advice RE: february lsat

[RachelSophia]

happy belated new year to anyone who responds to this!

i have been studying since October to take the LSAT February 12th. I spend at least 2 hours a day and focus on one section more than the other two each day. I have been taking KAPLAN for the past 2 months and its been helpful but i'm still not getting to the score i know i should receive. here are my questions:

1. i am addicted to studying for the LSAT. i went back to school early from home during xmas break just so i could have my house all to myself (my roommates aren't here until school starts again) in any case i spend 6-9 hours a day studying. if i find that im struggling on reading comp at one point, i focus a majority of the next days study time on reading comp and i do this with the two other sections while still spending at least an hour on the 2 other sections that i had done decently on. do these habbits sound healthy and productive or is there any way they are actually taking away from my score?

2. i've been alternating between doing timed tests and timed sections and then reviewing how i did and working on whatever section i tested myself on but don't time myself. despite all my work, i'm still averaging around the same amount in each section:

LG: typically i get about 17-18 correct out of 24/25     LR: this is the most frustrating section because some days i'll get 20 correct out of 23 and other days i'll get 13 out of 24   RC: I've really been working on reading comp i've noticed, as counter intuitive as it is, the slower you read and focus on the readings the more time it saves you and even if you run out of time the chances youll have more correct problems ................ in any case, does anyone have any advice on how i can break out of this "bubble" i keep scoring at a 154, granted im not in the most ideal location (theres a lot of construction going on in my neighborhood and i dont have a proctor so i just set an alarm.) i have a little under a month left before i take the lsat should i be really concerned about this? is a month (of very hard dedicated) studying realistically going to get me to the score i want (my dream score is a 163 but my realistic score is a 159) i know that i can still opt to take it in june but i have worked so hard and tried to time it so well (classes start this monday for me and i wanted to take the test early into the semester so it wasnt at time of millions of stressful things happening at once. however, if anyone at all believes i should postpone the test because it seems unrealistic to boost my score that much i would so appreciate that advice as well!

thank you so much to anyone who actually read this long novel sized post!

Rachel

[Julie Fern]

february test be hardest ever.

[LSAT Freedom]

If you want a 10-point increase to the 163-64 range, you should think about postponing until the June LSAT.  It sounds like you're doing a lot of practice (which is good), but I wonder how much understanding you've attained with respect to the logic that underlies the exam.  That's what you really need to focus on and understand.  A lot of the logic that the exam tests is repeated throughout the questions.  You need to focus on understanding those logical principles.  It might take more than a month to do so, so you might want to consider waiting until June.  A 153 score isn't bad at all.  But if you think you can do better, postpone it, find an LSAT prep course that works better for you, and go for it.

[Julie Fern]

june test be hardest ever.

[RachelSophia]

lsat freedom,

Thank you so much for your advice! I still have time to decide and I think I'll wait to see what my score is on my next full practice LSAT and then make a final decision. I am currently in a Kaplan course and it's definitely been helpful but I'm definitely struggling to really comprehend the fundamental logic skills that I really need to master if I want to do well. Not to sound rude at all but a 153 is not a good score at all in my opinion, at least to get into a t-1 or t-2 law school. And I was being conservative - the last full LSAT I took (timed and administered through Kaplan) I received a 155, and the test was from 6-10pm after pulling an all nighter to finish a paper I had due so there's a good chance I'll do better but I was warned of the "score bubble" which I seem to have fallen into 

Out of curiousity, where do you go to law school/want to go to?

Thanks again for your advice! OH and to the repetitive 'gonna be hardest test ever' remark, you're lucky I have a sense of humor. Could you imagine if a naive, stressed out and depressed prospective law school applicant saw that and harmed themselves upon reading it? Even worse: if they mentioned you in their suicide note? Jeez, that would be awful..

[MEMEMEME]

If someone killed themselves over the LSAT, they would have no one to blame but themselves and also do not have enough real problems. It's a test and your score isn't bad. It isn't great, but it would get you into places.

In any case, I suggest doing some background reading about logic and argumentation that is outside of prep books for the LSAT; look up logic books on Amazon.  Also, do practice LR questions often. You can improve it to only a few wrong or less if you do A LOT of practice questions (not just tests and timed sections). I had to do about a thousand practice LR questions until I knew the answer every time and only had to bubble in three at the end on average.

Second, make sure you take the test twice. I practice tested in the same five point range basically from the beginning; however, I started out at the lowest score in the range and peaked at a score, but I received an average score and that's what I got on the actual December test even though I was overly nervous on test day and in my opinion, choked a bit. However, my score was sufficient and knowing that will help me in February. I guarantee I will do better the second time around