Took my first, baseline practice test - tell me what you think...

[candiceo]

Hi,
 OK, I am taking the advice many of you offered me in my other post - I am beginning to study for the LSAT to get a feel for what it will take and also how it will affect my family. I have devoted maybe 6 hours (maybe even less) total of study time, from the time that I opened my brand new LSAT book (Princeton Review's Crack the LSAT) over the course of about 3 days, till today when I sat down and timed myself on one of the practice tests in the back of the book. I got a 149. I was hoping for a 170 LOL! On the one hand, a 149 seems disappointing to me (I want to get into UConn and UGPA is 3.3). On the other hand, I would aim for the June test which gives me lots of time to bump my score. Plus, I took the test pretty much cold, and the last time I studied for anything was over 10 years ago. Maybe the 149 is not too bad, considering for the past 6 years all I have been doing is changing diapers, filling sippy cups and not doing very much reading on any topic (except Dr. Seuss). SO. Someone posted earlier that to get into UConn I should try for 160's. I would love a 165.  Do you think it is do-able to boost your score 10  or 15 points from your baseline, given say 5 months? I plan to work through more problems and maybe take another test in 2 weeks.

Candice
BTW, my family survived the 3 hours I was gone taking the test at the library and when I got home I was tired but was happy to see everyone - now if I had stayed home all day with them, they would be driving me nuts by now!

[mobo]

congrats on making the time and the schedule and starting to stick to it! and nice to see that your family survived as well!

in answer to your question, i would say that yes, you definitely can raise your score to the 160's between now and june. see how the pton book works for you, if you want an alternative, i used the two powerscore bibles and worked through those chapters and exercises, three times each. i didn't just do exercises, i really studied the books. i chose those after a lot of research on this site and elsewhere. also, get all the real lsats you can (they come in books and singly) because those are the best resource you have. i think you should take the more recent tests closer to the test date.

manage your tests too - you have a limited number of real lsats to take, so set up a schedule where once a week you take a brand new one (with an extra section) under proper timed conditions, and just make sure you have enough tests to last you. as you get better practiced, you are going to want to have more "new" tests closer to the june date, (maybe taking two a week during may?) to keep practicing your skills and timing on new material so keep that in mind.

are the tests in the back of the pton book the real lsats or a pton version? i know kaplan uses their own questions, but powerscore uses only real past lsat questions. just a thought for you.

considering where you are starting from - a cold test and no familiarity with the material, you should start to see some good improvement if you put in the time.

one last suggestion - buy a couple of mags, like the new yorker or economist or a science journal, and and read one article every night before you go to bed until you finish the entire mag. don't skip any - the articles are a good length, they will be on a wide variety of subjects - so you can get used to reading challenging material that you are not interested in or familiar with. that will help you greatly with the reading comprehension.

go get 'em - don't be discouraged by the 149 - see where you are after a month of work. personally (and i may get flamed for this) i think it might be easier to go from 149 to 165 than from 160 to 175, so i think you are going to be fine.

[SplitFinger]

It's possible to raise your score significantly, but I wouldn't try to do it with one of the commercial test prep books (Kaplan or PR).  Invest in either a Powerscore or Testmasters class if you can.  If not, get the Powerscore Logic Games Bible and Logical Reasoning Bible and study those.  Get copies of actual previous LSATs from LSAC and test yourself on those.

The problem with Kaplan and PR is that they make up their own fake LSAT questions.  It's definitely not the same thing as the real thing, and it will hurt you on the actual test.

[thescreed]

It is definitely possible, but do be realistic about yourself as an individual. Remember that almost every person who takes the LSAT wants to go to law school -- which means they are college-educated and motivated to go after a postgraduate degree.

To score a 165 you need to do better on the test than 9 out of 10 of those people.

Reading these boards you can get the impression that everyone scores in the 165+ range. The truth is that almost everybody doesn't. Take more practice tests before you start picking schools.

[vegemitemama]

Hi Candace -
I was in (almost) the same situation as you 1 year ago. I was a stay at home mum for 3 years, and started with a diagnostic LSAT score of 150.
I scored a 164 on the real LSAT (I also was aiming for a 165) after about 3 months of study (including a Kaplan course).
I even had the same book as you, (PR's Crack the LSAT). I say : throw that book away! The Kaplan course really helped me. Plus you have access to all the LSAT's ever, and a quiet place to go to take them. Then they grade them on the spot, and tell you what type of questions you're getting wrong so you can work on them. I found that it was hard for me to get out of the house in order to study before taking the course. It was like once I had paid for it, I had no more excuses. And the best part: dad and kids survived just fine without me one night a week, and a few saturday mornings for the diagnostics.
Good luck to you!
(my LSN link is on the right - just click on the world icon. As you can see, I'm doing pretty well so far!)

[TrojanChispas]

veg is right, throw that book where it belongs: in the trash.  if you dont have money for a class but are self-driven, dont worry, I didnt take a class and scored 170. if you self study the only things you need are:
1. the logic games bible
2. the logical reasoning bible
3. every previously released lsat test
4. internal motivation

do both books and take all the tests spread out over the course of the next few months and you will score 160+.  You have plenty of time.

[drama gal]

It's possible to raise your score significantly, but I wouldn't try to do it with one of the commercial test prep books (Kaplan or PR).  Invest in either a Powerscore or Testmasters class if you can.  If not, get the Powerscore Logic Games Bible and Logical Reasoning Bible and study those.  Get copies of actual previous LSATs from LSAC and test yourself on those.

The problem with Kaplan and PR is that they make up their own fake LSAT questions.  It's definitely not the same thing as the real thing, and it will hurt you on the actual test.

Yep! I agree.  It's good advice.

[drama gal]

It's possible to raise your score significantly, but I wouldn't try to do it with one of the commercial test prep books (Kaplan or PR).  Invest in either a Powerscore or Testmasters class if you can.  If not, get the Powerscore Logic Games Bible and Logical Reasoning Bible and study those.  Get copies of actual previous LSATs from LSAC and test yourself on those.

The problem with Kaplan and PR is that they make up their own fake LSAT questions.  It's definitely not the same thing as the real thing, and it will hurt you on the actual test.

Yep! I agree. It's good advice.

[lincolnsgrandson]

let's not get carried away.  If 149 is really where you stand now, then it's extremely unlikely that you'll get in the 160s.

So take a real LSAT.  Get the book of real LSATs.  Perhaps, before taking a full practice test, take individual sections at various times during the week.  Then sit down and take a full test.

Whatever that score, expect that with a lot of work, you can improve by 4 or 5.

[candiceo]

Quite a few people have told me they went from a 150 to 160+ so I was thinking it could be possible with some hard work. Why do you think it's not possible I could get a 160 at least? Because of my limited study time due to having lots of kids, or just that if someone gets a 149 you don't think that same person could add 11 points to his or her score? Thanks for your perspective.