Is it possible to get from a 154 to a 168 by November 9th LSAT?

ruddenrialey

Hi All,

My most recent PT i got a 154 (best of all time). I'm really hoping to get into high 160s.
I am getting 6-8 wrong on LR and 10-13 wrong on RC. I've also been seeing a tutor once a week for 2 hours since the middle of September and plan to continue seeing my tutor until my test date.

I really need to improve my RC but am having a hard time improving. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to improve on RC in a short amount of time?

Is this score increase even possible? (positive comments only pls I do not need any negativity in my life)

firstgen.lawtina

Hi! I love the positive comments energy---I feel that!
My general 2 cents:
168 is such a specific score, I don't think you can (or should try to) predict that. Also, attaching an expectation to a specific score can lead to stress (& negative energy we don't want) that could affect your performance. So I suggest reframing your goals to have a range of a score. I think mid-high 160s is definitely possible! I think it depends on how much quality time you have to study each day, and your study approach (working smart, not hard). If you work too hard, but aren't working smart (efficiently) then you risk burning yourself out.

My more practical tips:
Have you gone through the RC curriculum? It helped me a ton!! I went from a 157 (PT 147) (-12 RC) to a 168 (PT 154) (-3 RC) in ~3 weeks by: (1) finishing the RC curriculum & (2) drilling 1-3 RC passages almost every day and thoroughly reviewing each one (explanation videos & comments). This helped me with (1) getting comfortable with RC passage types and questions (the LSAT's vibe & tricks to writing RC material), (2) habitualizing the approach to RC laid out in the core curriculum (I wanted this to become second nature to me), & (3) breaking my personal bad habits of indecision and taking too long on questions so that I ran out of time on the later passages & lost potential easy points. I also attended/watched some live classes for RC, but did that really at the end and say this was extra help, but bulk of my growth was from what I mentioned earlier.

Even you don't have a lot of time to study, what I've found effective is taking a bite size approach to practicing. I recommend doing speed drills every day: ~10 minutes for 10 LR questions & 1 RC passage at a pace that works for you & would also work on the timed exam. You may not be able to meet your speed goals right away; that's okay & relatable! Just set a timer for 10 min & a stopwatch on your phone and do the first 10, & make a note how long it took you & the date, & you'll see your timing improve over time. Same for RC. Once you are close to your RC timing goals, complete the 1st 2 passages from a section at a time. Then work your way up to a full timed RC section.

Avoid the temptation of taking a practice test too early! Give yourself flexibility to push back when you plan to take a PT, even if that means you take less PTs than you wanted to before Nov. If you take a PT too early (before you're prepared), & you don't progress in your scoring, you may feel discouraged & even more stressed. I recommend approaching each new practice test with a new mini-size goal (or strategy) you want to implement/achieve, after you've already made progress towards achieving it in some form (in speed drills and/or individual timed sections). For ex., in this next PT, I plan to finish the first 10 questions in 10 min", "complete the first 2 RC passages in X minutes", "complete a full RC/LR section on time", "prephrase the correct answer before reading the answer choices" etc.

Use the more recent PTs for your timed PTs/timed sections. This will give you more realistic scores.

I've found that the most important part is reviewing after practicing. In my opinion, it's a waste to practice if you aren't having a takeaway from every question you do (it can be a huge takeaway or a really small one). But there should always be a bigger point from just completing the question. And you get those takeaways by reviewing thoroughly. The LSAT is so specific to each person, that reflecting on your habits is so important for growth! I think people tend to "over practice" and not reflect enough, and they end up not scoring at their potential because they haven't done a thorough check in with themselves.

Wishing you the best of luck!! You got this!

capturingthemomentmedia

A great source I have used is Kevin Lin on YouTube- He has great videos for your weakest areas. Immediate game changer and yes I think that will help greatly to get your score that high by November, just watch the videos.