I received my September LSAT score and I did HORRIBLE. I have extreme testing anxiety when it comes to the LSAT. I was PTing at around 165 each time. But, when it came to the actual test, I got a 156! I cried and cried. I am so disappointed with myself, but I have such bad test anxiety that I am not sure if I can do any better. I think if anything, I am going to practice under very stressful, test-like conditions up until the December LSAT. I could answer most LSAT questions correctly if I had all the time in the world to answer them (it is not the content that is difficult). The stress and the amount of time allotted just really got to me during the actual exam.

I go to the University of Colorado Boulder, and I am double majoring in Sociology and Anthropology. I have a LSAC GPA of 3.95 and a major GPA of 4.0 (for both majors). I am a female. Unfortunately, I am white, a second generation college student, and a completely traditional student. Basically, I am an extraordinarily average applicant with a very high GPA and a sub-par LSAT score.

I am planning on applying to (in order of preference): U of Colorado Boulder Law (average LSAT 161), U of Iowa Law (average LSAT 161), Arizona State O'Conner Law (average LSAT 161), Ohio State Law (average LSAT 159), U of Wisconsin Madison Law (average LSAT 161), and U of Missouri Columbia Law (average LSAT 157).

My GPA is WAY over the 75th percentile for all of the schools I am looking at. But, but my LSAT score is in either the 50th percentile, 25th percentile, or lower than 25th percentile for all of the schools I am looking at. I do not think I am going to get outright rejected to any of the schools I am applying to (at least it seems this way according to the Law School Numbers and LSAC self-assessment webpages). However, I have a feeling I will be wait-listed for most of them.

I am taking all upper division undergraduate (and even some that are mixed graduate level) courses this semester. I think they are all very easy and I am certain my Fall 2017 grades will all be As (CU does not award A+ grades).

Let's say I improve my LSAT to a 159 or so. Is it worth it to retake just to increase my LSAT score a few points? Also, since I have to wait until January 4th for my December LSAT scores, my applications will be submitted sort of late. I plan to have all of my apps completed before the LSAT scores are released, and submit them basically the second I receive my score.

Is it worth it to restudy and retake? I will have to apply later, and my LSAT will probably just increase by a few points due to my LSAT stress. I have been looking at the Law School Numbers website, and it seems like I have a very high chance of at least being wait-listed for all of my prospective schools and about a 50-90% chance of being accepted. I am most worried about CU Boulder, U of Iowa, and Arizona State (my top 3 schools). My chances for each of these schools are lower. A lot of people with my current numbers have been accepted, however, many have been wait-listed.

Although I know it hardly matters, I am the Vice President of the National Honor Fraternity (Phi Sigma Pi) at my university this year. I also was the Fundraising Chair my entire junior year. Also, I was a research assistant for a law professor at the University of Denver School of Law (he will also be writing one of my letters of recommendation). My name was also included in the research study and paper done on the topic.

What are your thoughts on what I should do/what my chances are?

Hi all,

Writing my app the school asks a series of C&F Questions. Particularly asking to explain the situation fully.

Now, this doesn't fit. If I fit it in fully, I don't really get a chance to explain as I would like, plus I'm adding an addendum for this anyway.

Do you suggest writing whatever you can in and then attaching the addendum?

I took a lot of the advice I got on strategies to shake nerves and to get my timing down. I am slowly working on getting these into my training for the December test and I feel like this is going to help me a lot.

There is something else I'd like help to identify though. That is weaknesses.

Coming into the September test I thought Flaw questions were my biggest weakness. I missed at least 1 flaw question per PT and the 7Sage analytics has the flaw bubble as this massive glaring hole in my life. It's seriously huge! Takes up like...the entire screen!

Okay enough with hyperbole my point stands. So I figured flaw questions and me would never get along.

On the September exam I didn't miss a single flaw question of course! ya know, leave it to the real deal to break all trends you think you have noticed. I also didn't miss a single type of the same question! I missed everything from MSS to Disagree to Weaken to MBT!

So it's obvious to me that the September test really was shaken nerves, but that I still have some weaknesses that I'm not identifying correctly. What can I do to help spot these weaknesses? I'm under the impression that confidence drills will help to weed out some problem areas so I will continue with those, but is there any other way I can figure out where the weak spots are?

Anyone have any tips or ideas on how to organize study docs? I have 7sage stuff, PTs and notes and feel like I have lots of loose leafs.

