Using PTs more than once

profile427

Hi All,

I've heard a few perspectives about using PTs in different ways for studying for the Big Day. Considering that my full-time job is unpredictable (I may have to work 10-11 hour days without being notified until 4p each day), I was thinking recently that in order to prep for the October LSAT, it may be just more reasonable for me to "churn" through the PTs untimed (e.g., after work if I'm not fried, during lunch, on the weekend, etc.) and then "re-take" them with the proctor app on the weekends.

I've heard some people argue that it's a bad idea to use the same material twice (or more) because you may "remember" certain questions/answers, which would ultimately skew your score. However, we don't have an infinite number of PTs published, so there's not really somewhere else that I can "go" for additional testing/practice materials. The intent would be that I don't necessarily take the same PT on the weekend that I worked on casually during the workweek, so there would be very little chance of short-term memory transference.

Ideally, I wanted to take a timed LSAT each Saturday up until October, but I'm more worried about actually digging into the PTs to diagnose weaknesses and then circle back on 7Sage material, rather than making my way through the entire course (I bought the mid-range package) and jamming a bunch of PTs into my life right before October and freaking out about how much I suck.

Any thoughts from people in a similar situation [or not]?

Thanks

blah170blah

The purpose of taking PTs is to gauge your understanding of the test. If you're remembering the answers and have an eidetic memory, then retaking PTS probably won't help you. However, there's no harm in retaking tests. Sure you're PT score might not be the most reliable indicator of how you perform under true testing conditions but the goal isn't to get a good PT score, it's to better understand the test. Retaking tests helps you better recognize patterns on the tests and I've heard there's no harm in revisiting old PTs.

emli1000

I mean if you started out with PT 36 and worked your way through PT 74 I don't think you'll memorized all of the answers from the first PTs you took. I'm also guessing that many of us didn't BR PTs when we first started out until we discovered 7Sage. The only effect I see of repeating PTs is that your score may not be a reliable indicator of your true performance. But you could use those 4 sections on older PTs to drill and see how you're doing now compared to before. It's important to cover the fundamentals and not waste those untouched PTs that you've never done before, save those for when you're closer to your LSAT date.

nicole.hopkins

Word to @emli1000 and @blah170blah —nothing to lose at all except do be sure to reserve maybe the last 10 tests to take under exam conditions in the weeks leading up to the test. I'd say try to take the 10 before that mostly as timed/exam conditions but if you dabble in untimed prep towards the beginning of that range (say the low to mid 50's which have comparative reading), don't sweat it. I've done a lot of retakes and am almost always surprised by my LACK of recall