I am trying to get a full ride+ to pursue public interest.

I took the October LSAT and scored low/mid 160s, below my average PT score (170). I’m taking the November test, and planning on getting apps in around the same time as score release.

If I don’t hit my goal score on the November test, would it be reasonable to apply with my 16X, get admissions offers (and likely not enough scholarship), retake in January and - assuming I hit the mark in January - ask for a reconsideration of scholarship based on that score?

Is that common practice? Is it likely to have success? (Or will schools have distributed their scholarship allocations by then?)

Waiting a cycle is not really on the table unless it absolutely has to be - but I’d rather wait than end up w loans or at a school with abysmal employment stats.

I am signed up for the November LSAT Flex. I first studied for this test 2 years ago for about 3 months before having to set it aside for personal reasons. Started back up in May, after graduating from university, and studied for 6 months for 4-6 hours a day 7 days a week. My diagnostic from 2 years ago was a 149.

I've take almost every single PT some of them twice, except for 7 from the 80s that I'm planning on taking before test day. I am consistently scoring at a 169 without fail, I've surpassed 170 on four occasions but it's not consistent. My BR is always around 176. No matter what I try it feels like I can't get my actual score to reach that level.

My goal is a 170+. It feels like I've hit a plateau and its incredibly frustrating. Is it realistic for me to score above 170 on test day? Are there things I can do in my last week or so to increase my chances? Any advice would be greatly appreciated and thank you for taking the time to read this.

Hi everyone! I am very new here but I am feeling the love, so thank you. Long story short, I took the October 2020 Flex and got a 149 (very sad). I am registered and am preparing for the January '21 retake. 7Sage is really making me feeling like I've got a much better handle on the LSAT and I've only been on here for 2 days! My main question is: should I wait for the next admissions cycle ('21-22) to apply? I am definitely looking at a variety of mid-top law schools depending on my next LSAT score and my GPA (3.85). My goal is to obviously get admitted but also to receive scholarships. I am 23 years old and will be graduating with a SPED degree in December with years of experience in the education field, so I definitely have time to refine my application, I just need help weighing the pros and cons! Any advice or personal experience would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so so much and best of luck to everyone!!

Hi! My name is Jamie and I am a private LSAT tutor. I received an 177 on the LSAT and had a consistent -0 in both LG/LR and usually a -2 in RC (from a 10+). I specialize in LR tutoring and have multiple references I can provide. If you are interested and want to know more about prices, message. me!

I wrote my "Why NDLS" which touches on issues such as catholicism, Amy Coney Barrett, and Notre Dame's Religious Liberty Clinic. My professor read my "why x" and advised me to rewrite it as all three of those issues might be too controversial, even for Notre Dame. Does anyone have any thoughts on what I should do? Should I re-write my "why x" and refrain from talking about these subjects or should I not write a "why x" at all. For context, I am applying early decision.

Thanks.

Hello 7Sage!

I finished up my studies for the LSAT recently and I would love to offer my knowledge to those who are looking for support or another person with whom they can talk through questions or issues. I did not get a stellar score on the October LSAT (only a 162), but I regularly BR in the mid-170s. I know the material pretty well, but I just so happened to have issues translating that knowledge to the real thing under timed conditions (despite my PTs at 166 and 170).

I am more than happy to help with LR and LG. I am also available to talk through reading strategies for RC. I have a pretty simple, intuitive approach to the test, and I would love to help others looking to break the 150 or 160 barrier.

I know there are many other free tutors after the October test, but let me know if you are interested. I am happy to meet over Google Meets to go over some questions with you or talk through strategies on how to think about and answer questions.

Cheers!

Sean

EDIT: I’ve been so happy to help others this past week that I’m reopening this post. I am available for others to meet, if interested.

please explainnnn

Been waiting months to write this post.. The journey to this score was longer, more difficult and more much painful than I imagined when I picked up some Kaplan Prep book in mid-2019.

It's taken a couple of days to be able to physically process but I finally scored 171 on an official take!

Took a ~diagnostic (had been studying a little before) and scored a 166.. this was what I would later melodramatically refer to as the 'kiss of death' - it was a total fluke and in no way was this representative of my skills at that point in time...subsequent PTs would prove that I was actually closer to high the 150s to low 160s. In the next month I took around 10 PTs (with no BR and no drilling) and never once was able to hit at or above 166.

