@ said:

Whether the retake makes sense depends on what your goals are!

Ultimately, a 171 is a fantastic score. However, if you are compensating for a low GPA, or are determined to get into an elite school, a retake might make sense.

If you do want to go for a retake, I would go ahead and apply with the score you have. Meanwhile, I would start preparing for the April/June test. If you get into the school of your dreams, great! No need to keep studying. If you don't, you'll have given yourself time to get your score up.

As to RC... there are a LOT of reasons you might be running out of time. Some of the common problems my clients experience are:

Overusing the highlighter,

Reading for detail instead of structure,

Reading too quickly the first time, and having to frequently return to the passage.

All of these are fixable, but the first challenge is identifying WHY you are running out of time.

I'm referring to running out of time in RC even on paper-based. I assume RC on CBT is worse?

Could you describe what your scores were like in new RC, how much time you take "on average" to read a passage and to do its questions, respectively?

For LG, I tried to do it on computer using PDF, and it's a nightmare, due to keep looking back and forth up straight on computer and down on desk for paper, and having to replicate diagrams etc.

@ said:

Hello lsat2016! I'm in the exact same boat, only registered a week ago thinking I had already done so.

I have no basis for when or how often the T-14s send the application fee waivers and had already applied to them when I realized I wasn't registered :( However, I did reach out to USC Admissions asking politely if they had any fee waivers and they got back to me very quickly. Within a day I had the fee waived. Also ASU recently offered to the pay fee waiver and CAS fee.

Point being, I don't think I'd wait any longer, just reach out directly to the schools (although I'm not sure how effective this is for HYS all depending of course on stats). I've gotten fee waivers for other schools organically via CRS since, but no T-14s -- again though it has only been a week and I already applied so I doubt I'll get anything.

Hope that helps!

NYU said they don't offer fee-waiver based on merit. Not sure if it means CRS or not?

Berk, PENN, Duke said they send it from CRS, but since I added it only a week ago I doubt if I'd get it.

@ said:

STEM major in one of the top tech institutions but no CAS GPA before December (haven't reached 60 credit hours). Cumulative GPA is 4.2 out of 4.3. Not a US citizen.

This is my second take. First one was in April, 174. PT-ing 175-180, average 178 ish.

My mom is so upset, I can't even believe it. help

Edit: I'm sorry if this post makes anyone unhappy. I know I should be satisfied with a 174 or 176. And I am. Family pressure for absolute perfection is another story, though. My mom is literally asking me to forget about law school. Go to work as a software engineer, she says. I am so sad.

Sounds more like humblebrag unless it's real. Who with any sanity can say that 176 isn't good.

You should probably offer advice on how you did so well in the test, particularly RC. What's your approach, how much on average time do you take to read the passage and to do its questions, respectively on average?

Interested. could you forward the link?

@ said:

@ said:

what GRE score q/v scores would be considered equivalent to median-LSAT of 174 at HLS?

Is taking GRE and using it at hls less valuable than using LSAT?

GRE was a much easier test, and scored 164v/168q long time ago with no study, but I don't think HLS adcomms would consider it equivalent to even anywhere near high 160s let alone 170x score on lsat.

https://hls.harvard.edu/content/uploads/2019/03/Standard-509-Information-Report.pdf

Interesting that there median gre is just 167v/165q. i can't seem to understand how adcomm can consider it to be equivalent to their 174 lsat median.

Yale and Columbia also aren't much different.

https://www.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/2020-12/Std509InfoReport-101-101-12-18-2020.pdf

https://law.yale.edu/sites/default/files/documents/pdf/std509inforeport_2021.pdf

@ how do I join?

@ said:

Anyone want to start a little group for people taking the test January - June?? It's a ways out, but being surrounded by motivated people could help! I've been studying on and off for the past year, but I recently started studying everyday for 2 months now.

Just reply and we'll get a discord group set up :)

Is there a Skype or Zoom group that one can join?

@ said:

Hi everyone, if you have not yet, please follow this link to join our group me:)

https://groupme.com/join_group/72286879/IXSBmbgZ

@ said:

Hi @,

Sorry, but we only have an option to filter the question difficulty from easiest to hardest.

Let me know if you have any further questions. I’m happy to help!

Somewhat different question.

There are "Target times" listed in @.Y. LG videos or LG analytics section for each Logic game, e.g. it may be 10:14 meaning 10 mins 14 secs or 5:02 meaning around 5 min 2 secs.

How are these "Target times" arrived at?

Are they from J.Y. timing himself doing the LG games section for a new/fresh unseen PT in test conditions?

Or are they after J.Y. has seen or done the games in section beforehand?

Many of these target times add to >35 mins. Does it mean JY ran out of time on those sections?

what GRE score q/v scores would be considered equivalent to median-LSAT of 174 at HLS?

Is taking GRE and using it at hls less valuable than using LSAT?

GRE was a much easier test, and scored 164v/168q long time ago with no study, but I don't think HLS adcomms would consider it equivalent to even anywhere near high 160s let alone 170x score on lsat.

