Taking any/all advice, suggestions and direction Forum

[Shredzeppelin240]

Woa... Just took June 2014 and got a 156... Really kind of hit me hard when I saw that huge dip. I prefer to blind review without seeing how many I got wrong each section but I couldn't help myself and I did much worse across the board in all sections. Immediately went and looked at just the logic games portion and looking at each answer could identify a dumb mistake I did. Definitely a mental battle coming back from this test but I am not deterred. Just telling myself it is a data point in the overall experiment and not indicative of my skills.

Gonna brush myself and make sure I review a section today.

[Scutrules]

Woa... Just took June 2014 and got a 156... Really kind of hit me hard when I saw that huge dip. I prefer to blind review without seeing how many I got wrong each section but I couldn't help myself and I did much worse across the board in all sections. Immediately went and looked at just the logic games portion and looking at each answer could identify a dumb mistake I did. Definitely a mental battle coming back from this test but I am not deterred. Just telling myself it is a data point in the overall experiment and not indicative of my skills.

Gonna brush myself and make sure I review a section today.

That happens and it's good that it happened to you during a practice test. Now you'll know to look for those small mistakes in future tests and you won't make them again.

I know you mentioned having a tutor but if you want additional explanations, go to https://7sage.com/. I got a free account and I just looked at the LG that I was having difficulty understanding and watched their breakdown of each problem. I can't explain how much it helped me. Hope it can help you as well!

[Shredzeppelin240]

Woa... Just took June 2014 and got a 156... Really kind of hit me hard when I saw that huge dip. I prefer to blind review without seeing how many I got wrong each section but I couldn't help myself and I did much worse across the board in all sections. Immediately went and looked at just the logic games portion and looking at each answer could identify a dumb mistake I did. Definitely a mental battle coming back from this test but I am not deterred. Just telling myself it is a data point in the overall experiment and not indicative of my skills.

Gonna brush myself and make sure I review a section today.

That happens and it's good that it happened to you during a practice test. Now you'll know to look for those small mistakes in future tests and you won't make them again.

I know you mentioned having a tutor but if you want additional explanations, go to https://7sage.com/. I got a free account and I just looked at the LG that I was having difficulty understanding and watched their breakdown of each problem. I can't explain how much it helped me. Hope it can help you as well!

Thanks for the encouragement. I can't wait to take my next PT and shake off this anxiety.

Much appreciated!

[Shredzeppelin240]

I just took Sept 2014 and scored a 159. I met with my tutor since the last test and he thinks there is a reason my score has been dropping. My test on March 30th is scheduled for 8 am. All my previous tests had been taken between 11am to 1pm. He thinks that since those are the hours I typically am productive and am studying/taking tests that my body isn't adjusted to the earlier time. My last test when I scored a 156 was the first time I had gotten up at 6am and mimicked the timing of test day and took it immediately at 8am. I did the same for today. I'm sort of skeptical of this as much as I hope it is true. Does anyone have any experience with this or heard of how earlier test times can affect scores? I can't seem to figure out why I am back in the 150s and it's becoming a source of anxiety as I am only a month and a half out. I definitely wanted my scores to be higher when I planned out my study schedule so long ago.

Thank you,

Also, my tutor points out that the earlier test time may be an advantage. If his theory is true and I can adjust my body to the earlier time he believes that most of test takers who have been studying have not been consistently practicing that early and that the time will throw them off. Could this be true too?

[Cimbom]

I am yet to sit the test myself but this is like anything in life - your role is to control your preparation and your performance. You will achieve nothing by worrying about how other people are preparing or how you may have advantages over them. Worry about your own preparation only

[Shredzeppelin240]

Took DEC 2014 today: 161.

LR: -11

RC: -7

LG: -8

Thought I honestly did worse on games. I am so inconsistent at it despite giving it the most attention by far. I think I'm worse at grouping games than sequencing so I will giving those way more attention this week. I haven't been posting much I've recently had a lot more going on in my personal life. I promise I am not losing steam for this test. I'm beginning to think I will take March with the mindset to do as best I can and that if it goes well, then great. I will probably retake in June anyways as I will have a few more months to study. If it doesn't go well, same outcome regardless in June.

