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How long did it take you to reach your target score?
LegallyBrunette21
Yearly Member
Hi everyone,
I would love to know how long it took you to reach your target score? It would be great if you can specify if you were studying full-time or part-time, and you diagnostic and final score.
I am trying to plan out when to write my next LSAT since I was not able to reach my target score after 4 months of full-time studying and to be honest I am feeling a little demotivated and I think it will help me to learn about other people's journey.
Comments
I havent taken the LSAT yet so not sure if your advice applies to me...But my target score is upper 160s, and Ive been studying since June, though ive taken a few weeks off in total I think. Also some weeks I was only able to do an hour or so a day. Im studying full time, but not really doing more than 4-5 hours a day, and really dragging out the Practice tests. I would say ive done around 35-40 PTs, with almost half of them from 1-20. Right now, im averaging 165-166 on my PTs, and low-mid 170s on BR.
Btw, I also feel demotivated, it really sucks to study for a test and for it to seem like the goal is so close yet so far... We gotta kepe going though haha, good luck!
Im in the same baot. Ive been rolling since July. Long days of sometimes 10 hours.
I started with probably a 145-150 diag in Feb, studying 1-5 hours a day (job and family mean no set schedule) averaging 3-4 hours a day. I'm pting at 159-160 and target score is 170+... So far it's been a trying 9 months and much more to go.
Took me eight months to get to the mid 160s from a 151. I was studying full-time four to five hours a day almost everyday. Four months is not enough time for you to give up. Some people on 7sage go at the LSAT for years.
I'm about to enter my third year of studying from when I started with a 141 diagnostic! I studied with two different test prep companies and saw minimal score improvement. I got 7sage around 5 months ago and I'm finally getting scores in the 160's. Everyone's path is different and this test hasn't been intuitive for me AT ALL. Keep going.
~1.5 years. Wound up with 1 point lower than the score goal I had set for myself, decided I was good with that, and I went with it. In admissions now, and I'm in at 3 schools, waiting on a few more to respond.
Your journey will be different than anyone else's. Just keep going until you get where you want to be.
Edit: Pre7sage diagnostic was barely in the 150's. Ended up with a 12 point gain. Might have been able to keep going, but I was so close to my goal, that I was done with it.
I went back and forth between part time study and nearly full time study, as life dictated.
My target score was 180. I never thought I should ever shoot for anything less. I never reached it on any prep test but I hit 177 after about 10 months.
Yes, basically everyone has a different experience, but I think the big thing is don't give up.
That's the way to do it, in my opinion.
Thank you for this thread. It's really helpful to know how much time people have spent studying so that you can set realistic expectations/know that it really depends on your individual circumstances. As I was planning my study schedule, I kept reading online that 6 months was about enough time to study, or even 3 months if you study full-time, which created a lot of false expectations on my end. It definitely has taken a lot longer, which I wish I would've known to mentally prepare myself and plan accordingly. My answer to that question now is that it's hard to really know how long it will take you and just know that it can take a VERY long time.
Hey! You’re in a community of people in the same situation or who have been in the same situation at some point. So, take heart in the fact that many of us have been through this and come out on the other side with many smiles, and possibly many scars to show for it lol
I Started with a 153 untimed diagnostic. Scored a 164 on the July LSAT and then a 174 in October. Took me 18 months studying while working full time
A note on prep:
It’s not about how many PTs you take. The real gains come from relentless BR and review. Then applying that to drills and practices. And then repeating this
You have to be active with how you address your mistakes and strategic about how to avoid them again in the future. For me, it came down to having ready made plans for: “if I see an LR problem with this type of flaw, I will do _____.” I would review these plans all the time until they became apart of my test taking instincts. This cut all the time wasted on the second guessing and helped me limit the mistakes
Happy to keep sharing more if you’re interested!
@Woodsy_567 I totally agree with your point! Prior to studying for the LSAT with 7Sage, I paid for a course with Kaplan and they kept emphasizing that 3 months of studying for the LSAT was more than enough. I even talked to some law students and they said taking a summer off to study was sufficient to get me the score I wanted. But, that was not the case for me and I wish I had a more realistic expectation starting my LSAT journey. I know certainly for me, as someone who scored in the high 130s for the diagnostic, it will take longer to get to score I want and it is so reassuring to hear everyone else's experience.
