A indication of some progress??

dcrocks2012

Hi Everyone,

Two weeks ago, I completed a diagnostic practice test. I went in blind, with little to none knowledge about the LSAT. Yet, I gave myself and extra 30 minutes for each section. Instead of 35 minutes, I had an hour and five minutes for each section. I scored a 148 and skipped the BR at the time, not knowing how important it was.

Minor digression here: (I spent my first two weeks of studying on the foundational section, and did about 3-4 drills. I realize now, that I probably wasn't getting enough practice in, and now aim to do more drills and timed and untimed sections as part of my weekly routine. I studied for about 30-35 hours over the course of the last two weeks. Right now, I'm at the grammar section of the foundations, about halfway through.) Okay, back to the test....

Just yesterday, I did another practice test. This time I gave myself the normal 35 minute window. I scored again a 148 and scored a 149 on the BR section. I didn't give myself enough time with the BR section, and learned my lesson.

I wanted to ask, is this a reasonable indication of progress in the last two weeks? I presume that by giving myself an extra 30 minutes to complete the first diagnostic test, that must of inflated my original number. What can I do next time to move forward, and have better and clearer indicators of progress?

This week I aim to continue the grammar section and logic section of the curriculum, on top of drilling, and doing one or two time and untimed sections. I also aim to review the recent exam over the course of the week, going over questions that I got wrong. Once I'm caught up reviewing the exam, I aim to take another test.

bernadettegclawson

From my point of view (as someone who has studied for the LSAT two separate times and started with a 142 diagnostic June 2022, studied through January 2023 (PTing at 169, official score of 161), didnt touch LSAT stuff for a year, then started again in January 2024 with a 160 Diagnostic, now PTing high 160 to 170s) The grammar aspects of core curriculum are very helpful and definitely provide insight into how the test is written, but if you have just done that and a few drills, it sounds like you haven't introduced enough new knowledge about the test to make any significant improvement on the next practice test.

From my experience (obviously everyone is different!), once you learn the basis of logic, the different question types, how to approach them, and how to approach reading comprehension, you will probably see a somewhat strong or sharp increase. Then it will plateau. You will find places to fine tune on some of the harder logic questions and then you will start inching up in scores after that.

All in all, I personally do not see a large advantage on spending the time on taking another test if you have not started the substantive LSAT specific studying because it is only testing you on things you do not know. In the long run, being able to confidently answer questions instead of purely guessing will pay off with this test.

Good luck with the studies!