Progress from first Diagnostic

mattwhitworth56

Hi Everyone!
I was wondering if anyone could share a rough estimate of their score progressions from the first diagnostic to maybe 2 months after the fact? I was a pretty meh student throughout college so I assumed my LSAT diagnostic would be low off the bat, but it ended up being a 156! I was so excited! That was 17 days ago. Since then I've done 8 more practice tests ( I know that's kind of insane, but I make sure to check my mistakes after and figure out why I got them wrong) and the scores were 154, 155, 156, 159, 155, 153, 159, 154, and 159. I'm happy that my initial score was a decent indicator of where I am at and not a fluke, but I'm so excited to see improvement! I feel like I am able to understand the material but sometimes it is hard for me to access the understanding quickly and under pressure. I'm new to the LSAT so I don't know if this is normal, but I have put in roughly 100 hours over the past 5 weeks so I'm just kinda bummed it hasn't gone up more. It seems like I am still in that "band" of 156. Thanks everyone! And like I said I am super new to the LSAT as well as intense studying (got my first ever headache from too much studying this week) so please feel free to share anything that might help.

CarrytheBoats-1-1-1

Progressive, strategic studying > quantity of hours + PTs

andrew.rsn

Hey Matt. I would caution you of using up practice tests too fast, especially in the beginning of your studying - since there's a finite amount, and the a good 1/4 of them are used in the CC.

The idea is that you take a diagnostic, then go through the Core Curriculum, (which takes a couple of months) then start PT'ing. It's meant to be a 6+ month process.

The Core Curriculum is really amazing and is where you'll see a bulk of improvement in your score. It kind of sounds like you haven't done the CC and have only been doing PT's. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I myself saw a 10 point increase from my diagnostic to my next PT after doing the core curriculum. Ultimately my official score was 16 points higher than my initial diagnostic.

Also are you doing Blind Review when you take PT's (again it appears that you aren't) This is the most important thing to do and is where you'll actually improve. JY talks about Blind Review in the CC if you're unsure of what that is.

Hope this helps and provides some perspective!

tahurrrrr

My diagnostic was 150. Two-months later, I hit my then personal best of 162. But after that 162, didn't hit 160 again until I took the June LSAT. Your progress is not always going to show up in a nice, clear linear fashion.

Honestly, I started seeing my best results when I cut back on the practice tests and really focused on the fundamentals. I hit my all time high score of 167 after not PTing for over a month and just focusing on analyzing questions with a little bit of timed drilling sprinkled in there. More than just understanding why the right answer is right, you need to be able to explain why the wrong answers are wrong. Once you truly gain that level of understanding, it really feels like you've ascended to a new level of thought.

csharm002

I love your motivation! PLEASE slow down though. I’ve been studying since May and I only take one PT a week. My diagnostic was 142 and I just scored a 162 a few days ago. You need to slow down with the PTs…think of it this way: if you take PTs over and over again without blind reviewing, drilling, and practicing your weaknesses, then you’re just taking the same test, doing the same thing, and expecting a different result. If i’m correct, i’m pretty sure that’s the definition of insanity. You have awesome motivation and can definitely make a lot of progress, but everyone has to study more than 2 months and you don’t want to burn through a ton of material!

dicino63

My initial diagnostic was a 152 and now my PT average is 171. I started "studying" in November but severely overestimated the difficulty of this exam and only started studying for real in May. Before that, I went through the Core Curriculum and took maybe like five PTs that were all in the low 160s. Took the exam twice in January and June, and got a 165, then 164. My goal score is a 171+ in October.

eziff

started at a 155, 2 months in hit 165. final score after 3.5 months of studying was 172. would recommend you start repeating logic games until you can do well on them before doing any more PTs.