Which PTs should I save for potential retakes?

Excellent.Fondue

I'm planning on taking the April test. Given that I am not yet PTing at where I'd like to score, I'm also considering waiting another year before applying to law school. In this case, I will have multiple opportunities after the April test to retake. So far, I've only taken the test officially once. I know that many people take this test multiple times and that some people take it up to 5, 6, even 7 times. I'd like to save as many fresh PTs as I can for potential retakes, but obviously still continue working towards this upcoming April test.

I've done about 25-30 full PTs, and I have the following 20 PTs that are still fresh and untouched:

A, B, C, D, 80, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, May 20, 37, 39, 42, 43, 49, 64, C2

I have about 5 weeks until the April test, and I am usually able to fully review 1 PT per week. So far, I've generally only taken 1 PT per week, at most 2 on some weeks. Given that there is a possibility that I will retake the test at least once more after April, how many PTs would you recommend that I do in these final 5 weeks? 1 each week? 2 each week? I do still have a backlog of some LR and RC sections that I've taken but have not reviewed yet, so I can spend some time reviewing those, too.

I haven't touched most of the 80s, although I did do 81 and 83 and did equally well on those as I did on the other PTs. I didn't find them to be too different from PTs in the 60s and 70s, really. How many of the 80s would you save up for potential retakes? How many PTs in general should I save for potential retakes? Which ones? Should I do the early ones now, like A, B, C, D, 37, 39, 42...?

I should note that LG is my weakest section and that I know that A, B, C, and D, and some in the late-80s have really tough LG.

yunonsie

Following, in a similar situation.

kkole444

Hello,
there are a couple things that you want to ask yourself before using up the last PTs. The first thing is how many times can you see yourself taking the last again. You mentioned April and possible 1 more after that, and I will presume it is the June test you will take. Which is approximately 4ish months away. which would give you 14 tests(1 per week minus testing weeks). You have about 12ish that are the most similar to the ones that would show up on test day. If you say June is the absolute last exam you'd sit for then I would at about5 weeks out take 4 of the PTs from the 80s one each week and not one the week of (giving your mind a break). Then for the June exam I would take the May2020, if you do not take it before the April exam, and again at about 5-6 weeks out I would take the rest of the most recent exams starting with the one that is the oldest date. And the 5ish weeks that are left out of ~16 I would drill/take PTs that are not so representative of the one I'd see on test day.
Another thing to consider is if there is larger chance of getting the score you ant than of not getting the score you want. If you are not quite at the goal score then I would try and preserve the newest PTs for when you are closer to the score, however, if you are scoring consistently above 165, then you have the fundamentals down and taking the remaining PTs are not such a big deal. You know yourself, you know your goals. I would try and plan to use every remaining PT above 60 before my last lsat take. If there is a section keeping you from you goal score I'd recommend drilling that section before you do more of the newer PTs. If you are consistently getting your goal score, take the newest PTs and go into Aprils exam strong. I'd image you could only get about 5 of the exams in before the April exam anyway, without just flying through them, so there would be left overs for June if things do not go to plan. So as we can see there is no definitive 'best' way, but a lot of cross--benefit--analysis, depending where you stand in relation to your score. If you want more specific details on what to do in relation to your score, what PTs to take and when to take them you can always shoot me a PM. this goes for @yunonsie as well.
I hope this helps,
Kole