Getting Back Up

Quick Silver

I reposted this comment of mine from @blah170blah 's great thread to those who are disappointed. I thought my story would help some of you realize you're not alone:

- Very first PT 149

- Studied my but off and eventually PTed in the 170s

- Planned for a 170 plus!

But...

- Oct 14 LSAT 162 (85th Pctl)

- Dec 14 LSAT 165 (91st Pctl)

- June 15 LSAT 173 (99th Pctl)!

There are two kinds of people in this world - those that fall and those that get back up. I know there are people on this board who are disappointed right now. I know you'll get back up.

Don't get me wrong, you can have time to be down. I hit the nachos and in-n-out pretty hard the first couple days after getting my first test score. But then I hit the weights and then I hit the books and 7Sage material. I know you all have it in you too.

J.Y. Ping

Hear, hear!

Pacifico

Well said, I appreciate the candor, I'm sure it will be of great help to many who need that motivation following this past administration. Good luck with your apps!

emli1000

Congrats!! Could you share you study methods with us?

ddakjiking

Thanks, I needed this. I will be taking it for my 3rd and final time in October. As @emli1000 stated, was there anything you did differently for your final run? I imagine the lack of "fresh" material played a factor.

Rebelwendy

Thank you for this!

Quick Silver

@emli1000 and @ddakjiking - by the time I finished my 2nd lsate take I had done the bulk of prepping (over 40 PTs and Blind Review in addition to the 7Sage course), so I had the foundation.

So I focused on Quality prep and working on weakenesses. For this test I did about 10-12 pts spaced out with review. Yes some of them were retakes so I knew my scores were a bit inflated. I focused more on the work than the numbers. When I'd PT at 177 or 178 I knew it might be inflated but I was in good shape to break 170

I also had an eye exam and realized my prescription was off. Correcting that really helped and I'd recommend it to anyone to be safe.

Another key thing I did was tutor the LSAT. I already tutor the SAT and my 165 score was adequate with one company for me to tutor an LSAT student. By teaching LSAT concepts to a student biweekly it forced me to really understand key concepts. I really recommend it if you can. Seriously anyone scoring in the 160s may be able to teach for a company and it really helps.
Or help people on this board - it's good to reenforce things for you too.

Hope this helps!

Pacifico

"I also had an eye exam and realized my prescription was off. Correcting that really helped and I'd recommend it to anyone to be safe."

Interesting that you mention this because I was thinking about creating a topic about this. I have had 20/10 vision my whole life and have always had a lot of excellent vision hubris, which has finally caught up to me. During my exit physicals from the Army I had to see an eye doctor who dilated my pupils and tested my vision. He said I am farsighted, down to 20/30 and 20/40 in my left and right eyes, and that I have astigmatism in both eyes. So he told me to go get some prescription glasses. It totally blew my mind and after going home and thinking about it I started to notice these issues more and more as I would read for school and the LSAT and could feel more of the strain in my eyes. I've got an appointment next week to finally get glasses. After initially being horrified, I'm hoping now that they make reading even easier and less tiring and that I'll be able to perform better. Definitely recommend it to anyone that has any similar issues.

nicole.hopkins

@Pacifico said:
After initially being horrified, I'm hoping now that they make reading even easier and less tiring and that I'll be able to perform better. Definitely recommend it to anyone that has any similar issues.

For sure! I am pretty blind (-4.5 in both eyes) and even a subtle correction can make huge difference in eye strain. You can go for a long time barely even noticing a vision correction need/issue, but once it's fixed, it's like night and day.

deleted account

First test after not much study: 165
Second test, after massive amount of study: 170 (had been pt'ing at 178)
Third test, October 2015: 180!!!!!

nicole.hopkins

@josephellengar said:
Third test, October 2015: 180!!!!!

Teach us your ways.

And @"Dillon A. Wright" looks like we have another Sage on our hands!

inactive

@nicole.hopkins said:
looks like we have another Sage on our hands!

We might! I think that's @josephellengar 's goal, seeing as he said Oct 2015. (...Or is he from the future?!)

nicole.hopkins

@"Dillon A. Wright"

OH I GET IT.

