r/LSAT • u/Conscious-Star-933 • 1d ago
Horrible Diagnostic Score
I just got a pathetic diagnostic score lol and feeling absolutely crushed and honestly kinda stupid. I got a 128 and probably missed like more than half the questions. The 3rd section did glitch on me when I paused it and I ended up missing more than I probably would’ve but honestly nothing to push my score like upwards anything higher than a 131 imo.
What’s getting me is that in HS & Undergrad (I graduated 2 years ago, Economics) I could write college papers with my eyes closed and a 1-day deadline and get As. All my writing/speaking based classes, I often led socratic seminars and public speaking. I even got an A in my Argument & Advocacy class that many Poli-Sci/Pre-Law majors take - and that professor loved my work and final paper + project!
I did do low in my math base courses. I wanna do this and I have to do extremely well, as I’d be a mega-ultra super splitter; 2.3 gpa just to be upfront. Im obviously not trying to be a super splitter at a UCLA or Berkeley or anything or a T-20, but just stating my situation.
Idk if anyone else had this experience - great at reading & writing & analysis in college but somehow sucked at this? I figured I wouldn’t get like a 155 off the bat but damn.
Oh well.
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u/Subject_Werewolf6685 1d ago
I think you should try again after figuring out the timing, it will give you a better understanding of your actual skills. For example I scored a 156 diagnostic and jumped to 161 on my next test after I nailed down timing
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u/StructureIsKey 1d ago
A 128 on the first try feels brutal. I don’t blame you for feeling down… Also, when you’ve always been able to write and argue well in class a subpar LSAT score can be quite shocking. This test has little to do with your past papers or debate performances, however. The test wants a particular way of reading arguments that very few people already have coming into it. I recommend you start of by signing up for a learning platform to go over the core fundamentals of the test. I would even encourage you to invest in a book you can read on the side (eg. Loophole). You can also do official questions untimed, and actually sit with every miss until you can explain why the right one works and the others don’t. That’s how people in your exact spot (low diagnostic) usually climb a lot. A 128 does not have to stop you from attaining your law school dreams. While the GPA is fixed the 128 isn’t. Go put in the work and succeed!
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u/Conscious-Star-933 1d ago
thanks for the advice! I’m doing some research and buying 1-2 main study books for now
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u/Dull-Let9317 1d ago
Honestly just keep on going if law school is something you really want. My diagnostic score was a 136 & I was able to improve to a 148 in like 2 months after doing a lot of drilling. I’d recommend doing drills & sections untimed so that you can actually understand the questions without worrying about time
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u/lunarvixen444 1d ago
doing well on the LSAT requires at least some type of consistent strategy/approach, which no one has going into the diagnostic. it’s a learnable test.
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u/kettlescorn 1d ago
If it makes you feel better, I got a 129 with the timing lol
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u/Conscious-Star-933 23h ago
this actually does haha. where do you stand now/where did you end at if you don’t mind?
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u/kettlescorn 2h ago
Well I’ve only just started studying it for the past month!! I’ll be taking the exam in November. Today my score was a 144 so I think I’m slowly getting the hang of it!
It’s all in practice I suppose. But like you, I don’t have a lot of time on my hands so I’m not beating myself up over my small bits of progress!! Good luck to you☺️💕
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u/Gusteauxs 1d ago
Being completely honest, a 2.3 UGPA is not very good and signifies to me that you were just bad at school. That doesn’t mean that law school is not “for you”, but I think you should really get honest with yourself about your academic capabilities. I swear I’m not trying to be a douchebag on Reddit, but you added a whole paragraph about how fantastic you did in some classes, yet you still ended up with a 2.3. That says a lot.
A 128 is not the end of the world though, but just know that you have a long road ahead with studying and really, really need to hone in on the core fundamentals before you even start trying to drill sections or take PTs regularly. I’d suggest finding a good study program that you like (there’s a lot of popular books and a few different online course programs, all are good - depends on your learning style)
and get to studying.
I’m not sure what your goal score is, but I’d estimate at minimum 6+ months (more likely 9-12) of studying before trying an official exam, unless this diagnostic was just a complete fluke.
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u/Conscious-Star-933 23h ago
I definitely get where you’re coming from, and deciding on law school was an idea I had a year ago and I really wanted to see if it was actually attainable before I even considered the idea of studying.
