Hi everyone,
I am wondering whether taking the LSAT a third time is going to be helpful. I took the September LSAT and I am 3-4 points away from my ideal score. The thing is, I used up almost all of the preptests (or if not all, definitely all the new ones). I am set on applying for this cycle and can only write in December.
How would I go about studying/practicing for December in the little time left and without any really fresh PT's?
Comments
That said, what PTs haven't you done? Honestly, newer tests are slightly more helpful, but the differences are very minimal between the new vs. old tests, and the older tests are just fine to study with. So if you can get your hands on some older tests they would still very useful.
As far as new tests, I would be sure to retake all of the later 70s. the December exam will likely be more similar to one of those tests. As @EmmaWI88 says, you can give yourself 25 or 30 minutes on retakes to make up for having seen them.
I find RC to be particularly useful on retakes. Something about retaking RC sections taught me to see deeper. It was like when I retook I could see through the curtain and observe all the mechanics of the test and all the intentional subtleties designed by the test takers. Being able to see that on retakes, of course, then allowed me to learn to see it on fresh takes. I know that's really abstract, but I can't figure out how to explain it in more concrete terms. Anyone else ever experience this?
LG is different. Retakes on LG basically turn those into extensions of fool proofing exercises. Which is great. That's how you get better at LG. After every PT, I'd add the LG section into my drilling rotation.
LR is the only section on which I tended to remember answers, but this provides its own opportunity. Of course, on questions I don't remember, great, I can work them through losing little value from having seen them before. But I really liked the ones I remembered. For those, I make myself achieve BR level comprehension before allowing myself to mark the answer. Because I'm most likely to remember questions I BR'd, and because I'm most likely to BR highly challenging curve breakers; this was frequently an incredibly difficult task. It's a great exercise though. Breaking down curve breakers to that level of understanding- under time- is a really powerful ability. Of course, I'd seen these questions before, so I had some idea of what I was doing; but what I began to realize is that the process is essentially always the same. Once I learned how to do it using questions where a lingering memory could guide me, I was able to make enormous improvements on fresh takes.