What were your initial diagnostic scores and how much have you improved?

joe.m.shashaty

Will some of you please share what your diagnostic test score was and what you are hitting now after taking the 7sage course? Thanks!

bstew2002

163->174.6 (over last 5 according to my Analytics)

Matt1234567

133 diagnostic. 160 now

ddakjiking

136->mid 160's

hj060815

@ddakjiking how are you studying?? Thats a huge - great job. My initial diagnostic ever was low 140s....from 2 years ago...but when I started studying again this January - it was a 158 and I've still been in that range 158-161 for the last 6 months, and it seems like I won't be able to take the June at this rate. Really interested to hear how you've been studying to make that jump and also how long it took you to be consistently in the mid 160s after how many PTs? I've taken 15 LSAT tests already within the 6 months and really didn't improve much.

ddakjiking

@hj060815 It's been almost 11 months now since I started. Been putting in maybe 15-25 hours a week pretty much the entire time except waiting for my FEB test score to come out (3 weeks) and couple days off here and there for Holidays.

Drill the Cambridge Packets and do not move onto PT'ing until you've hit a really high accuracy rate for the questions rated Level 1-3 out of 4 (Cambridge rating).

littlesnickers

hj, my route was a bit similar. I took my first ever diagnostic (absolutely no idea what was on the LSAT) four years ago and got a 151. My diagnostic this January was 160. I'm now taking three PTs a week and the average of my last five is 174. I didn't reach the 170s until my fifth PT and I didn't start scoring consistently in the 170s until my tenth. I'm hoping that by my fifteenth or so I'll be in the high 170s but those last few mistakes per PT have been proving hard to get rid of... Anyway when I was studying four years ago, I read all these very definitive and limiting statements about how you can only improve by x number of points from your diagnostic. But after finding all these great and affordable resources like 7sage in the last few months, I realized that's not true at all.

hrjones44

144 159 now, 6 months and i have not hit my ceiling

nicole.hopkins

153 was diagnostic, 177 is highest, and my score chart looks a bit like a roller coaster between the mid-high160's and low-mid 170's. So yeah, that's why I'm not taking it in June

Been studying since last July (started real gentle-like with the Trainer), started with 35-40 hours/week with weekly PT/BR in February (work full time) and did 7sage. I'm working on a trial right now so LSAT gets less time but still a minimum of 25-30 hours for the month of May (legal assistant is my second job). Now incorporating Manhattan RC and LR and going to start doing 2 PT's/week combined with exhaustive BR (writing out justification for every single question and every single answer choice) and BR group study (PM me for deets) after June 11th.

Not at my ceiling in terms of consistency yet—later tests are loopy.

Pacifico

Started with a 158/BR 162 during a deployment last fall. I tinkered around with 7Sage for about a month and then life took over when I got home. I started up again in March with a schedule set to take the LSAT in October, and then finished the curriculum a few weeks ago. My first two tests after finishing were a 163/167 and then a 164/166, which was disappointing especially because I crushed LG/RC but did far worse on LR than in my diagnostic. I had a host of issues during each test that had a lot to do with getting back into testing and such.

I took a week off, picked up the LSAT Trainer and started reading it, and I went back to focus on my problem areas (mostly not being thorough and consistent with SA/NA questions). Just took my third post curriculum PT and got a 171/173 which was hugely motivating to get past that 170 mark since it can be a bit of a psychological barrier. Now to finish the Trainer and keep PTing hard until October to develop some consistency! Good luck to you all!

7sagelsatstudent180

@nicole.hopkins So how will you finally determine if you are ready are not?

nicole.hopkins

@7sagelsatstudent180 said:
@nicole.hopkins So how will you finally determine if you are ready are not?

When a double rainbow appears over the sky and simultaneously I get a 181 on PT74.

