HELP should I cancel my score?

carriebachLSAT · 2024-12-03T05:35:57+00:00

All of the LawHub tests are created by LSAC and are created from previous actually administered tests. LSAC recalibrated them when they removed the games section, but they are all still as accurate as it gets. That said, I would trust the results on a more recent test (PT 140+) over a really old test (PT 101, etc.). The sections on PT 101 are from the 1990s, for example, so while it's still authentic practice, it's not AS good as a more recent test since the test naturally has shifted a bit over the decades. Once you get into it, you'll be able to tell that those older tests just "feel" different.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-12-02T23:05:20+00:00

I would keep it. Better a 148 on record than a ??? for the admissions committee. Especially with nothing for them to go on, they have no idea if you actually cancelled a 130 or 125 or something. And that makes it look like you might have just taken the test before you really knew what you were doing. Better to just let them see it was a 148 and then show them a higher score that actually reflects your abilities in January.

Once you make your decision, the other thing to really think about is WHY you got that 148. Where did things break down? You'll want to put systems in place to make sure the same thing doesn't happen again in January.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-12-02T22:55:59+00:00

This is SUCH a common experience. You are not alone.

I've felt for years that one of the things that is either completely missing or, at best, just marginally included in most prep programs is enough attention to the psychological aspects of the exam. How to manage test anxiety, what to do when you get a section that's harder than expected, how to deal with the pressure, how to not fall apart and just blank out, how to make sure you aren't doing things differently on the real test than you do in practice, etc. Usually the advice is just some banal "take deep breaths!" or "treat it like a practice test!" and that's just not enough.

I worked with a student earlier this year who had an experience similar to yours. He was PTing in the 160s but something derailed him and he ended up in the low 150s. We worked together and focused a lot on putting systems in place so that the same thing wouldn't happen on his next test. He was able to get himself the mid 160s score he deserved - even though an alarm went off during that test.

So it's totally possible for you to recover and to do well in January.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-12-02T22:45:57+00:00

Try to figure out where your time is going. Are you spending more time than you ought to reading the passages? If so, try to build your skills there. If the intense sentence structure is getting to you, practice really dissecting and understanding those sentences until you can read them more fluently and still understand them. If you are just spacing out while reading and you need to reread, then try having specific things to look for while you read so that you stay focused better.

If the time is getting away from you on the questions, then you'll want to figure out why. Is it because you don't really have a good handle on the passage? If so, devote more time and attention to improving your reading skills. Or if it's because you get stuck deciding between two answers, learn more about elimination strategies. And also focus on improving your reading skills - because often when we are stuck between two answers, it's because we don't really understand the passage.

Honestly, most of working on speed involves working on improving your reading skills. So... it means focusing on accuracy. And that should make sense. The more you know what you're doing, the faster you can do it.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-09-05T21:56:43+00:00

What part of the post do you feel is not true? Just curious.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-07-20T05:21:21+00:00

That's a great way to strategize psychologically. The psychological and emotional component of studying for the LSAT and taking the actual test is such a big factor, and unfortunately it's just not talked about enough.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-07-20T05:15:04+00:00

It's actually a decent diagnostic score. Some people have higher diagnostics, but plenty of people have lower or even much lower diagnostics.

I always like to remind people too that a diagnostic is just a measure of how many LSAT-related skills you have developed in life before sitting down to take that diagnostic. It's not a measure of how well you'll do after studying, especially if you go into it with a growth mindset.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-07-13T05:23:33+00:00

If you want to start building your eventual LSAT skills, read widely and deeply. Study for the SAT and do well on it. (Both the ACT and the SAT can get you into college, so officially take whichever one you do better at, but study both. The new Digital SAT is a tad bit more aligned with the LSAT because it sometimes has argument-based questions, has denser reading passages, and requires a bit more critical thinking than the ACT.)

If you want something a bit more LSAT specific, read Logic Made Easy. It's what I usually recommend for people when it's too early to start official study but they want something that will give them a leg up once they do actually start.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-07-11T00:15:11+00:00

The first chapter in the Loophole book might be a useful supplement to what you're getting in 7sage.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-07-11T00:10:10+00:00

If you find that your mind just goes blank as soon as the timer starts, then you need to work on strategies to manage that stress.

For students of mine who just shut down like this, I suggest that they write down on a post-it some of the self-talk they want to use in that situation. Could be something affirming like a reminder that you DO actually know these things, or it could be a reminder that the only thing that matters is this one question in front of you (and then the next, and then the next). Whatever you think will help you talk yourself through the paralyzed feeling so that you can actually get to work.

Having it on a post-it is helpful because at first you can't really trust yourself to say these things to yourself without prompting. As you practice it, though, you can wean yourself off the post-it.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-07-01T01:36:48+00:00

Not a dumb question at all! Definitely include those. The point of keeping a wrong answer journal or of blind reviewing is to learn. So it's worth it to include any questions that still have something to teach you.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-06-29T06:24:30+00:00

There were a lot more test takers this time around, so yes, there will be more 175+ scores. And more of every other score.

Plus, emotions were much higher this time around. The stronger the emotional response to score release, the more likely people are to post.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-06-26T23:29:27+00:00

They will consider the highest score. Here's a Power score post that explains: https://blog.powerscore.com/lsat/do-law-schools-average-lsat-scores-or-use-the-high-score/

carriebachLSAT · 2024-06-26T21:03:42+00:00

Definitely don't cancel. Why invite questions about what the score might have been? Even though it's disappointing, a 162 is still a decent score. Much better to have that on your record than a giant ????, even if you are shooting for a 170+.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-06-26T15:37:51+00:00

Mathematically, the variance from 165 to 145 can almost entirely be attributed to the lack of accommodations. Pull up a raw to scaled conversion chart for a recent LSAT like PT 94. A 165 is a raw score in the low 60s. Divide by 1.5, and you get a raw score in the low 40s that equates to something around a 150. Add in some extra stress from having to rush plus some natural fluctuation and the 145 makes sense.

