High Test Scorers (165/170+) - Natural Ability or Hard Work

[thinknpositive]

I think it's a mixture of both. On my first lsat diag I scored in the 120s. On the actual test I scored 173. It really depends on the individual. I believe that if you work hard, anything is possible.

you have to work hard and study efficiently.  working hard for the sake of working hard does you very little good.  know what your weaknesses are and improve upon them.

[buster]

Damn, that's great. Congratulations on the jump.

I think it's a mixture of both. On my first lsat diag I scored in the 120s. On the actual test I scored 173. It really depends on the individual. I believe that if you work hard, anything is possible.

[Bisquick]

I think it's a mixture of both. On my first lsat diag I scored in the 120s. On the actual test I scored 173. It really depends on the individual. I believe that if you work hard, anything is possible.

Holy Cow!!!  HOW??

[Regal_Muse]

My first diag was so horrible because I had NO idea what to look for on the lsats. I was answering questions based on common sense, not logic. Then I started to learn more about the lsats and on my own I went up 30 pts. My biggest weakness was type 2 questions and the games. Once I learned how to do the games it was over. While I was doing testmasters, everyday I focused on mastering the material taught in the previous less. I really started. Needless to say I didn't have much of a social life those three/four months. Everyday i put in 2-3 hours of studying. Most people aren't willing to do that. Then I made flash cards for certain terms like suffiecent/necessary, logical opposites, rules for cause and effect, and negation techiques. Even after I understood the concepts, I would always review the information. On average I would spend 15-21 hours a week studying on topic of school work, intership and my other commitments. That's why I said if you are willing to put the work into the lsats, you can do very well.

[Ginatio]

natural ability. i scored between 168 and 173 on 5-6 practice tests, and since i had a full term of classes at the time, i couldn't afford to do much else than take the 5-6 practice tests. plus, i dont think i would have been willing to give myself an lsat enema for a few extra points anyway.

so i can't really say if i would have done any better with hard work or prep classes or some of the other hardcore stuff other people do to get ready for the lsats...

but i imagine hard work plays a bit of a role as well, since there seems to be a lot of people on the board that have jumped in their scores from intense studying/prep

[dsong02]

damn...everyone is saying natural ability.

ive always been somewhat of a test taker, so i did well.  but i also scored horribly on my first blind lsat and then increased it. i got a decent score on the sat's without studying and a decent score on the gmat studying probably 1/20 of what i studied for the lsats.  i KNOW i wouldnt have done well on the lsats if i did not study for them.  so i attribute that score to hard work.  just my two pesos.

[nathanielmark]

for me it had to be natural ability..  i say this because if i could have worked my way into a reliable 170+ score i think i would have.  i came to some mechanical limitations on my brains ability to process information in a certain period of time.  i am just not capable of 175 or higher scores..  172 was about my max when everything went right.  that isnt to say hard work did not push me up from the low-mid 160s.

[jd4me]

My first diag was so horrible because I had NO idea what to look for on the lsats. I was answering questions based on common sense, not logic. Then I started to learn more about the lsats and on my own I went up 30 pts. My biggest weakness was type 2 questions and the games. Once I learned how to do the games it was over. While I was doing testmasters, everyday I focused on mastering the material taught in the previous less. I really started. Needless to say I didn't have much of a social life those three/four months. Everyday i put in 2-3 hours of studying. Most people aren't willing to do that. Then I made flash cards for certain terms like suffiecent/necessary, logical opposites, rules for cause and effect, and negation techiques. Even after I understood the concepts, I would always review the information. On average I would spend 15-21 hours a week studying on topic of school work, intership and my other commitments. That's why I said if you are willing to put the work into the lsats, you can do very well.

Regal,
You are my idol.  I totally believe one can improve his/her score immensely as long as he/she puts in the hard work on a consistent basis.

[Bisquick]

Regal-- How have you done on other standardized tests?  (Sorry, still trying to figure out that improvement.  Based on your other qualifications, I'd think the early scores must have been a fluke.)

[lexylit]

familiarity with standardized tests in general is probably a big factor too. i've been teaching SAT prep for a couple of years, so RC strategies and pacing issues were nothing very new