On reddit I've been seeing a lot of people post their acceptances. very exciting stuff, you can't feel but feel happy for someone when they get the offers they worked so hard for.

[Shredzeppelin240]

FINALLY. I cannot tell you how pumped I was. I have spent the last two weeks driving myself insane with logic games. there are around 4 or 5 games I have done twenty times now until I could get it within the recommended time that the 7sage instructor recommends. These past three weeks have been the hardest I have ever worked. I can honestly feel the onset of burnout coming but I just cannot allow myself to walk into march 30th without having a consistent 165+ score. I would go into more detail about all the stuff I have been doing but right now i am just going to try and take an hour off after this test. I think it would take me a while just to summarize it even and i feel completely fried. Diet has definitely been helping though. I make sure to eat at least a gram of protein per day per pound and I really think it helps with my endurance like I mentioned earlier. Working out in between studying seems to offer mental bursts as well. Here's my breakdown of Dec 2015

LR: +42/-9

RC: +24/-3

LG: +19/-4 i got -3 on the last game. Seemed more like a prep tests 1-35 problem, I was bummed it took me so long to understand it, was only able to get a few quick ones before time ran out.

I don't understand my progression at all. All I seem to do is jump back and forth. I Don't remember my tests exactly, I think I've taken around 25 now, but I went from a 148 diagnostic, to 158 after something like 3 or 4 months of studying, then back down to 151, then I think I took some time off and came back and was scoring 161-163, then all of a sudden went back to 156 (had anxiety for two weeks straight cause of that one) then all of a sudden 167??? I'm too tired to try and analyze a pattern or anything but this seems way different than the traditional lsat taker. When I have some time i'm gonna try and look into it more I really am just so confused.

Edit: I also just realized people might think im lying about this score. I promise I am not, I have no problem being embarrassed by low scores. The whole reason I am doing this is for the helpful feedback, which I have gotten a ton. Most of which was telling me to focus on games. Lying would ruin this whole thing for me and I'd get no benefit.

[Shredzeppelin240]

I'm drilling today and I just realized something that seems to have totally changed for me even though I have read this advice a thousand times. I'm going through LR and RC with the same speed and precision I do with BR. I approach every single LR question the same and as I read make a mental note (as well as a light underline with my pencil) of what the conclusion is and after reading the entire thing I sort of look back to the conclusion and locate the premises before and after. I then read the question stem (and identify) and double check to make sure I know If I am adding information from the top down or going through the answer choices and from the bottom up. It's way slower but it really is like what everyone says, after a while you just improve your fundamentals and it allows me to now finish the first 15ish remarkably faster. I've seen this advice a million times but it seems to finally be setting in. Before, I would never finish because I would also miss 1 or 2 in the first 15 and skip the parallel reasoning questions, which I would rarely have enough time to go back to after. Yesterday I only missed 1 question in the first 15 between both LR sections and so far in drilling today I haven't missed any. I pretty much do the same thing for RC honestly and I also seem to be doing better. It's like something weird has clicked or my endurance and speed have gotten better and I have the mental capacity to do this on all the questions now. I honestly feel refreshed all of a sudden and am able to BR nearly a whole test in a day while in the beginning I had trouble BR'ing 1 RC or LR section. I really feel like I'm having my breakthrough. I don't have the time to take 2 PT's a week due to personal stuff, but I'm gonna make sure I get a lot more drilling in and capitalize on this new wave of confidence.

[Shredzeppelin240]

Just took Sept 2016 and got 167 again:

LR: +41/-10

RC: +25/-2 jeez by far my best but i did think it seemed like a particularly easy one

LG: +19/-4 Virus game!! I had seen it in threads everywhere but I didn't think it was that bad when I was doing it? It's just a harder sequencing game. I must've made an error somewhere that hurt me on multiple questions.

