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Next Steps?

tww1999tww1999 Member
in September 2016 LSAT 7 karma
I took the June LSAT and scored a 162, which is significantly worse than I performed on most of my PTs, and certainly not the score I need for my application. I've registered for the September LSAT, and want to be doing all I can within a certain budget to ensure my score is in the mid-170s, and not the low 160s. Maybe there is a better method for getting this information tailored to my specific circumstances, but perhaps you all can steer me in the right direction. Thanks!
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  • blah170blahblah170blah Alum Inactive ⭐
    edited July 2016 3545 karma
    Well, there's nothing we can do about 100% ensuring a score in the mid-170s BUT (all cheekiness aside :-p) to help you answer this question, we're going to need to know some of the following:

    1) What was your diagnostic?
    2) What was your score breakdown (in what section did you miss the most)?
    3) What does your typical study regimen look like?
    4) How much time can you devote to the LSAT?
    5) What caused you to underperform on the real test?



  • tww1999tww1999 Member
    7 karma
    1) I started at a 163 when I took my first PT in January, and built up an average of between 169-171 by the time the test rolled around. My typical breakdown was -6 LR, -2 LG, -1/2 RC.
    2) The June test felt like an outlier because of my score breakdown; -13 LR (-6/-7), -6 LG, -4 RC.
    3) I've switched jobs since the I tested, but I typically study for a couple hours each morning, an hour during lunch, and at least two more each night.
    4) About 25 hours/week.
    5) It felt like an off day from the beginning, and I managed to convince myself that this test was unlike the other PTs I had taken, which put me in the wrong mindset as I walked into the test center. Coupled with some difficult wording on my first few questions, it was a recipe for disaster. I'm looking to capitalize on a couple extra months of studying, and preparing in such a way that the pitfalls I experienced in June won't be replicated in September.
  • blah170blahblah170blah Alum Inactive ⭐
    3545 karma
    If you were PTing that high, a couple of things could have happened:
    1) You weren't being honest with yourself while you were PTing. Did you give yourself extra time? Took an extra long break? Looked at answers after each section before the test was over or before you finished BRing?
    2) You didn't apply the process that allowed you to be successful during PTs on the real test.

    Either way, I'd spend the time to figure out what exactly went wrong during test day. Be hyper critical. Was it really because you read the question wrong or do you always think that you read a particular type of question wrong when it's really a pattern?

    Phase 1 is diagnosing what went wrong test day and any bad habits you have. Maybe it's reading the stimulus or answer choices too fast and not critically enough.

    Phase 2 is drilling your weaknesses, whatever that means to you. Maybe that means doing games x1000 or doing parallel flaw questions repeatedly.

    Phase 3 is conquering your mindset by being able to consistently apply your good habits in any situation.

    Whatever you do while studying, don't allow yourself to continue if you see that you're slipping into bad practices. Those are the habits that you'll rely on if you feel nervous on test day so you want to beat those out of you.
  • blah170blahblah170blah Alum Inactive ⭐
    3545 karma
    Also, if you're aiming for a 169-171, you should be scoring a few points above that.
  • twssmithtwssmith Alum ⭐
    5120 karma
    @blah170blah has great advice:)

    Video yourself taking a section - so much to be learned about how much time you spend on questions real time.
    @tww1999 said:
    My typical breakdown was -6 LR, -2 LG, -1/2 RC.
    2) The June test felt like an outlier because of my score breakdown; -13 LR (-6/-7), -6 LG, -4 RC.
    LG - analyze what caught you off guard, should be scoring -0, at most -2 given substitution rule questions - that would be be a serious focus to get those extra points.
    RC - was there a type of passage or Qtype that you could focus on drilling?

    For LR - your combined misses on PT LR scores are equal to your individual LR sections during the actual test. Blind review the heck out of the questions you missed. See if you can find any correlations to identify weaknesses that may not be question type specific but argument flaw specific.

    Did this specific test expose personal weaknesses within a certain question/flaw type? Were you over/under confident in any of your answer choices? Have you mastered a great skipping strategy to avoid time sinks with curve breaker questions? Where did you lose time/confidence given the actual pressure of the real test to perform at your optimum?
    Wishing you all the best:)
  • Cant Get RightCant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor
    27848 karma
    Lots of great advice already. @blah170blah covered this, but just to further reinforce, you've got to make sure you're not cutting corners on your PTs. Are you bubbling in answers on your scantron? That's 2-3 minutes. There's a lot of sneaky little ways to give yourself a bump that will inflate your PT scores.

    In a broader sense, this falls under the larger umbrella of maintaining strict, disciplined study habits. I think more than anything else- more than intelligence, more than amount of study time, more than being able to perform under pressure for the real thing- test scores will reflect study habits. So when you PT, simulate testing conditions exactly. When you BR, work until you fully achieve real understanding, however long it takes. When you fall short of that, go back to the curriculum until you get it. Whatever you are doing, do it better than everyone else.
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