Months later, 'I saw the light' and signed up for 7Sage. After completing the CC and doing about a month of drilling LR/RC full sections from the early PTs and full proofing every LG from 1-35, my first PT was a 169. This was my first major victory, which inevitably was followed by what felt like a setback, a 159.

First official take was May and I got a... 166. At the time, my PTs were all over the place (169, 159, 171, 163, 165...) and 166 was actually my prep test average. At the time May was the only flex scheduled and it felt like this Covid thing would be over by now and we'd be back to full length tests so I never put too much stock into this one. I had taken a PT during the interregnum (after I wrote it but before I got my results) and had gotten a 172 (highest yet) which fueled me to push further still.

Going into August my PT average was just above 170. But something happened on LR of that section.. its been commented that the first questions in that LR section were unusually hard and that just got to me; i'm sure that it tanked that LR section and also probably the first part of my next section which was RC.. if it was a 5 section test then I'm confident than another LR would have been able to balance me out to a 168 but alas another 166. What was crushing was looking at an official take that was the same as my diagnostic; even though I knew by this time my diagnostic was inflated - I was frustrated and embarrassed that I "hadn't" made any progress (even though I know I had)...

Anyways, something happened after August and I just started to care so much less. By this point I had not had a PT below 168 since April... I felt assured that I would be able to get above a 166. But then, about a week before October I had two back-to-back PTs where I got a 167... these PT scores felt crushing, it felt like I was slipping at the very second I needed to be at my peak. In some ways this weirdly made me care less... 'caring less' weirdly ended up being the key to doing well on that exam.. anyways felt like I did okay on LR, RC and LG but my couple of low scores before the exam made me second guess... I was hoping for anything above a 168 and was registered for November as well hoping that I could at least increase my score and then to push forward and get out of my slump by the November exam.. but alas it wasn't necessary I got a 171!!!

And yet, I still feel like this post has not adequately captured the ups and downs that have comprised this journey. It wouldn't have been possible without 7Sage and J.Y.! Thank you to everyone who interacted me me on the forums (particularly on my posts where I was asking for help or, oftentimes, just complaining and looking for solace).

Hi everyone,

Do we know for sure that there are issues with inflation for the flex? If so, how would you imagine this would affect admissions?

I am one LSAT point above several target schools’ medians (and slightly below median for GPA). What are my odds given a competitive cycle/inflated lsat scores?

Thanks,

P

How did you guys work on getting better at RC? Any advice would be appreciated. Taking the November LSAT and even a 2-3 point increase in this section would bump me up from mid 160's to high 160's.

Thank you in advance.

Any tips or tricks for improving RC in the last couple of weeks before the test? I’m averaging about a 168 on PTs, and I feel like RC is holding me back from breaking 170. I typically go -0/-1 on LG, -2/-3 on LR, and anywhere from -4 to -8 on RC. I’m able to finish all 4 passages with only a minute or so to spare. Any advice is appreciated!

Also, I would be thrilled with a 168 on the real test, but would like to be more comfortable with RC in case I get a test with a killer RC section (aka the August Flex RC with the bees and patriotism passages).

Are there any major differences between the layout in the actual test and the style represented by the 7sage format? As in, the way the reading comp is shown, the location of the answer choices etc..

So I know application numbers are going to be up a lot this year, so I am wondering what my chances are at a top 25/ top 14 with a 165 and 3.6 as a STEM Major from a top 20 university and I have a Masters Degree from the same institution. I have varied work experiences from cancer research for which I have been published and highlighted at conferences and also have legal experience working at the border doing emergency immigration work. Any advice on schools to apply or just in general?

Any advice for what to say to a recommender who is dragging his feet? One of my college profs still hasn't submitted my LOR, even though I reached out in early August and asked for my letter by the end of October. Getting really nervous because I would love to submit my apps Nov 1 -- anyone else in this situation? :(

Just wanted to say goodbye to this wonderful community and thank JY and everyone else for helping us thru this process. I started at a 159 diagnostic and after my third try got a 178, which I cannot believe!!

