LSAT help

[clarissa]

I'm currently signed up for an LSAT (powerscore full length) course in the hopes that it would help me increase my LSAT score. So far, my PT scores are not getting better even though I feel like I'm getting a much better grasp on the test. I am signed up for the Oct. test, but I feel like at the rate I'm improving (0), I will not be ready. I need a 166 to get into my top school and right now I'm nowhere near that. I got a 145 on my first test and then a 141 on my second. I've always found that if I worked hard enough I could improve and ultimately do whatever I wanted. Seeing zero improvement is really discouraging. Any suggestions or advice... 

[LSATWorld]

Not very familiar with the powerscore course but in terms of personal preparation, review of the mistakes you do in the preptest is by far the most important part of the preparation. If you can ask your course teacher to explain the mistakes it is great, but first analyze them alone. 21-25 point increase is a hard target to achieve in less than a month so you might want to consider switching to December. As of now, the best thing to do would be to forget your personal life, have no work outside of school and quite frankly to get the score you want school should be moved to 2nd place. Unfortunately this is the reality of the LSAT.

Meanwhile if you are looking to get some quick advices check this link and spend an hour on memorizing some of the points people make: http://top-law-schools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=396&sid=4da460acf60a9c97b95a8a38c951ba79


There are lots of advices that you might get. If you want - join our twitter or facebook (@lsatworld, lsat world), we post tips and advices almost everyday.

Wish you luck! 

[clarissa]

Hey thanks for the advice!  It has been in the back of my mind that I'm really pushing it on time.  I  have until the 11 of Sept. to switch to dec. for the test, so I'll see how my progress is at the end of the week and decide.  I'm not working right now, I'm studying full time.  I'm studying about 6-7 hrs a day, and I have a 4 hr class 3 days a week.  Do you think I need to do more?

[Ashley O]

I think that is a pretty dedicated study schedule. I know from experience that it sometimes takes a while for the ideas in an LSAT course to sink in, but when they do, you should see a nice jump in your score. Just keep your head up and keep working hard!

[clarissa]

Just took a practice test today and got a 149...at least it's going up this time...
So I'm going to change my date to Dec.... question..are admissions able to see that I've changed the date from oct. to dec.?

[Jeffort]

Just took a practice test today and got a 149...at least it's going up this time...
So I'm going to change my date to Dec.... question..are admissions able to see that I've changed the date from oct. to dec.?

No.  No record or notation of it will be included in your CAS report that law schools you apply to receive.
 

[Anne]

I'm going to change my date to Dec.... question..are admissions able to see that I've changed the date from oct. to dec.?

No, they won't, as long as you do it before the deadline (which was yesterday, 9/11, at midnight EST). If you missed the deadline, all you'll be able to do is either be absent to the test or cancel your October score, which schools will be able to see.

[Jeffort]

I'm going to change my date to Dec.... question..are admissions able to see that I've changed the date from oct. to dec.?

No, they won't, as long as you do it before the deadline (which was yesterday, 9/11, at midnight EST). If you missed the deadline, all you'll be able to do is either be absent to the test or cancel your October score, which schools will be able to see.

 


LSAT/LSAC policy change news that is important to know:

On Thursday May 12th LSAC announced a policy change for students registered to take the LSAT.  

They added the option to, at the last minute, "Withdraw LSAT Registration" so that nothing appears on the LSAC CAS report that law schools receive with applications.

Under the new policy students have until midnight ET the day before the test they are registered to take to withdraw their registration with no penalty other than forfeiting the registration fee.  

Students no longer have to face the dilemma of deciding whether it is better to have absent or score cancelled appear in their law school application materials if, for any reason and without any required explanation, they cannot or do not want to take the test on the day they are registered to take it.

http://www.lsac.org/JD/LSAT/test-dates-us-oct11.asp

Exercising the withdraw registration option is easy.  Up to midnight ET the day before the scheduled test the student can go online to their LSAC account and simply 'withdraw LSAT registration' with no consequence other than losing the registration fee they paid and then having to register and pay the fee again to take a later administration.  It does not count against the take it only three times in two years restriction and law schools the student applies to later will never know it occurred unless the student tells them.  

[Anne]

I'm going to change my date to Dec.... question..are admissions able to see that I've changed the date from oct. to dec.?

No, they won't, as long as you do it before the deadline (which was yesterday, 9/11, at midnight EST). If you missed the deadline, all you'll be able to do is either be absent to the test or cancel your October score, which schools will be able to see.

 


LSAT/LSAC policy change news that is important to know:

On Thursday May 12th LSAC announced a policy change for students registered to take the LSAT.  

They added the option to, at the last minute, "Withdraw LSAT Registration" so that nothing appears on the LSAC CAS report that law schools receive with applications.

Under the new policy students have until midnight ET the day before the test they are registered to take to withdraw their registration with no penalty other than forfeiting the registration fee.  

Students no longer have to face the dilemma of deciding whether it is better to have absent or score cancelled appear in their law school application materials if, for any reason and without any required explanation, they cannot or do not want to take the test on the day they are registered to take it.

http://www.lsac.org/JD/LSAT/test-dates-us-oct11.asp

Exercising the withdraw registration option is easy.  Up to midnight ET the day before the scheduled test the student can go online to their LSAC account and simply 'withdraw LSAT registration' with no consequence other than losing the registration fee they paid and then having to register and pay the fee again to take a later administration.  It does not count against the take it only three times in two years restriction and law schools the student applies to later will never know it occurred unless the student tells them.  

