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Should I postpone?

stratis.blanasstratis.blanas Member
in General 20 karma
Hey guys, so I'm currently registered for the Sept 24th LSAT exam. I started studying for the test in March, first with PowerScore. I studied the LR Bible for all of March, the Reading Comp Bible for all of April, and then the Logic Games Bible for all of May. I spent the months of June and July reviewing everything that I had learned and began doing untimed preptests. I then realized that there were certain questions that I was still having difficulty with and consistently getting wrong (eg./ LR weaken questions and assumptions questions, to name a few) so I enrolled in 7Sage at the beginning of August. My original plan was just to use the course to help with my trouble areas, but I ended up completing the whole course as I found it to be useful review and I ended up learning things that I didn't previously learn from PowerScore. It took me two weeks to complete the course, and I then spent the remainder of August (up until now) reviewing all of the lessons from the course. I feel super confident in my knowledge of the test and the different sections/questions, however, after a few days of timed preptests, I'm not scoring where I want to be (and my score seems to fluctuate and is inconsistent). Given that test is 4 weeks away today, do you think I should postpone the test? Or do you think that I have a reasonable amount of time left to fine tune and get my score up? For reference, my score is between 162-166, and I'm aiming for a minimum of 169/170.
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Comments

  • SprinklesSprinkles Alum Member ⭐
    edited August 2016 11542 karma
    You should always expect a couple point decrease from your latest PT scores on the actual LSAT. I think you'd be in good shape for Sept. but if you ever feel shaky in your performance usually it's best to postpone but if your PTs show otherwise then go for it
  • danielznelsondanielznelson Alum Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    4181 karma
    A minimum of 169-170 will be much more doable if you're averaging in a range a few points above that (i.e. 171-173). You may want your range to be even a point moved up from that, frankly, given the range you mentioned is your worst acceptable range.

    If you absolutely plan on going to law school next year and will not accept holding off until the year after, a September take may not be a bad idea. I myself am taking in September, and decided to even when I wasn't sure if I'd be 100% ready by then, since I only have three takes until the new cycle anyway - a take in September wouldn't rob me of a potential future take and would only increase my chances of getting a score I'd be happy with.

    This in mind, I was scoring in my desired range at least 50% of the time, with outliers not too far from it. With just four weeks left, it won't be easy to see a reliable increase to a 170. Definitely keep shooting for that goal, but I would advise you postpone to at least December if you aren't hitting your desired score(s) more often than not. Even if you were to absolutely decided on going to school next year, taking the September test when you haven't even ever reached your goal score wouldn't serve you well at all.

    Your progress over the next few weeks will also depend upon your current weaknesses. If you aren't scoring -0 on LG at least almost every time, work on perfecting that section. From there, you can allow yourself about an average of -3/-4 wrong per section, of the last three sections, to fall within the range you want.
  • AlexAlex Alum Member ⭐
    23929 karma
    @stratis.blanas

    Would you be opposed to taking in December? I feel like that might be the perfect amount of time to really get consistent and be confident going in there to get the score you worked so hard for. I am usually pretty dogmatic in my advice to postpone, but you are certainly a unique case in some ways being that you are close to your target score. Yet, I still think that a December take would really give you the proper time to tighten up areas of weakness. going from the mid 160s to the high 160s/breaking 170 is extremely difficult. Those last few points will be harder to get consistently, so I think it would be to your advantage to postpone.

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