How many PT's did it take until your scores started appreciably rising? Forum

[bluefreakbob]

Question is the title. I'm concerned because while studying for the June LSAT, I've taken 4 PT's already including the diagnostic and have not improved at all. Score on the diag was 172, PT scores stubbornly sitting at 169-173. Frustrated because after I do extensive review on sections, I do improve on the next test in that section, but other sections get worse. Feels like I'm in a weird rut at the very beginning of my study, which is frustrating since a lot of other people I've talked to in person and online talk about huge score increases after their diag.

[ddevich]

If you truly scored a 172 on a timed cold diagnostic and then have since scored between 169-173 on other tests, you will be in prime positon to score exceptionally well in June. Once you get into the 170's, every question you miss can be the difference between 1-2 points. It took me three months to get into the 170's, and I hovered around 168-172, if I remember correctly, before test day.

Test day is a different beast, however, and almost everyone underperforms relative to their average. If your goal is a 170, then consistently scoring a 173-175 should get you there. If it's more like 175, than you should only feel confident about getting such a score after completing multiple 178-180 tests in a row in my opinion.

I scored a 165 on test day after 8-10 tests at 168 or above. Sometimes the "worst" can happen, prepare for that.

[bluefreakbob]

If you truly scored a 172 on a timed cold diagnostic and then have since scored between 169-173 on other tests, you will be in prime positon to score exceptionally well in June. Once you get into the 170's, every question you miss can be the difference between 1-2 points. It took me three months to get into the 170's, and I hovered around 168-172, if I remember correctly, before test day.

Test day is a different beast, however, and almost everyone underperforms relative to their average. If your goal is a 170, then consistently scoring a 173-175 should get you there. If it's more like 175, than you should only feel confident about getting such a score after completing multiple 178-180 tests in a row in my opinion.

I scored a 165 on test day after 8-10 tests at 168 or above. Sometimes the "worst" can happen, prepare for that.

My goal is a 180. While realistically, I know that any variability on test day might be the difference between 178-180, I want to put myself in the position to be able to score perfectly, and I don't see why with basically unlimited time to prepare between now and June, perfect shouldn't be my goal. I also have several friends who scored 179s and 180s on the September 2017 and December 2017 LSATs so I can't deny I'm also motivated a little by competitiveness

[heylookitsthatguy]

Question is the title. I'm concerned because while studying for the June LSAT, I've taken 4 PT's already including the diagnostic and have not improved at all. Score on the diag was 172, PT scores stubbornly sitting at 169-173. Frustrated because after I do extensive review on sections, I do improve on the next test in that section, but other sections get worse. Feels like I'm in a weird rut at the very beginning of my study, which is frustrating since a lot of other people I've talked to in person and online talk about huge score increases after their diag.

How long have you been studying for and are you using any other guides? I took a diagnostic, then read through the LSAT Trainer +LG Bible+ LR Bible, while drilling individual sessions. After that I improved from a 160 to a 167, floated in the high 160s for the next 5 or so PTs before pushing into the 170s. Since the brief plateau in the high 160's I've been improving pretty rapidly.

[mcat4life87]

Why are you making the mistakes you're making? What are some examples of errors you've made?

[bluefreakbob]

Question is the title. I'm concerned because while studying for the June LSAT, I've taken 4 PT's already including the diagnostic and have not improved at all. Score on the diag was 172, PT scores stubbornly sitting at 169-173. Frustrated because after I do extensive review on sections, I do improve on the next test in that section, but other sections get worse. Feels like I'm in a weird rut at the very beginning of my study, which is frustrating since a lot of other people I've talked to in person and online talk about huge score increases after their diag.

How long have you been studying for and are you using any other guides? I took a diagnostic, then read through the LSAT Trainer +LG Bible+ LR Bible, while drilling individual sessions. After that I improved from a 160 to a 167, floated in the high 160s for the next 5 or so PTs before pushing into the 170s. Since the brief plateau in the high 160's I've been improving pretty rapidly.

So so far I've just been taking practice tests, thoroughly reviewing my mistakes, and drilling on old sections. Am generally pretty wary of "professional" resources like test books from personal experience with how useless they were for me on the SAT as compared to just taking practice tests, but obviously I am rethinking that. My friend is lending me his LG Bible, and I think I'll begin using that and see how much I can improve with help from the book.

[bluefreakbob]

Why are you making the mistakes you're making? What are some examples of errors you've made?

RC: Essentially only dumb mistakes. Improved rapidly on this, in four tests: -3, -1, -0, -0. Not too worried about RC
LR: My mistakes here are mostly the questions where they ask you to apply the reasoning of a given argument to another situation. I have a hard time identifying what elements of the argument are the argument, so to speak, and what parts are acceptable to change. Also other associated dumb mistakes from not reading all the answers thoroughly.
LG: It's a mess. Sometimes I breeze through all games, sometimes I have no idea how to start one and miss 4 questions on one game alone. Like I mentioned previously I think I'm going to need help from the book on this one.

[april_ludgate]

Why are you making the mistakes you're making? What are some examples of errors you've made?

RC: Essentially only dumb mistakes. Improved rapidly on this, in four tests: -3, -1, -0, -0. Not too worried about RC
LR: My mistakes here are mostly the questions where they ask you to apply the reasoning of a given argument to another situation. I have a hard time identifying what elements of the argument are the argument, so to speak, and what parts are acceptable to change. Also other associated dumb mistakes from not reading all the answers thoroughly.
LG: It's a mess. Sometimes I breeze through all games, sometimes I have no idea how to start one and miss 4 questions on one game alone. Like I mentioned previously I think I'm going to need help from the book on this one.

You sound like me, though I had a lower diagnostic (164). I went through the LG bible then drilled LG by type. After that I focused on PTs. Ended up with a 180 in September. So, I strongly advise not just PTing