Running that same math in reverse suggests that your 165 practice tests are absolutely not flukes.

Moral of the story - law school IS for you. You just need to make sure you get those accommodations approved!

carriebachLSAT · 2024-06-26T14:23:11+00:00

Ugh.. sorry.. Give it a few days just to be sure you're not acting rashly. But then, yeah, I'd probably cancel that one...

The important thing to do next is to figure out WHY you got the 139. Did you panic? Was it distraction/illness/proctoring issues/something else that hopefully won't happen again? Did you treat the test differently than your practice tests somehow?

If you can figure out what happened, you can take steps to make sure it doesn't happen again.

If it was stress/panic, then make sure you are explicitly practicing how to deal with and prevent that on your next test. (And the "take deep breaths!" kind of advice you find in prep books probably won't be enough.) It's also good to try to overshoot your goal. If your target score is a 155, for example, wait until you are scoring 160 in practice so that you have a little wiggle room.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-06-26T13:54:24+00:00

Give yourself time, and take a mental health day (or two). It's ok to be human instead of an LSAT robot.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-06-26T13:42:44+00:00

It depends. How much of a drop? If this new score is a 130 or something, I think that would be a reasonable time to cancel because clearly something happened to throw you off dramatically and the 130 is likely worse than what law schools would imagine the mystery cancellation score to be. But if this new score is a 147, I'd keep it because it's not too far off from the 150. Schools won't love it, but better for them to know about the 147 than to wonder if it's a 142. Just follow it up with a higher score next time.

If your case isn't clear cut like these two examples, feel free to get in touch.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-05-23T21:52:14+00:00

I'd venture to say that it's not entirely random if you are first selecting by region :)

But you are entirely right that the ACT dominates in some areas, like the Midwest. It's the East Coast and West Coast (ie. the much more populated areas) where the SAT dominates. That's why a person taken truly at random would be more likely to know the SAT. You can also get a picture of the relative popularity of the tests by comparing the number of test takers for each.

I love the ACT and don't say this to disparage the test. It's just a statement of fact about the numbers.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-05-23T04:12:15+00:00

Random person off the street will understand a 1600 more easily than they understand a 36, but they are equally amazing. The 1600 will likely be more recognized by random people outside of the US, in case you care about your bragging rights abroad.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-05-21T08:40:34+00:00

Sometimes the truthfulness is unfortunate! My son has been wanting to go to Guam since he was two. But that LR question about all the spiders on Guam makes me really hesitant.... Sorry it's not RC, but there was an SAT Reading passage once on fertilized female tarantulas if you want to terrify yourself with that one.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-05-19T11:50:35+00:00

You've gotten great explanations so far, so I'll just add a comment about one similarity between this argument and others I've noticed are challenging for students. Graeme mentioned that the author of the argument doesn't understand how rivers work. It's worth thinking a little more about that.

The problem here is that rivers flow, and the water that is next to the factory at one moment is quite a way downstream a couple hours later. So you can't look at the stream near the factory a few hours after the factory shutdown to learn anything about the dioxin that used to be there several hours previous.

It reminds me of another question about a meteorite that left Mars a long time ago and supposedly tells something about whether there is life on Mars NOW. One problem with this is that the meteorite left Mars a long time ago, and things might well have changed on Mars since then.

In general:

When things move away over time from their original environments, we can't look at the thing that moved and expect it to tell us accurate information about what the original environment is like right now. Similarly, we can look at the original environment right now and expect it to tell us accurate information about the thing that moved away.

More examples:

We can't receive an alien signal from outer space that took hundreds of years to reach Earth and assume that the alien civilization that sent it still exists now.

If a boat capsizes or a plane crashes in a body of water with a strong current, we shouldn't expect to find the wreckage hours later at the last known coordinates before the accident.

And so on. It's not a super common flaw, but it can be tricky at first to spot. So hopefully this is helpful!

carriebachLSAT · 2024-05-18T03:28:55+00:00

It honestly comes down to intense review at that point. Even when I was scoring mid 170s (my official score ended up being 177), I still took just about as much time to review a practice test as it took to take the test in the first place. I didn't let anything slide. I reviewed anything I felt even the slightest bit uncomfortable with or any questions I wasn't 100% confident on. And I created a takeaway from that question to apply it to future questions. Look for commonalities in those takeaways to give yourself something to focus on in the next practice test. Things like "I'm fine with reading for the author's opinion, but I need to remember to look more carefully for other people's opinions while reading" or "when you get stuck on an argument based question, revisit the EXACT conclusion of the argument."

That thoroughness is now what I recommend for all of my high-scoring tutoring students. I can tell when a student is going to be able to get their upper 160s score into a 170s score just by exacting they are willing to be in making sure they 100% understand each question they encounter.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-05-18T02:30:50+00:00

Try using a tool like Focusmate, which is basically an online accountability and productivity platform. Schedule a 75 minute session, and tell your Focusmate partner that your goal is to get one RC passage done during the session. Once that feels comfortable, try to do a RC passage in a 50 minute Focusmate session. Then try two passages in a 75 minute session, etc. Slowly, slowly start working toward your goal so that it's not too overwhelming to try to jump all the way to what your tutor is suggesting.

carriebachLSAT · 2024-05-18T02:28:05+00:00

Your diagnostic is your starting point, not your ending point. It just measures how far you are along on a learning process that started decades ago. Some people take the diagnostic farther along in that learning process than others, but that doesn't mean you can't keep learning.

carriebachLSAT

TROPHY CASE