying. Not at all! Too ambitious is when people have a month of studying and want 170+. PM me, and I'll explain how to deal with MP questions.

As with any book, studying using Loophole is better than not studying at all. But if you would reverse-engineer 15 LR questions on your own instead, it would be much better and faster.