PT score drop

mcardlampke

Hi all,

Just seeking thoughts regarding a score drop --

I had a pretty steady improvement in my scores (started at 164, climbed to 180) and had my best week ~2 weeks ago when I scored 175, 177, & 180... Since then I've scored 171, 171, 172, & 171 and am panicking a little. Has anyone else experienced anything similar?

canihazJD

Fluctuation is normal... especially in the 170+ range and especially if you're doing flex tests. No need to panic. Those "lower" scores are huge opportunities to refine your attack on this test that you'd otherwise not have done.

sarakimmel

You may see a huge benefit from taking a little break(even just a day or two). It always seems counter-intuitive, but giving your brain a chance to focus on something else is incredible important. Generally, a single test is just that, a snap shot, and nothing to be taken too seriously. The fact that you are seeing lower scores repeated makes me think it might be fatigue.

kkole444

Hello @mcardlampke , @sarakimmel and @canihazJD both bring up really good points. Look at the last PT released by LSAC between a 175 and 180 is 3 questions. When I see a steady score drop when I look at analytics I know that I am suffering from burnout, I never use to think it was real until I forced my self to take a 1 day break, then I came back refreshed and more willing to learn and a better attitude. Every once in a while I will take 2-3 days and just forget about the lsat and do anything but the lsat. It really helped me and from reading on the forums it helps a lot of people. A painful lesson I learned when studying for the lsat is that less is more, it is better to get less hours of studying in if they are quality hours versus spending all day with mediocre studying. When I learned this I was more willing to study, less fatigued, and my score started to climb again.
Best of luck, and congratulations on the 180 that's awesome!

sarakimmel

@kkole444 , yes! Burnout is such a real thing and we (typical) future law students tend to be particularly bad at taking breaks and being patient with ourselves. I will see drops of 10+ points if I'm burning out, typically my best score will be the first one back after pretending the LSAT doesn't exist for a couple days... though I have had to take 1-2 weeks when I've let it get really bad. Being well rested and having a good outlook about the test is key. It's also helpful to know that you're not in it alone!

kkole444

@sarakimmel I have had some scary drops 10+ because of it too, It is so weird questions I would normally nail in 45 seconds would trip me up... I completely agree that it is nice to know that you're not alone in the burnout. I would always just try and grind through it but I would get a lower score and that cause me to want to work more and then a low score and the horrible cycle repeats itself.