Still recovering from getting a 163 in August, the same score that I got in April. For context, just before my April exam I had been PTing in the mid to high 160s, whereas for two months before August I had been PTing in low to mid 170s. Literally the last PT I had took (158) I got a 178. I didn’t even get test-day jitters in August and felt rather confident / similar to my PTs where I scored in the 170s.
I’m definitely applying to law school this fall cycle as I graduated in May 2025 and have a good amount of WE up my sleeve (and just really miss school). I registered for October within the hour of seeing my August score. Going to go at it this month and try one last time, but I wanted to ask for advice. How the hell should I prepare for this? I feel like the pts are so substantially different from the actual exams that they currently give, and I honestly don’t know what, if anything, I should be doing differently from my previous routine and approach if I was scoring so well in PTs / individual sections. Is there anything that can be done to prepare for this exam as it’s actually given? Would love anyone’s input on this because I was honestly devastated from my August score and really need help.
7 comments
Same thing happened to me in August :( My score dropped 7 points below my average PT, 11 below the PT I took right before it, and 3 below my April score—even though I felt way better coming out it than I did in April. The actual test felt completely detached from standard PTs. It really feels like something has shifted in how they're designing or scaling the exam lately...
i'm in the same boat as you, was PTing 10 points higher than the score i ended up with.
during the test it felt similar to those higher score testing experiences. i didn't have anxiety during the test (3rd time taking it and i have an anxiety disorder that has gotten worse with this exam preparation) and slept well the night before (only got 3 hours of sleep for my previous two exams and i'm really sensitive to not sleeping).
i was coping so hard when i saw my score... but i looked back and realized i did mess up during LR - i flagged way too many and there were too many questions where i was stuck between 2 answers and i switched my answers last minute to play with fate.
not making any assumptions about you, but i suggest objectively thinking to your testing experience and maybe you did a few things you usually wouldn't do - not trust your gut, overthink a few questions, change answers last minute, strive for 100% certainty so you spent too much time on certain questions? did you sleep well?
if not maybe the exam had a lot of a certain question type that's a weaker area for you.
it took me a while to accept that i didn't execute my practice for that exam as well as i could have after preparing for so long. i took a few months off and am just now getting back at it. it'll get better and we'll get there one day. good luck
@hellim that strive for 100% certainty is a killer
@kiko seriously! trying to unlearn that now, lmk if you have any tips 😅
In the same boat as you guys in this thread and like @hellim have a ten-point discrepancy and felt crazy for it, like that big of a discrepancy was crazy, so I appreciate being feel seen :'). Maybe if we all talk through some together we'll find things we were doing wrong. Or maybe the tricks are getting harder to spot or identify given the pressure of the test. Regardless, following this thread because I am too looking for the same answers
In what way are the practice tests different?
I had the same issue with a 5-10 point discrepancy between PTs and the real thing. My only advice is to keep trying and make sure your PTs are done in the most realistic environment possible.