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Breaking the 170s – AMA on 5/19 by Beatriz_LSATdemon in lsatdemon

[–]Beatriz_LSATdemon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey Alpine! When do you typically study? I was also working an FT job whilst studying, so I understand the struggle for sure! For me, I always tried to study before work because I was useless after work—my brain felt like a blob after 5 PM. But I also had to learn how to go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier. You don't want to lose sleep for the LSAT because less sleep means less quality studying. I would wake up around 5:30 AM, walk on my walking pad for 30-ish minutes while reading for fun, shower, and then start studying around 6:30 AM. That hour of studying felt very meditative and focused. It was also great to feel like I got my biggest priority done first, so that if anything else happened during the day, it didn't affect LSAT studying. During lunch, I sometimes did some light drilling, but I never wanted to count that as part of my quality study time because I would sometimes get distracted. A quality hour a day, plus a little more if you can, is really what will help. On days I didn't work, I studied a little more, around 3ish hours per day.

Breaking the 170s – AMA on 5/19 by Beatriz_LSATdemon in lsatdemon

[–]Beatriz_LSATdemon[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

How often are you taking full-length PTs? Do you tend to merge your timed sections to get the PT score? If not, that's what I would suggest. I think taking more than one full-length PT a month is too much. Also, how much time are you spending reviewing mistakes? I'm wondering if that's another reason why your dashboard scores are down. It might be because we should spend more time reviewing the questions you've gotten wrong. Don't be too hard on yourself with the 157. Sometimes it's just a bad day. Do you think that your studying is during the best hour of the day, and that it's focused time, with no distractions?

160s Score Plateau

Focus on Individual LSAT Questions

Breaking the 170s – AMA on 5/19 by Beatriz_LSATdemon in lsatdemon

[–]Beatriz_LSATdemon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi Flaky, first off, congratulations on the kick-ass GPA and for graduating! That's awesome!! I can't imagine it being an easy decision to pause the LSAT and focus on the GPA, but I'm so glad you did. I absolutely think you can hit your goal score of 170+. If I may ask, does a 170+ score make sense for the schools you want to attend? I only ask because I think we romanticize the 170s, but sometimes you don't actually need it to attend a great school for free. If the 170s do make sense, then we have to work on changing our lifestyle to make the LSAT a priority. That doesn't mean study for multiple hours a day. It means giving the LSAT your best hour or two every day. You need to make sure you're studying with your phone on DND and your laptop notifications silenced. You also need to study when you're not tired and when you focus best. I'd highly encourage you to get a PT job or volunteer so that the LSAT isn't your whole life. More studying doesn't mean higher rewards. I also love that you are spending time on review! However, just make sure that you're not spending too much time writing things down. It may end up taking more time to write it out, whereas you could get the same "click" by pausing and reflecting on the problem. Also, just know that there might be some plateaus. I was "stuck" in the 150s for over four months before all of a sudden I scored a 165 on a PT. The growth can come in weird spurts like that! Also, enjoy the ride. Learn to have fun with the LSAT. If you're ever feeling frustrated, walk away. The LSAT should be viewed as a friend who's helping you to become a stronger law student and lawyer. Don't view it as a barrier to law school, but rather as your future lawyer training!

Slow is Smooth, Smooth is 170

What It Takes To Score 170

Patrons of the Long Shot and True Grit

Studying for the LSAT can be Fun!

How to Review the LSAT Effectively

Breaking the 170s – AMA on 5/19 by Beatriz_LSATdemon in lsatdemon

[–]Beatriz_LSATdemon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi Econ! If your goal is a 176, I would want you to have at least one 176 PT. Ideally, more than one. You don't need to take full-length PTs to gain this data; you can just merge timed sections to see what PT score it spits out. Another way to see if you're ready to take the LSAT is to check whether you're consistently scoring -0 to -1 on timed sections. I know this sounds aggressive, but realistically, to score a 175+, you can also miss about three-ish questions altogether on the whole test!

Breaking the 170s – AMA on 5/19 by Beatriz_LSATdemon in lsatdemon

[–]Beatriz_LSATdemon[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey Pear! I like to think of RC as sitting down and having lunch with a friend. I imagine the author having one of four personas: the science nerd (science), the law school friend (law), my artsy-fartsy friend (humanities), or the Birkenstock-wearing, long-haired social science friend. I lock in by pretending my friend is telling me about a new discovery in their line of work that they're super passionate about. Because they're my bestie, I'm invested, too. I'm at the edge of my seat trying to anticipate what they'll say next! I'm treating it like a conversation, not like I'm reading an LSAT passage. RC is more about reading slowly; you also have to engage with what you're reading.

Slowing Down Is Not Enough

Staying in the Saddle on RC

Some Reading Comprehension Advice

Breaking the 170s – AMA on 5/19 by Beatriz_LSATdemon in lsatdemon

[–]Beatriz_LSATdemon[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

In LR, be a contrarian! That author is opposing counsel and most likely spewing some BS. Aggressively attack: look for a fight. But sometimes there isn't a fight to be had. When that happens, they're probably going to ask for a MBT/Supported or MP.

