Advice for a 3rd time test taker

kjwatermelonade

I've been studying for this test for a year and a half now. June will be my 3rd time taking the test, and over the course of my prep, I've taken pretty much every PT at least once. Right now, I'm scoring high 160's to low 170's, but I'm concerned that I'm getting these scores because I'm remembering the answers to some of the questions from before- especially for LC and RC. Does anyone have any advice on how to study for the test with this issue?

foodie_law

I empathize with this a lot! I have gone through a good portion of the PTs as well and often worry about if my scores are inflated because I have taken the PT before. I think the general consensus is 1) You should take scores with a grain of salt if you have taken the PT before and 2) While scores are a valuable metric, your ability to maintain/execute good LSAT habits is even more important.

When I am taking sections (or even PTs) I have taken before, I double down and make sure I am vigilantly going through my process (look at the question stem, parse through the stimulus, carefully read through each of the answer choices) as if it were a fresh section/PT. While I do check my scores and compare them to previous takes, I think what's valuable to 2nd (or 3rd takes) of a PT is my execution and reflecting on what I could have done better.

I think with re-takes, the temptation to take shortcuts (i.e not fully reading the stimulus or not carefully reading the ACs) because I remember the answer is really high. However, I have tried to use this temptation to take shortcuts as a way to pressure test myself to stick to my processes even when I know the answer already. This way, on test day, I will have had practice really sticking to good LSAT habits even if my nerves or something else is trying to throw my performance off.

TLDR; Take re-take scores with a grain of salt. Focus more on PT execution and identifying if there is room for improvement.