I used to do this as well! In fact, my RC scores kept dropping from my initial PT and I kind of gave up on it thinking that it was just the section that I would do poorly in. Considering that I am a voracious reader and have always killed RC sections on other standardized tests, this was odd. But in retrospect, I realized that it was totally a mind game and once I was able to adjust my attitude and relax a bit, it shifted things. Now I just read the passage like I read any other article I am reading, I stopped notating as much (now I barely notate, I just try and read), adopted a more "I-don't-give-a-sh*t" attitude (I am so sick of studying, so it helps), studied LESS (if I miss a day, whatever, no big deal), get more sleep, etc. and somehow that drastically improved my RC scores in particular but helped overall and especially helped me get consistently high scores. Easier said than done, I know, but I wouldn't underestimate how panicking can bring your score down. Maybe work on other techniques, but make sure you take care of yourself as well/try not to force it.

This is great- thank you!

@uhinberg359 not my intention at all- I meant to say it was lower than I was getting on my PTs and, like you said, lower than what (i believe) I am capable of just in terms of the LSAT. Definitely not a bad score at all! I am just disappointed by the magnitude of my score drop and was referring more to my "bad" experience with the whole thing. I am very sorry if I offended anybody.

@uhinberg359 ha- we literally ARE exactly the same! I also have a 3.6 GPA and am aiming for T14 so glad to know that I'm not alone. It's so frustrating, as I am sure it is for you, because I haven't gotten a 166 since January! The burnout is real so I think a break is good. I am going to start studying this weekend only because I have a two week vacation planned for August (I booked my tickets in May when I was sure I was going to do great...ha) and don't want to study the entire time. But know that I'll be rooting for you!

And @uhinberg359 thanks for all the positivity-- I really need it right now. Feeling better than I did yesterday (which was absolutely terrible) and starting to gain some perspective for moving forward.

One more question for everyone--I burned through all the most recent tests. Would you do older tests or re-take the most recent ones?

Thanks @yeramchoi168 and @jhaldy10325. I guess the thing is consistency-- every once and I while I WOULD have weird flukes that made no sense. Sometimes it affected my score and other times it didn't (for example, -6 on a random LR section didn't kill me if I had -0 on two other sections and -1 on a third). In BR, I would always score around 178 with the occasional 177 thrown in.

Sigh...guess it's back to it. Hard things are hard, that's what I tell myself. I just have to figure out where to go from here!

Trying to decide what is the cut off where I give up and go to bed...if that's even possible. Also, is this normal? I thought I'd get at 8 by the latest.

If the curve was -9, doesn't that mean it was an easier test overall?

Ahhh here we go... what's the latest we would get our score?

My mantra to quell my anxiety is: I did the best I could. I was ready. If my scores don't reflect that for whatever reason, I'll jump back on the horse and be even more confident for September (even if it will somewhat loom over my vacation in August :neutral: ).

@cottonwooddraper236 said:

I'm hoping for a better curve like -12 or -13 for a 170. Logic Games has always been my best section so I don't think having the games be pretty easy helps me. I finished the logic games section with 7 minutes remaining and went back over almost every question to double check, do iterations, to make sure my answers were correct, pretty sure I got 23-0, at least let's hope so. I consistently got 22-1 on practice tests no matter the difficulty. I had the LR RC LR LG LR setup. I wish I had the double logic game setup or that the LG section came earlier so it could have given me confidence because I feel really good about the last two sections. I was very nervous and had a lot of adrenaline going so that first section of LR really got me going, which I think is confirmed to have been the experimental section. I feel pretty good about RC except the inference passage, I had a hard time understanding one of the sentences that talked about the baby experiment which was annoying, I honestly couldn't get a good group of what happened in the test, it seemed like the sentence was contradictory. Then the third section, LR, I felt pretty good about. Anyhow, I'm anxious as I'm sure everyone else is to see what my score will be. Sometimes I took practice tests and didn't feel great about them but ended up with a good score, so I really don't know. I could have done really well or average, hoping to be the former of the two! I loved studying for the LSAT, I don't know what else to do now! Starting to read books that are good for pre-law and what not, and I still find myself doing sections of LSAT prep tests because I like them, I think they work your brain in a good way.

I also recall having quite a bit of straight line bubbling, mainly in LR if I can remember. It was freaking me out. Anyone else have that?

Hope everyone did well!

Yes- I had straight line bubbling too in one of the LR sections. I've heard from others that they had the same thing.

Thank you everyone! I feel so much better :).

@10024 said:

I don't know if this is an allowerd question, please delete if it's not. But the last LR with 25 Q's had a lot of straight line bubbling? Or is it only me

YES that scared me...

Wow...

Oof-- I read this too quickly and missed the "despite their not having just seen a film." I thought maybe it was in reference to a movie that they had seem recently and therefore the ability to recall had nothing to do with hypnosis. I need to read slower next time.

Another reason why D is wrong is because we are talking about how raising the minimum wage would make it more expensive to raise minimum wage jobs. They aren't talking about overall labor costs, but about minimum wage jobs in particular.

In E, it says "if NONE of the large dairies in the central valley meets federal standards for the disposal of natural wastes, most of the district's drinking water is likely to become polluted." But "NONE" is too strong. In the stimulus, it says that "if the budget does not allow for more dairy inspectors to be hired, MOST of the large dairies in the central valley will not meet federal standards." "MOST" means that most dairies will not meet the standards, but some dairies will." By using "NONE," answer choice E envisions a world in which NO dairies meet the federal standards and that's how you end up with most of the drinking water polluted. And in this world, MOST dairies meeting federal standards isn't necessarily sufficient to result in most of the district's drinking water being polluted. Hopefully this helps!

Don't underestimate the way adrenaline can kick in and energize you. I am the same way in terms of timing, but remember that during college I was always able to power through exams even if they weren't during my "peak" time mentally. Take a power nap beforehand, exercise, do some drills, and count on the fact that the adrenaline will be a big factor.

I just called in never mind!

@nessak130467 hey! I am having trouble logging in, any tips?

@nessak130467 @jordankennedy480 same

Thanks @gregoryalexanderdevine723 @mheannarino27 @jhaldy10325 and @jhaldy10325 ! This is helpful and encouraging. I am going to just keep working and try out different strategies.

Thanks for the advice! I really need to keep drilling the games-- they are making or breaking my score these days (sometimes i get a 170, other times a 162 depending on how difficult the game section is/whether I can finish). Also will try and incorporate the other tips as well to push over a 170.