LSAT Diary: Greatest Lesson from Studying, and Focusing on Logic Games

This installment of LSAT Diaries comes from Ryle, who improved from the 155 to a 164 on the February 2017 LSAT after taking the Starter LSAT Course and focusing on Logic Games. That's nearly a 10-point increase!

If you want to be in LSAT Diaries, please email me at LSATUnplugged@gmail.com. (You can be in LSAT Diaries whether you've taken the exam already or not.)

Thanks to Ryle for sharing his experience and advice!

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Ryle's LSAT Diary:

Hi all! My name is Ryle Cameron. I was an English student at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where I spent 4 years loathing most of my English courses and enjoying most everything else - hindsight is 20/20. I took a mock LSAT through Princeton Review at the beginning of my third year, which I used to diagnose my strengths and weaknesses regarding the LSAT. I was pleasantly surprised with a 155. Reading Comprehension was my strongest, while Logic Games were my weakest. No surprise there.

Fast-forward about a year and a half to when I took 5 weeks off at the start of 2017 to study for the February LSAT. This is not doable for many, but it would (obviously) be ideal if you could. I can't help you with that, but I can at least detail what I did and my reasons for doing so.

I was told about the LSAT Blog by friends who had either completed law school or were in the process thereof, and had found the site and resources extremely useful. I decided to buy the most basic package because, I reasoned, I either a) study as best as I could and spend ~$500 Cdn. to write the test a couple of times; or b) spend the same amount to get some help to focus my time, and, (I hoped) only write once.

The 4-week calendar was the most helpful piece of the package to me. Instead of having to chase down questions of the same type to practice on, I had them all listed and in manageable amounts in front of me. I followed it to a tee for the first 2.5 weeks (focusing on Logic Games), then more loosely for the next 2.5 as I wrote full practice tests and eventually timed, test-day scenario tests (with the recommended geek-watch, which was helpful).

Perhaps the greatest lesson I learned was to not get too high from a great mark, and too low from a poor one. I averaged a 159 on my practices, which was discouraging; I needed a higher mark to balance out my poorer GPA. The last practice I wrote before test day was a 166; great news! ...except that it was practice - so while I was happy I achieved that, it really meant nothing to my test day.

This may rub some of you the wrong way, and I don't include it to give the impression that because I am a Christian, God gave me the mark I received. However, as I Christian I took great comfort in the fact that I needn't worry about the test. As a result, I was slightly anxious heading into the test and only determined by the start of it. I was confident in my preparation and could leave the results to God. As it turned out, I received a 164, which I am very thankful to the Lord for; I believe it good enough to balance my GPA and be competitive.

I plan on applying to law school for 2018, and possibly deferring to 2019 (pending acceptance, of course) if I decide to pursue a Masters degree first.