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148 to 173 - Thank You 7Sage!
For a while, I thought I'd never be able to make one of these posts. I'm so so overjoyed to say that I received a 173 on the July Flex test after about 15 months of studying! I'm a really slow reader, so the LSAT was so challenging. I began around a 148 diagnostic - the exact number is uncertain since I took it with breaks between sections lol.
I've gone through a lot of materials. I began with The LSAT Trainer by Mike Kim because I'd heard it was good for people who are self-studying. It was a good primer, but it didn't go in-depth enough to prepare me for the hard questions or teach me conditional logic. I then moved to the PowerScore Bibles, which helped me get to -0/-1 on most LG sections. My LR somewhat improved, but I still felt very unsure throughout the section and had trouble eliminating trap answers. My RC was stuck around -7/-8 even after going through the book, which was really discouraging.
I took the February LSAT after about nine months of studying. Looking back, I should not have taken it because I was not comfortable with the test. My PT average was about 163-164. I got a 161, which was so disappointing. I decided to do what I should have done from the beginning and get a 7Sage subscription. I went through the entire Core Curriculum, even the parts I thought I had already mastered.
I think after doing all those practice sets and seeing so many questions, things just "clicked" and seemed doable. In LR, I adopted the mindset that I was looking for the test-masters' tricks in each question and that I was outsmarting the test. RC suddenly didn't seem so daunting. I could hear J.Y.'s voice saying "well we don't know that from the passage" when looking at wrong answer choices. Follow his advice to read slowly, spend time with the passage, and answer questions quickly. By the time I got to the July test, my PT average was about 171-172, with one 175.
I'm no expert on this test, but I've found these kinds of posts helpful in the past. Here are some tips I found useful:
Overall:
- Get 7Sage because it's truly the best! Don't waste money on other materials.
- Develop and maintain a positive attitude
- Do not dwell on past struggles
LR:
- Practice untimed until you can understand the reasoning behind the correct answers
- First five questions in five minutes, first 10 in 10
- Flag questions and come back at the end
RC:
- Read slowly (if you're a slow reader, take advantage of better comprehension up front)
- Double check answer choices for the support in the passage if not 100% confident
- Read dense material outside of LSAT (The Economist, Foreign Affairs, Anna Karenina, etc.)
- Read for pleasure, limit television/phone use
Sorry for the long post! Good luck everyone!
Finally, I want to say that my heart goes out to those who lost scores. I know the emotional toll that this test can have, and I hope LSAC can find more ways to help.
Comments
Thank you for this advice! How did you manage to get to all four passages of the reading comp section? I am also a slow reader and I completely bombed the July test. My goal is anything in the 160s.
This was an amazing post! Congratulations and thank you for sharing! Very inspirational!!
@parso341 Congratulations!
As you read more and more LSAT passages, you'll get used to the passage structure and become faster at finding the things the test is looking for. Improvements in RC for me came from brute force - doing passage sets until I had pretty much seen every type of argument structure they test. Make reading persuasive articles a habit. I highly recommend subscribing to The Economist. It took me months to get through all four passages, so I definitely understand what you're going through!
Congratulations! I am new to 7Sage and I’m so excited to learn that the program worked so well for you and that your hard work paid off. Thanks so much for taking the time to share. So highly appreciated.
Congratulations!!