Weird phenomenon regarding Nov test - exact same score 2 weeks later

MarkmarkMarkmark Alum Member
in General 976 karma

I wanted to share a weird phenomenon that happened after the Nov test. I walked out thinking I over-performed and when scores came out I found I scored 5 points lower than my average PT at the time. I thought "Wow, this must have been a fluke. I'm usually at 160, how did I get a 155? I've never tested that low in 6 months."

So here comes the weird part: I took the LR sections again, and scored the exact same. I missed the exact same number of questions on both of the LR sections, albeit some of the questions I got right the first time I got wrong the second take and vice-versa. I was on the cusp on blowing off the uncharacteristically low Nov score due to "nerves" or something nebulous that would make me feel good :D but it turns out I was probably just not as good as I thought I was.

Going back now and BR'ing the test months after I am seeing a lot of the errors I made clearly and I think "How did I do that!?" This is encouraging because I can see how far I've come from just November until now.

Weird stuff happens, wanted to share, hope people can take away something from my experience!! Happy LSAT'ing.

Comments

  • Granger DangerGranger Danger Alum Member
    edited February 2020 717 karma

    This is really inspiring stuff. I decided to wait a cycle and not take the November test when I got a 155 in September. I am also seeing massive progress in my process since November. Keep going. "We quit at the end, not at the middle." -Kobe Bryant

  • czechoutnicczechoutnic Alum Member
    31 karma

    This sounds exactly like me. Same score on the November test as you got, after practicing in the 160’s. (However, most of my practice is on paper because I bought every test before digital.) Made me rethink everything and now I’m just confused because I’m scoring 154-156😥 I’m considering retaking the entire course because apparently my timing and understanding is off. It’s even more frustrating because I don’t see a trend in question types. I’m all over. Maybe I’m overthinking during recents tests but damn, I’m a little lost on where to go from here. And I feel like I’m running out of time! What’s your plan going forward? Did you apply with that score?

  • MarkmarkMarkmark Alum Member
    976 karma

    @"espresso patronum" said:
    This is really inspiring stuff. I decided to wait a cycle and not take the November test when I got a 155 in September. I am also seeing massive progress in my process since November. Keep going. "We quit at the end, not at the middle." -Kobe Bryant

    That's awesome you're seeing a lot of improvement! What specific improvements have you seen? For me it was catching a lot of reading errors, not putting the warranted emphasis on quantifying words. Also just a lot of fundamental work on LR especially with flaw questions.

  • MarkmarkMarkmark Alum Member
    976 karma

    @czechoutnic said:
    This sounds exactly like me. Same score on the November test as you got, after practicing in the 160’s. (However, most of my practice is on paper because I bought every test before digital.) Made me rethink everything and now I’m just confused because I’m scoring 154-156😥 I’m considering retaking the entire course because apparently my timing and understanding is off. It’s even more frustrating because I don’t see a trend in question types. I’m all over. Maybe I’m overthinking during recents tests but damn, I’m a little lost on where to go from here. And I feel like I’m running out of time! What’s your plan going forward? Did you apply with that score?

    Hmmm I tended to score higher on past tests as well. I have seen a few trends with newer tests; the LG sequencing games tend to have conditional rules now, of course we have the Sub questions which are typically tough; on RC there's a lot more emphasis on detail words and drawing inferences between paragraphs. On LR I think MSS questions have gotten a lot longer and weakening / strengthening questions I feel are tougher too. Do you see patterns in your mistakes? Ie "I misread the stim," or "I missed this key word" or are your mistakes in the fundamentals of question types? I'm no guru but if you're scoring about the same as me and it's all over the place, you may want to review the fundamentals again. That helped me a lot. There's an old post by "Can'tGetRight" going over his post CC strategy, that's been helping me a lot.

    And no I did not apply with my score, I always intended the Nov test to be a practice run and to score much better (hopefully) in the spring or next summer. I'll be applying with my April test.

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