I am retaking the LSAT in December because I had the craziest physical issues occur the night right before the September LSAT and I nearly felt like I was a zombie in the LSAT. If you are in the Philly area and are willing to meet up in person, or if you would like to study via skype, oovoo, google chat, etc. please let me know. I can't afford much tutoring, and I am considering buying the 7Sage Starter kit, but I am going to review again my LSAT Trainer and go over all 40 PT's I have and do this one last time. There's no turning back and I need a motivational group that can all help each other out! The LSAT is an emotional, psychological, and mental game and we need everyone to be there for one another. If you're interested, please let me know. I would be grateful to have people to study and succeed with. We have a little over a month left so let me know ASAP.

=D

Hello fellow 7Sagers. I need help/advice on what's been happening to me. I have stopped practicing for the LSAT for about 3/4 weeks, and when I came back to it, I went from scoring in the mid 150s into the mid 160s. My score then kept fluctuating, and eventually reached 167. However, I haven't been able to reach the mid 160s for the past 5/6 practice tests. I have no idea why this is happening, and on the test I just took, I scored 152!! I don't understand how my score could be decreasing and/or fluctuating as much as it does (between 152 and 167 on 9 practice tests in total). I am taking the December LSAT and I only have about 4 and a half weeks of prep. Do I start focusing on individuals sections or weaknesses in each section? Do I take untimed sections? Do I keep taking practice tests? What do I do?! Please help, and honestly all the advice will be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

A premise and a general principle?

I just think of a general principle as a state set of beliefs? But I am not sure, and sometimes mix the premise and principle up in a question, although I treat them both as a premise.

I constantly see people asking, "I got X score on my first diagnostic, how many points can I really improve?" but the truth is that there is no answer to this question and I am sick of people replying with "10 points or so". There is NO reason that anyone who dedicates the time and focus to studying for this test can't improve to the maximum level of scoring. By telling yourself that you're only looking to improve "10 points or so" is one of the worst things that you can do in your prep, at least in my mind. I had a diagnostic of 150 the first time I took one, then took a Testmasters course before the June 2013 exam and ended up scoring a 160 on the real one (I had told myself I would be ok with a 160, which limited my mental goals after I was averaging 164-165). I have now been studying for the past two months using 7sage and the LSAT Trainer to take the December 2014 test, and I have scored as high as 169 and have 32 PT's to go.

Bottom line, there are a few requirements that if achieved, I believe enable anyone to score in the 170's and even higher in some cases. (not necessarily in this order)

First, you must MASTER Logic Games, to the point where you are excited when it comes time to do them in a full Practice Test. LG is the only section, at least I believe, where you get the opportunity to see answers as "black and white". Yes, I know for every question there are always 4 wrong answers and 1 right one, but for other sections it is much harder to check which are what. For LG, whichever answer you select, you must 100% be certain that the other 4 are wrong, because only ONE can be right. Eliminating 4 answers on LG is the best way to assure yourself that you have gotten them all right.

Second, you must see the macro concepts of each individual LR question stem. The WORST thing that Testmasters taught me was that it was in my best interest to avoid reading the question stem first...Now that I use it as a trigger and truly focus on fully understanding the stimulus, I find it much easier to see incorrect answers (which is the key to scoring high). LR isn't testing your ability to analyze a stimulus, it is testing your ability to analyze for a SPECIFIC GOAL. Obviously many question types overlap and allow you get a feel of the key to this section (recognizing the parts of an argument and further, how they actually relate to one another). However, reading a stimulus with purpose will save you MASSIVE amounts of time when it comes time to do the difficult questions. Overall, you must get comfortable with LR to the point where you are happy that it is 50% of the test, you cannot score high without decent mastery in this section.

Third, you MUST MUST MUST, develop an internal questioning system in which you are constantly questioning your reasoning for choosing an answer. I used to easily eliminate 3 answers for a specific question and would then try to focus on which of the remaining two is more "right", however this is as misguided as can be. The difference between getting a 160 and a 170, in my opinion, is seeing why four answer choices are WRONG rather than why one is RIGHT. The latter is important, but if you can find the 4 that are wrong, you won't need to truly understand why the 5th is right (it helps obviously, but sometimes for the curve breaking questions this method is easier for me).

