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Wasting my time?
hchristinecox
Live Member
I have been studying on and off since May, and am taking the November flex as I have to take the November sitting for one school to even consider me, even if I am to rewrite in January. I originally started with Khan, hated it as I felt like I made no progress. No matter how well I did, studied, or practiced with Khan I could not get above 150. Stepped away for two-three weeks in August and then started again with 7sage + Kims lsat training guide in September. I also have a tutor who I talk with about once a week. I felt like I was doing well and then I had taken a practice test last week and scored 145. Completely bombed the reading comprehension.
Have I been wasting my time and money? For the schools I am applying to, I need about a 157 (Canadian schools). I had really good grades (double majored, multiple field schools), stellar resume, but just cannot seem to crack the 150. My plan is to write the November in order to just get it over and done with in order for one school to consider me, but am I going to be able to get to this 157 if my last practice test was 145? I am at a loss.
Comments
Gains below 160 can be made very quickly... if it weren't for the "off and on" part, I would suggest a different tutor or system, but it may just be a matter of adequate investment in the material available to you. The test is learnable. Kind of general advice since I don't know your specific struggles, but I think your best bet is to pick either the CC or Trainer, and focus on completing the course and understanding the material Maybe some untimed drills/sections where you're weak, then I'd then focus on PT/review and games.
I'm in a similar situation being stuck at 149 with like 3 150s sprinkled in. I'm guessing cuz I only study around 3 hours a day and other ppl study like 5-6 a day. IDK 4 sure. Also I'm not 100% with the fundamental/core curriculum. (Diagramming mistakes, scope, etc.) I've done majority untimed study.
I just do not have the ability to study for more than 4 hours a day, like 4 days a week. I have to work part-time and I have a small business that I run on the side. I am just hoping for that high 150s for the January session. I am doing really well on logic games. Reading comprehension is my worst section. It is what brings my scores down a lot.
@hchristinecox You do not need to study 6+ hours a day. My guess is that very few people honestly get much out of more than 4 hours a day of studying. My guess would be to look at how you are studying. Clearly the way you have been studying is not effective for you. If you just started up again recently do not sweat a single poor result, and I agree with you about Khan, I made little gains there.
Regardless, not much to do now. Just do your best this week and hope it goes well, and take again in January. You CAN do this. Relax. Have you completely full proofed logic games? If you are getting more than a couple wrong in games I would concentrate there. Foolproof games, drill them every day. Do not worry too much about RC. It is the hardest to make gains in, and you are not trying to make a 180, but to get a mid 150. When you are able to get only -2 to -0 on every games section, move on to LR. I will give one tip for RC. Do every main point question last in any section. Read it, flag it, move on, then come back when you are done with the rest of the section.
I relate to this a lot. I started with a separate LSAT course from May-August and sat for the August Flex. Scored exactly where I was averaging but I still need to hit the upper 150s or better yet, break 160s for a lot of my school medians. I'm sitting again next week for November's Flex and I'm nervous. It was stressful starting over again but I really believe that by working during your peak time of the day can really maximize your work efficiency, even if you aren't working crazy 6-8 hours like others.
Remember it's about quality not quantity. 30 minutes reviewing one of your weaker sections might not necessarily cut it, but don't feel pressured to sit down for 6 hours straight if that's not how you work. Don't think it's hopeless, definitely don't give up and give yourself the credit! Just like another said, making gains in the 150 range is so doable.
I was in a similar spot until a couple of weeks ago. I've now been getting 155 average which isn't what I'm aiming for but there are a couple of schools on my list who would probably take it (I live in Chicago and I'm primarily applying to schools here). You're definitely not wasting your time. Taking the LSAT is like reteaching yourself to think and it works differently for everyone. I have a good friend who is also taking it and we've become study buddies which has helped me a lot. Looking at things through someone else's perspective has helped us both understand things better. If you need someone in your range to talk to, you can always message me.
I think the best advice I can give here is to drill the fundamentals. It was painstaking, but taking the time to thoroughly understand the content of the CC and doing the drills over and over is what has helped me.
Also, for people like us who lack natural talent for this exam, repetition is our friend. You need to drill, drill and drill some more.
At first you may feel like you're wasting your time, but trust me when I say that the patterns repeat themselves. Do hundreds of LR qs, hundreds of LGs, and plenty of RC passages and you'll start to get questions right by virtue of familiarity.
If this process forces you to apply later, then so be it. Forcing a timeline has given me more anxiety than provided me benefit.
Don't give up my friend. If you crushed your undergrad you can do this.
I'm with you on this. I range from 139-149 and have yet to even crack the 150's. I'm close to giving up. I've been studying for a while.
I started self-studying for the LSAT in August of last year and took the November 2019 test, sorely unprepared. I was a professional dancer in my younger days and had no experience in this realm, so learning this test was like learning a new language. It wasn't until a few months ago I started scoring consistently in the mid-150s. Devoted 20 hours a week for a year to get there. I had not expected it to take so long, but everyone is different. Once I developed a strategy that worked best for me I stuck to it and I'm finally where I need to be. I'm sitting Tuesday for my third and final take, so I'm with you. Best of luck!
At the moment, I am averaging about -5 on the logic games. I am only screwing up on the sequencing games, mostly due to wasting too much time on them. I know once I get better at the sequencing games that I will be able to get a perfect logic games section on the exam, which might be what saves my score due to a terrible reading comprehension score.
I really appreciate the reading comprehension tips! I am taking two practice tests tomorrow before my tuesday lsat session and will try this out
Good luck to you as well!!
I have taken two practice test since posting this, (both untimed flex) and I got 151 and then 152. If I can pull these off timed on tuesday, I feel it will be a good starting point to go from for the January session.