Inflated PT score?

armadillonest

I recently completed the first PT in the curriculum (February 1997) and was very surprised to see I achieved a 166. Due to the age of this LSAT, is this score inflated compared to what my score would be on a modern version of the test? If I took the modern LSAT tomorrow, would I expect a similar score (of course ignoring nervousness and slightly changed question types)?

I also took the October 2002 PT and scored 162, but since this is also quite old, is this score also inflated?

Ive read the "how to understand your LSAT score" thing many times, but im still not sure if I completely understand, and perhaps this is where my confusion is coming from.

Thanks!

help

Guillermo0

So I don't really understand how the LSAT is scored nor how it has changed over time in terms of content, competition from other test takers, the advancement of LSAT technique and studyability, etc., but I think this could be somewhat helpful:

I don't know that the scores are inflated as such - but what I would say, being near the end of my LSAT journey, is that I would be hesitant to make too much of early test scores.

I scored a 169 in my first PT ages ago on Khanacademy before really having studied at all, and then 172 on my first one here on 7sage. I've improved infinitely since that point in my understanding of the test but I'm not sure that I would necessarily score a tremendous amount higher in a PT now.

It seems to me that if one has some level of aptitude for the test, one can get to the mid 160s without really understanding the test very well, but then to progress into the mid 170s requires a true understanding of the test which can only come with many many hours of practice and study. I think this may be due to the fact that the easier questions can be answered without too much technique - particularly if one has an aptitude for this sort of thing, whereas the hardest questions do require technique and exposure to get right.

In conclusion, I would not be concerned that the scores are inflated, in fact I think they could be a good sign, but at the same time I would not make too much of it, because in the more high-scoring territory of the LSAT every point represents a big climb in knowledge and accuracy.