I know I haven't talked about Reading Comp, but to me that is a section that comes with extreme repetition and will improve the more you improve on LR. I see them related in the sense that LR stimulus is just as difficult to read as a paragraph from a passage, therefore the more comfortable you get with reading and understanding LR stim, the easier time you will have sorting through the information in RC.

This is not a "for sure" guide to getting a 170 but these principles seem, to me at least, essential elements for dominating this test. Do not be intimidated to try intense study practices, because the more intense, the more prepared you will be for test day. People talk about burnout, but burning out only means you have lost focus on the goal at hand, which is to dominate this test. People don't run marathons thinking they're only going to run 20 miles, they set their goal to the highest point they can and they strive for it, the most important way to view your potential score on the LSAT. Just wanted to give those who are retaking a little extra motivation for gearing up to study for the next 6 weeks, and obviously these are my "opinions" and I am not an authority on the LSAT, but I feel that this post may help some people who are struggling with seeing themselves scoring very high.

Hi All,

I run across this video and thought I should share it, despite it only explaining part of what an argument is, it also shows what an argument is not.

Hello, I've been looking into joining 7sage and just finished the free trial and debating on going ahead and purchasing premium. The main reason I'm looking into this is to see approaches for the different question types and the break-downs of the questions which I enjoyed from the free videos. My issue is I know a huge chunk of the price is for the actual PT's and such which I already have. I have pretty much all of the previous PT's except a few (none of which comes with any of the packages) so what I was wondering if there's any sort of discount for this type of situation since I already have pdf's of all these PT's and spent a bunch of money for them. (I know the lower level memberships exclude later PT's but I assume that means it excludes the explanations for them as well which, again, is part of why I'm interested(plus want the longer membership)) Any sort of like provide receipt = discount? :)

-Jay

I was stuck between B and E because I thought both could be right answers. So I finally chose E because of the word "net effect". But the answer is B.

The more I looked into, the more I had no idea why E was wrong.

Can anyone explain me why B is correct and E is wrong? :(

So, I scored a 159 on the September LSAT, after 2 months of study in which I was consistently scoring 168-172. I finally decided to bite the bullet and buy the LSAT Ultimate package, which I hope will help me get through the nerves of taking the exam. I'm hoping to do well enough to be competitive with a 170+ score. Here we go! Any other retakers in the house?

So I got a 161 on the September LSAT. Does anyone have advice for improving for the next test? I only took two prep tests before I wrote the actual test. Should I just write a bunch of prep tests and blind review? And should I go for the December test or the February test? Thank you so much!

Having done mostly self-study from a few online resources and a book, I studied for about two and a half months and took the LSAT in June. I had barely slept at all the night before and got a 157 in the 71st percentile.

I regrouped in August and studied for another two months and took the test in October (I'm in South Korea). Again, I hardly slept at all the night before the test. Thanks to 7sage (and my own mental elbow grease), my score went up 10 points (94th percentile).

I'M SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW.

I don't know if anyone has this problem but whenever i take the test which ever LR i do first i get -5/6 on but when i do the second set i get -14wrong. It keeps happening during my prep and when i looked back at my lsat sept score i had the same problem. Does anyone have this problem and/or know why/how to fix it?

3.85, 161 Sept LSAT.

On my PT, in the weeks leading up to the Sept exam, I was consistently scoring a 167-169. I am confident I can do better. (Bombed the first two and aced the last two sections. I believe it might have been nerves)

Although I plan to take the December 2014 exam, I am wondering if it is in my favor to wait until the next application cycle (class of fall 2016) or apply this cycle (class of fall 2015)?

I am looking for scholarship money, which would be feasible if I score a ~168. However, I heard the earlier you apply, the more likely you will get in (rolling admissions) and the more likely you will receive scholarship money (non need-based).

I am really dependent on scholarship money, so I want to have the best chances of earning as much as possible. Which application cycle will be the most beneficial for my situation?

Hey all. Started prep in late July for the September LSAT. Self studied by reading the powerscore books and doing PT's (found sage a week before the test). Ended up getting a 151 with -14 on games got caught with like 7 blank, clearly shows I didn't do enough full timed run throughs filling in the bubbles. Also had to guess on the second half of a RC passage which never never happened to me in training. I got almost no sleep the night before which I think could have contributed. Basically should I go at it again in December?