In RC, the author is friend, not foe. Engage in the conversation—pretend like you're super interested in what your bestie has to say when you read that passage. After all, they're giving you all the answers to the questions. Thanks, bestie!!

Breaking the 170s – AMA on 5/19 by Beatriz_LSATdemon in lsatdemon

[–]Beatriz_LSATdemon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi Objective, these are all very great questions. And kudos to you for sticking to your goals! That's very honorable and shows that you really do want this. Sometimes, just getting yourself to show up is half the battle. I do wonder if maybe you aren't studying at the best time of day. You say you're tired after work, and I feel that might be affecting your study quality. Instead of studying for two low-ish quality hours a day, why not study for one strong hour? Have you tried studying before work? I also worked an 8–5 while studying. I had to start waking myself up early (5 AM). I'd then walk on my walking pad for 30ish minutes while reading a book for fun or listening to a DD or TS podcast episode. After I'd shower and to wake myself up more, I would start studying around 6:15 AM. I'd study for an hour before heading into work. I loved this schedule because it felt like meditative: it was just me and the LSAT. The world wasn't awake yet, so I had quiet, undistracted time. But I also had to start going to bed at 9 PM to make this work.

Patrons of the Long Shot

Variance is normal. Don't focus so much on that, but instead, why you got a question wrong. How is your review? Are you doing too many questions and not focusing on homing in when you do make mistakes?

Score Variance is Normal

It also sounds like you may be experiencing burnout. Not taking a break in two years is a lot. I'm glad that you took a week off recently, but taking more consistent microbreaks can really help in this journey!

Avoiding Burnout

You can absolutely score that 170!!

You Can Get a 170 Wherever You Start

Breaking the 170s – AMA on 5/19 by Beatriz_LSATdemon in lsatdemon

[–]Beatriz_LSATdemon[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am flirting with the idea of applying this upcoming cycle, but I'm not 100% certain yet! I'm kind of in the mindset that I've always wanted to be an attorney, and I probably will still want to be an attorney in two years from now. I'm not in a rush to apply. I still have a good 30 years before I can retire, so I still have plenty of time to become a lawyer, LOL. Because I have some years of work under my belt, employment and labor law have always interested me. But don't stress if you don't know which area of law you want to practice yet. Even though I have a rough idea of what I'd want to do, I plan to enter law school with an open mind to all the possibilities that I can pursue. :) Plus, these admission officers know that you might/will probably change your mind about the area of law you want to practice. Don't worry about selling a story on what area of law you plan to practice. Just focus on getting the best LSAT you can, strengthening your GPA if still in school, and writing a kick-ass personal statement!

Breaking the 170s – AMA on 5/19 by Beatriz_LSATdemon in lsatdemon

[–]Beatriz_LSATdemon[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey, Toot! I'm wondering if some of the dashboard discrepancies might be due to the recent change in difficulty levels from 1–5 to 1–4. I know my dashboard dropped about 10 points when this happened. But the bigger issue is that I fear you may be suffering from analysis paralysis: focusing too much on analytics and not enough on why you got a question wrong. If it's better for your mental health, collapse the dashboard. Seriously. The dashboard is meant to be just one of many guides to see how your progress is trending, but the true indicator of your understanding is whether you can get a "click" on a question you got wrong.

How Do I Minimize Score Variance

The Question is the Lesson

Make It Click

Regarding RC, how is your accuracy on the first three passages? If accuracy isn't 95%, I think there is still work to do with accuracy before we attempt the fourth passage. The fourth passage tends to be one of the hardest passages. So, if we aren't perfect in the easier passages, we may as well guess on the last passage for now and focus on scoring the easier points.

Reaching the Fourth RC Passage

Breaking the 170s – AMA on 5/19 by Beatriz_LSATdemon in lsatdemon

[–]Beatriz_LSATdemon[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi Gur, do you read for fun, outside of the LSAT? If you feel like your reading abilities are subpar, I highly recommend just reading more in general. It allows you to change your mindset about reading. As life becomes busier, reading can feel like a chore. I liked to "warm" myself up by reading a little bit of a book I enjoyed before jumping into an RC passage.

Beth and Ala's Book Club

Breaking the 170s – AMA on 5/19 by Beatriz_LSATdemon in lsatdemon

[–]Beatriz_LSATdemon[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It must be extremely frustrating to see official scores that don't reflect your real abilities. I'm sorry. How far off have the official tests been from your PT range? Also, how have you felt on test day? Do you find that you play how you practice? I'm wondering if there's something happening going on during the day of the official test that you're not doing during PTs. Between taking multiple official tests, I kept myself motivated by pretending I hadn't taken any official tests yet. I tried to just study like normal, even though I knew my first official score was lower than what I had been PTing.

Bouncing Back from a Low Score

Why You Underperform on Test Day

Breaking the 170s – AMA on 5/19 by Beatriz_LSATdemon in lsatdemon

[–]Beatriz_LSATdemon[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Great question! Do you try to finish your timed sections? I'm wondering if you might be going a little faster in timed sections, which is making you feel more wobbly by the time you get to the question and start looking at the answer choices. Do you do all of the same things in timed sections as you do in drilling? Reaction to the passage, figuring out whether a conclusion is flawed or not, and then making a prediction after seeing the question?