I swear I am not dumb

noahsimps

I swear I am not dumb, but I have been practicing and learning since May. I just took a full test this morning and score was 147.. i usually range in the 155 range. I feel horrible considering my goal was to be at 160-165 range. I read books, took preps, reviewed my mistakes, learned from them, I'm a 4.0 senior at University of Michigan. Every LR section I miss 5 questions due to running out of time.. almost every Comprehension section I rush to finish all 4 and make many mistakes. Im great at LG but because of limited time I end up with a bad score. I honestly feel hopeless now especially since I haven't seen any progress in the past 4 months. what can I do? where to start? how to regain energy after such an upsetting score.

Cant Get Right

What are your BR scores?

rakinalikhan

would you like to study together? i remember on my very first diagnostic i got a 138 so if it makes you feel better and now i score in the same range as you

Mookittyy

I think that a lot of improvement comes from practicing the full PTs over and over again. So if this is your first time (in 4 months, at least) taking a full timed PT, I wouldn't be surprised if you scored lower than expected. Keep practicing, and don't give up.

jjdett88

Go Blue from a fellow Wolverine! I graduated in 2010 and I have been studying for the LSAT for 3-4 months while working full time as a paralegal. You are NOT dumb. Studying for this test has been one the most frustrating challenges I've dealt with. If you are in school, or working full time, you do not have the necessary time to commit to mastering this test that others have. That being said, progress will be very slow. I am now stuck in the 160-164 plateau which is the worst range to be stuck in. My advice is to make sure you have good prep materials - this makes all the difference. And be realistic about your expectations. It sounds like your problem is timing more than anything. Do not focus on speed before you truly understand what the questions are all about. Speed comes later. Eventually, right answers will jump out and be very obvious. I would suggest that you start doing sections untimed first and take away that added pressure while you become more comfortable with the questions types. Whatever you do, do NOT obsess over time while you are taking the timed section. Every second you spend thinking how much time you have left, the more time you waste while losing focus. Also, try personalizing the arguments. Imagine you are actually conversing with the author and try not to abstract the arguments too much. The more you personalize, the easier you can prephrase the correct answer.

J. Tharp

Take a break from full PT. That's what I did recently. Take full sections of older tests instead and focus on drilling your weak spots. In a few weeks, try a full test again.

desire2learn

Have you completed the 7sage Core Curriculum while doing all the practice questions?

tomwyatt

This is a simple case of burning out. I had the same problem and was wondering why that was. You have got to take a week off at the minimum. And this goes for everything in life, sometimes when you take a break you come back stronger then you were before.

noahsimps

Thank you guys all so so much. after hitting week 2 of 7sage online course I have learned so much info that I didn't pick up while reading LSAT books!!

yes my scores are low per section but my scores UNTIMED during BR are just awesome.Hopefully I can improve speed so I can reach those BR scores
GO BLUE!

Cant Get Right

@noahsimps said:
my scores are low per section but my scores UNTIMED during BR are just awesome.

Yeah, you're going to be okay. If you're BRing above your target score, take some time out to focus on test taking strategies.