Jk—I expect that scores will level out a bit, but I see no reason to delay past October (that will mark 13 months of study for me). I have pretty well-managed expectations. But, the riding the recent roller-coaster of my scores confirms to me that I was right to postpone from June: that, if nothing else, is an indication that I still have more to learn and more habits to hone. Whatever will be, will be: I'm just putting in my blood/sweat/tears in the time I have to prepare. I haven't gone below 165 in quite a while: not that it couldn't happen, but as long as I pull that off, I'll (Lord willing) get in where I want to go. Anything on top of that is, as they say in Cajun country, lagniappe (i.e. extra scholarship money).

7sagelsatstudent180

Cool. I was just trying to understand the mentality to postpone the test when you have scored well into the 170's while practicing. The discipline needed to make that call is rare.

DumbHollywoodActor

Started in January. Diagnostic-141. highest PT/BR so far - 155/172. Committed to working on this, as continuously as possible, for 18-24 months since I couldn't start law school until fall 2017. Slow and steady wins the race.

nicole.hopkins

@7sagelsatstudent180 thats kind of you; really @"Jonathan Wang" 's essay "Why knowledge is not enough" is what changed my whole mentality. Reading that revolutionized my attitude. Can't thank that man enough for that article.

And I take a page from the book of @DumbHollywoodActor — ain't no reason to rush. I might start in 2016 (SMU PT) but that's the only place I plan to apply this Fall. If that doesn't make financial sense then it'll be 2017, which was my original plan.

blah170blah

151 --> 170.6 (average), high of 177 and a handful of PT's in the 173-175 range.

visualcreed

152 in March (though probably inflated since I guessed on most of the questions), average low 160's now, just got my highest of 169 on PT 69. One thing I learned..I don't know how to read..

danielznelson

My average is essentially useless to note, but I started with a150 and am in the low 170s (a 173 being my highest score so far).

markushageylikman

152 --> 164-167

sierravs

My initial score before studying was 158. Ive only studied for just under two months, but very intensely. However I am now only averaging 162 with a couple 165s and a lot of 160s. I feel like I have learned so much but it just isn't showing through in my scores. As soon as the timer starts all my preparation and clear thinking goes to shits. Anyone in a similar boat? Im really worrying about this test in 8 days :S

AlexanderL0

142 ---> 157 Average last 5 tests. Now that I see the time spent from everyone, I see I have a long ways to go. That was with 3 months time about 20 hours a week.

7sagelsatstudent180

148 Diagnostic 160-161 avg 166 high. 10 weeks of Prep

rblackshear

I recently scored a 172 on PT50, prior to this my highest score had been a 168 which i have hit 3 times in total. the day before i got the 172, i got a 162 on PT74. this makes me kind of question the 172 in that it was scored on a relatively early test and is far above my usual range ( average 165 on the analytics). Any thoughts?

zachary.robtoy

Has anyone gone from a 140's to in the 170's in two months of intense studying?

Cant Get Right

I mean, I'm sure someone has. That individual is anecdotal though. Think of it as an issue of probability. The ratio of successful attempts to attempts on that is astronomical. You don't want to be in that statistical pool, I can promise you.

2 month 170's are not unheard of, but they tend to have diagnostics in the 160's. Similarly, 140's diagnostics achieving 170+ scores are not unheard of (7Sage has produced many of these, myself included) but it takes much, much longer than 2 months of intense studying.

Sami

@"zachary.robtoy" said:
Has anyone gone from a 140's to in the 170's in two months of intense studying?

It's possible and maybe you can do it. I know its not the question you asked so I am sorry about that. I don't know anyone personally that made that huge jump in such a short amount of time and I think at some point it stops mattering what everyone else is doing because no matter what I am not them. I have my own strengths and struggles that are unique and I need to figure out how to work with them. So although it is inspiring to see people who jumped in two months, it's also inspiring to see people who never gave up and eventually got it. I hope no matter what in your journey ends you end up giving it your best. That's the only thing that matters. Good luck