Hi, I've been on this site on and off for 5 years now, since I was in undergrad.
I really appreciate all the active participants who pay it forward to people like me.
I'm nervous even writing here for the first time!
A brief info about me, I am in my mid-twenties, I graduated with B.A from a Big10 school, and have a 3.78 LSAC GPA.
I took my first LSAT in my junior year. Along with honors thesis and clearly not studying for the LSAT the correct way (with intense rigor) I ended up with a sub par score in the 150s. I chose to not apply at all because I knew I wouldn't be able to go to law school that I wanted to.
Fast forward 5 years, with equivalent years of WE under my belt, I quit my job earlier this month to prep for the LSAT.
(Also it helps that they will no longer be showing my previous LSAT score by the time I apply).
The WE is quite substantial, I was in a very niche industry. I got promoted, and it required me to travel a lot.
I couldn't devote substantial prep time with the frequent trips so I decided to quit.
I took Manhattan's online course since October last year, finished that by February (while working), read through the bibles and Blueprint's LG book.
I have been PTing this month and my raw scores are in the 85-90 range. On good days I crack the 170s but usually I'm in the high 160s.
The lowest I scored was 161 so far. (It's been PT52-61)
I guess my purpose for this post is to ask what I can do to better prep and increase my score to the mid 170s.
I am really determined to devote anything to this test.
I know that this test means the most in the admissions game and I really want to score in mid 170s to target T13 schools with scholarship choices.
At this point in my prep, is there anything that you would recommend?
After each PT, I look at the questions that I starred (which means I wasn't 100% sure of my answers) and the ones that I got wrong to see why the incorrect is incorrect and why correct is correct.
My best is LG ranging -1 to -3, second would be LR/RC tied.
I usually get -3 to -5 wrong per LR section and -3 to -4 wrong in RC.
I really look forward to your insight and thank you for your input!
Seeking for your advice on LSAT Prep Forum
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Blueprint LSAT
- Posts: 77
- Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2019 5:43 pm
Re: Seeking for your advice on LSAT Prep
Have you noticed any patterns in the types of LR questions you are getting wrong? Is there a particular question type or kind of trap you fall in to?
Mastering LR is mostly about going from a good understanding of what each question is looking for to a compendious and internalized knowledge of the patterns the LSAT consistently reuses. If you are scoring anywhere around 170 you are probably already pretty good at argument analysis. How I would advise you to supplement that would kind of depend on where you are already strong. If you haven't tried a really structured approach broken down by question type and the strategies for each you may want to do that, but given the books you mentioned you probably have. Looking for patterns and the little ways that they hide one question type within the prompt structure of another might help you dodge a few traps and pick up a few points.
As to RC, the important parts in the passages mirror LR way more than people realize. RC gets way easier once you start reading the passages specifically for the conclusions/arguments being made and the evidence being given to support them just like you would an LR question. Focus on structure and critical analysis. Be careful with logical force and using too much common sense. Look for patterns in why you are getting questions wrong.
One more cliche piece of advice that actually works despite being pretty simple: find someone and start learning to teach them how to do this stuff. Or at minimum, make yourself actually explain why you got questions wrong. You may understand, but it will stick better if you make yourself put it into words and you will be more likely to spot it if the same issue is coming up repeatedly.
Finally, keep your chin up and try to avoid too much results oriented thinking. You are dealing with pretty small margins at this point. You are aiming to go from 97th percentile to 99th. Variance on practice exams will be within about 3 points of your average. That's a 6 point range when you are shooting for a 5 point increase. Try not to make any big decisions or have any wild mood swings based on the results of a single (or even several) practice exams. Aiming to be better than 99.X of other people who take the test is doable but you aren't necessarily going to do it consistently. Staying relaxed, shooting for those tiny edges and hopefully tossing in some luck on test day will give you your best shot.
Mastering LR is mostly about going from a good understanding of what each question is looking for to a compendious and internalized knowledge of the patterns the LSAT consistently reuses. If you are scoring anywhere around 170 you are probably already pretty good at argument analysis. How I would advise you to supplement that would kind of depend on where you are already strong. If you haven't tried a really structured approach broken down by question type and the strategies for each you may want to do that, but given the books you mentioned you probably have. Looking for patterns and the little ways that they hide one question type within the prompt structure of another might help you dodge a few traps and pick up a few points.
As to RC, the important parts in the passages mirror LR way more than people realize. RC gets way easier once you start reading the passages specifically for the conclusions/arguments being made and the evidence being given to support them just like you would an LR question. Focus on structure and critical analysis. Be careful with logical force and using too much common sense. Look for patterns in why you are getting questions wrong.
One more cliche piece of advice that actually works despite being pretty simple: find someone and start learning to teach them how to do this stuff. Or at minimum, make yourself actually explain why you got questions wrong. You may understand, but it will stick better if you make yourself put it into words and you will be more likely to spot it if the same issue is coming up repeatedly.
Finally, keep your chin up and try to avoid too much results oriented thinking. You are dealing with pretty small margins at this point. You are aiming to go from 97th percentile to 99th. Variance on practice exams will be within about 3 points of your average. That's a 6 point range when you are shooting for a 5 point increase. Try not to make any big decisions or have any wild mood swings based on the results of a single (or even several) practice exams. Aiming to be better than 99.X of other people who take the test is doable but you aren't necessarily going to do it consistently. Staying relaxed, shooting for those tiny edges and hopefully tossing in some luck on test day will give you your best shot.
