Difference in exam difficulty

TrustingGod

Is there actually a difference in exam difficulty in regards to the month. I heard June exams tend to be quite harder than other exams. And the December exams can tend to be easier. I feel that when I take a June exam its always a lot rougher on me. What do you guys think?

Sara_3080

I sure hope so. Because the June 2018 exam just destroyed me today.

Leah M B

It’d be nice, because that would sure make me feel better about bombing the LSAT this past June lol.

But honestly, I don’t think there’s much to that. The LSAT is very well done so that the exams are all similar difficulty and the grading scale is adjusted to make up for any smaller discrepancies.

However, the test does vary in that sometimes there will be a harder than average specific section, like a hard RC. While that might be made up for by a slightly easier than average other section, if RC is your weakness then it might really tank your score. It’s just kind of luck of the draw of which sections are a little more difficult and how that interacts with your own personal strengths and weaknesses. Overall, the LSAT is quite consistent in difficulty and as I mentioned, the variations in grading scale also help to keep your score consistent.

unclesysy

@"Leah M B" said:

However, the test does vary in that sometimes there will be a harder than average specific section, like a hard RC.

I think this is right. For LG, just take a look at the aggregate of JY's suggested times for games in a set -- they really can vary from test to test.

BinghamtonDave

Powerscore recently crunched the data on "curves" for a 170 for the last several years: June/September/December: note here as an aside that the December exam this year falls in November. This is what they found:
June: -10.36
September: -11.08
December: -12.00

This data indicates that December's "curve" or scale, however we might want to define that is a bit more forgiving of mistakes than other curves throughout the year. But this poses some interesting questions: does a large curve mean a harder test? Does a smaller curve mean an easier test? And in answering that question we will get divergent responses from different people, I feel as though the tighter the curve, the more difficult the exam for me personally, not because of the material in which we are test upon (the vast majority of which is similar across exams) but because I have a tendency to make a "silly" mistake here or there that I can't quite drill away from my approach. And by "more difficult" for me personally, what I mean is that these exams: C2,June 2007, June 2017 are between 2 and 2.5 points below my average.

Citation: Youtube "powerscore crystal ball webinar November 2018" at the 1 hour 21 minute mark

I hope this begins to answer your question
David

TrustingGod

Thank you all for your insight. I think a lot of people had a hard time with the June 2018 exam @"Leah M B" @Sarah_9900, so you're not alone lol.