When I began practicing the LSAT last summer, I could respectably pull off ~150. Which is . . . well, average. Literally. If I took the test then, I could sleep well knowing that every other person scored higher than me.

Over the year at SMC, Kaplan did two practice LSATs. My score bounced up to 161, which is much more in-line with the school’s I’m hoping to attend. However, the Kaplan tests may or may not have been designed to generate Kaplan prep course upsells . . . So I don’t view them as being necessarily good predictors.

So I open up the LSAC book tonight and took the first prep test, which was Test #9. My score moseyed down to 157. So, I’m 8% better off than I was before. My only concern is that Test #9 is fifteen years old.

I was very disappointed with that score. Historically, I can nail +90% on the Reading section, but I was only batting 50% on Logical Reasoning . . . which is, of course, half the test. Worst case scenario looks something like Reading, Games, LR, Games, LR which will complicate my mental fatigue.

Granted, I don’t do that hot on Games. However, I have improved to the point where I can quickly identify difficult problems and draw the secondary inferences that matter so much. Because of the huge number of Arguments, I need to make sure I can bat at least 70% on Arguments to break 160. And, if I’m only looking at a 160, it might not be financially viable for me to attend law school anyway, despite my GPA.

In any event, those are just numbers. But, entering my senior year, it’s difficult to represent the “intangibles” – my work experience, my campus involvement – as anything but what they are. The LSAT is what I feel to be the weakest element of my hypothetical application. But that’s enough for tonight. Stay tuned, or not, it’s up to you.