so discouraged

Comments

• nacavia Live Member

  July 19 2 karma

  Yes, I take the LSAT in Aug as well. I have improved but no where near where I would like to be.
• adriana_b Alum Member

  July 19 199 karma

  Same boat here! Wrong answer journals definitely help, but I also just feel like I won't be able to hit 160.
• 1 Like

  LSATDUDE-1 Live Member

  July 19 15 karma

  I am in the same situation and started to make a few improvements by reviewing some of the analytics to see what question and stimulus types trip me up the most. Also see how many you are missing on the first ten because they tend to be a little easier and sometimes going through those a little quicker to save time for the hardest questions at the end can help get a better score. Don't feel discouraged the LSAT is complicated. With a bit more practice and an effective strategy you will improve.
• crkirejczyk Live Member

  July 19 3 karma

  I'm in the same boat! While I just recently was able to improve my score considerably, it's taken forever. I've been doing lessons and going to live classes that focus on sections/question types that are reappearing when I review my wrong answers after each practice test and that has shown the most improvement. I would definitely recommend trying a similar approach and keep in mind quality over quantity. Part of my issue was I would burn myself out, beat myself up, or try learning too many different things at once to overcompensate for my score that ultimately hurt me more than it helped. Taking breaks and forcing yourself to stay positive will show improvement! You got this:)
• 1 Like

  beckymandrade Core Member

  July 19 9 karma

  Me , I am taking this test in August and still 9 points away from scoring a 150, if I can even get that I would be relieved at this point
• gbenitez2409 Core Member

  July 19 4 karma

  hey! I was in the same boat for a while. Do not get discouraged, what you need is time, studying, reviewing, and practicing but it is necessary to be realistic. I know it is expensive but I would sign up for September or October if you are not content with your current score. In terms of improving, it will depend on what your weaknesses are and for that identifying what you get wrong and why would be useful. There are 8 types more or less of questions in the LR section that need logic, so that is a fundamental. Also take a look at your bad habits when answering questions and what approaches you use for every question.
• 4 Likes

  krause.andrew Alum Member

  July 19 15 karma

  Same boat. I am making improvements, but it's been slow. And honestly I burned 6 months of study on an inflexible strategy that didn't address my areas of weakness, during which I did not improve.

  My advice would be this: take the August LSAT, and expect to faceplant. You're going to lose money if you withdraw/cancel now. On average students perform 3 points lower than their practice test average on the actual LSAT, and that is in my opinion almost certainly due to test anxiety. What you'll get out of going isn't an LSAT score that gets you into Harvard, but the experience points of the mechanical process of taking the test itself, eg knowing where your testing center is, what their weird security protocols are (which usually don't match LSATs, or even what they put on their website), what the actual experience of taking a test there is like, etc. This removes that uncertainty from your second attempt and allows you to be more at ease. Also, law schools look at your highest score and your score history. If you eat it on this test, but then show a big improvement on your second run, most admissions teams register that more strongly than if you just took the test once, made a passing score, and rolled on. Lastly, chances are if you're taking the test in August, you're not planning to start law school this year anyway, as most of them have admissions deadlines in the first half of the year. The point is, you lose nothing but time. Yeet it.

  Now with that albatross off your neck, you can look at your study strategy. The big change for me was to work the problem backwards - instead of just trying to power through lessons and drill until I got the results I wanted, I instead switched to taking a practice test, and using the analytics to guide me back to the concepts of study I needed to focus on. It turns out for certain types of question, I'm a genius. For others, I'm falling for some common and very obvious traps. I would say 50% of my score improvement came in the last 3 weeks. It also helps to link up with a study buddy. For one, they can provide insights you might not see if you're studying completely independently. For another, they can keep you disciplined and focused on your goals when you're tempted to slack off or be distracted. Study Buddies can be found under the Discussion menu item.

  The other thing I'd recommend is to adjust your goal score to something that is realizable. 7Sage (and their competitors) brag about an average 15pt increase. So if your score range puts you at a 145, then hoping for a 160 is realizable. 175 is unlikely. (If you do blow your personal goal score out of the water, that just opens up more options.) With a reasonable goal score in mind, subtract 3 points (test day anxiety), and look at law schools where that score is the 25th percentile of their accepted range. The website LSD.law gives you a handy search tool to find those schools in your area. Once you've narrowed it down to law schools in your range, look at the admissions deadlines for 2025-2026, and whether they accept rolling admission. In my case, the law schools I want to attend will allow me to take the LSAT in April and meet either a priority admissions deadline or be considered on a rolling basis for fall 2025. So I have 8 more months to maximize my score.

  Most of all, remember: you have time on your side. Make the most of it. Nothing worth doing was ever quick or easy.