Experiences, Advice, Reflections: 149 -> 169

Dear friends,

I want to provide hope to others starting with scores in the 140s. This has been said often, and I want to repeat it here because it is true:

You. Can. Beat. This. Test.

I won't go into my full journey, but a bit about me:
- I'm a woman from a very poor rural background and am first gen.
- I graduated from university about 4-7 years ago and have done full-time white collar work since.
- I studied for this exam sporadically and collectively for more than a year, largely in the mornings before work.
- I took the LSAT multiple times.

Potentially helpful thoughts and advice:
- If you're struggling to decide whether you should keep studying, ask yourself this: Is there something CONCRETE that I know I can improve upon? If so, keep going and drilling if you have the resources to do so (As a side note, I have areas I know I could improve upon still to get an even better score. On the most recent test day, I fell into an old bad habit that I thought I eliminated with practice. If I weren't so exhausted from studying and working... I might even try a fourth time to get into the 175+ range).
- Logic Games: Do all of the sections available to you over and over again until you perfect them under 35-minute timed conditions. Watch the 7Sage videos. Figure out what ends up being a time suck for you and nix it. But keep doing them until you can do them all without missing a single question.
- Logical Reasoning: Truly understand the connection between a premise and a conclusion. Watch videos on logic. No need to read anything in-depth about formal logic, as the basic ideas are relatively simple.
- Reading Comprehension 1: Briefly summarize each paragraph in your head as you read, then re-summarize the whole passage in your head before moving onto questions. This solidifies the content and arguments and helps you quickly answer questions.
- Reading Comprehension 2: You must be able to read difficult material, and I might even argue... enjoy reading difficult material. Both of these habits can be built, but it takes time. Start somewhere. Start with the New York Times arts section or maybe an opinion section from a respected, world-renowned media outlet (think: Economist, NYT, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Atlantic, New Yorker, etc). Anything you could see yourself potentially enjoying. I took my first LSAT right after graduating college, and though I've always enjoyed reading since I was young (largely YA fiction and the like in middle and high school), since college I have slowly developed a deep enjoyment for the classics, philosophy, and modern literature. I also spend a ridiculous amount of time reading the news in the mornings, largely NYT and the Economist. I think my RC gains came from drastically improved reading skills in recent years.
- Your average practice test score is almost certainly going to be the score you get on test day. Some get lucky and get an easy test that plays to their strengths, some get unlucky the other way. But the test is relatively consistent. Don't take the test unless you're at your target score.
- 7Sage's content, methods, and discussion forum are blessings.

Good luck to all!