Minimum Scores needed to get a 150 or 155

J Aranda

Hello, I know this seems like a weird question, but I can't find much anywhere else. I'm planning on attending a local Law School, and their median scores they take are around 150-155. I know I'm not shooting for the stars here, and these are dismal scores to most of you. I'm about 3 months into studying, my latest score was a 144. I'm getting about --13 on LR, -15 on LG, -12.5 on RC. What would those scores need to be at to achieve a 150 and a 155? Meaning does it need to be -10 LR, -13 LG, and -10 on RC, or however that figures out to? I'm just trying to decide if it's realistic to hit that mark before June, or if I'm needing to do September as well

Thank you

NotMyName

You'll need to get between 57-66 correct

https://7sage.com/lsat-score-percentile-conversion/

I must say that I would still recommend studying to reach your potential for practical benefits such as scholarships.

AllezAllez21

Here's a link to a bunch of scales for PTs:
http://lsatblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/lsat-preptest-raw-score-conversion.html

Looks like you have to get between 55 and 67 questions right to score within 150-155 range.

That works out to averaging about -12 to -8 on each section.

Alex

The above info is correct, you'll need somewhere between 55 and 67 Q's correct.

However, if your last test was a 144, I would highly recommend waiting until September, or possibly later. Then again, I suppose if you spend the next month drilling LG like crazy you could possibly pull of a score in the low 150s. A month doesn't leave a lot of time unfortunately.

I will say that I would NOT aim for a school's median for the reason @jkatz1488 mentioned -- getting scholarships. Often students who graduate from local schools don't always find the most lucrative post-grad jobs. So definitely consider how hard it may be to pay off potentially $100k+ in loans. So aim for higher than the medium and obtain a good/full scholarship.

Also, if you start off aiming for a 155, you've already stifled yourself from reaching your potential. Aiming for a 155 is like aiming for an D- on an exam. Just because that may be all you need to pass doesn't mean you should set out for that score.

Last cycle there was a sage/mentor/tutor Allison on 7Sage who told me during a session that she started off aiming for a lower score with goals of attending a local school where she was originally from. Long story short, she ended up scoring a 173 and is now at Harvard Law School. Maybe that's not what you want at all, but just because it doesn't seem like it doesn't mean you're not capable of scoring very well on this test!

J Aranda

Oh yeah, its not my goal to aim so low. My ideal would be for a 160. I just would like to avoid doing September, if at all possible, but it's quickly looking like I'll have to. I"m already registered for June. I really would like to aim for my potential, but right now, all I'm worried about is getting in and with the scores I'm getting, I won't be. But I'm only 2 PT's in, and 3 months into studying the curriculum. I'm almost done with LR, then moving on to LG really quickly.

Thank you guys

Alex

Yeah, I hear ya.

If you haven't even finished the CC then I think taking the loss for June is best. It can easily take hundreds of hours to master LG and fool proof properly. I don't think it can be done properly in a month unfortunately. The good news is that the LSAT will be there for you when you are ready. Not wanting to wait is normal, but it's certainly what's best in this case.

Also, consider finishing the entire course before taking PTs. Most of our improvement comes not from PTs themselves, but addressing and improving on the weaknesses they help to expose. I'd put PT'ing on the back burner and focus on improving from learning via the CC and the problem sets after each lesson.

Aim for a perfect score, friend. A 160 is a great score, but a 180 is ideal. Just because only 1% or whatever of test takers score perfectly doesn't mean you only have a 1% chance at writing a 180! You seem in a hurry to take this test and I'd hate for you to sacrifice tons of points in order to just get it over with.

Good luck!

Pink Dust

Hey! I am aiming for in the 160s too, but of course the higher the better (Ontario law schools are a bit different in how they weigh LSAT)
but,
Here is my advice since I started off pretty low too, like in the 130s before studying.
You need to get that LG score to -2!! And you can do that!! I couldn't even draw a diagram when I first started. But think of the LG as free marks on the LSAT. Practice over and over again. Even when you did the game correctly, watch the explanation videos. JY mentions stuff in there that you may have not thought of. It is very time consuming. I did this for a full month, just LG.

For LR, I used to get only 12/25, now I am at 19/25 usually per section. Sometimes, the 19 will drop to 16. But I am improving. The way you want to think of it as, don't think that you need to attempt all 25 questions. I struggle with time a lot and I am unable to even attempt all 25 properly. I usually have to guess/not attempt around 5. I am hoping to bring that down this month. But this is really how I brought that 12/25 up. I was stuck on that score for a really long time!! Went thru the CC twice and the LSAT trainer. Although after every Prep test, I will BR review it in detail. I would rather attempt 20 questions properly and accurately than attempt 25 questions like a crazy person rushing and not thinking properly.
By doing this, I have also brought my confidence up! So maybe try this! But that being said, you should have a good understanding of the question types and review the CC over and over again. Also I am finding that it is really helpful studying the questions and the answer choices.

