#Help Retake Dilemma

Sharon_sarangyang

Hi all,
I am in a dilemma in that I have taken all PTs from 40-87 before I took my last LSAT and thus have foolishly used up all newer tests (I did not do PTs before 40 thinking that they are comparatively less valuable than the newer ones). Does anyone have any suggestion regarding how I should do PTs now that I am studying for the November test? Should I PT with older tests, which I haven't done before, or should I PT with the more recent ones, which I have done once or even twice for a few of them? The good thing is even if I have done a question, I tend to not remember the answer choice. But I know JY and others have said that regardless, one's score is likely to be inflated if one has done it before... Has anyone had similar experiences before? Any suggestions or recommendations would be very much appreciated ^^!

CharlieHu

Couple things to remember:

• We never do PTs just to get a "trophy" to show off, we are aiming at understanding every single questions thoroughly. We want to understand why the correct answer is correct and the wrong ones are wrong. We want to write couple words next to each answer choice, find the pattern in the argument, try to identify similar structures, create the "I've seen this before" impression when you see a question. Pianist do not play a new song every day when they sit down. They simply play the same one again and again and again and perfect the techniques.

• Remember from now on, your PT scores would be inflated by about 3-5 points. This is just my personal experience. So a good thing to do is always target 180. Why? Because you've seen it and done it and reviewed it before! If you still get them wrong, then you really have no clue what's going on and chances are that you will make the same mistakes on the real test. Or more realistically, if your target score is 160, starting to aim for 168/170.

• A good thing to do is to go back to basic. From time to time review the core curriculum. There are also books for more advanced test takers.

• From now on, do not only circle the questions you are not sure about when you are doing timed session, as introduced by the 7Sage BR method. Circle EVERYTHING that you even had a WHIFF of doubt. If you felt confused for a second, circle it. When you come back, try to think why you were doubting it. Even for those questions you solved under 30 seconds.

It's sometimes better the second time! Good luck!