PrepTest Difficulty

blah170blah

Are people finding that the LSAT is harder in the 40s? I took some in the 50s and some in the 20s/30s and was within a consistent score range. I've taken multiple in the 40s and have seen my score drop by 4/5 points. FREAKING OUT since June is super close. HAALPPP

alexroark5

I found that the curves on the test (in terms of how many you can miss and still get a certain score) became slighlty less forgiving as the test became more recent. Presumably this is because people have gotten better at studying for the exam (which makes sense given all the resources we have now vs in the past). But that wouldn't explain why you scored lower in the 40s since you scored higher in the 50s.

Technically all tests are of the same difficulty. However, that being said, certain tests can be more conducive to your strengths as they may contain more questions that employ the skills you are solid at and fewer of the questions that employ skills in which you are not as solid. I would imagine the scores you got on tests you took in the 40s is more a result of them being less accommodating to your weaknesses than due to them being "harder in the 40s"

ENTJ

It's not just you blah blah. I've had issued with those PT's before... (from what I remember).

alexroark5

yeah to clarify it's not meant as an attack on you @blah170blah. I've screwed up on tests from every set of ten haha. I've just found that it was more because I still had weaknesses to account for and not necessarily that the tests were harder in that particular set of ten. I do remember LG being particulary difficult for me in the 20s and 30s but the curves seemed to reflect that as they were more forgiving.

emli1000

Eh, I feel like it really depends. I've found the PTs in the 60s-70s more difficult than those before. =/ especially RC. It really irks me lol. But just continue drilling/BR on all pts/problem sets.

blah170blah

Thanks guys! I was looking for solidarity more than anything else, which I found Trying to push through and not let this defeat me. And @alexroark5, I appreciate your clarification but I did not construe your comment as an attack. You've always been so helpful

ddakjiking

As far as I have heard on various forums, LG became "easier" while RC got "harder" in the PT 40's. No true LR trend other than the two-questions per stimulus format disappearing.

nicole.hopkins

@blah170blah *raises fist* solidarity granted! I think I've tended to do better on PT's in the 50's/60's because they're a bit more familiar—fewer instances of being thrown for a loop by a somewhat antiquated stem/game/etc. Weirdness occurs in the tests from around the period when I graduated from high school

LSATisland

The LSAT starts to get more modern in the 40s, @blah170blah but not as much as the more recent tests. From what I remember, there were some stranger games there -- I think the Zephyr airline game is there, and that was a bit different.

(LSAT changes will be beneficial or negative depending on one's skills. If the LSAT makes LG easier in certain ways and RC harder in other ways, it will work to the advantage of someone who is skilled in RC but weaker in LG.)

In short, you're not alone -- LSAT changes affect everybody, but that's why it's important to make sure to do at least some recent tests before the actual LSAT.