What are the chances of improving from 140 to 165 bw Jan 4th to Sept 30th with a full time job!

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• 3 Likes

  doreah920 Alum Member

  January 2023 34 karma

  Hi! I work full-time as well. I try to dedicate 2-3 hours everyday with 1-2 days off. I think its most definitely possible. The lsat isnt about how long you study, its about how effective you study. It sounds like you could use more time focusing on the fundamentals. Drill your weak spots, take timed exams, blind review, and most importantly dont give up. I don't see why you would not be able to improve your score. In 2 months I was able to go from a 139-150.
• MyDogIsACuteyPie Core Member

  January 2023 18 karma

  Hi Doreah920,

  You really made my day! Your comment means a lot since we are both in the same boat with full time jobs. Thats an amazing jump from 139 to 150 in a such a short span! I hope you kill your LSAT, and your journey in your future Law School!

  I have some questions! Did you follow along with the Syllabus... complete the Core Curriculum first and then start the drilling/completing timed exams/ blind review? Im following my Study Schedule right now, and I haven't gotten to the timed exams portion of it yet. Was there anything you did different that you noticed helped you improve? And any other tips would help!
• 2 Likes

  ClaudioD21 Member

  January 2023 414 karma

  Hey! A 25-point increase is quite the jump. That being said, it isn't impossible. Especially if you can perfect your LG. That's definitely the section I'd start studying first as it's the easiest to improve and will help you see the biggest score jump. You also have time on your side as roughly 9 months of studying is a great timeline to set yourself up for success. I definitely think you can achieve your goal. However, I will say that studying 4 hours daily after working a full-time job and then doing 8 hours on the weekends seems exhausting. Give yourself time to rest and relax! Consider taking weekends off or maybe at least Sundays off. If you come home from work too tired one day, consider taking the afternoon off. I'd argue that there are more benefits to letting your brain rest for some time than frying it further and ending up making no progress due to burnout. Good luck!
• 2 Likes

  all gain no brain Member

  January 2023 64 karma

  I jumped from mid 140s to mid one 160s in less then 2 months, working on average 1 hour a day so it is definitely doable. In my diagnostic I got most of the Logic Games section wrong so when I improved there my whole score increased drastically. If you are in the same boat, it shouldn't be too hard since the games section is the easiest to improve
• aydinjkarasapan Member

  January 2023 109 karma

  Definitely possible if you can put in 2-3 hours a day 5 days a week like another poster suggested. Length studying is imo an advantage--allows time for processing concepts.

  My advice is to start off with lawgic and intro LR, then really focus in on logic games until you can get a really high score. LG is a section where basically everything comes down to procedure, and all right answers are provable.

  Once you get LG down then focus on LR because it seems more learnable than RC for most.

  Just a suggestion but that formula has worked well for me.
• 1 Like

  HoneyCabbage-1-1 Core Member

  January 2023 49 karma

  Hey! I work full time as well, but I was studying roughly between 1-2 hours every 5 days on and off for the past 5 months before I was able to dedicate more time to studying this past week. I decided to take the June 2007 PT and scored a 150 (my diagnostic was 141). While I am in a bit of a different situation than you in terms of length of studying. I want to stress that it is definitely possible to see a jump in scores, it all just depends upon how well you are retaining the fundamentals and if you are correcting your wrongs when BR.
• 1 Like

  valentina.soares-1 Alum Member Sage 7Sage Tutor

  January 2023 edited January 2023 195 karma

  Hi @fsfsfsfs ,

  While that is a significant jump, I think its absolutely possible! I studied for 6 months, spending roughly the same amount of hours per week that you’ve outlined here, and I went from a 154 diagnostic to a 177 official score. Its hard work and I truly believe that the key to success is consistency, but it is an achievable goal!

  Effective studying is very important and there are a lot of differing points of view on how that can be achieved, but I personally think that the best thing you can do for yourself in the next couple of months is to dedicate careful and quality time to the fundamentals. 7Sage has an extensive core curriculum that covers everything you need to know in a really effective order. I followed the core curriculum from start to finish, took careful notes, and spent time on concepts that weren’t clicking before moving on to the next thing. I believe that foundation made all the difference when I started taking PTs and doing drills to focus on improving my weaknesses. Once you get to that point in the process you’ll start attacking weaknesses, knocking them out one by one, and realize that your studying begins to evolve constantly. For example, after a month of PTs and working on LR, I realized I needed to dedicate a few weeks to improving LG to near perfect so that I could rely on those points every time. However, for now I think the best thing you can do is work through the core curriculum.

