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Need advice on improving my score
liza.bennett
Alum Member
So I took the December LSAT last year and scored a fabulous 143. I knew I wasn't ready, but couldn't bring myself to lose $190, so I tested anyway hoping to get lucky. Well, no luck came my way for obvious reasons. But after going through the curriculum I find myself scoring between 141-145 still. I dont know where I am going wrong. I take each PT under exam conditions, I circle the ones I am not sure of (which is about 15 or less questions a section) and when I am done testing, I go back to the test and reread the questions. I dont think I am rushing, I try to stay focused and engaged in the questions. But I am obviously doing something wrong. I thought I would be able to take the September test, but I know I am not ready. I am not concerned so much about that, as I am the fact I am not improving. Has anyone faced this problem? I am really getting frustrated because I seriously feel like I am doing everything the way we are supposed to but I am not getting any increases in scores. (BTW my highest BR score was a 151 and that happened exactly one time)
Any advice, tough love or people who have had similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Comments
Sounds like your score indicates that you need to return and learn the fundamentals. At a 143 you're missing nearly half the questions. I would go back and re-start the entire CC, take notes, do the drills, and make sure you understand the main concepts and skills needed before moving on.
Certainly don't burn more PTs.
And don't set a date, just set a score goal and keep working towards it. When you're BR is above your goal score, then sign up.
First I should state in the interest of transparency that many in the community of dedicated test takers agree that there are no panaceas for success on this exam. Quite often, there is no one thing incorrect in an individual's approach to the exam, but rather a whole host of things that contribute to a low score. It follows from these assertions that there won't be one or even two pieces of advice I can offer to correct the problem here.
Instead, what I will offer is an endorsement for you to first really diagnose what is happening here. Where I would like for you to begin is by taking a single exam (maybe from the 40s or 30s range) and spending every day for a week breaking down every single question on that exam and then posting those breakdowns in the comment section for those questions themselves on 7Sage. Start with the LR. My recommendation would be to isolate the conclusion, the premises, any grammatical indicators, any noticeable gaps in logic, what the question is asking, is the framework cookie cutter, does the question relate to anything you have read before etc. Take your time with this. This process can be monotonous but will provide you with valuable insight because as you do more and more of these, the reservoir you can draw upon in your mind will get larger and larger. If you choose to break an exam down like this, I would love to know which exam you are doing so I can read your posts and comment on them. Again, I am open to do this on the 40s or 30s PTs.
I can tell you from personal experience that progress will be slow but will indeed happen. I have been where you are. When I was there, my shortcomings on the exam were too numerous to name and what I had to do was go through entire exams inch by inch.
I hope this the above advice helps, don't hesitate to reach out
David
Your highest BR scores indicates, as Alex pointed out, that your fundamentals are weak
Liza, it seems like I am not the only one who experienced the same situation. Last month, I found myself in the same situation and I thought I was the only person who was not improving. I kept reading other threads hoping to find someone similar but still felt as if I was the lowest scoring person. I could not get better than a 141. I realized there had to be something I was just not getting from the course. Decided to go all the way back to the beginning of the course with the easiest of them all: premise & conclusion. Realized I wasn't as fast as I thought I was on identifying arguments, premises, and conclusions. After I got that, I am currently finishing up my second week of strictly learning the 20 types of flaws. This was where I struggled ALOT, and I came to realize, I never truly understood this material either. Now I am doing much better on the flaw questions.
Reasoning behind this long discussion, try going back to learn the fundamentals. I know firsthand how bad it sucks, but this time around it'll be different considering that you already have knowledge of the material. Take that knowledge and try to dig deeper in the material and your understanding. Like my boyfriend tells me "I know it may be the slowest moving process you've ever had to endure, but at least its moving." Good Luck!
I was also in your spot not too long ago. It will get better, but for sure return to the CC and I would even suggest spending extra time on the conditional logic and advanced logic section. keep studying hard and don't quit, and you will get the score you want!
Well, the logical thing is to go back to the course curriculum and restart. I am trying very hard to not be discouraged by the fact I am restarting again. Maybe this time will be the time for improvement. Frankly (and honestly) I am really discouraged. I was hoping to be starting law school in fall 2017, and now I am not 100% sure I can even start in fall 2018. But I know I'm not going anywhere if I don't get this score up.
I think the best piece of advice I have is that you should shoot for a score, not a date. And I think many people here would reiterate that. Yea, it is discouraging to not meet that Fall 2017/2018 deadline, but wouldn't you rather take as much time as you need and get into the school you want (all else being equal)...
I believe in this so much I'd almost consider getting it tattooed. I've always thought about it like this. I'm 25. Would I rather go to Cornell at 25 or take the extra year or two and get into Yale? For some people, they may choose the former. I choose the latter every time. Aside from that, you want to take pride in your work and do your best. What other test (besides your driving test, lol) can you practice as long as you want for before you take? And remember this test probably counts for 70% of your admissions chances and 30% GPA. 4 years for a good GPA and a 4 hour test counts maybe twice as much. All I'm saying is put the time in! Get the score you can be proud of and leave no points on the table.
@"liza.bennett" hang in there! This test can be incredibly frustrating and demoralizing. I've been in your exact shoes. My diagnostic was in the 140s and I completed the CC while working full -time (about 60+ hours a week). I can tell you that once I finished the CC I felt like I knew what I was doing, so why wasn't my score reflecting that?
In hindsight, I can now say I wasn't being honest with myself. For example, I would complete the part on valid and invalid arguments and would think ok now I've got that done - check. But I wasn't really testing myself to see if I really understood the concepts - or at the very least memorized all of the argument forms. Three years later I am now memorizing the argument forms and finally had an aha moment and my percentage for correct MBT questions has skyrocketed.
I sat for the December 2017 exam and scored a 148. I took the test while I was PTing in the low 160s. I thought worse that can happen is I get a 158, but I at least I can get a score on record so I can submit my applications and retake if need be. What a bad idea! [Please don't make this mistake.] Knowing that I wasn't 100% ready completely sabotaged me; I had all of this anxiety and the morning just didn't go the way I would have liked it to. When I received my score I literally laughed out loud and thought to myself well that's what I get for telling myself I was ready when I wasn't and for not having the confidence to know that it's ok for it to take this long. I have fully recommitted to studying and am so ready to call myself out when I'm about to cut a corner.
Another lesson I learned was that before I was probably working hard, but not necessarily smart. Reviewing the core curriculum is probably a good idea. But most importantly is there something you can do differently this time around? Consider asking yourself how do you learn best? And how do you implement those techniques into your LSAT studying? I've been out of school for seven years and completely forgot about the importance of this. So when I went through the CC the first time I wasn't approaching it in the most effective way. I had a timeline looming over my head and so I saw the CC as a checklist of things to get done before I could PT. I watched the videos and did the drills and received so much satisfaction from seeing the little check mark. Now when I go through a portion of the CC, I watch, pause the video and write notes, then type out the notes in Evernote, create hypothetical problems, quiz myself on the material when I'm walking somewhere, and have created quizes on quizlet. I now really focus on learning instead of getting through a checklist.
From being honest with myself, and years of studying on and off, I'm in the 160s with a BR in the low 170s. I'm sitting for the December exam and each day I study I remind myself to be honest with myself but also to be kind to myself.
Know that you're not alone and remember that this test is probably just as much about perseverance as it is on testing our reasoning.
Also, maybe join the Monday sessions that are currently reviewing questions from PTs in the 30s. Or maybe find a study buddy. Some good ole' LSAT solidarity/accountability can go a long way.