-1 to -3 on one LR and -8 on the next

wegotthis

Hi everyone! Happy Friday. On my last few practice tests I have gotten between -1 to -3 on my first LR section and then, if LR shows up a second time, my score plummets to -7/-8 on the second LR. How is this possible? Does anyone have any tips to avoid a big point drop-off between the first and second LR if it were to show up twice on test day? If it makes a difference, these tests were in the 60's. Thanks

themann121

I feel this, this is very normal for me too. I've been quite literally in the same ballpark as you for months now. I've been told this happens for a couple reasons:

1) One section is always going to be harder than the other. In my experience this tends to be the second section (unfortunately).
2) Test fatigue. Very common. The second LR section is always near the end of the exam
3) A mix of the previous two.

This is very normal from what I have seen. The best advice I can give is simply practice, practice, practice. This is not something I have personally overcome yet, so if there is other advice on overcoming it, I am equally receptive to it. Best of luck!

ovid

I have no better ideas than you, but this is exactly the case for me. -3 or -4 in my best LR sections, and anywhere from -5 to -9 on the worse of the two. (This is based on doing two-section LRs from old tests on Khan Academy and LawHub.) Coincidentally I have also been doing mainly 60s and earlier tests. I should try some of the more recent ones to see if they've been leveled out.

I don't think the sections themselves are specifically that much harder (when I take it, it feels somewhat similar, and I feel similarly confident, if a little less), but what crisplunkett said more or less makes sense.

clear227

My scores would cycle drastically when I first started studying, but as I took more tests they eventually evened out.

mattwhitworth56

timed repetition has been big for me to become more consistent but yeah I think LR is my most inconsistent section

determinedpugrat

I was also in the same boat about two months ago where I'd hover around the -2 or -3 benchmark for one section and then drop into -7 or -8 for the next. The truth is thought that if you are inconsistent, you don't have mastery yet. Luck plays a big part in the LSAT, and you are probably getting lucky on the sections where you are scoring well. Where are your blind review scores? I'd say first focus on being able to do the whole section at -0 or -1 on BR. After that start playing questions 1-15 and try to get those to be second nature. Start inching the timer back from 20 mins to 18 to 16 etc. If you're aiming for 170+ try to do questions 1-15 in 15 minutes. This will give you more time for the harder questions and will hopefully give you time to go back and check your scores.