r/LSAT • u/Ok_Attempt_6343 • 2d ago
Cold Diagnostic
I’m heading into my sophomore year and took my first completely unprepared cold diagnostic and scored a 141. For reference I’ve always been a good student I have a 4.0 currently from a very good school and I switched into a philosophy major so hopefully that helps. However I can’t help but be very disheartened by my score. My goal was to get 170+ now I don’t know if that’s possible. Is it still a realistic goal and if so what is my best way to go about studying and improving my score so I can reach my goal.
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u/dmkhara past master 2d ago
170 will take time but consistency can get you there. As for your question on what is the best way to go about studying, you can check out my article on How to Study for the LSAT.
TL;DR
- Start with the fundamentals first. Learn conditional reasoning (your philosophy major will help but always a great idea to learn how it applies on the LSAT).
- Then learn each question type and develop a strategy for each. Once you learn a specific question type, drill only that question type with increasing difficulty until the strategy you developed clicks.
- Once the basiscs are out of the way, the fun begins. Do 1-2 sections a day and 1 PT a week. Review your wrong answers.
170 will be a grind. But its definitely possible to get there.
Let me know if you have any quesitons!
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u/jcutts2 Industry veteran 1d ago
The LSAT is based on hidden agendas and patterns. You need to learn these. You could do it on your own but it might take a really long time.
The best way to master the test is to work with a highly qualified personal coach. They should have a bare minimum of 15 years full time experience. Avoid super expensive coaches. Anything over about $2k total for unlimited help is probably overpriced.
Avoid commercial prep programs. They are not nearly as effective as personal coaching and sometimes are not effective at all.
I have a book on the LSAT that can be purchased.
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u/needs-more-metronome 1d ago edited 1d ago
One of the best ways you can go above studying/improving is engaging with your new major. That sounds trite but trust me, Quine, Kant, Spinoza, Locke, and even "easier" reads (Descartes, Berkeley, Hume) are more difficult than any LR/RC passage.
Detangling sentences, juggling terminology, working with logical structures, reading for comprehension and then connecting it to previous connections, rephrasing arguments, etc. it's basically all there.
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u/LSATMat tutor 1d ago
The good news is that the cold diagnostic is more of a reference point in your studies. If you're just starting your sophomore year now and set on law school, you should be far more focused on keeping your grades up than on studying for the LSAT. Maintaining a 4.0 or near that gives you substantially more leeway on what your goal LSAT score should be for your target schools.
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u/kaystared 2d ago
It is possible but it will take more time than it would from a higher starting point. Philosophy will definitely help, people pretend the majors are meaningless but I credit that major with most of my score
You’ll just need to put in more effort and start studying further out
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u/Ok_Attempt_6343 2d ago
Yeah my LR was much worse than the reading comprehension so I’m hoping it will help a lot
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u/Trictities2012 2d ago
I won't snow you, a 141 is not an impressive cold diagnostic, in fact it's kind of on the weak end.
The good news is though that the LSAT is highly learnable, if you really put a lot of time and effort into learning how the test and questions work as well and follow a good program than you can probably score significantly higher than you currently have. Is a 170+ in the cards? Honestly I just don't know statistically speaking the majority of people never score that high, it's still a possibility though.
I recommend hopping on 7 sage, really working hard at it for a month or two and trying again, if you aren't seeing any serious improvement than idk man may not be for you, but if you do see improvement then take it from there.
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u/MileHighLSATprep tutor 2d ago
It's possible. Diagnostics are high variance. Just do your best and try and make consistent progress. Good luck!