Methods for 5 Section Test

SwoopSwoopEagle

My goal is to be taking 5-section tests from now until the June LSAT, but I want to make it feel as real as possible. Does anyone have a good method of disguising the extra section within their test? I found a RC section from another test that matched my RC section # and blacked out any identifying information. I shuffled up the 5 sections and made sure I had no idea which was coming next. It was kind of a hassle and I ended up knowing which was which anyway (I inadvertently took a glance at the first passage when blacking out), but I'm interested to hear how other people organize their 5-sections. Any tips would be helpful.

LSAT_Wrecker

The whole "knowing which is for score thing" doesn't come into play for me because I actually want to do well at each section I take, regardless of whether its included in my fake score (as I call my PTs) or not. I use random.org to give me a number between 1-4 (because I always want to take my last scored section in my "most tired" mental state) and take the extra section in the assigned spot. I then BR it exactly the same as I do all the other sections.

Seeking Perfection

This is sort of a question dodge, but I don't think there is a great way to disguise them.

First of all if your experimental section isn't new, you are going to know its experimental so you would probably have to go with a new one if you want any disguising strategy to work. But then you are wasting practice tests since every four tests your experimental sections will add up to a whole wasted test(you will still get some benefit from it, but the score won't mean much as far as a measure of progress since it was taken over 4 seperate occassions and at least a few weeks).

For this reason, I preferred to work on endurance by taking back to back 4 section tests withthe break in between rather than 5 section practice tests. It gave me two scores that I could use to assess my progress, built up endurance better than a 5 section test, and finally prevented me from having to worry about experimental sections.

Seeking Perfection

@Rtwrtw8 said:
@"Seeking Perfection" how long have you been using this approach? I feel like the likelihood of burnout from using this method is dangerously high, not to mention that the second score is unlikely to be representative for the first series of takes (and thus, a potential waste in themselves).

If your second scores are consistent with your first ones then you're a monster lol.

I used it for 3 and a half months every Saturday while I was prepping for my retake. I read about someone else doing it online somewhere. At first my first PT tended to be higher by about 2-3 points. Later once my endurance was built up, my second test average was actually slightly higher(maybe because I was better warmed up).

The second test results won't be wasted even if they are lower though because you can always compare them to other second tests. Therefore, you can still tell whether or not you are improving.

Additionally, if there is a large difference between your first and second test scores on average, that is a sign you could use work on endurance and a good reason to do this more until the gap closes.

I felt like I was actually able to do the same number of PTs this way with less risk of burnout because by concentrating the work of two PTs on one day I could afford to rest instead of taking a PT or drilling some other day in the week. That said if you are only planning on one PT a week, then two a week is going to risk more burnout. I was already going to do at least two so the question was just when I would do them.

Hamaseh_S

@"Seeking Perfection" said:

For this reason, I preferred to work on endurance by taking back to back 4 section tests withthe break in between rather than 5 section practice tests. It gave me two scores that I could use to assess my progress, built up endurance better than a 5 section test, and finally prevented me from having to worry about experimental sections.

hi! What did your test schedule look like on these days? Did you still take your 15 minute break after section 3? How long did you break before taking the second test?

Also did you feel like this strategy ultimately helped you on test day?

Seeking Perfection

@Hamaseh_S said:

@"Seeking Perfection" said:

For this reason, I preferred to work on endurance by taking back to back 4 section tests withthe break in between rather than 5 section practice tests. It gave me two scores that I could use to assess my progress, built up endurance better than a 5 section test, and finally prevented me from having to worry about experimental sections.

hi! What did your test schedule look like on these days? Did you still take your 15 minute break after section 3? How long did you break before taking the second test?

Also did you feel like this strategy ultimately helped you on test day?

I took the 15 minute break between the two 4 section tests. I took each 4 section test without breaks. So I would wake up about when I would on the real test day, eat breakfast ect., begin my first test, finish it 2hrs and 20 minutes later, take my 15 minute break, start the second test, and then finish it 2 hrs and 20 minutes later. So just the testing was about a 5 hour process. I was scoring in the mid to high 170s so my blind review took less time and I was usually able to blind review later the same day as well(which I usually did since I really wanted to know my scored and couldn't until I graded them after blind review). So usually my Saturdays were about 10 to 12 hours of testing and blind review with a break in the middle. Sundays I rested celebrated my good scores, mourned my bad scores, and didn't do any LSAT studying except my daily foolproofing.

I improved from a 172 to a 180 on my retake. The major elements of my prep were foolproofing and PTing with blind review. I think these back to back tests helped me in a few ways. First of all, I had a bad cold the day of my retake which both distracted me and kept me from sleeping much the night before. This made me sort of spacey and tired. I think having practiced taking the LSAT tired was why this didn't cause a drop in my score. Lots of people don't sleep well the night before so if I'm right that this helped, it could help others. Secondly, I felt much less exhausted during the writing sample than on my first take. While the writing sample itself doesn't matter, I felt like this was an indicator that endurance wasn't an issue for me on my retake.

Hamaseh_S

@"Seeking Perfection" said:

@Hamaseh_S said:

@"Seeking Perfection" said:

For this reason, I preferred to work on endurance by taking back to back 4 section tests withthe break in between rather than 5 section practice tests. It gave me two scores that I could use to assess my progress, built up endurance better than a 5 section test, and finally prevented me from having to worry about experimental sections.

hi! What did your test schedule look like on these days? Did you still take your 15 minute break after section 3? How long did you break before taking the second test?

Also did you feel like this strategy ultimately helped you on test day?

I took the 15 minute break between the two 4 section tests. I took each 4 section test without breaks. So I would wake up about when I would on the real test day, eat breakfast ect., begin my first test, finish it 2hrs and 20 minutes later, take my 15 minute break, start the second test, and then finish it 2 hrs and 20 minutes later. So just the testing was about a 5 hour process. I was scoring in the mid to high 170s so my blind review took less time and I was usually able to blind review later the same day as well(which I usually did since I really wanted to know my scored and couldn't until I graded them after blind review). So usually my Saturdays were about 10 to 12 hours of testing and blind review with a break in the middle. Sundays I rested celebrated my good scores, mourned my bad scores, and didn't do any LSAT studying except my daily foolproofing.

I improved from a 172 to a 180 on my retake. The major elements of my prep were foolproofing and PTing with blind review. I think these back to back tests helped me in a few ways. First of all, I had a bad cold the day of my retake which both distracted me and kept me from sleeping much the night before. This made me sort of spacey and tired. I think having practiced taking the LSAT tired was why this didn't cause a drop in my score. Lots of people don't sleep well the night before so if I'm right that this helped, it could help others. Secondly, I felt much less exhausted during the writing sample than on my first take. While the writing sample itself doesn't matter, I felt like this was an indicator that endurance wasn't an issue for me on my retake.

Ok, thanks for the info! Congrats on your score