Are the 2008 tests representative of 2018 test difficulty?

LAWYERED

Are the 2018 tests harder than 2008 tests? Most of my most recent preptests were from 2008.
Is the difficulty difference negligible?

Thanks!

BinghamtonDave

The topic has been the center of some disagreement in the LSAT prep forums. To sum up my position as succinctly as I can: the vast, vast majority of a 2008/2009 exam is going to be both relevant and useful for someone studying for a current test. One should still try to get access to the latest exams, but decade old exams are absolutely helpful, especially for continuing to build a solid foundation of skills. I believe the difference in difficulty to be negligible and not something someone should notice if they are doing the exams in order.

Alex

@LAWYERED said:
Are the 2018 tests harder than 2008 tests? Most of my most recent preptests were from 2008.
Is the difficulty difference negligible?

Thanks!

I would say, yes. I did the tests in order, and I’ve always described the more modern tests as having the same old tricks — just better disguised. I think the newer LR/RC have certainly added more nuance and misdirection.

That said, tests from 50s are still highly valuable. I just wouldn’t agree with the statement that the difference is negligible.

However, I do wholeheartedly agree with Dave that I don’t think it’s going to be an issue if you focus on building a solid foundation of skills and do the tests in order.

Bamboosprout

Difficulty will always be similar. It's a curved test, after all. The fundamentals will also always be the same, so focus on your core competence. But the focus will be different. If you search the forums for changes in the new tests, you should be able to find some more detailed information, but some examples include: comparative passages, more NA, MSS or complete the sentence as oppose to MBT, more miscellaneous games, etc.

Better every day

Those tests are a great resource and definitely worth taking and Blind Reviewing. If I could do it all over again I think I would start taking real PTs from like 55 and work my way up gradually. I personally think the LR section and RC sections on the most recent tests are slightly harder than a decade ago. Specifically RC, the actual passages don’t seem more difficult to read but there are more questions that seem to resemble LR type questions. There
Are also more miscellaneous LR questions and the overall difficulty just seems slightly higher for me. On the other hand I think the Logic Games have gotten significantly easier. Even the miscellaneous games usually aren’t that bad anymore if you just have a decent understanding of the rules and leave yourself enough time by blasting through the other games in the section.

Michael.Cinco

I'm averaging in the 170's for the lsat in the 40's 50's that drops to 168 in the 70's and 80's. There is a bit more nuance in the modern lsat in the lr especially but also in RC. Build your foundation on the old lsats And test it with the new ones.