Most excellent gif.

NYC12345

@"Quick Silver"
Quick question: You mentioned that you were PTing in the 170s, but you scored a 162 on your first exam. Is there a reason why your score was way below your PT average? I know JY says to average the 3 most recent exams and your score will be within three points. Did you misread the rules of a game? Were you distracted by other test-takers? Thanks in advance.

nicole.hopkins

@"Quick Silver" said:
- Oct 14 LSAT 162 (85th Pctl)

- Dec 14 LSAT 165 (91st Pctl)

- June 15 LSAT 173 (99th Pctl)!

Oddly enough, this more or less describes my 3 PT plateaus, within a couple of points. Very interesting! Also you're the man.

Quick Silver

@alexandergreene93

Great question. Before my first LSAT I was scoring between high 160s and low 170s. So it should have been higher....

Yes, I was shocked. With that one, there was actually a huge noise disturbance outside and I think it contributed to my drop in score. LSAC put something on file to explain, but it was still well below my range.

DNRDNRDNR

Yes! It is so important that we never give up and have examples of people who came before us who demonstrated their ability to rise up from among their personal disappointments. Thanks for sharing this experience.

LSATisland

Congrats!

jyang72

I always love coming back stories and this is the best story ever on the 7sage!

lschoolgo

@"Quick Silver"
what was the difference you felt in your own ability between 2nd and 3rd take or did you think that you were equally good at the test at these two takes and the 3rd one simply went well? did you feel during your second take that you were going to get 165 or did you not expect it and ended up being surprised by the 165? interested in knowing how you felt before and after these different takes and whether the score matched what you expected. can you post or pm the section-wise breakdown for these takes?

since the retakes of PTs, though useful in building skills, can be misleading with respect to one's real scoring level, it seems it can be hard to feel confident based only on high retake scores. teaching the lsat can also prevent one from keeping tests completely fresh as one will have to teach problems from random PTs to students. how did you handle this issue when teaching the lsat? i am retaking an actual lsat score of 165. which company can take a tutor with this score? i was wondering if this can be an option i can pursue.

@"Quick Silver" said:
I reposted this comment of mine from @blah170blah 's great thread to those who are disappointed. I thought my story would help some of you realize you're not alone:

- Very first PT 149

- Studied my but off and eventually PTed in the 170s

- Planned for a 170 plus!

But...

- Oct 14 LSAT 162 (85th Pctl)

- Dec 14 LSAT 165 (91st Pctl)

- June 15 LSAT 173 (99th Pctl)!

There are two kinds of people in this world - those that fall and those that get back up. I know there are people on this board who are disappointed right now. I know you'll get back up.

Don't get me wrong, you can have time to be down. I hit the nachos and in-n-out pretty hard the first couple days after getting my first test score. But then I hit the weights and then I hit the books and 7Sage material. I know you all have it in you too.

Quick Silver

thanks @jyang72 - what a kind thing to say - I'm touched.

Let me answer your questions @lschoolgo

I'm not sure what the factors were that contributed to lower scores in my first two tests. There were outside personal factors. At the same time, I was not PTing the way I was before my last exam.

I did not feel as good after the first 2 tests as I did after the 3rd. Still, after the 3rd, I just wasn't sure how I did. I felt confident but maybe unsure due to prior performance,

Regarding retakes - I took them with a grain of salt and made sure to really look at PTs I didn't do in a while.

I was scoring consistently above 170 which I hadn't done before (in past was over 170 before but some high 160s).

But this time I was scoring very high - usually mid 170s and a 177 or two and 178. I knew it could be due to retake. BUT I had a cushion of points and that was a good sign.

Regarding teaching - I hear your concerns
1) If you're already dealing with retakes, it's not that big a deal and benefits outweigh concerns.
2) Many/most places save later PTs for them on their own or later.
3) If you tutor, you can organize when they take PTs as you see fit. Saving later PTs benefits the student and you.

Regarding companies - I think Kaplan and PR allow for scores of 165 or maybe less.
If you're near a university you can flyer or post offers to tutor online along with your score. You don't have to charge a lot - I didn't make much and that's fine - I wanted the benefits of teaching/tutoring.