Edited to add some tips:

Honestly can't believe this score and can't quite fathom what that means for me as a reapplicant but just wanted to say that if you are privileged enough to be able to take a month off work and move in with your parents so that they feed you and nurture you and you can just focus on studying and exercising and meditating and can afford to pay $100+ to a great tutor (shout out apollo prep!) then everything is doable!!!

Much love to those juggling work and families out there, this game is unfair!

A few have asked for tips, so here are some:

-- for LR I had already done 7sage and read the loophole and felt I had a pretty solid background, so I got a tutor (apollo prep, I really recommend them!!) and realized that lol my background wasn't as sturdy. We'd just review questions I got wrong after blind review together and it was very useful.

-- for LG, I did all miscellaneous games and all hard games, I realized my weak point was facing new games I had not seen before so I just did that over and over, also reviewed games but focused mostly on knowing how to tackle them.

-- for RC, I read a lot and I tried to have a conversation with the writer as a read.

Good luck everyone!!

Hi everyone! I recently got back a 174 on the October LSAT and some people reached out with questions about study tips, so I thought I would type up a comprehensive post about how I approached studying, as well as some section tips. Warning - I tried to be comprehensive but it ended up being super long - if any of it is unclear, definitely ask in the comments or PM me!

STUDY JOURNEY -

I began studying in March - I was home from college because of 'rona, and had a lot of time on my hands, which enabled me to study as my primary activity in addition to classes. My diagnostic was a 160 - I was solid at RC/LR (missing 2 and 5 on LR, and 5 on RC), but much weaker at LG (-10), so I had my work cut out for me. I come from a liberal arts/polisci background, so reading was my strong suit, and anything quantitative or puzzle-oriented was not.

March through May, I just worked through the core curriculum. I took careful notes on paper, and whenever I missed an LR/RC question, I added it to my "Wrong Answer Journal". This was absolutely critical for me - I wrote an in-depth analysis of each choice, why I thought I missed it, one portable takeaway, and what strategy I thought the test-writers were using to make a trap. This took forever, and was boring - but making this (and flipping through it when I was bored/before I went to bed) was incredibly important.

In May, I took my first post-CC PT, and got a 171, and then a 173 - I thought I would have this down in no time. But then my scores dipped, and settled primarily in the high 160s. I was consistently struggling with LG, rarely finishing on time or just getting blown out by hard games. This was where foolproofing came in handy - I created an excel sheet, and tracked my accuracy/time for sections. I would do a section, score it/watch the video, do it again, and then redo it the next day. Then, I'd do it one more time a week from then. I did this daily, with 2-3 sections a day. Doing this method with tests 1-35 (16-35 are CC, and 1-16 I broke into sections) helped me. I plateaued in the high 160s until June, but I eventually broke through it, and fixing LG through foolproofing was a large part of it.

A large part of the plateau was also due to isolated areas in LR/RC. I realized quickly that I was struggling on science passages in RC, and on strengthen/weaken in LR. Using the analytics functioning 7Sage was invaluable here to pinpoint areas of weakness. I then built problem sets focusing on those questions/redid portions of the CC (and, as always, used my Wrong Answer Journal religiously). I also read Loophole, which really helped me for strengthen/weaken.

By the end of June, I was in a pretty good grove - I was mostly in the low to mid 170s. But I would have off days sometimes, and occasionally revert back to high 160s, and never knew why. I signed up for the July LSAT, scored a 180 four days before the test, and assumed I was set. Then, on the first section (RC), I just completely blanked - I had tech issues with my Internet connection and then I just completely lost focus for the rest of the section - I couldn't regain it. I couldn't understand why this happened on the real day - getting flummoxed on section 1. My score came back - high 160s.

I got ready to take it in August - by now, I was PTing a solid 175 average, and figured I just had a bad day. August came and went, and it was similar - I felt jittery and nervous in section one (LG), and it threw me off for the rest of the test. Another high 160s.