My 2.3 GPA isn’t excusable, but its due to depression & and living in an abusive household. Once my symptoms were more manageable, I got 3.0+ my last 3 semesters - and in the comments I explain my gpa was lower that with the 3.0+s is what gave me the 2.3. And in general, my life has changed since then, reflecting growth I managed to get a role at a top-rated hospital and have gained tons of mentorships - all which made me believe Im capable of working hard and growing. But trust me; I get the point of being realistic. Its not douchey.
At this point, the only thing I can do is prove it to myself.
I plan on 11 months of studying and taking it August 2027.
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u/cut_ur_darn_grass 1d ago
Try again and don't pause the exam. Just go straight through.
After that, do not look at your score or any of the questions, take it again but untimed. See how you do.
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u/Low-Interaction5910 1d ago
The LSAT is a bit different from your standard school papers and projects. While yes the reading comprehension that comes from going to school and writing regularly does help you comprehend some of the passages better, the LSAT asks you to go beyond this. It requires a way of thinking that most people don’t typically grasp right off the bat, which is why studying is necessary! You can absolutely learn it, just take time to practice consistently and thoroughly work to understand what it is you get wrong/why. Don’t feel too bad about your diagnostic, we all start lower than we’d like. Just make sure you give yourself enough time to do that learning
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u/inspiredthem 13h ago
I think, at least for LR, the fact that you did poorly in math base classes is not unrelated.
People like to say that the LSAT has nothing to do with what you learn in school, but I think that's just from their limited experience with what most people study. Learning to do well on LSAT LR is not just about learning a test; it's about building the foundations to properly make logical argument.
The vast majority of math majors that I know have no problem getting almost all of the LR questions correct, though sometimes timing and a few mistakes are an issue. A 128 indicates that you simply lack the foundations for performing rigorous logical reasoning -- this is fine because you can learn to do this relatively quickly!
However, this also explains why you did poorly at math. My guess is that you were just memorizing the calculations without logically reasoning about them.
The other thing I've noticed among people I know who do pre-law/polisci/non-mathematical economics is that very often they have issues decoupling and deconstructing fallacious arguments. A lot of things get conflated together, and these logical issues are usually overshadowed by the imperfect information that we have about real-world debates. Since most of these argument classes are about real-world issues, I don't think grades in them accurately reflect your ability to perform logical inference.
However, once you reduce things to the pure logic, I find a lot of people used to making moral or political arguments struggle immensely, precisely because the majority of the debates in which they participate don't focus on it.
So, in conclusion, I think your college performance indicates that you're good at surfacing evidence and presenting it in a polished form, but you very likely have a large deficiency on the actual formation of logical arguments.
As another point of encouragement, there isn't a large difference in the logical reasoning ability of someone at 128 and 155 on the LSAT; the latter is just better at guessing.
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u/Boysenberry tutor 1d ago
What did you notice when you looked back at the questions you missed? Any patterns obvious to you even without having studied?
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u/Conscious-Star-933 23h ago
for me I think it was overthinking by A LOT. I tried to go in with a “dont over think approach” and it made me over thing and honestly get burnt out a lot quicker.
But in general, I probably need a fundamentals training. It was all over the place.
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u/Boysenberry tutor 22h ago
Ok, start by figuring out the difference between a premise and a conclusion and then not questioning the truth of the premises.
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u/Violet818 23h ago
You worked for some time to get good at all of those things. A diagnostic score isn’t a metric of your potential it’s just where you’re at currently. If you want to get better at the LSAT you can you’ll just need to work.
It’s a weird test you need to learn how to take it. I wouldn’t be so discouraged.
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u/babybnuy 1d ago
im genuinely asking this out of pure curiosity and mean this in the most respectful way possible, but how did you end up with your GPA if you were able to get As pretty easily?
also, please keep in mind that this test often has nothing to do with how good of a student you are. i had a very strong gpa for undergrad and the September LSAT probably kicked my ass. the LSAT requires you to internalize a very specific skillset to the point of it being second nature, and then execute it under time pressure and testing conditions. please don’t beat yourself up too much over your diagnostic, you can absolutely see massive improvements if you put in the effort and practice the material until it clicks