How much can you improve your diagnostic?

K S

So I rescheduled from October to December. I am currently in the 150's. With two months left. I have been re-going over the course, re-going over the bibles and trying to practice as much as possible.

I want a 170. Is this possible for someone like me? I will seriously do anything. I work 40 hours a week and can only schedule in maybe 3-4 hours a day usually and am going to start doing more practice tests. But I feel like I keep working for hours on age and getting no where. Sorry to be a downer. I just want to see if anyone has some advice for me. My weakness is LR. So i made an outline and am memorizing the stuff that J.Y. said to memorize within the course. I have only gotten through till assumptions however. I guess I would like to know if I should be doing more practice exams or what I need to be doing to improve more.

James Dean

Say it's not possible... then what? You'd still be studying unless you choose to give up your legal dreams.

You've made several posts, and you've emailed users that in turn responded to you, though you failed to appreciate the fact that they wasted time responding to you.

Study. Take PT's. Do a damn google search and you'll find thousands of threads just like yours- but then again, you've probably already read them, so you have enough information. apply it. In the end work is the only thing that will give you results.

Do full length tests. If you need to conserve resent tests, take older ones in between newer ones.

It is possible btw, many people have done it.

K S

I did appreciate their posts, as I do yours. However, I am looking for different approaches and different opinions taking from the fact that it doesn't seem like anything is working. Thank you for your prompt advice.

James Dean

I wish there were an easy solution. All of my friends that have scored over 170 tell me the same thing. Just keep taking PT's and reviewing your mistakes- it's the only way.

Some have developed the skill through their college experience and it comes off as a natural LSAT super power, others weren't so lucky. I wasn't lucky. I studied for over 6 months before hitting a 170.

James Dean

Check out some of the TLS threads.... they have one by people who have scored 160+ . They also have 3 good articles by individuals that scored 180.

I have found full length tests to be more beneficial than drilling. After awhile you start seeing patterns. That's when I started seeing improvements on LR.

K S

Hm, interesting. I have a friend who tells me that I should stop taking full length exams because it is 'stressing me out'. However, I took a five section exam after work and i just couldn't even focus on the last half of the last section. (could've been because I had been preparing for trial all day but...)

I guess, I saw your post when you said that it takes 10 exams to go from 150-160 and about 10-15 to go from 160 to 170. I want to follow that advice. But when I look at the fact that I have two months left, that leaves me with 17 weekend days for 17 five sectioned exams.

I know that taking it during the work week kills me. I am able to get in early at around 7/8am but then I only get about an hour of work done before my attorney starts piling up the work. So i realized not the most ideal situation. I have a study buddy who is doing fantastic. And is a great help. I really have been taking into account all the advice I have been getting. However I feel like maybe I'm burnt out/overthinking the entire thing. (which is another reason i started the course over).

would you suggest I stop taking the course over and focus primarily upon exams?

James Dean

For LR

1. For the first 4-6 weeks, work without timing yourself. The goal is quality.
2. For every question that you do during that time frame do the following.
A. Write down what type of question you’re being asked.
B. Write a paraphrase of the main conclusion of the argument.
C. Write down a flaw in the argument (there may be many; in that case, choose two).
D. Write down the answer to the question you’ve been asked. (For Flaw, Necessary and Sufficient assumption, weaken, strengthen, and evaluation questions, your answer from part (C) will suffice). For most of the questions , you will now be able simply to choose an answer choice that matches what you’ve written down.
E. If none of the answers match what you’ve written in down, identify with precision and with thought the reason that you will choose one answer, and write down that reasoning. Next, write down the reason/s that you are not choosing each of the other four choices . Now, you have a record to refer to after you check your answers against the key, and you can intelligently assess your progress.

K S

THANK YOU

James Dean

Best of luck, Kerri. You're going to kill the test in December.

EuripidesFan

you need to internalize all the basic LR technique so that when you review the questions you missed, they were only genuinely difficult questions that evaded routine reasoning strategies. then you know that you have nearly peaked.

K S

Would you suggest I get a private tutor?

E.T.90066-1

K S, I am also in the same situation as you. I have spent over a year prepping. But not until this month I finally understand that its about the quality of time not the quantity. Im a silent study room, so I cant type much but I will send you a nice guide in the next few hours.

Mike.Jiang

KS and ErickT, when I read your post I found it funny, because the frustration is exactly what I'm feeling right now.

I started off with the Bibles, did 7Sage, then tried to review both while getting after the PTs.
The problem for me is consistency throughout the test. On certain LR sections I can get 5 wrong, while on others its 6-8. On RC I'm fluctuating anywhere from 4-8 in timed conditions.

I'm hammering away at the PTs, but I don't notice a real improvement, but I think like most things, there's a threshold that you have to breach before improvement can occur. Or at least I hope so, then again I'm not shooting for a 170, just need my 165-166 to go where I want.

E.T.90066-1

Mike.Jiang.
Yes. Doing test after test after test will do nothing for you, if not worsen your psychological stamina that you need for the test. I have found that I tend to get anxious to take the test and increase. But that same anxiety is what prevented me from increasing my score. I think the LSAT can be put in a simple equation for those who want to score in the 150-160 range. The more quality prep you have before a PT the bigger the increase.
If you are taking a test every week and have not seen improvements you need to stop and take a break! I know, I know, you are probably saying "I can't afford a break!" Well, take a day or two off, and trust me, you will feel refreshed will be able to spot your problems with the questions easier. Sometimes we get into this awful loop of test, bad score, feel miserable so we take another test, bad score, feel miserable, take another test. Do your self a favor, relax, take a break and start off slow and increase your amount of study time gradually.
At this point in time, if you are taking december it's time to start taking only one exam a week and squeezing as much information about your weakness out of them and work only on weaknesses. I know it feels good to do the things that we are good at but work on those problems that give you headaches. Those are the ones preventing you from getting to the high 150's low 160's.

E.T.90066-1

Oh, and workout to relax.

Midriff

Great read! thanks for the advice