  One thing to remember always, is that this is a long game. Theres a lot to learn and adjust to and focusing on the process rather than results for the first half of your journey or more is going to be instrumental to your ability to keep going!

  If you get through the core curriculum or even feel that you need assistance while you are completing it and want to talk to one of our expert tutors about how we can help you create a game plan for the time between now and test day, feel free to use this link to schedule a free consultation! We work with you to diagnose your current weaknesses and put together a weekly study plan to help you be as efficient as possible, pick up those points, and reach your goal score. https://calendly.com/7sage-tutoring/7sage-tutoring-free-consultation?utm_source=FCA_A
• 2 Likes

  mikalyn.greenzweig Alum Member

  January 2023 514 karma

  Here to tell you that it is 100% possible if you really dedicate the time to doing it. I've been working full time and studying part time since June and I'm getting ready to take the January test. I study about 10-15 hours a week and I've gone from a 144 diagnostic to a 165, BR in the high 160's on my PT's. I'll be taking my first official exam this week so there is no guarantee I will score that high on exam, however, the progress I have seen through practice has shown me that I do have the ability to receive the score I want! My best tips would be to create a study plan for each week and STICK TO IT. And understand that your quality of studying is greater than the quantity. Everyone improves at different rates but I think with the right prep, guidance, and advice, it's possible. Goodluck and feel free to reach out if you'd like some more advice!
• L. Woods-2 Member

  January 2023 66 karma

  @fsfsfsfs It's definitely possible. I was in the same boat, working around 50 hrs/week and studying when I had time. I went from 154 diagnostic to 174 in 10 months of studying, although I took a month or two off in there.

  I came to 7 sage after doing powerscore so I never did the full core curriculum for LR or RC, but I completed core curriculum for LG and used core curriculum for LR on my weak spots and the first 5 or so RC lessons. If you haven't used another platform, I'd say you should finish the whole of LR and LG on 7 sage. 7 sage's RC curriculum gets pretty repetitive after the first few lessons - I think RC is mostly about practice and getting good at one RC strategy after you pick one. Powerscore advises heavily notating, 7 sage advises minimal notating, just find what works for you and practice it.

  Once you have the conceptual base, it's all about taking timed sessions and BRing them. BR was by far the most important tool for me - I found that "foolproofing" games didn't work well for me after the 3rd time. Taking a game, BRing it, and then taking it again was the most useful for me. When you get to the point where you're drilling - take games over and over (*with a week or more between takes). It took me taking all the games from 1-36 3+ times each to get a good LG score.

  You have plenty of months to go and it seems that you're able to carve out a lot of study time into your already busy schedule. You'll be fine as long as you stay consistent and don't burn out! Getting into the mid-160s is very doable given your work ethic and time until your test- you'll kill it!
• AlexLSAT. Alum Member

  January 2023 edited January 2023 802 karma

  This is 100 percent possible, especially with your given time frame. The only problem I would be careful of is burnout.. 30ish hours of studying a week for almost 8 months is a long time to be studying that intensely, and like the above posts said, it is not about how much you study, but how effective you are at it.

  For context, I went from a 149 diagnostic to PTing in the 170-172 range in that time frame while doing full time school and an internship.

  Once you finish the CC, I would take a preptest on Sundays, analyze it and figure out what you got wrong, drill that question type (alternating between LR/RC and LG) on the week days for 1-2 hours a day, then repeat. Taking PTs on the weekends and reviewing during the week can help avoid that burnout because if/when you feel confident, you can study for less time or take a break day. Burnout is a real thing, and something that I experienced while trying to study as much as you did while doing other stuff in my life, so just be careful. Take it slow, ask a lot of questions, and have a plan for your study schedule (what date you will finish the CC or be done with it and start PTing, what days you will work on LR/RC/LG). When you form this plan, you are more likely to stick to studying.

  Hope this helps!

  -Alex
• campbellrob0723 Alum Member

  January 2023 8 karma

  Absolutely possible. In this last cycle, I started studying in Feb 2022 with a full-time job and got a 162 on the November 2022 test with a 140 diagnostic. There's a lot of recommendations in these replies that might seem overwhelming. Just stick to what works best for you and stay consistent.