164 to a 170+ by June?

MisStudying

Hi everyone. I received a 164 in November and I have so far been WL by every school that I have applied to. I am considering taking the June test and reapplying next year. Is it possible to go from a 164 to a 170+ by June?

Additionally: Logical Reasoning is my worst section. No matter what I try, I cannot improve. I was going -5/-7 on it for a while, but somehow, I'm now scoring something crazy like -11/-12 per section. RC and LG remain consistent (respectively: around a -3 and a -0/-1 for each). June would be my sixth take, which scares me as well.

VerdantZephyr

@MisStudying So first of all, good job on that 164. Secondly, I am no expert, but getting worse at a section seems like it might be a time to take a step back from it. I have heard lots of people discuss the merits of this, and I myself took a few months off between October and January before studying for about 10 days before the January LSAT. I did actually improve a point to 174 even if I was still a few points south of my average.

Secondly, it is definitely possible. I took my cold diagnostics in August I think and got a 165 on both. I got a 173 on the October and was averaging 176 on PTs for the 8ish weeks before that test. I will add the caveat that initial improvement from diagnostic might be a bit easier than later improvement, but the fact that you have already repeatedly demonstrated the ability to hit the -6 range on LR indicates to me that you might already have the skills you need. If you turn your -12 LR into a -5 LR in the next few months you are already at that 170+ score on a good RC/LG day. That theoretically doesn't even require improvement, just returning to form. With improvement you could easily achieve a mid-170.

I will let other LR/test prep masters chime in here about strategies, but I want to offer you my strong belief that you can do it and encourage you to keep at it. I will be cheering for you.