Could use some advice-- should I take the LSAT in June?

testfromaway

Hey all,
After circling around the idea of law school for years, I finally settled on it last week. My cold diagnostic was 163, I'd like to be in the 170s by the time I test.

I'm also currently on a Fulbright and living in a very rural area of a developing country, so I have very inconsistent wifi and a lot of priorities that don't involve studying for this specific test (I'm teaching full time and organizing a national conference for youth here, please hit me up if you have suggestions for where I can find $12,000 to rent a venue and fly kids in from all over the country....). I don't want to ruin my grant year studying, but this is also the time it makes the most sense in my life to do it.

I suppose what I'm asking is two-fold-- one: do I take the LSAT in June (keeping in mind that I'd be flying to another country in order to take it then, so I do have to plan ahead, but my life from now to June is as not-busy as it's gonna get this year versus in September when I know I'll be swamped with conference stuff)? Two: do I take the LSAT (and thus apply) at all this year?

I'm willing to put 10-20 hours a week into studying, and much of that I can do from the teachers lounge (meaning: finding solid chunks of time to do full PTs is going to be my main struggle). I just don't want to ruin my grant year studying if I'm not going to be able to pull my score up 10 points, but I don't want to delay application if at all possible. I'm committed to improving on the LSAT, but I don't want to ruin my present with a narrow minded focus on the future.

For what it's worth, my cold diagnostic showed -6LR, -11LG, and -3RC. I know LG are supposedly the most learnable part of the test, and I've purchased the LG bible and am watching the videos and things are clicking a whole lot more (oh man, diagrams! That's how this is done!)

tl;dr: can I improve 10 points in time for the June exam if I'm studying 10-20hrs a week with limited internet access?

Thanks!

Jonah Chadwick Griego

It all depends on what caliber of school you are looking to go to.

I caution from using the diagnostic alone as a determination of whether you should take it so soon as some tests are easier than others and some forms of q's may appear on the actual test that may stump you.

If I were you and I did that well, I would shoot for a 180, study until September since you obvi seem to get LG's and apply for the rolling admissions that most schools offer.

But, I do not know you're full situation. Feel free to inbox me if you need more perspective! Godspeed!

Cant Get Right

You have a really incredible diagnostic. There's no reason, given time, that you shouldn't be in the high 170's/180 range. So the question you're asking really is can you do it in three months. Typically, no. But typically people don't have cold diagnostics so high either. You may very well be among the few who actually can do it in that timeframe. So give it a try. Study as though you're planning to definitely test in June. When the time comes, make the decision empirically. If the data says you're ready, test. If it says you're not, reevaluate. Maybe you can apply this year, maybe not. If not, stay on it and apply next year with an amazing score.

cstrobel

Going on @"Jonah Chadwick Griego" ... I'd try getting a few more PTs before deciding. If your numbers are consistent or better, then go for June. LG can definitely be mastered between now and then given the amount of time you can allot. From the LG alone, you'd have met your 10+ goal.

Good luck!

Seeking Perfection

@testfromaway said:
Hey all,
After circling around the idea of law school for years, I finally settled on it last week. My cold diagnostic was 163, I'd like to be in the 170s by the time I test.

I'm also currently on a Fulbright and living in a very rural area of a developing country, so I have very inconsistent wifi and a lot of priorities that don't involve studying for this specific test (I'm teaching full time and organizing a national conference for youth here, please hit me up if you have suggestions for where I can find $12,000 to rent a venue and fly kids in from all over the country....). I don't want to ruin my grant year studying, but this is also the time it makes the most sense in my life to do it.

I suppose what I'm asking is two-fold-- one: do I take the LSAT in June (keeping in mind that I'd be flying to another country in order to take it then, so I do have to plan ahead, but my life from now to June is as not-busy as it's gonna get this year versus in September when I know I'll be swamped with conference stuff)? Two: do I take the LSAT (and thus apply) at all this year?

