Beginner Lsat study'er, how do i obtain my natural score, timed or untimed?

[luxeluxe]

1. How do i find my beginning score, do i take a timed test now? or do i do the exam without timing and use that score? (i would still use a fair amount of speed but not adhere to a strict 35 minutes).

and what is the conventional thought on increase of a score from there after studying, 8-10 point increase if the person studies for a couple of hours 6 days a week for 2 months? Yikes, that seems like a heck of a lot.. 2 hours a day 5 days a week?

[edited to include this is for the December Lsat]

[AkhilAmar]

I hope you are not planning on taking the September LSAT.

With that said, to find out exactly where you stand in the world of LSAT scores, take a 5-section (4 actual, 1 experimental) timed LSAT. Depending on what score you get, you may be able to increase by 2 points or 20 - depends on the intellectual ability of the person, studying habits, and the quality of that studying.

[luxeluxe]

Great, thanks. I will do that this weekend or tonight. I plan to take the Lsat in December. : )

[luxeluxe]

Oh, one more thing. For my first exam, should i take a real exam from the past, or a made up practice exam from a book like Kaplan?

[tradewinds]

REAL!!!!!! Don't even think about taking a phony exam-- with over 50 real preptests, there is no need.

If you don't have a real exam, print out the official sample one:
http://www.lsac.org/pdfs/2005-2006/LSAT-test-new.pdf

[luxeluxe]

REAL!!!!!! Don't even think about taking a phony exam-- with over 50 real preptests, there is no need.

If you don't have a real exam, print out the official sample one:
http://www.lsac.org/pdfs/2005-2006/LSAT-test-new.pdf

thanks!

[Imperial Russian Stout!]

If you're barely starting to study now for the Sept. LSAT AND you want at least a 10 point increase on your first diagnostic on test day, you better be looking to spend more than 2 hours of studying everyday.

[luxeluxe]

I'm studying for the December Lsat. Any recs for time guidelines?

[Imperial Russian Stout!]

I think I've log close to 40 hours a week.

[J_]

Including my time logged in class, I'm around 25-30 hours a week.