For RC, I still suck! So no advice there! Still struggling with time. I miss a full passage for RC. But hoping to figure out a way to at least attempt a whole RC section. I think that would definitely put me in my target score of 160.

But overall, by doing this, I can at least score in 157 or so. This was impossible to me before.

Oh and lastly, you need to take more Preptests and timed sections! I am starting to learn that this exam is all about practice.
Hope this was helpful good luck!

AllezAllez21

@"Pink Dust" 's advice is perfect. Skipping on LR will help tremendously. It's better to know you're getting 3 super hard questions wrong because you skipped them, but gaining 3-5 easy questions right because you had time to do them rather than possibly getting all 6-8 wrong because you couldn't give the needed time to any of them.

LG is just about repetition. But that takes time. I am almost done with fool proofing LG from PTs 1-35 (doing them each at least 4 times) and it has taken me three months of doing 3 LG sections (12 games total) nearly every day.

dennisgerrard

@AllezAllez21 Did you do the timed LG section at the very beginning? I need accuracy on timed LG section. I'm already familiar with the game types.

AllezAllez21

@dennisgerrard

During LG practice, I do time myself, but I use a timer that counts up. I do not put a time limit on my practice. I go about doing the game in a manner where I am confident that I am making the inferences I need to answer questions with 100% accuracy.

Time naturally falls through repetition.

dennisgerrard

@AllezAllez21 Thanks! I agree with your point. Confidence comes first.

J Aranda

Thank you guys for the help. I certainly do appreciate it. I'm going to do what I can to finish the curriculum. I started Mid-March and thought I could finish the CC by May and work on practice tests. I was wrong. Gonna do what I can in June and aim for September being my main shot at this.

Thank you guys

ElleWoods77

@"Pink Dust" said:
Hey! I am aiming for in the 160s too, but of course the higher the better (Ontario law schools are a bit different in how they weigh LSAT)
but,
Here is my advice since I started off pretty low too, like in the 130s before studying.
You need to get that LG score to -2!! And you can do that!! I couldn't even draw a diagram when I first started. But think of the LG as free marks on the LSAT. Practice over and over again. Even when you did the game correctly, watch the explanation videos. JY mentions stuff in there that you may have not thought of. It is very time consuming. I did this for a full month, just LG.

For LR, I used to get only 12/25, now I am at 19/25 usually per section. Sometimes, the 19 will drop to 16. But I am improving. The way you want to think of it as, don't think that you need to attempt all 25 questions. I struggle with time a lot and I am unable to even attempt all 25 properly. I usually have to guess/not attempt around 5. I am hoping to bring that down this month. But this is really how I brought that 12/25 up. I was stuck on that score for a really long time!! Went thru the CC twice and the LSAT trainer. Although after every Prep test, I will BR review it in detail. I would rather attempt 20 questions properly and accurately than attempt 25 questions like a crazy person rushing and not thinking properly.
By doing this, I have also brought my confidence up! So maybe try this! But that being said, you should have a good understanding of the question types and review the CC over and over again. Also I am finding that it is really helpful studying the questions and the answer choices.

For RC, I still suck! So no advice there! Still struggling with time. I miss a full passage for RC. But hoping to figure out a way to at least attempt a whole RC section. I think that would definitely put me in my target score of 160.

But overall, by doing this, I can at least score in 157 or so. This was impossible to me before.

Oh and lastly, you need to take more Preptests and timed sections! I am starting to learn that this exam is all about practice.
Hope this was helpful good luck!

Great advice for a person who is starting off from a diagnostic of 137 and who is also aiming for a 160,I really appreciated this!

JustDoIt

@"J Aranda" said:
Oh yeah, its not my goal to aim so low. My ideal would be for a 160. I just would like to avoid doing September, if at all possible, but it's quickly looking like I'll have to. I"m already registered for June. I really would like to aim for my potential, but right now, all I'm worried about is getting in and with the scores I'm getting, I won't be. But I'm only 2 PT's in, and 3 months into studying the curriculum. I'm almost done with LR, then moving on to LG really quickly.

Thank you guys

Don't rush through the curriculum or to get to your desired score! If you take your time and really understand the concepts, you will most likely blow your target score out of the water. Focus especially on LG because, where it is so formulaic, and you will be well on your way!