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January 2020 Exam Aftermath & How Should I Move Forward?
Hey everyone,
I'm looking for some advice because I feel lost, speechless and honestly I am not sure what to do next. I have never really posted on a forum before so here it goes.
I diagnosed at a 135 and then I studied for about 6 months for the LSAT and I was taking practice exams and my scores ranged from the lowest being 145 to 150. I intended to take the January 2020 exam hoping for a 150 (this isn't the score I am truly aiming for). I aimed for a 150 because I was trying to see whether or not I may have a chance because I had applied to a few Canadian law schools. My overall GPA for my degree is 3.2 and my best two years (also my last two years) are overall a 3.4. Overall, I have outstanding volunteer experience, work and internship experience, I have also gotten my research essay published and received an award.
Originally, I aimed to score a 161 on this exam, but I decided to take the exam anyway in hopes of getting a 150 and maybe a Canadian school may consider me (still not sure as I have not heard anything back).
I took the January exam and scored a 146. I wasn't upset at first but now I am. I am not upset at the score that I received, I am upset because I don't know how to move forward from here in terms of how do I raise my score? I have had a hard personal life and I don't have anyone to go to, to seek advice, or someone to guide me on how to improve on this exam and this is why I come to you all. I know if I can work hard, I will get in.
Here is a little bit of information on how I study and how much I score on each section usually:
LG: BY FAR MY BEST SECTION, while taking the exam timed I usually get a 11 or 14 out of 23. When I blind review, I get 17 out of 23 or 22 out of 23.
LR: I really hate this section. It is literally hit and miss for me. Timed, I usually get a 8 or 13 out of 26. When I blind review, I get 14 or **15 out of 26****.
**RC: This section is also hit and miss. Timed, I usually get 12/27. Sometimes I blind review and most times I don't because I am not sure how it helps, but if I do blind review, I get 15/27.
I WISH I COULD SEE WHAT I GOT ON EACH SECTION FOR THE JAN 2020 EXAM
I have used 7sage, Kaplan, Powerscore LSAT Bibles, YouTube. Do you guys recommend I ask a tutor here on 7sage? Should I go through CC again? An outline of advice would be really helpful.
Extra Information: When I studied for 6 months, I didn't have a job (I was looking for one) I found it extremely challenging to focus. Now, I work at a really great job, its full-time from 8 am to 4pm (I also have the option of going in at 7-3 or 9-5). It is not a lot of work and I literally do my job and leave (its clerical work). Usually after work I am pretty energetic, so I feel like I could either study in the morning or afternoon after work. I get weekends off.
I come to you all with complete sincerity and desperation. Please if anyone can advise me on how to move forward and what to do next, I would honestly appreciate it from my heart. Like I said again, I don't have anyone to ask for help and I come to you all because I hear 7sage is an amazing family with lots of love and encouragement.
Thank you!
Ron
Comments
are you attempting all the questions? how good are you at identifying when you aren't 100% certain.
If you can differentiate easy LGs from 4-5 star ones, it could be worthwhile to just completely skip one game.
also for LR, are you missing any easier questions? how often? why? I'd get into the habit of blind guessing on the last 5.
are you keeping a journal? I could give more detailed advice if you list exactly how and why you are missing questions
feel free to dm me the journal you keep or start keeping a journal and send it to me and I can critique it/give you feedback. I'd take a break if you're upset. I tried to stay away from the test if I ever had too much negative energy and I think that was for the best. after the break review logic indicators and LR question types and easy LGs
I'm sorry you are feeling down. I felt the same way after I took my the test in November and scored lower than my average. For LG, I feel it mostly comes down to practice. LR can be challenging but doable. For LR, it is extremely important to understand the core of each question type. I suggest that instead of doing timed sections, really focus on blind review and incorrect questions. I found the most help when I would do blind review and explain my thought process to someone. The more I talked about each question, the better I got. It might also help to keep a journal and write down every question you got wrong and why. I went from -12 to -4 by talking about it and loads of practice.
