Help Needed

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• 2 Likes

  BinghamtonDave Alum Member ⭐ 🍌🍌

  May 2019 8716 karma

  Thank you for your post. I think the core question here is what to do if the test is quickly approaching (~6 weeks or so) and you are not where you want to be score wise. My initial thoughts are you've got a 3.85, which is really good, sit with the LSAT and try to get the highest score you can get. The trade off here is that this might take some time, this might push law school back a year. Ultimately that will have to be a decision you make, but my recommendation is: with a 165+ you would be looking at drastically different schools and drastically different amounts of scholarship $ than with a lower score, these two considerations in my estimation outweigh the time invested into the exam.

  Now, the subtext of your question could be "how do I improve" for that question the boards here are replete with answers both specific and general.

  I hope this helps
  David
• 1 Like

  fycw2068 Alum Member

  May 2019 404 karma

  I'm also a working mom of 2 and have ADHD It's hard but doable!

  I just want to encourage you that with a 141 and 6 weeks, you have plenty of time to improve! To best help you, just want to ask you a couple of questions...

  1. What's your target score?
  2. Between LG and LR which one do you feel you are "better" at?
  3. Do you consider yourself more creative or more logical?
  4. Between winning a game/puzzle or winning an argument/debate, which one would you find more enjoyable?
• Best.Yet.2.Come Core Member

  May 2019 239 karma

  My target score would be a 160, but 152 would gain me admission. As I mentioned, I am 46 and not trying to go to a T-14 school. Because I go to a regional campus of the school I wanted to be admitted to there is also a referral program that would reduce tuition in half by being accepted to their research program.

  Thank you for responding.
• Best.Yet.2.Come Core Member

  May 2019 239 karma

  I am good so far with MP questions but struggle with MSS and Weaken. I haven't devoted much attention to Logic Games yet. My challenge is slowing my brain down and taking time to reach the stimulus. When I take PT's I put a star by my second choice, which a fair amount of times is the correct answer. I guess I need to go more with my gut instinct.
• SuperMario929 Alum Member

  May 2019 464 karma

  Thanks for the post, and sorry for your predicament. I don't know what LSAC's policies are about how to get extended time, but if you can procure a doctor's note pertaining to your ADHD and call LSAC to talk about the logistics, I wonder if you can get extended time for the test? Just an idea, but I do see "extended time" as a timing option on 7Sage's digital tests, so I assume that's a thing? Maybe someone else on the forum can speak to it? Anyway, just an idea! Good luck!
• Best.Yet.2.Come Core Member

  May 2019 239 karma

  I have proof of accommodations at my current university and a note from the psychiatric nurse that evaluated me and gave the recommendation for university accomodations. I also have a letter from the disability coordinator of my university. Not to give too much information, but I am part of the #metoo movement when a client assualted me in the law office I worked. So there is a PTSD component whenever my back is where I cannot see the door.
• Leah M B Alum Member ⭐

  May 2019 8392 karma

  It sodunds like you have a great case for accommodations. As long as you can get everything in early enough, I think you’ll likely get extended time, which is great!

  On to your other questions. Generally, I don’t advise anyone to skip around in the cc. But for you, since you’re under such a time crunch, I’ll tell you this: LG is by far the easiest section to improve in. Honestly if you’re getting -5 on RC, you have such a good chance of wuickly improving your overall score! I have a 168, and my highest ever RC was -3... it is the bane of my existence haha. So I think for now, don’t worry about working on RC. I’d take a look at the cc and start working through the LG part. If you can start doing some foolproofong if LG (this is explained in the cc), I bet you’ll see some really quick improvement.

  It’s great that you have lots of material and books, however using more than 1 method at a time can be detrimental. Sometimes the explanations conflict or don’t work well with each other. I’d highly recommend only using 1 at a time - either read through a whole book, or work all the way through the cc. Then, move on to another one. That way you get the full benefit of each, learn a method really well, and then can decide what elements from each are helpful to you. I personally started with Powerscore LG, but honestly it confused me more than helped. After going through the 7sage cc though, I did end up using some of Powerscore’s notations when I do games.

  Personally, I found the 7sage material to be the most engaging, helpful, and thorough material out there. I’d highly recommend just using the cc for a while. I think it’s also good for someone with ADHD since the videos are short, and it’s broken up with activities and practice. Up to you - but I’d highly recommend you focus on LG for a while, because I think that’s the area you can improve in the fastest.

  Good luck!
• drbrown2 Alum Member

  May 2019 2227 karma

  Just wanted to say that I agree with @"Leah M B" about focusing on LG. First, I would go through the conditional logic lessons in the Core Curriculum and make sure you are good on sufficiency/necessity, contrapositives, negating the sufficient and satisfying the necessary conditions. After that, the LG lessons are great for getting you acquainted with representing rules and creating useful game boards. If you are able to get that done in the CC, you can start doing a few games every day until the July test and beyond if you decide for a second take.

  I think that is a good place to start because of the likelihood of dramatic improvement, but also because you can practice every day as you add more lessons from the CC. You can fool proof games as a warm up for practice tests. Practicing games really reinforces what you learn in the curriculum too, so the more you do the better you'll get.

  Definitely do the LR CC, and try not to put too much pressure on yourself! You'll absorb more information and learn better if you aren't stressed. I know you have the extra stress of figuring out accommodations with LSAC, but that will all work itself out. Also, like you said the July test has the option of a free retake if you cancel your score, so that should also help reduce the pressure a little bit. Best of luck!
• studyingandrestudying Core Member

  May 2019 5254 karma

  Stay in the game. It sounds like you started studying somewhat recently. There are many more test dates this time around than in the past. Would they give you a fee waiver?
• fycw2068 Alum Member

  May 2019 edited May 2019 404 karma

  I was asking these questions:

  • Between LG and LR which one do you feel you are "better" at?
  • Do you consider yourself more creative or more logical?
  • Between winning a game/puzzle or winning an argument/debate, which one would you find more enjoyable?

  because it would narrow down where you should focus.

  I agree that LG is generally the "easiest" to improve. If you are someone who enjoys games, finding patterns, solving puzzles, then putting more emphasis on LG would also be more enjoyable for you to work on (stress/mental state is so critical to LSATs!!)

  However, the fact that at your 140s score you are getting -5 on RC (which is incredible!) makes me wonder if the skills involved in LR are stronger for you than skills involved in LG. If that's the case, then I'd recommend focusing on LR because LR is double the sections. RC relies a lot of LR skills... if you're someone who is generally good at debating others/finding flaws/poking holes in arguments etc, it might be a better investment to focus on LR.

  6 weeks is not an unreasonable amount of time to see a score increase to high 150s/160! Good luck!