Just wanted to thank 7-Sage, the format, the community, everything about the site. I have been gone for a while but the principles I learned here became the foundations to my LSAT prep. I was able to score better then I ever planed on or hoped for, I didn't use any expensive courses or any special methods. I followed 7 Sage, internalized the material and practiced. I owe you a thank you as I move forward in my legal pursuits.

I am grateful to have received a 166 yesterday. I have studied mostly full time since my 138 diagnostic in March. However, my RC was still -10 on the test. Sadly this is not unusual for me. I would be willing to put in another few months of work to cut this number down and get 170. Problem is I'm starting to think there is no way of improving this section for me. Has anyone ever been stuck at this level for RC for this amount of time and have been able to improve substantially? Also adding into my problem is an extreme lack of prep tests as I burned through preptests 10-72.

I'd really like some professional advice on retaking, but not sure how to e-mail J.Y. or staff.

Has anyone ever heard them mention it or strategies related to it?

(or know how to contact them/do they respond to direct contact?)

Retaking, most likely in February as I bombed September, and really need to reassess but not sure where to start.

http://classic.7sage.com/lsat_explanations/lsat-68-section-2-question-10/

My interpretation of the stimulus is that people who are allergic to cats react to certain proteins within the cat's skin and saliva though which particular proteins vary between people. Every cat is capable of causing some sort of allergic reaction in someone though a particular cat may cause a reaction in some but not others. I disliked all of the answers and ended up choosing (B) because it was the one I found the hardest to refute.

Could someone explain why it's (C)? I feel that the stimulus suggests it's possible all cats secrete the same proteins and that it's the allergy sufferers that vary in which protein they react thereby directly refuting (C). It's supported by the clause "...which particular proteins are responsible, however, varies from allergy sufferer to allergy sufferer..."

I know most law schools require only two letters, one academic and one non-academic. But should I include my letter of recommendation from my employer as supplementary material? It provides some good input on my time management skills and organizational skills and I was with the employer for 3 and a half years.

Yes, my score came in this morning and I got 7 points lower than I was aiming for. Retaking it in December. Anybody have a good study plan laid out? I've already done the 7sage course and gone through about 20 PTs, so I'm thinking about focusing exclusively on more recent PTs (like the last 20) and reviewing/trying to find my weakest points. Does anyone have good advice/pointers? Unfortunately, I had to take the LSAT outside of the US, so my results are undisclosed and I can't go over my mistakes on the actual test :/

I took the June 2014 Lsat for the first time I did horrible. I am applying to law school this semester for the Fall of 2015. I made a 140 on the June 14 LSAT, but I am taking it again in February 2015.

But my two questions are:

1) Is there any way i could see a significant jump in my score (at least 160 or higher)?

2) Is it still okay to apply and send my February Lsat scores in or am I pushing it for admissions to accept me?

Thanks for all the comments in advance!

Hi guys!

I thought I'd start a thread in anticipation of tomorrow, when scores will likely be released, for us to vent on/celebrate/maybe cry?

For real though, I NEED MY SCORE.

As mentioned above, I just got my LSAT score. I scored a 168, which I believe is a perfectly good score. The thing is that I scored -8 in logic games, and I think I could do better. I'm also almost certain that I could repeat my performance in the other sections.

Is it unreasonable to retake given that I want to apply for fall 2015? Would a potential (and not guaranteed) 2-4 point improvement be worth submitting an application 3 months later than I would otherwise?

My GPA is just below a 3.5, and I'm trying to get into a lower-ranked T14/15 school.

Any wisdom would be appreciated.

Email joshbaum2@hotmail.com if you're interested :)

Sorry i just need to ask this. Is it real or is it a state of mind?

I'd appreciate some input on this

I fucked up my score on the last two games. Everything else went more or less according to plan. I really feel that I know what I'm doing and deserve to get closer to PT score (165ish). The score I got today, high 150's, is probably good enough to get me into the state school in our area that I really want to go to. I doubt I would get any scholarships with my current score, however, and that is definitely not good. What do you think? The school policy is that they take the highest lsat score into consideration. How do you guys think a third one would look? Worth it?