150->173

galibkabirgk

I'd like to start off by thanking the folks here at 7Sage. I initially started off with a 150 diagnostic, then a 158, then a 168, and now I am sitting here with a 173. I have been a tutor for 3 years and taught standardized testing myself to kids, but J.Y.'s commentaries and lessons here are fruitful in their straightforward, candid, and common-sense simplicity. It's thanks to him that I owe him this immense score and the beginning of my law school journey.

robertsonsarah798-1-1

Congratulations! Would love to hear more about your study journey/strategy.

emilee.a.acosta

Congrats! I'd like to know your method of study!

J.Y. Ping

@galibkabirgk I'm so happy for you. Congratulations!

galibkabirgk

@"robertsonsarah798-1-1" said:
Congratulations! Would love to hear more about your study journey/strategy.

@"emilee.a.acosta" said:
Congrats! I'd like to know your method of study!

I'll try to compile a list of everything that worked for me and that I wished I was told earlier. Some key points:

• Treat studying like weightlifting. Start off with light sets for high volume and eventually add on resistance, which analogically would mean starting with easy practice sections for long periods of time before cutting down and devoting studying almost entirely to practice tests. I will also cut against the grain of wisdom here and say that your priority should be to do as many practice tests as possible... reasonably. By that, I mean make sure you take a practice test and devote as much time as you need to on every single question. That means first trying to figure out the question yourself, then regardless watch a J.Y. explanation, then try to look up the explanation from a forum. Seeing different perspectives and putting it into your own words helps immensely. But really prioritize full-length practice tests.
• It's almost all mental. You can give someone an LSAT question and, if they are college educated, they can probably solve it in 2-3 minutes. The LSAT itself isn't hard. Rather, it's the combo of questions, timing, and superfluous language choices that get you. I'd recommend reading difficult philosophy/political science passages to see formal logic in action and parse through that to get used to it. I'd also do the games on NYT to get used to breaking from the feeling of being "tongue-tied" mentally and feeling stuck.
• Stay hydrated and stay active. This kept my brain energized and on and I honestly would wither away from the stress without a healthy outlet.
• Don't get bogged down in the numbers game. One man's top score is another man's bottom score. None of the hardwired "scores to achieve" really matter because I think a lot of scorers are actually capable of a 170+.

robertsonsarah798-1-1

Thank you so much!

dguillen0926

Congratulations! I am new to studying the LSAT so hearing your story is amazing! Congrats once again!

montreu2

did you just do drills or a full practice test at the easier level to harder? I am definitely going to try this as I dont see much change in my score

galibkabirgk

@montreu2 said:
did you just do drills or a full practice test at the easier level to harder? I am definitely going to try this as I dont see much change in my score

I started with drills but honestly saw the biggest improvement when I started doing full practice tests. In the beginning stages you can do them one section at a time spaced out which worked best for me.

David Salgado

How long did it take for you to finally achieve the 173?