@99thPercentileOrDieTryin
I really like this mindset! and congratulations, 177 is an AMAZING score!
It great to hear about your LSAT journeys. I have realized that this test requires a mental toughness to not give up, and to be honest it is not easy when you are not reaching your target score but what I can say is that reading your posts gave me the dose of motivation I needed to keep pushing. I have a three week winter break coming up next week and I am looking forward to diving back into LSAT studying!
Not giving up is key. I still truly believe anyone can get an amazing score on this test; but time and persistence are required.
It took me a year and a half to get from high 140/low 150 to a 171. Throughout that year I made many mistakes, wasted time, failed over and over again. Each day was a struggle, but behind the scenes my mind was adapting!
You've got this! Stay positive!
Hey Mark just wondering what were some of your study methods that helped you increase your score?
I worked full time and had some 60 hour weeks, so a year and a half on and off to get to 169. one point short of my target score.
Hey! Remember that everyone's process and brain is different. I had a 150 diagnostic on May 1st, spent about 4 weeks with a part time job and active non-lsat life learning the 7sage lessons, not in an extremely committal way really just to rip through them as fast as I could to get to PTs, and my next score (4 weeks later) was already about 10 points higher. A day or two later, it was ranging around 165s. In the next couple of weeks, I was in the mid 160s, then continued to fluctuate from the mid to high 160s with only one 170 breaker (I believe 5 weeks after i started taking PTs). I was aiming for the July 15 test. I think I took about 2 or 3 prep tests a week (usually 2 I was very tired) with the BR method, and I didn't use any external resources other than 7sage. BUT hitting your target score also doesn't mean that your target score is an average, and my PTs fluctuated so much that my average stayed around 164. My BR was consistently high 160s and low 170s, I think right off the get-go of PT-taking. This can also be helpful for boosting your confidence, knowing that you know your sh*t outside of timed conditions. I also ditched blind review after a bit out of impatience because I needed to be time-conservative to make it for July. (Months later, in hindsight, I probably don't recommend this if you have time to do it, I feel like I stopped progressing once I did this). Anyway, I was going into July with recent high 160s, but I was ill the day of and there was a two hour delay (specifically, sitting in the test room staring at the damn tablet welcome screen for two hours not knowing any info about when you would begin) that psyched me out so badly and I tanked LG (typically my best 100% section hahaha). AKA I'm taking it again in Jan. I also think that your confidence going in is the most important, as I only know one person who has taken the lsat and she said to study for 2 months max, including a full time job (this was the general consensus among her friends, but everyone is different and I don't want anyone to rip into me for saying it because i know it is very unattainable for many people). Having that mindset made me work way harder and progress much faster than I probably would have if I listened to someone who told me it would take a year. Anyway, the point of all this is that your internal confidence is so important and will manifest in your study habits. And some people take two years whereas others take a month. Also, a lot of people lie about their progress timeline and what they scored. Please remember that. Hahaha. Finally, it's important to not get discouraged if it's taking a while. I would also say that if you are hovering at a certain unsatisfying score, you probably need to refine your technique or revisit theory or do more BR if you aren't (I know from experience hahaha).. just stay in tune with yourself, be confident, be kind to yourself, and remember that this test is NOT the entire world! Also, getting lost in these threads and seeing crazy success stories as well as discouraging year long non-success stories can really mess with your head. Sometimes, you just gotta take a step back and forget about the rest of us to focus on yourself only.
I floundered around the first 5 months without 7Sage. I started with PTs, then worked through TheLSATTrainer, then through the Lawschooli LR course, just doing PTs and the homework from those courses. From late July - October I went through the CC and in Nov I just did PTs, BR and foolproofing. Right now I've done about 20-30 foolproofed LGs and I've gone from as bad as -15 timed to about -5-7. I'm about -5-7 in all 3 sections right now.
Have you seen sage Josh's post CC webinar? I made a study guide based on that and it seems to be working.