If you scored as high as 170 on a PT, that's proof of what you're capable of! Don't be too hard on yourself for one off performance; it's not the measure of what you are.

Thanks for such a detailed, honest account of your path to such an excellent score. Congratulations!

Hi Raquel! There's no one-size fits all approach to test taking. Practice helps, of course, but you might also consider tinkering with your current angle. Have you considered trying a different strategy?

The first thing that comes to mind is ditching the low-res summary approach. I know that is counter to the 7Sage advice, but I find it takes too much time and doesn't help me. I find it more useful to practice concentrating hard, really focusing on trying to figure out what the author is saying, with a sort of animated curiosity, almost like I am so excited to be reading the text to learn about the subject that the author is presenting to me and finding out what they, and others that they report about, have to say about this new and fascinating topic.

Reading this way, I move through the text, eager to find out how each paragraph builds on the information and ideas presented in the first paragraph and successive paragraphs, and asking myself what the author thinks and how this contrasts with the view point of other perspectives presented in the text.

Once I've read through the text once, I turn to the questions, feeling primed and almost excited to answer them.

Maybe try this method out once--animated curiosity--and see if it helps.

As another user said, these videos would be so much more effective and inspiring if the narrator shared their scores along the way.

This was great advice! Thank you for sharing it. I appreciate what you said about it taking longer, initially at least, to answer questions, after you had delved deeper into understanding them. I'm looking forward to returning to drills and practice tests with this in mind.

This skill builder feels like a big leap from previous steps. Head exploding.

Don't despair! This whole process is such a head game. I have been there and still go there sometimes, on my bad days. I just took the LSAT for the first time yesterday and am sitting it again in January. My first untimed PT was 150, then 153, then 156 over and over and over. Then I jumped up to 160, 162, and even miraculously pulled an untimed 171, which sparked my hopes as to what might be possible. I don't know what I scored yesterday, but I am going to keep studying and aiming to break 170 in January.

In your particular situation, which does sound challenging, I would say: You will find a way to get what you need and meet your goals! The timeline might be different than you hoped, but you will do it! Let's say worst case scenario you don't make it this cycle; you will find another way. Maybe that way will be taking the time to get the score you need by quitting this job and improving the quality of your daily life. Then with more time to study and a better state of mind, you'll bump up your LSAT, and even get funding at the institution where you're anchored or at another school. In short, you can rethink your strategy and take the long view.

Regarding where you're at now with this cycle: consider changing strategies there too: study the logic curriculum (supplementing it with Law Hub's free resources, i.e., Khan Academy), do focused drills, and then shift to untimed practice tests, and finally to roughly one to two timed practice tests per week. That incremental progress--getting a handle on the curriculum and focused drills, targeted to your weaknesses--will also build your confidence.

Most of all, to preserve your sanity and self esteem, be kind to yourself, recognize that you have some structural limitations that are making it challenging to have the time you need to study. It might take time, but you can do it! Step by step, you'll get there!