Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

PT scores going down?

megzy217megzy217 Core Member
in General 67 karma

I was at a peak of 165 about 3 weeks ago. I was originally signed up for the October test, but I didn't feel ready. I wish I would have kept it and then also signed up for November. Same amount of $$. Now I'm down at 155 the last three PTs I've done in the last five days. I was performing -3/-2 on LG and RC. Then this one I took today my LR was only -5, but LG and RC were the worse sections. I also felt really confident with both those sections. Only one passage stumped me. One game was tricky but I felt really good about all but two or three questions in those respective sessions. I've worked on LR more the last two weeks since it's my weakest area, and I've really only had time to tackle a few question types. I work full-time and just attended a funeral that I had to travel out-of-state for. I didn't expect to be learning a ton, but now the test is this Saturday, and I don't understand what I'm doing wrong.

Comments

  • vspicy23vspicy23 Member
    190 karma

    reschedule for january if u dont feel ready

  • acatuneaacatunea Member
    144 karma

    Could also be due to burn out? If you have a lot of life events happening and are trying to force your brain to keep going when it's tired, pushing it might be hurting your scores. If you feel like you absolutely need to write in November, perhaps take a couple days off of studying and try to get a good rest.

    Good luck, however you decide to move forward! :)

  • megzy217megzy217 Core Member
    67 karma

    @acatunea It probably is. I reviewed my latest results and redid every question I had gotten wrong. I got them all correct without the time constraint. I didn't take much longer, but I think I moved too quickly and made silly mistakes when I was in there. If I had gotten those right, I'd be at ~170. The pressure is tough.

  • JasKaur94JasKaur94 Member
    8 karma

    I'm going through a similar situation. My lSAT scores up the last week of October were great, exactly the score I was aiming for. And these past two weeks they have absolutely plummeted. I think it has something to do with nervousness and burn out, but at the same time I want to study at least go back up to my usual score before this Saturday.

  • mattscrappymattscrappy Member
    138 karma

    Based on your work and study schedule, and that you went to a funeral very recently (an emotionally traumatic event) it wouldn't surprise me if you were burnt out. I was in a similar boat this past June, right before the test I took. Here is my advice:

    1- Take a break. A real one. Do something fun for yourself, or lay in bed and watch TV all day. This is a skills test, not a cram and you aren't benefitted by doubling down right now.

    2- Consider postponing your applications. Personally, I would still take the test. You might get your target score and then you can be done with it, but in case you bomb, it's OKAY! I'm not sure your age and life circumstances, but statistically speaking you're probably below 30, and one more year is not going to be as detrimental to your law career as sending in applications before you're ready. We've all got this idea that we need to do stuff right now or it can't ever happen, and that is simply just not true. You're probably tired, and you clearly just lost someone in your life, so take some time to heal if you need to.

    3- If the thought of absolutely not studying at all is not possible for you, try some more passive methods. Maybe make some flashcards with the argument flaws, or try reading some more difficult articles or books (for pleasure, really try to learn the content). Do some sudoku puzzles, etc.

  • annisoogoodannisoogood Core Member
    20 karma

    @JasKaur94 said:
    I'm going through a similar situation. My lSAT scores up the last week of October were great, exactly the score I was aiming for. And these past two weeks they have absolutely plummeted. I think it has something to do with nervousness and burn out, but at the same time I want to study at least go back up to my usual score before this Saturday.

    Oooo. I feel this on a deep level. I'm not sure if I should force myself back to my normal review for a few days, or just lay low until my test day on Friday. I was scheduled to test in October but didn't due to technical difficulties on test day.. It's kind of frustrating because my PT have gone down since then.

  • acatuneaacatunea Member
    144 karma

    @megzy217 said:
    @acatunea It probably is. I reviewed my latest results and redid every question I had gotten wrong. I got them all correct without the time constraint. I didn't take much longer, but I think I moved too quickly and made silly mistakes when I was in there. If I had gotten those right, I'd be at ~170. The pressure is tough.

    Totally. Well, that probably means you have all the skills to succeed! At this point, it would probably help most to head into the test fresh. If you can afford to take a day or two off work before Saturday, go for lunch at your fav spot, walk around the neighbourhood, get a few extra hours of sleep... you'll crush it!

  • megzy217megzy217 Core Member
    67 karma

    @mattscrappy Well I am 31, been working professionally for almost a decade. But if I have to postpone, oh well. My backup plan is try to get my paralegal license and do that while applying again/waiting. I'm just not happy in my current job, but it is what it is. I have other things going on personally that I am trying to compartmentalize. I have tomorrow and Friday off before taking it on Saturday, so I have plans to sleep in (but not too late). I was going to just do time problem sets, but it's true...if I don't know it now, I don't know it. And I'm confident for about 85% of it content wise. When I reviewed this last PT, I redid every question I got wrong without timing or looking at help videos first. I would have had all but 1 wrong on LR, 1 wrong on LG, and just 6 on LR. I didn't even take much longer when I timed myself per question. Not perfectly accurate, but I know what I'm doing wrong. Thanks for the tips, though. I appreciate it. I think I'll give my mind a break and do very light practice tomorrow, after some good sleep.

  • megzy217megzy217 Core Member
    67 karma

    @acatunea said:

    @megzy217 said:
    @acatunea It probably is. I reviewed my latest results and redid every question I had gotten wrong. I got them all correct without the time constraint. I didn't take much longer, but I think I moved too quickly and made silly mistakes when I was in there. If I had gotten those right, I'd be at ~170. The pressure is tough.

    Totally. Well, that probably means you have all the skills to succeed! At this point, it would probably help most to head into the test fresh. If you can afford to take a day or two off work before Saturday, go for lunch at your fav spot, walk around the neighbourhood, get a few extra hours of sleep... you'll crush it!

    Yeah, gotta get out of my head. I was spiraling a bit when I posted this. I appreciate the support.

  • megzy217megzy217 Core Member
    67 karma

    @JasKaur94 said:
    I'm going through a similar situation. My lSAT scores up the last week of October were great, exactly the score I was aiming for. And these past two weeks they have absolutely plummeted. I think it has something to do with nervousness and burn out, but at the same time I want to study at least go back up to my usual score before this Saturday.

    We are almost to the finish line. There is always plan B, C...I applied last year with an old GRE to a few schools and was waitlisted with no offers. I thought that was the worst case scenario, but here I am. Let's get through this. <3

Sign In or Register to comment.