How much prep?

Belgianwaffles

So I scored a 151 on the Feb LSAT; I did about 11 weeks of self prep with moderate effort. I admit, the LSAT was tougher than I expected, and that's why I'm here. I know that many people prep for the LSAT for months, and sometimes years. This is just not realistic for me. I'm curious, in this community's opinion, what amount of time do I need to dedicate to raising my score into the mid to high 150s? Really aiming for a 157. I know LSAC says their data indicate that most 2nd timers improve 2.8 points, and 3rd timers 2.2, on average. I'm looking to realize those improvements on my second run. Thanks for your input.

Cant Get Right

The conventional answer here is, as much time as it takes for you to feel ready. And that truly is the correct answer. But I get what you're asking. If you're serious about studying and really doing the work and don't just gloss through the curriculum and BRs, I think it's realistic to think you can manage that increase by the September test date. Just be smart about it. If you're getting close to your test date and you're not averaging where you want to be on PTs, I don't recommend risking it. Take it from me, I burned two LSATs before I was ready. Now I've only got one shot left to score, and I really wish I could have those first two back.

twssmith

@Belgianwaffles said:
the LSAT was tougher than I expected,

You are not alone. It is a beast of a test. But, it can be broken down into more of a skills test.

@Belgianwaffles said:
what amount of time do I need to dedicate to raising my score

time invested = progress
Unfortunately, taking the undisclosed Feb test there is no way to know what your breakdown was per section to help guide your process. Given that...

From another post, you are seeking guidance about how to get the most from the curriculum:

- Definitely take advantage of JY's lessons on grammar, intro to logic, valid and invalid argument forms.
- If you are weak on LG, watch the lessons and then drill the crap out of it because that section can provide easy points once you are more familiar with the strategies.
- Can't help you on RC - I am a work in progress on that section.
- If you can identify any LR question types that were just near misses or could be in your wheelhouse, focus on those to master those questions. As you progress, then start to focus on the next level of question types to make them easy points. (Corey Janson's webinar with his pyramid of levels to get the most out of your abilities could be incredibly helpful.)
- Devise a skipping strategy to make the most of all of the questions that are in your wheelhouse giving you the best opportunity for the greatest score potential. (If you do not want to re-invent the wheel, a webinar exists to get advice from multiple viewpoints.)

Hope this helps:)

Alejandro

How much prep? The answer is however many months or years you need to achieve your goal. How bad do you want to go to law school and how bad do you want to reach your goal score? Can your desire break through the artificial timelines you've set upon yourself?

runiggyrun

It will take 14 weeks studying 3 hours a day.
If you think that sounds ridiculous and like something I just pulled out of a hat, you're right, but any "hard" answer you're going to get will be exactly the same.
A 6 point improvement by September is certainly very reasonable going from "a moderate amount of self prep for 11 weeks" to "diligently studying the curriculum and doing excellent BR on >20 PT's over 6 months" but nobody can guarantee that it will specifically happen in your case.

I wouldn't worry too much about the statistics for second and third time takers, because we have plenty of 7Sagers that bent the statistics. We don't know what the majority of those other second and third takers did in between their takes, so they are irrelevant to what YOU can accomplish.
Just get started with the curriculum, put one foot in front of the other, and see where you end up in 5 months (I wouldn't recommend June because by the time you're done with the lessons there will be virtually no time for PT's).
We'll be here for advice on refining your prep once you get some PT's and the corresponding analytics under your belt.

kennedybj

I raised my score by 10 points in a month, so yeah just however long it takes