Is this indicative?

nathanieljschwartz

So i sparingly take PTs, i see a huge benefit in taking timed sections bc of the ability to BR directly after and to work on skipping, implementing section strategies, and a multitude of other reasons. I take a PT every 1.5 to 2 weeks.
I was wondering if it is indicative of my score if i were to calculate my overall score for those individual timed sections?
My average on the timed sections is a 172.
I would just calculate my PT scores, but i dont really have enough tests to properly average. Iv taken 5 PTs in the past 2 months but they are so spaced out my first was a 160,166,174,173,169 (165 which im not counting due to circumstances) . The most recent was 3 weeks ago bc i took some time off and am working on a perfected skipping strategy.
Thoughts on split up sections vs timed PTs?

LSATcantwin

Personally I do very similar to you. The single biggest "issue" I see is endurance. A RC fresh is not the same as a RC after 4 other sections of the test, back to back.

I wouldn't put to much stock into it either way. Rely on the fundamentals and deeper workings of the test and less on abstract surface layer "what if's". You were able to preform well enough on the sections to score how you did. With enough training and building of endurance you are capable of that score during the real test

nathanieljschwartz

@LSATcantwin personally i do better with a couple of sections b4 RC, i try to take on a RC section first thing to improve on that, but i def. Get what your saying.
Its quite frustrating improving at this point .. cant seem to break that 174. Its my friggin RC, still -4/-5

Paul Caint

Personally I would say no.

Having your mind wrecked by an LSAT section then 10 seconds later having to take another one - the back-to-back nature of the LSAT - affects your score. Even a slightly longer break, like doing BR to reinforce/deconstruct a way of thinking, can give your mind time to rest that won't be there on test day.

That being said I think individual timed sections are very helpful, and oftentimes more useful than just drilling PTs over and over again. I do something similar, where I take PT's 2 days in a row, then a day off where I just do timed sections and really go back over the fundamentals of thinking.

Alex

@nathanieljschwartz said:
So i sparingly take PTs, i see a huge benefit in taking timed sections bc of the ability to BR directly after and to work on skipping, implementing section strategies, and a multitude of other reasons. I take a PT every 1.5 to 2 weeks.
I was wondering if it is indicative of my score if i were to calculate my overall score for those individual timed sections?
My average on the timed sections is a 172.
I would just calculate my PT scores, but i dont really have enough tests to properly average. Iv taken 5 PTs in the past 2 months but they are so spaced out my first was a 160,166,174,173,169 (165 which im not counting due to circumstances) . The most recent was 3 weeks ago bc i took some time off and am working on a perfected skipping strategy.
Thoughts on split up sections vs timed PTs?

Probably not indicative enough to count it as one solid score. But it is still indicative or a good indication of where you're at score wise. That said, nothing should hold as much weight as your score on full timed PTs.

As far as timed sections, I think we often undervalue them. I truly believe taking 15-20 full PTs is probably enough for most to get their pacing and endurance down. Doing timed sections, as you mentioned above, allows us to review directly after and practice with a purpose.
If you're good on games, but still need work with RC, then doing timed RC passages seems like a better use of time. Of course, this depends on where you're at in your prep. If you're towards then end then you'll obviously want to focus on doing mostly PTs.

apawalter

Was just going to post a discussion similar to this as I also do timed sections and full PTs! I see the benefits of doing both so I would love to hear other peoples opinions on this topic! Also a bit of a minor question haha but @nathanieljschwartz when you have completed all the timed sections for 1 PT do you record your score in 7Sage like you would when scoring a full PT? I haven't been because I didn't want my timed scores to interfere with my full PT scores but maybe it would be helpful to be able to compare them...

Thanks for the great discussion

nathanieljschwartz

Hey @apawalter i do record them bc you have the option to choose which PTs show up on analytics! (Thank you 7sage!!)
I just write down which ones are real PTs

apawalter

@nathanieljschwartz right that's true, thanks for the tip