Although it is common knowledge that lawyers who work for city or federal government are paid relatively less compared to BigLaw, I noticed that there are some cities in California that pay their attournies handsomely. For example, the assistant City attourney in Santa Monica cleared about 300k in salary. Would these sort of jobs be limited to those who went Top 14 law schools?

Hello! I have been looking at the LSAC website, and I'm starting to get discouraged about receiving accommodations on the LSAT. I have a few long-term, documented diagnoses that could qualify me for accommodations. I know this is personal, but it would be really helpful to hear about some experiences with applying for accommodations, especially if it pertains to the conditions below. Thanks!

Ugh - so I finally got in touch with a former boss and asked him for a letter of recommendation. He and I had a very good working relationship. I finally heard from him and he said he would love to help me out! I was so happy because I really looked up to him and think he is brilliant. Well, the next day he emails me asking me to "take a stab" at writing the letter and he will add more to it. I'm dismayed now. Has anyone done this or have any form letters that I can start with?

I was under the impression that my score Report would tell me which questions I got wrong or at least have individual scores for the sections. Was I wrong?

Hi, i was wondering if i can get some advice. I graduated with a 2.41 GPA which is very low, do I have any chances in law school if I get a high lsat score ? Im not dreaming of going to a very high rated Law school like Harvard or University of Toronto.Any decent medium rated will work for me. Im very confused, please advise me and let me know if you know anyone with a low gpa and high lsat score who got into a law school. thanks

I completely forget where the lesson is that outlines how to deny a conditional statement. Any help?

Hey, guys! Does anyone find strengthen questions harder than weaken questions? I'm not really sure if you should find one easier than the other but for some reason my brain says that strengthen should be easier than weaken. I get the task for strengthen questions but for some reason I'm having a harder time with strengthen than weaken questions.

Hi All,

So I have a bit of a problem. I have some natural ability, but I have a tendency to cram. I did all of the 7sage curriculum in a month and a half before the September test and was scoring in my PTs around 169-172. I then got a 167 on the September LSAT. I ran out of time for LG, which I'm not too surprised about, but am now gearing up for a December (or February/June) retake.

These questions are about LR/RC because in LG when I do something wrong I know exactly what and why but I can not for the life of me figure out the same for RC/LR:

I am wondering if it is useful to go through the curriculum again and if you do, how the many lessons stick in your head and solidify as testing strategies for later use? For example, I was horrible at strengthen questions, did the strengthen part of the curriculum, ended up getting those practice questions right, but then forgetting how to do strengthen questions on a PT because I can't hold all of that info together at once. How do you retain all of it or imbed the skills so you can keep them all in mind for a test? Flashcards? I took notes on each question type and how to solve but it didn't help and reading those notes again was like reading something out of context, and of course I can't just re-do the entire curriculum before every test.

I also found that even if I understood JY's explanations and how to solve for a certain problem, I still get it wrong. Does that mean I'm missing some integral link/understanding? How do I fix this? I will get his explanations perfectly and see exactly why he came to an answer in his sample Q but not be able to mirror that. Conversely, even when something is explained, I can't understand why the correct answer is correct still.

Sorry for the long post, I guess it's an awkward point to proceed when you've done something and now need to re-do it but better?

Also, for all of those with the Trainer, did you do his book before JY's curriculum? After? Or during (and if so, how?)

Thank you so much in advance !!!!

The definition of an intermediate conclusion is that it supports another sentence, at the same time it's being supported by another sentence.

But when I came across "PT70 - 1LR - Q17", I realized the difference between "cause and effect" and "premise and conclusion" can be quite subtle

Here's my question.

(1) A causes B,

(2) B causes C,

(3) C causes D.

Therefore, A causes D

Here, "B causes C" seems to be an intermediate cause between "A causes D".

Does it make (2) an intermediate conclusion? because it's supported by another sentence?

Just want some clarification because I think the different between Causation and Argument seem to be overlapping.

Like if say:

Because A, therefore B--- (That would be an Argument)

But if we say

B happens because of A--- (That seem to be both a Causation, and an Argument?)

Any thoughts?

This was just an incredibly difficult game for me. I had such a difficult time with it. What about you guys?

First - I appreciate all of the awesome uplifting posts about continuing on with re-testing and shooting for the best. I'm def there.