I figured at this point that I had a solid grasp of the material - my PTs were high, but something was happening on the real day. What I learned to do here was to study less. I cut back the number of tests I was doing, started taking them as shorter flex tests, and began meditating daily. I also realized that on the real day, I was altering my routine in some ways (extra coffee, studying before the test, etc), and needed to just exactly replicate my practice test routine. I felt more locked in than ever - my PT scores before October were in the 175-180 range with a mode of 177, and relaxing played a key role. On the test day, I pretended it was just a practice test - I woke up, chatted with my family, listened to some Beethoven, and took it. I got a 174, up 5-7 points from my previous two takes, even with a slight test day penalty of 2-3 (sometimes, that penalty just happens on the real day - such is life).

SECTION STRATEGY

For the latter half of my studies, I was mostly in the mid to high 170s (usually around a 175-178 but hit 179/180 5-6 times). This was starkly different than the first half of my studies, which was mostly low 170s (but with some inconsistency and dips into the high 160s) - I think this was due to using a lot of material and, subsequently, creating section strategies that worked for me. What works for you might be different - but experiment! Try new approaches.

I ended up using most of the materials available through 7Sage/LawHub. I did PTs 1-16 as individual sections, 16-35 through the CC, and then 35-89 as full PTs (I skipped around a bit but eventually got to them all). I did 3 tests a week initially (Weds Fri Sun), but cut back to 2 when I started to feel stressed and burned out. Consuming all of this material was essential for me to really gain a level of comfort and familiarity with the test that helped me build section strategies

LG - honestly, nothing fancy here for me. The games repeat over and over again, so the real secret is just doing all of them (or as many as you can). I started out -10 or worse, and got to a consistent -0/-1 just by doing games daily - you can too! In terms of specific strategies, I was always big on splitting into sub gameboards/solving as much upfront as possible. I also would not erase inferences - I would sketch a new board for each question, so I could look back at previous work. I would also begin with questions that fed new rules/conditionals, so I could have more boards available for the open-ended questions without new rules.

For timing, I would try to get game 1 in 5 minutes or less, and then get to game 3 with 22 minutes left on the clock. I always tried to get to game 4 with 13-15 minutes if possible to prevent myself from running out of time (after a few really scary game 4s in some of the 30s/40s, I never wanted to risk not having at least 13-15 minutes for a nightmare game).

LR - this was where developing a timing strategy was essential for me. I never struggled with finishing on time, but I would get stuck on hard questions and fall into a rut, not being able to figure them out. This often happened for hard strengthen/weaken questions. I watched a video on 7sage (I think by @CantGetRight) about timing strategies/post CC exercises, and he recommended a confidence drill where you go through an LR section by mostly just picking your first intuition without checking your work or second-guessing. The objective is to see how accurate you can be, and better test your confidence threshold for a right answer. I tried this, and realized that I was shockingly accurate on questions 1-10 when moving quickly/without second-guessing. I also started to realize that when I skipped a hard question and came back with a fresh perspective, I would be far more likely to get it. This was the basis for my timing strategy - I started speeding up on questions1-10 (30 seconds per question, to finish 10 within 5-6 minutes), and skipping any question once I spent over 45-1:00 on it. The result was that I would finish 14-15 minutes early, but with several (like 5-7) questions flagged that I wanted to spend more time on. I would then have ample time to approach those with a fresh perspective. This helped get me from missing 3-5 to a consistent -0 or -1 on LR by the end of my studies.

RC - This was my worst section by far at the end of my studies - I would go anywhere from -1 to -3, and it just depended on my day (vs a -0 or -1 in LG/LR). While I was a consistent -0 or -1 on LR/LG, RC was always the wild card. But I did improve a bit - I had improvement from the -4/-5 I started and, ultimately, if you want a mid-high 170, it's a game of inches. A few things helped. First, doing more sections. RC is similar to LG in that there is repetition - wrong answer choices are wrong for similar reasons across sections. Wrong answers will often lack textual support and trade on your assumption about a topic, while right answers may pull something from a fragment of a sentence you totally glossed over. Second, pay attention to whether the question is most strongly supported or explicitly stated - if it's the latter, you need to find a line that very, very clearly says the thing - there is not really room for inferences. Third, I spent more time with the passage upfront. I realized that I could breeze through the questions when I really got the passage, so I started reading it twice - first time through I would take notes (summarizing each paragraph and an overall summary of the piece), and the second time through I would just read it without notes to understand tone and the big picture. This would take me around 3 minutes total, but saved time with the questions.

