Advice - from someone who struggling alot

fightingtilltheend

hey guys so I wrote for the first time in September.
I was averaging at 153-157 in my practice test. my last practice test i wrote 3 days before the actual test I got a 157.
my diagnostic was a 142. but by September I did about 6 practice test and never hit the 140s once.
I was so happy with my improvement. With my gpa (3.8) I know a mid to high one 150s would make me very competitive in Canadian schools like Ottawa and Windsor.

and on test day...... I got a 149. I was shattered. I was expecting tleast a 150 something.
I struggle a lot with depression and anxiety so this has been a difficult process for me.

My goal is a 157. do you think is possible to achieve that in December
No I don't want to study for 2 years and write later,

any positive suggestions will be great.

I killed arguments, did okay on games. it was reading comp that killed me I only got 8 correct in that section (the worst ive ever done)

In serious need of prep talk.

thanks,
a sad Scorer

I am already registered to write in

BinghamtonDave

Ok, as sort of a general rule from the onset, I would not register until you are absolutely ready to take the exam. Takes are precious on this exam. You did allude to the fact that you don't have years to be studying, which I totally understand, but I would let your prep guide you to where you are ready and then register.

The main issues as I see it here are twofold: You under-performed on the actual exam in relation to your PTs and you had a particular section in which you didn't do well (RC). The first issue could be attributed to a variety of reasons: from not taking enough PTs to get the feeling of endurance built up to having test-day nervousness. It has been my experience that both of these issues can be mitigated by strictly replicating test day conditions many times during your practice. By strictly replicating test conditions I mean even slipping in an experimental section and even taking a snack break.

The next issue is RC. Really really drill RC, read passages multiple times, listen to the RC webinars, read dense material in your free time, ask yourself RC related question. Really "live" RC. Think about it: if you can turn that -18 you got in September into a -3, you would be in an INCREDIBLE spot moving forward.

I think this comes down to practice and refining techniques. You've got this.

fightingtilltheend

@David3389 thanks so much David, I'm taking a break this week to recuperate and then i'm going to drill RC hard next week and then create a month study plan.
7sage community has been extremely encouraging, I really appreciate the community created through this site. does 7sage have any resources for RC?

Thanks,

Wind-Up Bird

Hi @fightingtilltheend,

David made some fantastic points about re-approaching your studies. However, it might help to know that for Ontario schools, the admission process is highly holistic. With your competitive GPA and a great personal statement, many Ontario schools will likely be more lenient towards a lower LSAT score.

With how your PTs have been looking, I don't think it's too far-fetched to achieve your target LSAT by December, and you always have the benefit of writing in February (although I would advise you to only write the LSAT if you're feeling 100% prepared for it).

Best regards from a fellow Canadian

danielznelson

By virtue of your average as well as your highest score, it is by default possible to obtain a 157 in December. Just hitting at or around your average would land you close, and you still have several weeks to improve a bit.

The only advice I would give in conjunction with what's already been given would be to encourage you to not cram until December. Don't try to speed through PTs or demand a certain and strenuous amount of studying hours per day or week. Definitely be diligent and structure your next five weeks around the LSAT, but that doesn't mean you have to actually be studying it 10 hours 7 days a week. Work with however many hours you can (hopefully it's still a decent amount) and take a break one day a week. You cannot afford to suffer burnout at this stage.

fightingtilltheend

you guys are awesome @danielznelson @"Wind-Up Bird"

I am going to take the weekend to create a plan! Thank you for the suggestions, I will rewrite in December. If I do poorly again, I will probably pursue my masters for a year and then come back to this. I am only 22 after all.

do any of you have any reviews on Power score Reading Comp bible or any other reading comp prep that you could recommend?

Thanks again,
I wish you all best of luck in your career endeavor's

fightingtilltheend

I also work full time, which has been a problem. But I told my bosses that I would only like to work 3 days in a week so that I can study. That gives me 2 days during the week to study + weekends.

danielznelson

I would not recommend PowerScore, though I've never used their RC book. Granted, that's often seen as their worst.

People swear by the LSAT Trainer's RC prep, since it focuses heavily on how you should think and approach passages, rather than teaching mechanical tricks. I do have the book, though much of it was redundant for me, since I had been using 7Sage for a time. The two seem to overlap a lot, which is to say that both are good. I firmly prefer 7Sage, because it has a live community and more content.

And pulling back your hours will do you wonders. I think yo made the right call.

emilycyoung1

You absolutely can get to a 157 by December. The easiest improvements to make are the ones from the low 140s to the high 150s, after you hit 160, thats when theres this weird plateau, at least in my experience. I underperformed significantly on test day and am retaking in December because I know what to expect now and so do you. I think a lot of people underperform their first time, its just test day jitters. Also you said logic games is where you did okay, which is by far the most learnable part of the test. Just make sure your doing at least 8 logic games a day, I started doing that and saw improvement super quickly (just for info, logic games was my worst i was missing half on each section I did and after this tactic, I now consistently miss 0-2 at max). You can do this with the right amount of perseverance and confidence. You want to get to where you are missing 0-2 on logic games and that will give you a good buffer to miss questions on reading comp, which is the most difficult to improve on. I personally suck at reading comp thats my worst but what I personally am doing (feel free to try this I have heard it works) is focus on LR and logic games while doing at least one reading section each day as practice. Apparently it helps. Good luck, don't give up, I know its easy to feel down about this believe me I did too but to be a lawyer you have to have thick skin and get back up after defeat and YOU CAN DO THAT. Get past this stupid test and move on to better things.

Toxoplasmosis

@danielznelson said:
I would not recommend PowerScore, though I've never used their RC book. Granted, that's often seen as their worst.

I would echo this as well. I think Powerscore is an okay option if you want LR or LG explained in a different way than 7sage and The LSAT Trainer, but I've found the Powerscore RC book to be functionally useless.

fightingtilltheend

great thanks for the feedback! I was actually going to purchase powerscore rc! (glad I didn't blow the money). I will look into the LSAT trainer and 7sage RC!

@emilycyoung1 I agree! I think Im going to do old games from old test. right now I do 3 games with only getting 1 or 2 wrong. I am going to push myself to do 3 perfectly which I have achieved multiple times before. and then increase to trying to do 4.

Thank you guys!

fightingtilltheend

your support has literally made me feel a lot better than I did on Wednesday thank you guys so much