Need Help - From 158 to 165 in 3 Weeks??

madebysu98madebysu98 Core Member
edited May 2022 in June 2022 LSAT 39 karma

Hi. I took April LSAT then scored 158 from the test (I am planning to cancel this score since I purchased the LSAT score preview). It is not a horrible result as a first-time test taker, but disappointing for me b/c I am aiming the score around 165 as my target.
I know I am looking forward to substantial rise, but I wish to ask: do you think is it possible for me to get 165 in just three weeks?
My average PT score is around 160 - 165, depending on questions, conditions..etc. In usual, it stays around 160-162 and reach up to 165 on a lucky day.
Now I am preparing for June LSAT, which is only three weeks away from now (I will take the test in South Korea btw), and wish to ask for some advices about my plan and feasibility of getting this target score.

  1. I am not really worrying about LG since I have gotten -0, -1, or -2 in most (almost all) recent attempts. I think what should I do is taking a section drill in every day or two then getting more comfortable with this section.

  2. My LR scores are really inconsistent. Sometimes I get -3, sometimes it drops down to -9. I've considered the reason why. For now, I suppose one reason lies on the moment when I fall into a loophole. When I cannot understand points of some questions, I often get to think too deeply then feel some obviously wrong answer choices look correct (I regret a lot on this type of questions when I review). Therefore, I am re-reading Powerscore, LSAT trainer, Notes I've taken from 7Sage courses, and wrong questions to specify a proper thinking strategy I should hold during a test thus I can return to this task whenever I try to fall into a loophole. I am also taking a section drill in every two days to clarify whether this is working or not.

  3. RC is my weakest section. I usually get -7 and get almost half wrong when I completely screwed it up (not really often). I've re-read a LSAT trainer to identify the reason why, as I've done in LR, then found out the fact that I often focus on a tree instead of a forest. When I reach to questions about a specific part of passage, I focus too much on the part they specified then neglect/forget a general purpose or main points of the work. This made me missing a whole point during the test then getting wrong on both general and specific questions. Therefore, to overcome this bad habit, I am writing down a purpose of each passage whenever I review the passages I've done and taking a section drill every day to adapt myself into a more general perspective. + I'm especially struggling with a comparative passage because I am really, REALLY bad at it. I often miss the relationship between two passages and distort a point of the Passage A while reading the Passage B. Thus, if you have any specific tip on solving a comparative passage's questions, I am happy to hear that.

  4. I am planning to take a full PT once or twice per week (may take 3 PTs in a last week or two), depending on the amount of time for review. In between each PT, I will take two section drills almost every day while I review. (LG, RC for day 1, LR, RC for day 2...) I planned like this because I think what should I do right now is clarifying the BEST thinking strategy for me for each section, not just mechanically taking PTs over and over again. I believe this may bring my score up substantially.

How do you think about the plans above? Well, even I am not really optimistic on getting the score I am aiming for, but nevertheless, I wish to do my best under the current circumstance. Therefore, I am happy to hear any comment/advice. If you have any tip on question solving (especially on RC and LR), it would be grateful if you can share.

Comments

  • Matt SorrMatt Sorr Alum Member ⭐
    2245 karma

    @madebysu98 I don’t think your plan to improve sounds that unreasonable but, to me, your timeframe sounds pretty unreasonable. Is there a reason you want to take the June test? Though it’s obviously not impossible for you to improve to a 165 on the June test, it’s not likely. If you plan to apply this fall, you could take the August or September tests and still get your scores back early enough to apply early in the cycle. And those extra two or three months of studying could help you far more than three weeks.

  • madebysu98madebysu98 Core Member
    edited May 2022 39 karma

    @"Matt Sorr" said:
    @madebysu98 I don’t think your plan to improve sounds that unreasonable but, to me, your timeframe sounds pretty unreasonable. Is there a reason you want to take the June test? Though it’s obviously not impossible for you to improve to a 165 on the June test, it’s not likely. If you plan to apply this fall, you could take the August or September tests and still get your scores back early enough to apply early in the cycle. And those extra two or three months of studying could help you far more than three weeks.

    I am planning to take June LSAT because August or September tests are not offered to international test-takers in Asian regions. I should wait until October if I do not take the June one, and I'm afraid the 6 months of gap may make my testing sense, which I got a slight sense of it during the April LSAT, dull. Since October exam is the last chance to apply for early, I wish I could have a keen sense and condition during this exam. Therefore, I am planning to take June LSAT, then register the October one if I fail to achieve the score I want from the June exam, instead of postponing the June exam to October.

  • Matt SorrMatt Sorr Alum Member ⭐
    2245 karma

    @madebysu98 That's my bad. I didn't realize the test dates were different for international takers. If you're planning on taking the October exam if you don't get the score you want in June, I think your plan is totally reasonable.

  • KevinLuminateLSATKevinLuminateLSAT Alum Member
    984 karma

    One thing that I would add to your plan that I haven't seen is building in time to regularly re-review old mistakes. Take one study session every two weeks (or even every week) to review a collection of problems that you made mistakes on or had trouble with from previous months. It doesn't matter whether you remember the answer - the goal is to make sure that you can still see the ideal thought process for the question from start to finish.

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