MISC TIPS

1] Don't burn out. I genuinely enjoyed studying for the LSAT, and treated it like a game - LG was a set of fun puzzles, RC was a chance to learn cool new topics, and LR was brain-twister exercises. If I hadn't had fun, I never could have made it through 89 tests worth of material. Yet, I burned out too sometimes - if you find yourself burning out, cut down the number of tests you're doing weekly. Watch a movie, take a day off, etc.

2] Find a study friend! I was fortunate that my best friend was studying for the test alongside me - we took every PT concurrently, and would review together that night - it made the journey so much more fun.

3] Take care of yourself. I was averaging a 174 before my first take, and a 175 before my second take, yet I scored 5-7 points lower on each test. It's because I was stressed out and worried about failing, which resulted in some serious test day penalties - I really recommend meditation, not studying much the week of your test, and treating your real day just like a practice test (don't change your routine at all!)

4] Shake off your off-days/lower PTs. I once got a 180 one test, and a 166 the next. Progress isn't linear, and everyone makes mistakes or has weaker days - getting high scores (and, subsequently, consistent high scores) is really hard, and it won't happen overnight. Give yourself months and a lot of tests to iron out aberrations and find a consistent pattern.

For those of you who got a disappointing score - I was there too. I thought I would never hit my PT average, and that I wasted my time studying. But don't give up - if you got it in practice, you CAN get it on the real day. Just be ruthlessly analytical in figuring out what went wrong, and work to fix it - if you do, it will work out. You're going to be a great lawyer someday, and this test won't stop you. You're going to kill it.

anyone looking to swap personal statements today or tomorrow? leave me a comment or pm if you are interested. Thanks!

Hey all! I got a 179 on the October LSAT and I'm looking to tutor in my city soon, but before I do, I figure I'd gain some lower-stakes experience. So, if anyone wants a free tutoring session, comment on this post and let me know! I probably won't be doing very many, so preference will go to the first few people who comment!

(I assume this isn't against 7sage rules because I'm not charging any $, but if I'm wrong, please let me know and I'll delete the post.)

Heyo! Taking the November LSAT soon and was thinking of perhaps having a study partner or two leading up to the final days of the exam! Thinking of calling/Zoom around 10 PM PST and going over Flex tests. PT-ing around low 160s, BR high 160s-170 so looking for someone to also work together to improve timed score! Comment email and let's chat!

LSAC just released the May 2020 Preptest on LawHub. Does anyone know when 7Sage will upload their explanations or how quick the turnaround usually is?

Hello. I scored a 163 on the October Flex. My GPA is fairly unimpressive so this score is too low for the schools I want to apply to. My goal score is 165+ and I likely won't send an application until I achieve that score. With that being said, is it in my interest to keep the 163 or delete the score from my LSAC account? Are there any advantages/disadvantages to keeping it? Please advice!

Diagraming this stimulus into conditional logic was hard for me. I started with the second sentence:

Unless= G3= negate, place in sufficient

/heat to cause volcanic action -----> /renewed surface

For the third sentence:

Any= G1= sufficient

Since it used the idea of "/renewed surface" , I was able to chain it up with the second sentence:

/heat to cause volcanic action --->/renewed surface ------->heavily pockmarked

When I got to the last sentence, I got lost. I didn't know how to diagram it. I feel like the last sentence plays a role in the chain from above, but I don't really know what that would look like.

Would really appreciate some clarification on how to diagram this stimulus. Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

We are happy to announce that we have just added a new video player with advanced features.

Currently, there are three main new features compared to the classic player:

Where cc is available, it can be toggled, and the site remembers your setting across videos.

Where 4k videos are available, it can be toggled, and the site remembers your setting across videos.

You can use the picture-in-picture feature (near top right) to pop the video up off the page.

You can try our new advanced video player by going to the Settings tab and selecting "Advanced - Newest player with advanced features" under "Video Player." See the screenshot below:

Let us know if you have any questions!

Ive been wondering, do you see proctors face while you take the exam? because that would be really distracting ._.

What’s everyone think my chances are at Schools like Georgetown, Cornell, Boston college, Notre dame, USC? I still have time to bring my gpa even higher as I’m in my 5th semester right now.