What was your very first practice LSAT score?

[What was your very first practice LSAT score?]

What was your very first practice LSAT score?

140 or Below

 2 (3%)

141-150

 12 (18.2%)

151-160

 28 (42.4%)

161-170

 20 (30.3%)

171 or Above

 4 (6.1%)

Total Members Voted: 53

[Trancer]

Hello all! long time reader,first time poster... wanted to see just how well I faired in comparison...

[Vicki11NYR]

I don't know I was able to vote (kept getting errors), but I got a 161 and on my second one a 157, which means an average of 159 is what I'm guessing is an accurate place to put me for where I'm starting out from.

[Trancer]

I got a 153, and compared to you guys i feel like i should be applying to clown school not law school...

[M2]

I got a 153, and compared to you guys i feel like i should be applying to clown school not law school...

Dont feel bad...my first was 154...and I hit 172 2 months into my practice

[shadowcreeper]

I got a 153, and compared to you guys i feel like i should be applying to clown school not law school...

Trancer,

Dont feel like that. With practice you can bring your score up alot. Some people have a natural ability to think like the LSAT wants you to think, and others need to work at it. Just keep your head up.

In all honesty practice tests do not mean that much, most people have a range of LSAT scores that they fall into when they take numerous tests. The real deal is all that really matters. So practice... and practice more.. and more... and before you know it, you will be scoring where you want to be.

[Vicki11NYR]

I got a 153, and compared to you guys i feel like i should be applying to clown school not law school...

Dont feel bad...my first was 154...and I hit 172 2 months into my practice

Oh, wow M2!  You're like my hero!  lol.  Congrats on such an improvement - what's your secret(s)?

And don't feel badly Trancer!  There's so much time to the next test so you'll have lots of time to improve (hopefully I do too)!

[gooooooo]

I have jumped 9 points in 2 weeks of moderate studying.  It is amazing how important studying is for this damn test.

[Vicki11NYR]

9 points in two weeks?  That's encouraging! 

And of course practice is the answer, but with what is the question!  Do you recommend anything?  Right now I've been using the real LSATs, but as I mentioned, I went down from my first test to my second one (June 1996 to October 1996).  Mostly, because of the damn LR section!  Any suggestions on that?  My problem is that I don't get why my answers are wrong and the LSATs are right, so I'm not improving anything by taking yet another LSAT preptest only to make the same mistakes and not know what is the flaw in my reasoning!  I wish it would just click...

Wow, I'm getting way too anxious about this and I've got to October and I just started studying...I need to so get a life...lol

[gooooooo]

If you have problems with specific LR questions, post them in a seperate thread and ask help from people on the board.  They will explain what the deal is and hopefully you will start getting it. 

[jacy85]

Some one else on this board said that they forced themselve to write a paragraph justifying why the right answer is right.  If you get bogged down in arguing for the answer you feel is correct, you're never going to understand the test.  There comes a point where you need to just accept it for what it is, and take it as right and move from there.

If you want some narrower hints on correct answer, be careful you don't make assumptions.  It's one thing to identify what assumption the auther's making, it's another to make that same assumption yourself when reading the question.  If you do that, you'll be blind to everything else in the question.

Be careful of scope.  An answer choice that brings in outside info or discusses something that isn't referenced in the stimuli (UNLESS it's a justify the conclusion OR a question asking you to resolve a paradox) is usually wrong. 

Also, if an answer uses extreme words, like never, always, none, etc.  and the stimuli didn't use *any* of these words, be wary of that answer.  LR is a game of minor distinctions.  Word differences can be subtle, but key.

I would go back and look at some wrong answer that you had real issues with, and try applying some of these things to it, and see if maybe it will clarify anything.

Finally, another thing that helped me be more critical in LR is to try to identify, in each and every question, the premises and conclusion.  Truly understading how the argument is set up will make questions easier and faster for you.  And for many, like assumptions, will be key in narrowing down answer choices, since with assumption questions, often times the assumption is just an unstated premise, and if you insert it into the argument, it will fit with the rest of the pieces.

I had a really tough time with LR, but was able to learn all this with lots of work and lots of help from this board and Powerscore.  Be critical and read carefully, and practice some of the stuff above, and get the PS LR bible when it comes out.  You'll be fine.

9 points in two weeks?  That's encouraging! 

And of course practice is the answer, but with what is the question!  Do you recommend anything?  Right now I've been using the real LSATs, but as I mentioned, I went down from my first test to my second one (June 1996 to October 1996).  Mostly, because of the damn LR section!  Any suggestions on that?  My problem is that I don't get why my answers are wrong and the LSATs are right, so I'm not improving anything by taking yet another LSAT preptest only to make the same mistakes and not know what is the flaw in my reasoning!  I wish it would just click...

Wow, I'm getting way too anxious about this and I've got to October and I just started studying...I need to so get a life...lol