Edit: Is it just me or are older patterns repeating themselves on newer tests? I keep getting ones I feel like I never saw in the mid 2000's. All these weird sequencing an ordering games. It makes sense as I feel like Lg is just so mechanical now that they might want to throw off test takers. Kind of annoying though. Also just just realized 8 of my errors were on the first LR section. I feel like my mind always needs warming up and that is always my worst section. I guess i need to keep waking up early to start studying as to get my mind adjusted to being productive earlier.

[Shredzeppelin240]

Ugh so frustrating. Got 163 on today's test. The science reading passage killed me as well as the last game having to do with real estate buildings. Again, all these weird games coming back up. Why is there no powerscore lesson on ordering or something I do not understand it? The last three tests have all been extremely new and it has been on all three. I have the newest up to date books so it just irks me. Idk im just feeling disappointed cause of the drop again. 5 points?? why does my score fluctuate so much I dont understand it??

LR: -13

RC: -6

LG: -3

[jsnow212]

Ugh so frustrating. Got 163 on today's test. The science reading passage killed me as well as the last game having to do with real estate buildings. Again, all these weird games coming back up. Why is there no powerscore lesson on ordering or something I do not understand it? The last three tests have all been extremely new and it has been on all three. I have the newest up to date books so it just irks me. Idk im just feeling disappointed cause of the drop again. 5 points?? why does my score fluctuate so much I dont understand it??

LR: -13

RC: -6

LG: -3

Slow it down. Take ONE section per day and review it. Take a PT every couple weeks. You don't need to take a full test everytime.

[Shredzeppelin240]

Ugh so frustrating. Got 163 on today's test. The science reading passage killed me as well as the last game having to do with real estate buildings. Again, all these weird games coming back up. Why is there no powerscore lesson on ordering or something I do not understand it? The last three tests have all been extremely new and it has been on all three. I have the newest up to date books so it just irks me. Idk im just feeling disappointed cause of the drop again. 5 points?? why does my score fluctuate so much I dont understand it??

LR: -13

RC: -6

LG: -3

Slow it down. Take ONE section per day and review it. Take a PT every couple weeks. You don't need to take a full test everytime.

Even though I am sitting in 20 days?

[jsnow212]

Ugh so frustrating. Got 163 on today's test. The science reading passage killed me as well as the last game having to do with real estate buildings. Again, all these weird games coming back up. Why is there no powerscore lesson on ordering or something I do not understand it? The last three tests have all been extremely new and it has been on all three. I have the newest up to date books so it just irks me. Idk im just feeling disappointed cause of the drop again. 5 points?? why does my score fluctuate so much I dont understand it??

LR: -13

RC: -6

LG: -3

Slow it down. Take ONE section per day and review it. Take a PT every couple weeks. You don't need to take a full test everytime.

Even though I am sitting in 20 days?

Especially if you are taking in 20 days. Taking test after test in such a short time means you are overextending yourself for little result. The LSAT is like working out. You can't get that dream score in 20 days of max effort (but you can get burnout). Consistent, moderate work over a long period of time gains the most results. Take a section per day (maybe a test a week) with a day off per week leading up to the exam. Good luck!

[Shredzeppelin240]

Ugh so frustrating. Got 163 on today's test. The science reading passage killed me as well as the last game having to do with real estate buildings. Again, all these weird games coming back up. Why is there no powerscore lesson on ordering or something I do not understand it? The last three tests have all been extremely new and it has been on all three. I have the newest up to date books so it just irks me. Idk im just feeling disappointed cause of the drop again. 5 points?? why does my score fluctuate so much I dont understand it??

LR: -13

RC: -6

LG: -3

Slow it down. Take ONE section per day and review it. Take a PT every couple weeks. You don't need to take a full test everytime.

Even though I am sitting in 20 days?

Especially if you are taking in 20 days. Taking test after test in such a short time means you are overextending yourself for little result. The LSAT is like working out. You can't get that dream score in 20 days of max effort (but you can get burnout). Consistent, moderate work over a long period of time gains the most results. Take a section per day (maybe a test a week) with a day off per week leading up to the exam. Good luck!

That sounds good, I'll do that. Thanks for bearing through the posts and the advice.

