Passing 165

Maddibw2

Hi!

I have been stuck at 165 for MONTHS! For 8 tests in a row, I got the exact same raw score and it just fluctuated between 164-166. Now the last 6 I’ve taken have all been 165. The problem is my RC and LR fluctuate between being the lower score. Does anyone have any recommendations to get over this INFURIATING plateau? Thank you!!

Matt Sorr

For LR, have you noticed any discernible trends with analytics? Like particular question types that give you trouble? If so, you may want to take the time between practice tests to drill the types troubling you. If there’s no real trend, meaning you’re kind of just missing questions at random or just missing harder questions in general, you may want to look up different explanation videos to hear how others approach LR questions or try out a different LR approach. Many people swear by “The Loophole” by Ellen’s Cassidy, for instance.

For RC, if you haven’t been following the memory method, you may want to try it (or revisit it if you’ve used it before). Though some people write nothing during RC sections, I know of many who do much better with low res summaries. If you don’t like the memory method and/or it doesn’t help you, then you may also want to try a different approach for it. Luckily, I’ve seen many free resources online about how to attack RC. I think this is largely because RC is difficult to teach mechanically, so the best approach is to learn a general attack strategy, try it out on your own, and, once you’ve found one you like, refine it from there.

For both LR and RC, if you can afford it, I’ve heard of many people breaking plateaus with tutoring. A friend of mine going to George Washington Law School this fall was stuck in the low to mid 160s until she began tutoring, which helped her consistently land in the high 160s.

Finally, I don’t know how often you’re taking PTs, but just remember that they aren’t intended to be taken back to back, nonstop. If you’re taking more than two a week, you may want to reel it in for a while so you can drill weaknesses. Otherwise, it’ll be difficult to break your plateau. While PTs are great, they serve for you to sharpen your test-taking skills and comfort and to gauge how well you understand concepts. If you’re not taking PTs too frequently, though, you can of course disregard this.

I hope this helps! Best of luck with your studies.

julia.greve

It can be really frustrating to continue studying but feel you're not making progress! A plateau tells us we've reached the height of the potential of our current study plan. What you need to do is change up the methods you're using for drilling and review. If you add me as a buddy I can take a look at your analytics and give you some quick tips!

jianingxue215

ik it's painful. We're in the same boat... exactly same score range...same number of PT.

Cant Get Right

What’s your BR looking like? Your next steps look really different depending on where that is.