How to deal with PT score drop, days away from the Feb LSAT?

ha.atwal

Hey all,

The past few PT's I've written have been encouraging and well within what I'm hoping to score in Feb. (166 on PT 78, 165 on PT 69, 164 on PT 71, 164 on PT 76). A couple weeks ago I scored a 160 on PT 72 and today I scored a 162 on PT 79. I'm hoping the 160 was an outlier because I felt sort of groggy that day, but at the same time I don't want to be making excuses for myself. And as for today's PT, I'm concerned that it dropped a 2 full points from what I was scoring prior to that.

Are small drops like this relatively normal and not a cause for concern if I'm aiming for 163-164?. I probably shouldn't be stressing too hard about my PT scores anyway because I know what I know at this point lol. Just wondering if anyone has words of wisdom to pass along to ease my anxiety haha!! (Also if it's relevant to know, I scored a 161 on the Dec.2017 LSAT).

In the meantime, I should probably be meditating and momentarily erasing everything about the LSAT from my mind, I can't wait for Feb. 10th to be done.

Thx for reading and good luck to everyone writing in Feb!

Seeking Perfection

You can't do much as you noted. What I would do is blind review, then take a break, get one last confidence building PT in this weekend and then coast into the test.

If it is burnout, the last thing you want to do is go into a frenzied last minute prep stress session.

If it's nerves the same holds. Relaxation willbe good.

And I am confident you didn't just get worse at the test. That only happens in nightmares.

Harmmanb-1

That is normal. I've also noticed that if I am feeling a little off, my score drops below my average. Getting some cardio in about an before a pt helps clear the mind.

ha.atwal

@"Seeking Perfection" said:
You can't do much as you noted. What I would do is blind review, then take a break, get one last confidence building PT in this weekend and then coast into the test.

If it is burnout, the last thing you want to do is go into a frenzied last minute prep stress session.

If it's nerves the same holds. Relaxation willbe good.

And I am confident you didn't just get worse at the test. That only happens in nightmares.

@"Harmmanb-1" said:
That is normal. I've also noticed that if I am feeling a little off, my score drops below my average. Getting some cardio in about an before a pt helps clear the mind.

Thanks for the advice! Will definitely work on taking it easy these next 10 days and not to get too caught up in my head haha.

pioneer321

Idk if an anecdotal input is helpful, but fwiw a couple weeks before my December take, I had two PTs in a row where I got 5 less than my average at the time, for no good reason too. I ended up beating my average on the real thing.

Try to engage into positive thinking: look back on the countless hours of work you've put in, all the terrible questions and sections that you've seen, how much your understanding of the LSAT has changed since you first started. Most importantly remind yourself that it was you got those 164s-166s, and that there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to do this again on February 9. Good luck!

ha.atwal

@pioneer321 said:
Idk if an anecdotal input is helpful, but fwiw a couple weeks before my December take, I had two PTs in a row where I got 5 less than my average at the time, for no good reason too. I ended up beating my average on the real thing.

Try to engage into positive thinking: look back on the countless hours of work you've put in, all the terrible questions and sections that you've seen, how much your understanding of the LSAT has changed since you first started. Most importantly remind yourself that it was you got those 164s-166s, and that there is no reason why you shouldn't be able to do this again on February 9. Good luck!

Thanks, I really needed to hear this

I need to stop invalidating my LSAT abilities at this point because of 1 or 2 PTs and reflect more on how much I've progressed as you mentioned. I don't think I've even taken a moment to think about that tbh, just goes to show how hyper-critical this test can make you lol

But only positive thoughts from now!!

stepharizona

Also just an FYI a score band on the LSAT is 3 points so it's normal to fluctuate within the range.