[Shredzeppelin240]

I got 166 today which was good. A nice confidence boost after my last 162. I got -3 on games which was frustrating. I finally felt like this was a section that didn't have any super weird games but I still couldn't do as well as when I am drilling games. Oh well. I'd post the actual sections but I've found it sort of affects my BR, so I'll do that once I am finished. 2 weeks!

[Shredzeppelin240]

168!!!! and my first ever -0 on LG!! Feeling over the moon, very happy to have this going into test day. I haven't been doing much lsat stuff the past week and probably wont this week. I think it helps, i'm feeling a burnt out but theres also a sort of zen and new found confidence im feeling. I went golfing twice too (I'm terrible and never play) but I couldn't help but feel like there are some similarities there. sorry i havent posting the details of the test im almost feeling too burnt out to do that even. I only spend an hour a day at most reviewing a section and spend the rest of the day doing something to just keep my happy: working out, hanging with friends or SO, eating, watching tv. I'm pumped.

7 days!!

[Shredzeppelin240]

well i took last saturday and i have no idea how i did. On one logic game i had to guess on at least one question and it was a global must be true which is kind of concerning honestly. LR i felt comfortable with and RC seemed slightly harder but that seems to be the consensus. We'll see i guess!

[239840]

It's inspiring how far you've come over the past few months. Hopefully you will get something in the range you've been in lately (166-168) when scores come out!

[Shredzeppelin240]

It's inspiring how far you've come over the past few months. Hopefully you will get something in the range you've been in lately (166-168) when scores come out!

Agreed! Thank you!

[LawAndBehold]

I read this entire thread. And honestly, it was quite exciting and inspiring to read. Rooting for you OP. Hope you did well ! Let us know.

[omar1]

I read this entire thread. And honestly, it was quite exciting and inspiring to read. Rooting for you OP. Hope you did well ! Let us know.

[LSATWiz.com]

You can go from a 157 to a 170, but don't expect to get there in a specific time frame. Focus on getting better at every type of game and every question type, and over time it will gradually kick in.

[Shredzeppelin240]

I read this entire thread. And honestly, it was quite exciting and inspiring to read. Rooting for you OP. Hope you did well ! Let us know.

Goodness thank you for the kind words. Made my day.

[Shredzeppelin240]

You can go from a 157 to a 170, but don't expect to get there in a specific time frame. Focus on getting better at every type of game and every question type, and over time it will gradually kick in.

This is something i definitely regret not realizing in the beginning. I thought that as long as I gave myself a year i could hit 170. Silly of me for having that line of thinking.

[Shredzeppelin240]

I took last week completely off of lsat stuff. I'm not going to lie I'm having a hard time getting back into taking practice tests. I told myself id do one today but I ended up having a bunch of errands to run. I think I might just drill some older material. I also started reading the LSAT trainer which i got for christmas. I felt bad because i got it but never looked at it because i was spending all my time taking tests, reviewing them and seeing my tutor. Now that i have some more time im about halfway through and i absolutely love it for LR. I've kind of skipped the LG stuff but the rc ill read as well, there just isnt much in the first half. I got it because i saw a number of high scorers recommend it and that they thought a different perspective was helpful. Hopefully the results show on my tests.

I looked at my calendar and if i take one test a week i have 6 before the june exam which i am already registered for even though I dont know my march score. Im also going to register for july. July will be interesting because im taking a month long trip with my SO and their family for nearly all of july and will be coming back like three days before. With the free cancel option i figure it cant hurt.

I also am no longer seeing my tutor. In all honesty i think a class would have been pretty sufficient. They provided a lot of nice support but idk if it is worth the cost any more. I think a class would've provided the same technical benefits. I also wanted to point out some threads i read before i started my prep that really helped motivate me. I dont think any of them are stickied in the lsat forum. ill link them below. I think that's allowed.

Also i reread through this for the first time in a while and holy cow are there a lot of errors. Please excuse them i promise i can write. Sadly i just dont prioritize this as much and would rather log everything quickly. It just is nice motivation and helps to track my progress a little. Fingers crossed until the 19th!

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 6&t=224337

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... #p10354532

http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 6&t=224488

The first and last guide i printed and taped on my wall. The middle OP im still hoping will return one day lol.