@ said:

@ said:

@ said:

Generally, the threshold seems to be the new year for early vs late. Between Jan and feb you'll see some schools starting to finalize their classes and WLs. But people get admitted during orientation week every cycle. Let your score determine your timeline and shoot your shot, worst case you get to try again. I was a February applicant and did fine.

FInancial aid isn't unidirectional. Money is constantly going in and out as aid is awarded and people commit elsewhere. School dependent, your stats will usually be more important (and competing offers dont hurt).

would you say someone should apply to hls now than waiting one cycle?

In the same boat as op. My score expires this cycle, but not sure if applying at this point is already dead-on-arrival.

Not sure what is the downside potential of applying now...

Worst case, you don‘t get in and will have to try next cycle (which you would have done anyway if you did not apply). Best case, you get in.

Plus, your LSAT score expires this cycle. In case you apply now and get in, you won‘t have to take the LSAT anymore.

Especially if your current score is a 170+, frankly, it would be stupid not to apply this cycle, no matter which law school...

I noticed that HLS particularly has a late deadline of Mar 1st compared to other law schools.

Did they make this change recently in the last couple of years from Feb 1st or has it always been this way?

@ said:

Generally, the threshold seems to be the new year for early vs late. Between Jan and feb you'll see some schools starting to finalize their classes and WLs. But people get admitted during orientation week every cycle. Let your score determine your timeline and shoot your shot, worst case you get to try again. I was a February applicant and did fine.

FInancial aid isn't unidirectional. Money is constantly going in and out as aid is awarded and people commit elsewhere. School dependent, your stats will usually be more important (and competing offers dont hurt).

would you say someone should apply to hls now than waiting one cycle?

In the same boat as op. My score expires this cycle, but not sure if applying at this point is already dead-on-arrival.

@ Can you add me to the group?

I'm interested.

How are different sections for you? strengths, weakness, scores?

@ said:

You don't have to submit an additional essay for Root-Tilden-Kern if your personal statement addresses your PI interest. I've written a lot of the essays by using rejected ideas for my personal statement too. I would say focus on the essays that you think you are truly a good fit for - it's way easier to write an essay if you're not BSing. Also, I'd say just start. They're all fairly short - and they're not nearly supposed to be as intense as your personal statement. I think you'll be surprised how quickly you can crank them out.

I was wondering, what's the downside to checking the box for consideration of ALL scholarships say at NYU?

Some of the guidelines are vague at best on those pages about who qualifies and how selective they might be. So I have no idea which of those one may be able to get.

Example, I was trying to find how to apply for this one and didn't see it. it's got to be there somewhere but just not very clear. https://www.law.nyu.edu/centers/grunin-social-entrepreneurship/courses-programs/scholarships

@ said:

Mine disconnected from ProctorU as well after the 10-minute break, early on the third passage, and it took 3 minutes to reconnect. I think I lost time on the passage.

I had the same thing happen.

did you contact LSAC for retake? is this grounds for retake?

@ said:

ProctorU ended my exam because of technical difficulties after an hour of trying to resolve the issue half way through the exam. It was an actual nightmare. I submitted a test day incident report to LSAC as I was instructed. Does anyone know if the makeup on August 23rd will start me from the begging with a whole new exam or if it will resume where I left off?

Did you call them first or first submitted the report? have they given retake?

Similar thin happened with me with proctorU disconnecting, but they reconnected. however it affected my flow and i lost time. Do they give retake in these conditions?

@ said:

Laptop+Touchpad is just that. Not using anything other than the actual laptop to take the exam.

you mean click on answer choice using laptop keyboard or is the laptop screen itself is touchpad? some laptop screens are not touchpad.

i think the biggest issue with digital is switching between 1) pencil and mouse, and 2) moving eyes back and forth far from where the question/passage is to diagram or write. like you mentioned "central vision", it helps if all things (both writing on scratch paper and viewing the lsat question) can be in one eye-view (not having to move eyes or turn head), but hard to do.

@ said:

I definitely started off faster than most. My cold diagnostic was a 169 and RC was my strongest section from day 1.

Personally, the key to speed is to take a structural view of the passage to better retain information on where in the passage specific fact-bits appeared. For example if a passage starts talking about Freud, then moves onto his disciples, then his critics, I'd take a mental note (or a physical one for harder passages) of that flow so I could refer quicker.

Also, a lot of ACs on RC are just nonsense statements designed to eat your time. Retaining enough info on the overall content and flow of the text enabled me to quickly ignore them after a glance. This saves so much time.

I'm not going to lie - it's hard, and theres always going to be some luck factor involved too.

