So I've been scoring mid 170s my last three practice tests, up until today when I scored a 164 on PT151 (I could also feel my brain getting cooked after the LR sections, which for the past month was very unusual). I'm hoping someone could share their experience of bombing a PT so close to their test--I'm taking the November exam. I also had a really rough week emotionally, studied less on average than I have been, and didn't get as much sleep as I usually do before this one, but I didn't feel like that would affect me as much as I guess it did. Just looking for some reassurance leading up to test day that I'm just having a rough week and all is not lost lol.
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I bombed a PT one week before taking the October LSAT. It was my lowest PT score ever besides my diagnostic. Got October results back this week and I ended up scoring higher than any PT I had taken! You didn't lose your abilities, it was just an off day. Don't let it change your mindset going into the November exam! Good luck!
@as_14 Thanks so much for sharing!! Definitely makes me feel better. And congratulations!
PT 151 is notoriously hard! It's super normal to see a score drop off. I am also guilty of over-indexing on lower scores and that one in particular made me bummed. That being said, consider it as merely a data point and use it as a valuable learning opportunity above all else.
@asgonclv Glad to hear that some others found PT151 to be particularly brutal. I'll definitely use this take as a learning experience going into the exam!
The data shows that there is not a knowledge gap, and your testimony speaks to anxiety having a detrimental effect.
A challenge of the LSAT is the attrition and stamina. The curriculum doesn't mention test day strategies much, put your post into SageAI and it should provide helpful tips for you.
Sinking too much time into an evil question can poison the rest of the section the way it saps time and energy. It would be better to recognize those difficult questions as a good skip, and hold to a rule like 2m limit- then pull the rip cord out to maintain flow. Flag those questions, accept it is a good skip, and if you have time after that is when we can ruminate a bit more.
Your low score was actually a really good lesson. Do not be discouraged, take this as something to learn from. It is far better to experience that now and figure it out before test date, rather than suffering a collapse on test day that carries through the full section as can happen with the delicate RC section.
SageAI I think would say your knowledge is there, we just need to build the test taking stamina, and provide some rules we can fall back on. In times of stress people do not rise to an occasion, we fall to our level of training. People can choke, and fall to the pressure, it happens to the top paid athletes. The legends live in that moment, have been there time and time again, so when it is their time to take the shot they do not stress of what they need to accomplish- they stay in the moment and think of how they want to handle it, falling back onto the routines they've drilled time and time again.
PT 151 is verryyyyy difficult! Don't let that score frighten you. It was the lowest score out of all my practice exams and I have heard that being the case for others as well. I scored 9 points higher on my actual LSAT exam in comparison to what I scored on PT 151. You got this!
@dove This is so reassuring to hear omg. Congrats on your score btw, and this makes me feel so much better for test day!
The same has happened to me and it is a bit discouraging, especially when test day is getting closer. That being said, it sounds like your brain wasn't fully rested (a fact which you acknowledge as a possibility). It's easy to second-guess your capability after one disappointing result, but hitting three mid-170's shows you know your stuff well. Speaking from experience, forcing yourself to take a PT when you feel anything less than fresh is counterproductive and not an accurate reflection of true testing potential. Irrespective of why you got the result you did, one PT in no way discounts previous scores or means you're getting worse.
@RachelLH Thank you for the encouraging words!!
I have been studying for a few months now and I just scored 6 pts lower than last week's PT and 2 pts lower than my cold diagnostic a year ago :(