Additionally, I also found it more effective to divide up my time. For a month straight, I mostly only did LG until I perfected it. Currently, Im mostly just focusing on LR because thats where I want improvement. Feel free to DM me if you have any specific questions you wanna talk about.
@carbs234 Yes I do keep a journal I will DM you everything that I have, ah sorry forgot to write that out with each section score.
@PrincessConsuela Awe I'm sorry to hear you didn't do as well either! Thank you for the advice, I will definitely DM you about help with questions once I start to study again
I started with a 155 I think post CC, and currently scoring high 160s timed.
I personally think doing a bit of each section is the way to go, but it all comes down to personal preference. Personally, I find just taking time to divide up my mind and learning a little bit of each day is perfect. Also, that way of studying replicates the LSAT, as you do all sections within a day.
Any questions feel free to DM me.
The LSAT Trainer and Or Loophole are the best books I've read on LR. If you want a fresh take on how to approach LR those would be it. They have helped lots of folks in your position. It's hard to diagnose what's really going on when I've never worked with someone directly so I won't comment on anything too specific other than to say if you want to change your results you have to change what you are doing. It's a long process though! Your timeline matches alot of peoples journeys and those folks wound up with the score they wanted.
a lot of people advise against it but do a handful of pts untimed! and really work through all the answer choices and write down why or why not you decided to choose (or not choose) a particular answer choice. its like learning an instrument- speed will come after you materialize your steps. after you finish the untimed pts, shorten your time. personally i went from completely untimed to 45 minutes to 40 minutes until going to the original 35 minutes. then follow up with 7sage's BR method. since you have the LR bible make sure to reread each chapter for every question you missed (if youre strained for time, at least the chapter review). the bible is a beast and it has a couple tricks that you definitely want at your disposal. i went from 155 --> to 166 in 5 weeks w this method. i got most gains out of LR and after LR came to me RC followed. LG is just practice practice practice lol. no way around that section. for canadian schools you need to get over 157 at least unless you have a high gpa to compensate- a low 150 unfortunately wont cut it. you should be aiming for 160+ (or you can look at schools w holistic admissions like windsor). best of luck!!!
@lexxx745 Thank you I will.
@"Michael.Cinco" Thank you for the advice!
I highly recommend the LR Loop Hole book! Reading it doesn't guarantee your score will improve unless you actually apply her approach, she shows you how to do it! Her concept of 'the answer is in the stimulus' really helped me improve. It's a mind over matter thing because it's harder to get your brain to think through the argument rather than rushing straight to an explanation..but this trains your brain in the long run.
She sort of explains it like: reading the stimulus and moving straight to the answer choices is like running through a minefield blindfolded - there are tons of answer traps and if you don't understand what to look for, you won't see it. So if you actually take the time to recognize gaps in the argumentation before moving on (no matter how long it takes) you'll become more prone to seeing the right answer choice.
....to make you feel better, I ordered it a week before the January LSAT and read through most of it, I found it quite helpful. My issue with LR was that I thought exposing myself to more and more problems would help me improve, but since I was approaching them the wrong way it was better to take as long as I needed even if I was only getting through fewer problems.
I am in a similar boat as you. Started at a 142 and worked my butt off since September, still only scoring 153/154, don't be so hard on yourself! Motivation is key, this exam is learnable and a 160 IS achievable for you!
Best of luck!
@"Michael.Cinco" Which edition of the LSAT Trainer should I buy? I found the1st edition really cheap compared to the second one.
@emmorens I have been hearing amazing things about the Loophole book and will be purchasing it for sure. That's amazing though from a 142 to a 153, in no time you will get to where you want to be.
I think the only reason why I am being hard on myself is because I really want to apply again this fall for 2021 admissions, but I know that I should concentrate on achieving the exam score that I need.