Laptop+Touchpad is just that. Not using anything other than the actual laptop to take the exam. Central vision > Peripheral vision > Turning your head to read. Minimize movement to maintain focus.

nice. so does it mean that you sometimes don't go through all ACs on RC? to be sure, is it correct you take just ~20sec "on average" per RC q? I assume you ~6mins to read and 2-3min to do q per passage is something you kind of noted using the practice test.

i was wondering if you as someone who is good at RC somewhat naturally do feel the pressure of timer and stress when taking the test and doing rc section, like if you too feel a tinge of "fear" that you may not be complete the section, or may be are picking wrong choices, or feel internally "boy this was tough, i was legit lost at times during the section" or "can't make sense of this and time's running out"? would be good to know internal thoughts of a top scorer during rc.

@ said:

These are actually all excellent questions, and specifically issues I had to deal with myself.

RC times: I'd say about 6 minutes reading and 2-3 minutes solving questions. The key here is to get the easy questions really fast via process of elimination. I also did not skip questions or passages because my goal was to get them all right.

LR times: During PTs I drilled till I could solve the first 15 in the 15 minutes. This means I was blitzing through easier questions at 45 seconds or less, which is definitely doable while maintaining good accuracy. Drilling is king. That leaves 2 minutes per question for the last 10 which tend to be much harder. On the actual test I was a little slower than my drills because the harder Qs were distributed more evenly throughout the test.

LG games on a computer. This was why I switched to laptop screen + touchpad instead of a monitor (I use an ultrawide on a mount) + mouse. Having my notepad as close as I could to the screen was extremely helpful as I could minimize eye movement which tends to consume time and interrupt thought processes. Making the switch significantly improved LG times for me. But the bottom line is that you should be doing your thinking/inferring on the scrarch paper and using the screen only for 1) reading the game to write down rules 2) reading individual questions, and 3) picking and answer choice.

Re RC, good to know your approach. 2-3 mins for 6-8 questions is blazing. it's like 20 secs per q. is that correct? how are you able to read an average q and all ACs let alone process and lookup the passage within 20 secs?

even if one retains a lot of info from passage, there are at least 3-4 qs per passage that you have to look back to passage for or think more than just a few seconds on. plus sometimes questions require you to think (or re-assess your initial understanding of passage about some subtle points), which can easily take half or even a minute. how do you go through qs so fast?

were you natural at RC from the beginning or had difficulty with timing during prep or on testday?

Re LG, what you mean by "laptop screen + touchpad", do you mean just laptop without external keyboard or monitor? what does touchpad mean?

@ said:

I just wanna pay it forward a bit. I’m offering advice/help/consultation to anyone who wants it

Congrats

On RC, how much time, on average, you take approximately to read the passage and to do its questions, respectively?

how much time on average for first 15 q and total section on LR?

how do you do handle the difficulty of computer-LG versus paper, as you have to diagram on paper for each AC and then look up to computer?

@ said:

Nondisclosed.

where is this information available on LSAC page? https://www.lsac.org/lsat/lsat-dates-deadlines-score-release-dates doesn't say anything.

how does one find out which tests are disclosed and which undisclosed?

@ said:

If I can master this exam (while 7 months pregnant, working full-time, & parenting a toddler), you can too.

Scored a 148 on a diagnostic back in 2018. Took the November 2019 LSAT and scored a 153. Took it again and scored even lower. Worked my ass off (used Khan Academy —> BluePrint —> LSAT Hacks —> 7sage —> lame private tutoring —> good private tutoring) and scored 180 in August. I almost canceled my score.

I’m very tired. Need a nap and maybe some chocolate.

Would love to offer any advice/additional resources to fellow 7sagers. Feel free to PM me!

P.s. I will be slow to respond - I apologize in advance. I work during the week and chase around a toddler during my time off 😂

congrats

how much time, on average, you take approximately to read the passage and to do its questions respectively on RC?

how much time on average for first 15 q and total section on LR?

how do you do handle the difficulty of computer-LG versus paper, as you have to diagram on paper for each AC and then look up to computer?

@ said:

After a lengthy study journey for the LSAT and applying for two cycles, I finally got acceptances and scholarships from three high-ranked law schools and picked one based on my needs. I cannot thank 7Sage enough for my LSAT study and for the helpful posts on the admission process. The best way to show my gratitude to the study community on 7Sage is by offering some free one-on-one tutoring sessions to students in need.

My LSAT score is 169. But I got that score from a no-sleep night before the test day, and three internet crushes on the test day. With that said, my practice PTs' average is 173. My strongest suit is the LG. I usually finished section 0/-1 with 3-5 minutes left on my clock. I feel confident about LR too. I can do a medium-difficult section -1 to -3 with 1 /2 minutes left. I struggled with the reading section, but I improved my performance from -10 to -3/-5 and finished all passages on time.

Feel free to PM or leave a comment below if you have any questions about studying for the LSAT or applying to law schools. I'd love to share my experience and opinion.

how do you switch back-and-forth on LG between screeen and diagramming plus crossing out choices on paper?

can you elaborate on exact steps you take, how you stepwise switch between looking at screen/paper, and what you draw for each question and answer-choice?

Interested. how to join?

Interested if there's a spot for the Aug test.