Been studying and score has gone down Forum

[Cheyenne]

I have been studying on and off for the LSAT for 2 years. I took a Testmasters class over the summer in 2014 then stopped studying. I began studying again in spring 2016 for about 2 months then stopped again. I started back studying in March 2017 for the June 2017 LSAT and consistently studied for 3 months. During this time I hired a private tutor (10 hours with him overall). I have been using the Powerscore Bibles as well as taking diagnostics and reviewing them. On average, I study 20-25 hours per week. My first diagnostic in March 2017 was a 158. My next was a 160 but then after that I began scoring in the low150s for all of my practice tests. My last practice test before the June LSAT was a 153 so I didn't sit for the the June exam. Not sure what I am doing wrong. I am aiming to get my score to a 170 for the September LSAT. Thus, I would love some recommendations/advice on what I can change to make my score increase?

[MediocreAtBest]

I think you might be studying too much. 25 hours is a ton, and I don't think that it's efficient at that point, you can get more done in under 20 hours. I studied between 12-18 hours depending on how the week was going and I'm shooting for 173+ on my June test.

Take a few days off, get your mind right, and develop a more streamlined study plan, there are a ton of resources on here you can use. You're gonna crash and burn if you keep studying so much especially this early in the process, that's my opinion. Less is more sometimes.

[Platopus]

A 158 is a strong diagnostic, so this seems a bit odd. I would immediately stop taking PT's, it's not working and you're wasting material. Spend the next 3 weeks doing nothing but logic games from tests 1-40. Seriously go slow, and take as much time as you need at first, only timing yourself on individual games when you can go -0 untimed. Once you miss no more than 1 question per each timed game, do an entire section. Start back at square one. Once you get good at LG (-2 or less timed), then move on to LR and do the same thing. Start untimed and only time yourself when you get 2 or less wrong per section.

Also, fire your tutor. 10 hours with a 158 student should easily be a 162-163 by now.

[Cheyenne]

Thank you both! I fired my LSAT tutor and am now self-studying for the September. I started back at square one with reading the PS Bibles & doing problems/drill untimed. I'm skeptical about hiring another tutor though since I feel like I lost so much money with the first one and saw no improvement.

[conker]

It's hard to know why your score dropped. If mine dropped like that, I would immediately give myself a few days of rest and worry about having gotten burnout (very nasty).

I think you should take MBA's advice. Between the LSAT and exercising, I have learned that less can be more, as well. Your brain might be fatiguing at 20+ hours per week, and it may not be able to learn anything new. I rarely go over 15 hours per week, and I focus my studying on days where I have had a lot of rest and have no other stressors, so my brain can really absorb something, and I save my errands and extra work activities for days I feel tired. This should be the result of putting the LSAT as #1 priority.

I think you could look into yoga or some articles about learning self-awareness, as well as some more sciency articles on the benefits of sleep and quality-vs-quanitity studying. There is a science to studying in order to learn as much as possible, and it is pretty well documented.

I would break the practice tests into chunks and focus on chunks individually. Taking whole tests as a learning tool is not very efficient until you are only missing like 10 questions.

My first test was a 158, too. We are kindred spirits : )