Anyone testing at the 156 level

Comments

• sean.marz Alum Member

  November 2015 181 karma

  Hello,
  
  Is it possible? Of course!
  
  Have you done the 7sage curriculum or read the lsat trainer? I started with the trainer and initially used 7sage for the games. My cold diagnostic was in the mid 150s initially and I wrote the LSAT last year. I didn't get the score I wanted so when I started studying again my first diagnostic after being away from the test for 5-6 months was 157. I have reached this 10 point improvement you speak of by working through the trainer/7sage but more importantly BRing my PTs and devoting 20-30 hours a week to studying (I work full time and often have to do overtime). It took me 7-8 months to reliably get higher 160s scores during PTs this way (and I saw way more improvement after doing FULL BR as opposed to circled BR).
  
  LSAT prep courses are expensive but 7sage has been worth its weight in gold. I'm so glad I ponied up for it because I feel it has helped me get to the score range that I felt I could acheive. You have more than enough time to prepare for June as long as you start right away. Look into joining the group BR calls. It's a tough, lonely (At times) road ahead so talking to like-minded individuals is nice.
• cverdugo Free Trial Member

  November 2015 136 karma

  Good luck in your studies!
  
  Some tips I think will help you, especially if you are just beginning, is to create a study schedule. This will help keep you organized. There are some pretty good ones on TLS but if you want something more 'official' then get the LSATtrainer and download the corresponding study schedule, and buy as much official PTs as you can on PDF (soon they will be gone) in order to re-take old questions. The good news is you can do it, it just takes a lot of hard work. The key to improvements are learning the fundamentals, taking PTs, BR, reviewing, and fixing underlying issues in weak areas. I do not have the 7sage curriculum but based off the people on this board and the free LG explanations, I'm sure they're a great. But if money is tight then you can't go wrong with LSATtrainer, PTs, and the Powerscore LG and LR. Probably run you about $300ish.
  
  I think you could even shoot for February if your getting 156 without much of the theory behind the test under your belt. It just depends on what you have done so far? How many tests have you taken? Also be weary of people who say you can't improve on the test there is a lot of misinformation out there about the LSAT. Back during my Senior year I took a cold diagnostic of the June 2007 test and scored a very, very sad 138. Well I had told my friend who was already going through the Admissions process and he basically said I was doomed. He told me the only section someone can improve on is LG. I was pretty much crushed but I bought the LG bible and worked diligently and on the June 2014 I scored a 150. At the time I didn't know better and I was happy to score a 150, happy to never look at an LSAT question again, and I thought my GPA would make up for my low score. After applying last cycle, I applied to some "lower-ranked," schools and was accepted but facing over $100,000 dollars in debt. I was also wait-listed at my top choice. At the time I was so happy to be wait-listed because my LSAT was 13 points under there median and I tried everything to get accepted off their wait-list (official visit, LOCI, M&G). Luckily (I say this in hindsight, because I would have went if they accepted me) they kept me on there WL and even had me on it up until August of this year. I was disgruntled but that's when I discovered TLS and started reading their threads about LSAT prep. I told the school to take me off the wait-list, bought some prep materials and here I am three months later my average PT score is 165, feeling pretty confident about kicking this December tests' ass! Sorry didn't mean to go into all that just wanted to hammer the point home that it is possible, it will take a lot of hard work, but you can do it!
  
  Keep a positive attitude throughout your prep and realize there are going to be times when you might not understand something (but this doesn't mean you won't be capable of understanding it). It takes time to really get a feel for what the LSAT writers are looking for in correct answers, and it's hard to explain but you will get too a point where things just click, especially in LR and LG. Make sure you REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW your mistakes! Good luck!