I'm willing to put 10-20 hours a week into studying, and much of that I can do from the teachers lounge (meaning: finding solid chunks of time to do full PTs is going to be my main struggle). I just don't want to ruin my grant year studying if I'm not going to be able to pull my score up 10 points, but I don't want to delay application if at all possible. I'm committed to improving on the LSAT, but I don't want to ruin my present with a narrow minded focus on the future.

For what it's worth, my cold diagnostic showed -6LR, -11LG, and -3RC. I know LG are supposedly the most learnable part of the test, and I've purchased the LG bible and am watching the videos and things are clicking a whole lot more (oh man, diagrams! That's how this is done!)

tl;dr: can I improve 10 points in time for the June exam if I'm studying 10-20hrs a week with limited internet access?

Thanks!

Foolproofing logic games is obviously going to be the main thing for you.

https://7sage.com/how-to-get-a-perfect-score-on-the-logic-games/

I highly recommend the Pacifico abbreviated Method of foolproofing.
https://7sage.com/discussion/#/discussion/2737/logic-games-attack-strategy/p1

The way I did it was to print out four copies of every logic game from PTs 1-35. In my case 7sage accidentally released them for free for a few days. You'll probably have to either buy them and make photo copies or scans, find a library that has them and make photocopies, or engage in a little piracy. Either way, buy a couple ink cartridges and settle in with your printer or get willing to fork over money to some printing place.

Then let the foolproofing begin. If you have any questions about the foolproofing method feel free to ask.

The main problem I see is the limited internet access. All the 7 sage explanation videos are here. I think a lot of them are also on youtube so you could turn those into mp4s, but it would be time and maybe space consuming for 35 tests of 4 games each or 140 video clips. I would probably just try to do most of my first takes when in the lounge(if that is where you will get the internet). You could always try a local library too.
https://7sage.com/logic-game-explanations/

You should absolutely get to -0 or -1 on games which will give you the gains you want, but it will take lots of time foolproofing. I did it last summer.

I had scored a 172 with a not that different starting breakdown as yours studying using the power score bibles. After a summer of foolproofing(with only a part time job) and taking some PTs with a thorough blind review I scored a 180 in September getting a little lucky on RC and LR. Learn from me and skip right to the foolproofing.

You should be able to get in as many PTs as you will need on the weekends. I found it useful as far as getting through more PTs faster and building stamina for the test to take two PTs back to back. Instead of taking a break after section 3, I took it after a four section test before the next one. Be sure to thoroughly blind review.
https://7sage.com/the-blind-review-how-to-correctly-prep-for-lsat-part-1/

Good luck! Only time will tell if you can be ready by June. However, it is certainly possible. You definitely can get to -0 or 1 in logic games eventually.

westcoastbestcoast

By getting your LG as perfect as possible through FoolProof and by learning strategies for LR question types, you should be well on your way to 170s. Your LR score is already relatively high so learning how to efficiently tackle each question type will help you get those curvebreaker questions correct.

testfromaway

Thanks, all!

I'm strongly debating whether to plan for June or September on this one. It's good to know that nobody's telling me that the right choice is neither. For a test this year, I would have to request days off from Fulbright in advance in order to miss work (and, in the case of June, travel to another country), so unfortunately I don't have as long to make this decision as I was hoping.

I'm fully aware of the massive financial implications of a minor difference in score, so I want to maximize my odds while being very realistic about what I can do this year. In many ways, getting everything done in June so that the rest of the year can be focused on teaching and travel would be a massive blessing. If it is possible to score high enough to get me somewhere I want to be by that timeframe, that is appealing. However, if I could shoot even higher and have a chance at HYS with a September test date, well....

A pretty important note here is that I don't have a GPA. My college does not give GPAs, it gives pass/fail and a narrative about the coursework. While the LSAT is always a crucial part of the application, here it is my only numeric component. For what it is worth, I do have some pretty great softs (a job at a major media organization, a Fulbright, and hopefully my letters of rec are nice).

I'll start foolproofing immediately, and work my way through the Powerscore Bible for LG and LR, and hopefully through solid grit and a whole lot of caffeine, see a score that lands me in a solid place.