But there is a little, bitty part of me that wonders when will enough be enough. I don't think I'm there yet but yesterday made me think twice. You see, I like to volunteer a lot and I like to participate in my son's school activities. Yesterday morning I volunteered at my church and afterward I met my son at his grammar school for his walk-a-thon. Both of these events took all morning and by the time I got home I was wiped but I felt so satisfied. I didn't even want to study or look at anything LSAT related. And I thought... if I continue with LSAT prep and get into law school I won't have time for my volunteer work or take time off for my son's school activities. When I graduate law school and get a full-time job I def won't be volunteering or going to my son's school. And, well, that got me kinda sad.

I want both - an awesome legal career (and more $$$ hopefully) and the freedom to continue my volunteer work and be able to attend my children's school activities (next year I will have a second kid in school!). I know that it won't be possible to do both, well, maybe once in a while but I doubt too much. So, I'm wondering if anyone has had these kind of thoughts and if there are any former 7Sagers lurking who just ended it all for family/quality time. Would love to hear other stories and your thoughts. Thanks.

Over the next couple of months, I'll be hosting weekly sessions to focus on the LSAT's bag of tricks. These tricks are mostly nonlogical elements of the LSAT that often abstract the question in ways such that we frequently understand the logic and yet miss the question anyway. It's a big bag, but its contents are finite. Once you learn to recognize the tricks and what to do when you see them, you will improve your accuracy, improve your time, and improve your score.

This week: Abstract Concepts

Future tricks will include:

Referential Phrasing

The Switcheroo

Nonsense ACs

Supersets/Sets/Subsets

Comparative Language

SA Questions with no Gaps

Exploiting obvious pre-phrases

In order to preserve fresh tests, I will try to restrict the content to earlier tests as much as possible.

LR Tutoring with Sage Josh: Abstract Concepts

Wednesday, November 8, 7:30pm EST

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Hi all (: I just joined so I'm sorry if I'm not doing this correctly.. I've never written in a forum before! I was just curious if you guys had any advice on personal statements? I just finished mine but I'm not sure how great it is, or if my topic is ok. Thanks!

I went to a big research university and all of my lectures were 200+ people. I didn't get to know my professors really well but did get to know two professors at the university with whom I did research with (not as a job but just because I was interested in their fields). But since they didn't actually teach me directly (as in a class), is it still ok to count their letters as "academic"?

Will law schools and/or LSAC consider a GPA differently based on what institution it comes from?

I went to an UG liberal arts college known for rigorous coursework/ harsh grade deflation policies (i.e. in a class of 30+ people, only 2 students receive A's). Sometimes I was one of A's in the class, but often I was an A-/ B+. My GPA isn't bad, but I am wondering how it will stack up next to a higher GPA from a less difficult institution.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Hi!

I've spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out this question but it seems I've hit a wall. I was able to eliminate (A) and (D) quickly but had a hard time understanding what the "youngest" "oldest" phrases were referring to. I ultimately went with (C), considering that there is a majority of S that is older than D (which, I thought, leaves some of S that is not older and/or is the same age as D). But I was taken back to find out the answer if (E). I tried to wrap my head around why (C) or (B) is wrong and why (E) is right but I wasn't able to get far.

It would be really helpful if someone could help me with this question.

Thank you so much in advance! :)

Hi!

I am going through MBT and MSS questions because they seem to be my biggest weakness. I came across this question while drilling and I contended between (B) and (E). I ultimately chose (B) and again in BR.

I thought the "everyone sometimes acts in ways that are..." could be considered as "commonly performed actions", and thought (B) was regarding to those actions that occur as a result of treatment as infants and therefore, people are not morally responsible.

I understand why (E) is correct - within the scope of "everyone" includes adults, therefore adults are not responsible for every actions (because there could be those actions they perform as a consequence of treatments they received as infants) - but I can't exactly pinpoint why (B) is wrong.

It would be extremely helpful and greatly appreciated if someone could shed some light on this question!

Thank you :)

I've been studying for my LSAT, and I have so many burning questions & no one to go to. My pre-law advisor never answers my emails, my friends are already in law school & are "too busy" to help & my parents aren't familiar with the exam. HELP

Purely after finishing the LR core curriculum? then after that how much after drilling?

Hi. I am working on my final project to complete my degree and I need some minority applicants to answer this survey. PLEASE!! It is short and won't take long and it will help me graduate :) Please take a few minutes now to answer. Thank you in advance.

Thanks again!

I plan to start studying again for the December exam tomorrow, and I wanted to know if the first thing I should be doing is Blind Reviewing the September 2017 exam to see what problem areas I have. Would this be ok even if I plan to take that exam as a preptest? Should I just keep a log of the question types I missed rather than actually going through and reviewing?