Oops, I totally knew that! I can even prove it: http://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/lsac-has-new-withdrawal-option-for-lsat-takers/ <--I even blogged about it back in June!   Thanks for the catch, though, Jeffort! With this being a new policy, it  slipped my mind. Thank you for correcting my oversight!  

[Jeffort]

 

I figured you knew since I remember seeing your blog post scroll by in my everything in one internet social media and news feeder sidebar information overload thingy.  

I just wanted to correct it for students getting ready to take the October test so they have one less thing to stress about and know they have a last minute 'chicken-exit' like they have at the front of the line to ride roller coasters.

My first thought when I read your post was that an auto-responder bot (similar to a Fembot from the Austin Powers movies) had taken over your account!  

[xunalex]

I'm currently signed up for an LSAT (powerscore full length) course in the hopes that it would help me increase my LSAT score. So far, my PT scores are not getting better even though I feel like I'm getting a much better grasp on the test. I am signed up for the Oct. test, but I feel like at the rate I'm improving (0), I will not be ready. I need a 166 to get into my top school and right now I'm nowhere near that. I got a 145 on my first test and then a 141 on my second. I've always found that if I worked hard enough I could improve and ultimately do whatever I wanted. Seeing zero improvement is really discouraging. Any suggestions or advice... 

not a big problem. You just need more practice especially in Logical Games I guess. Then you would find you scores was improved dramatically. Good Luck.

[clarissa]

Hey it's me again, and I've love some advice if anyone feels so inclined.

I'm signed up for the Dec. LSAT, but unfortunately, my score is not on par with where Id like it to be.  I studied on my own and initially took the test in Feb. and scored a 146.  After that I knew I needed additional help, so I signed up for the full length powerscore course and planned on taking it in Oct.  By the end of the course I had worked my score up to a 158 and that was not high enough to get in my top school.  (it's worth it to note that the 158 I scored on a PT was a test I had taken before which I think highly inflated my score..my score has oscillated quite a bit, but I have not been able to score anything but the low 150's since)  So I switched my test to Dec, quit my job, and started studying full time.  I'm sorry to say that even with all the hours of studying it's just not clicking for me.  For example, I'll feel like I have a good handle on the games, but every time I take a PT, I freeze and can't do them.  I'm lucky if I get through 2 full games.  This is killing my score.  Reading is my next worse category, so I've really been trying to work on that.  While it's improved, I still struggle with the timing and never complete all 4 passages, and the ones I do complete, I still end up missing points.  LR is generally miss 8 to 9 in each section.  Believe me, I've really tried to put in the time but I'm not seeing good results.  I take a test every week and always review it to try and figure out what I did wrong, and why I picked the wrong answers.  This past weekend I scored a 152.  I have about a week and half before the next test, and realistically my score will probably be in the low 150's if I take the test.  I've given up on applying to my reach schools, since I will never have a chance with this score, but now I'm wondering if I can even get in to the midrange schools.  I live in North VA so I'm planning on applying to almost all the schools in the area.  I really don't want to wait to apply next  year, but do I honestly have a chance to get in anywhere with a score like that?  or is it worth it to wait so I don't have 2 bad scores on my record and have to take it a third time in 2 years...  for reference I have a 3.64 GPA but since I only recently realized that my LSAC standardized GPA is only a 3.47, that does not help my prospects at all.  All my letters of rec are submitted and should be decent.  People tell my resume is impressive but who knows...

Anyway, please don't sugarcoat it.  I feel like my prospects are bleak, but I would love to hear any opinion.  Thanks!

[Ashley O]

One thing that struck me was when you said, "every time I take a PT, I freeze and can't do them." If you have unlimited time, can you do the questions? I ask because if so, the problem you have is test anxiety, not LSAT-content related. If you can't do the questions with unlimited time, then the issue LSAT related. 

If you can answer that, it will tell us what direction to take. Thanks!!

[clarissa]

One thing that struck me was when you said, "every time I take a PT, I freeze and can't do them." If you have unlimited time, can you do the questions? I ask because if so, the problem you have is test anxiety, not LSAT-content related. If you can't do the questions with unlimited time, then the issue LSAT related. 

If you can answer that, it will tell us what direction to take. Thanks!!

It's just the games that I freeze on.  Of course some games are harder than others, but after I finish the the test, I never have trouble figuring out the games as I go over each of them.  Time is definitely the issue in the games section.  I have practiced one game at a time giving myself nine minutes to finish the game and I rarely can.

[Ashley O]

So, it sounds like the LSAT in general isn't that scary, but the Games have gotten inside your head. That's good and bad. The good is that the rest of the test should be your strength (and lots of people have Games issues), but test anxiety, even on one section, isn't easy to overcome. Clearly you can do the games because you can do them fine afterwards, but it is terribly hard to get over that freezing fear at the start of the section. Have you ever encountered this kind of problem with other tests?

Tell me a bit a bout your reading speed. Is that a factor in how well you are doing on RC?