My Breakdown:

Games -0
LR -5
RC -2

jyang72

@"Quick Silver",I've been studying around a year and I am running out of fresh PTs. Your story is every encouraging to me!

lschoolgo

this is a very inspiring story. seldom do we see such success. thanks. i'm in a similar boat and hoping for the same target. you have a strong rc of only -2 in a new test.
how much time do you take to read the passage and how much to do the questions in RC? what were your breakdowns in previous tests?
i'm interested in your RC approach as that is the section that brings my score down (I went -9 RC in my last take).

which company did you tutor with? it may be more useful to do so with a company than independently for various reasons.

@"Quick Silver" said:

thanks @jyang72 - what a kind thing to say - I'm touched.

Let me answer your questions @lschoolgo

I'm not sure what the factors were that contributed to lower scores in my first two tests. There were outside personal factors. At the same time, I was not PTing the way I was before my last exam.

I did not feel as good after the first 2 tests as I did after the 3rd. Still, after the 3rd, I just wasn't sure how I did. I felt confident but maybe unsure due to prior performance,

Regarding retakes - I took them with a grain of salt and made sure to really look at PTs I didn't do in a while.

I was scoring consistently above 170 which I hadn't done before (in past was over 170 before but some high 160s).

But this time I was scoring very high - usually mid 170s and a 177 or two and 178. I knew it could be due to retake. BUT I had a cushion of points and that was a good sign.

Regarding teaching - I hear your concerns
1) If you're already dealing with retakes, it's not that big a deal and benefits outweigh concerns.
2) Many/most places save later PTs for them on their own or later.
3) If you tutor, you can organize when they take PTs as you see fit. Saving later PTs benefits the student and you.

Regarding companies - I think Kaplan and PR allow for scores of 165 or maybe less.
If you're near a university you can flyer or post offers to tutor online along with your score. You don't have to charge a lot - I didn't make much and that's fine - I wanted the benefits of teaching/tutoring.

My Breakdown:

Games -0
LR -5
RC -2

megsvyas_OVO

@"Quick Silver" thanks so much for sharing this. It's really inspiring!

Quick Silver

thanks @megsvyas

@lschoolgo Honest Answer: I used two of the other major and well regarded courses and books. BUT 7Sage is what made a difference.

The 7Sage Memory Method was key to my improvement on Logic Games.

Buying the 7sage course helped me master the fundamentals and route out blind spots.

Blind Review was also immensely helpful.

I will add that the LSAT Trainer book was very helpful for Reading Comp - and especially Reading Comp Question types which are often underestimated.

Quick Silver

I know some people aren't happy with their scores, so I decided to bump this thread. Hope it helps!

DumbHollywoodActor

@"Quick Silver" said:
I know some people aren't happy with their scores, so I decided to bump this thread. Hope it helps!

Nice, dude! Always a great story to read.

sarahfatima28

Very inspiring! Thanks @"Quick Silver"

GSU Hopeful

Good stuff man!

Quick Silver

Just wanted to bump this for June Takers

Cant Get Right

Thanks! Seeing your specific test scores is actually really encouraging. I’m going into Take 3 with very similar numbers!

Ron Swanson

@"Quick Silver" So before your 165 second take you were averaging high 160s with a few low 170s? That's basically me exactly, and my gut tells me confidence on test day could be a big factor in ward off the test day penalty

MrSamIam

Well said. We've all been in that position before: Scored low on diagnostic --> Ignored it --> Scored better, but not where we wanted to be post-course --> Freaked out --> Had early-life crisis and purchased a $150k sports car.
Okay, maybe not the last one
Don't worry ladies and get's, set-backs are meant to be overcome.

Quick Silver

I'm bumping this for any students that got their scores recently and were disappointed. Delays are not denials - Get Back Up!

sillllyxo

@"Quick Silver" said:
I'm bumping this for any students that got their scores recently and were disappointed. Delays are not denials - Get Back Up!

I just read this after watching your BR webinar - will be on my third take - you are an inspiration~ I hope law school is treating you well!