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156 fake diagnostic.
I've been studying for 1.5 - 2 months. I should've been a lot more rigorous in my study habits, but I wasn't. I just finished the LG CC and have not begun RC's CC yet. Yesterday I finally summoned up the courage to take the 2007 preptest as my "diagnostic" and scored 156. RC was my best section even though I haven't begun studying for it at all. LR was absolutely the worst because I found myself having already forgotten most of the stuff I've learned in the CC with regards to individual question types at this point. And I also found myself freaking out about the time constrain while doing the LR section, which led me to go "screw it, I have to move on".
To be fairly honest, I feel like a weak baby and a failure right now. I feel like the time that I've spend studying for LR didn't actually matter. How do I move forward? I'm trying to find the motivation to watch the video explanation for each question that I got wrong now, but I feel defeated. Any words of advice?
EDIT: Meant to say LR was the worst section, sorry for the confusion.
Comments
First of all don't beat yourself up. Putting time into CC upfront is the way to go. That said, it's okay if CC alone, especially for LG, doesn't all stick and translate to immediate improvement. I found that to really improve on logic games you have to practice and ideally fool proof them. When you just get through CC you have an idea of the techniques to use, but you haven't done the practice to quickly know what to apply when, so it's normal to run out of time at first.
I recommend creating a spreadsheet with a row for every game you encounter. Create a column with the ideal time for the game, and create a bunch of column for the time and score for various attempts (e.g. Attempt 1 score, Attempt 1 time, Attempt 2 score, Attempt 2 time). Use the fool proof method to log games and attempt them until you master them. It'll be hard and tedious at first, and it may take a while to get there, but you will improve with practice.
Hey, thanks for the response! I actually meant to say that LR was my worst section. Sorry for the confusion. Do you have any tips for LR?
Everyone learns at a different pace. 156 diagnostic is better than my diagnostic (149). Plus if RC is already strong than once you get your LG and LR score up you should be solid.
JY says it, but it didn't take root for me until recently. When you're asked to analyzing an argument (find the flaw or necessary assumption), it's really important to push past the context and hone in on the actual premises and conclusion. Initially I was trying to make sense of WHOLE stimulus, but once I zeroed in on what the actual premises to the argument were and then the conclusion, the flaws and assumptions got a little easier to spot. Hope that's helpful!
No worries! LR is a beast. There are so many different question types, and it's daunting at first.
First off make sure you do thorough BRs. It'll be painful and long at first, but it pays off. I'd also track the LR questions you struggle with by question type, and further by argument structure (cookie cutter review). There are patterns across LR questions in their structure, that once you learn to recognize, make questions go by a lot quicker.
My diagnostic was 147. You're in a great place!
I started out at 157 and now PT in the 170s. You will get there; 156 is way better than average.
Started at 148 sometime last year, and felt pretty discouraged. I got myself up to a 165 in my most recent PT.
This test is a monster. No, really- it's the hardest test that many people, including myself, have had to put up with in their whole lives so far. There's no need to beat yourself up over it, especially when you scored above the national average for this test on your PT. IMO, the fact that you're at 156 in a month or two of studying is pretty good (especially when 3-6 months of time is recommended). Here's how you move forward, at least from my experience:
-Take a short break. Rest. Close your eyes, meditate, play video games, eat 5 bags of chips, whatever. Cut yourself some slack- it's a hard test, and it's perfectly acceptable to take a few days off. You've no idea how much a rested mind can help you in taking this test.
-When you're relaxed and all, go through the CC at a really easy pace. The LSAT isn't running anywhere, nor is the law school. You have plenty of time to take this test. Spend some time really understanding the main lessons- You're in good hands, you have JY as the instructor. A lot of top scorers that I've heard from take a month or two in learning the theory before taking a single prep test. Drilling is fine, but don't use PT's 36 and above. Those are for simulating actual PT's.
-Learn ways to recognize wrong answers. Mainly for LR and RC, there are characteristics of wrong answers that can help you POE your way to the right one. Just look at JY's explanations- he shows you exactly the kinds of things you should look out for in a wrong answer (often enough, one wrong/misleading word is enough to make an answer choice wrong. In a lot of videos, JY is fine with an answer choice until he reads a particular word, i.e. 'only', 'never', 'all', 'impossible', etc., at which point he crosses out the answer). Pay close attention to his examples and methods.
Relax
wish you all the best, and to everyone here.
I want to sincerely thank everyone for your comments thus far. You have no idea how powerful these small comments are to me and how they lifted me up. Thank you, I won't give up!!!
You're fine. I went from a 149 diagnostic to a 147 (lol) on my first PT after finishing the cc. I remember being so discouraged that I was crying my way through the climbing gym later that evening.
Anyway, the point is that after 3 months of studying I scored a 159 on the March LSAT and am now PTing in the mid to high 160s. The CC is extremely important in that it teaches you the fundamentals, but the actual score improvements come through practicing and diligent review.
Plus a 156 is actually a good score for a first practice test. As long as you are truly putting the effort in, you will reach your goals. Just stay calm and trust the process
as others have said, that is not a bad score for a first run through. the emotional ups and downs of practice tests can be rough, especially at the beginning. but don't worry. you don't really know how to take the test yet. the timing, pacing, etc. you figure that stuff out through doing more and more PTs
HI there! I had a 151 diagnostic, and I've been PT ~164s for the last month. I've only been studying since February, and like you, I was also discouraged after receiving my first PT score after finishing CC. Like everyone has said, it really takes a lot of time and just practice. What really helped for me was taking a few PTs and using the analytics tool to see what question types I have difficulty with. For example, NA and flawed reasoning were 2 types that I had issues with, especially since they make such a huge portion of LR. From there, I rewatched all of the CC videos for that type, did some practice sets I didn't do, and making sure to spend as much time as I can going over those questions types during my PT reviews. With time, my accuracy for these questions improved, and I'm sure you can achieve the same results.
It's also very helpful to keep a list of problems you've encountered that you know will give you trouble if you see it on a PT. I like to use trello.com to keep track of all these questions. I highly recommend it because it lets you make boards and due dates. Due dates are nice because it forces you remember to review a question. That works for me and everyone is different, so make sure to try different methods.
Every path is different. But almost no one had it from the beginning. All of us had to struggle or still are struggling.
That's okay, too. Thomas Edison supposedly said, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." When there are only 5 choices, knowing the way it doesn't work means a lot!
Reading other ideas and tying that into what I've learned here is helping me progress. Sometimes, someone just says something that makes it all click, and your brain solves the puzzle with all the pieces it has learned from here and there. Maybe it happens on the third time you watched a video, or the 15th time you've worked out a game. You gain a ton of insights from practice and seeing what you did wrong. Hell, if you can recognize all the ways to do the question wrong, you could eliminate all the wrong choices and narrow it down to the right answer!
He also said, "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." Food for thought.