Score Release Day-Feeling Defeated

raceanu91

Scores from August 2024 were released and I am really disappointed. I scored a 163. My PT scores range from 165-170, the average being 167. I am super bummed about scoring that low. I felt that my nerves were under control on test day and when I was finished with the test I felt confident I had done well. This is a major blow to my confidence and I am not sure how to proceed other than to try again in October.

Any advice? Anyone have a similar experience? Does anyone know if there is a way to review the official test to see what I got wrong?

Rachel K.

Yeah I'm disappointed with my August score, and it was much lower than my usual prep test scores. But we'll just take it again in October and hope for the best.

7sage.getup560

Isn't that a pretty good score tho? lol

ntrepanier5

Unfortunately because this wasn't a disclosed test, we won't be able to see the questions.

In terms of how to study moving forward, if you're averaging between 165-170, you know this test. You tested lower than your true average, and you should have confidence going into the next test knowing you'll score closer to your true average. Work on what you need to work on but I wouldn't say you need to make any radical changes in your study plans. YOU CAN DO THIS!!!

albertoriojose24

Would you mind sharing how you studied? I started studying in July because that's when I decided to finally take the step to go into law school and I'm thinking of taking the November LSAT.

cdot9000

i've seen a lot of discourse around people scoring much lower than their average pt's

darman45

I haven't tested yet but I do know someone who had the following trajectory:

171 first time
165 second time
176 third time

These are amazing scores. And at the same time, when this person saw their 165, they panicked and doubted everything about themselves. Luckily, they kept going and got the 176 at the end. My point here is that someone who can score a 171 can also score a 165 - sometimes, there are just things about one specific test that might play more or less to your strengths. The best thing you can do is to keep pushing yourself to achieve the score you want, and not get lost in the sauce of this one score. It's easy to look at someone going from a 171 to a 165 and say that they started slacking off, etc. But in reality, I think it's hard to know the real reason behind any of these differences when they're as small as a few points. Give yourself the credit you deserve, and if anything, let this 163 power you through to where you want to be next. If you score above a 163 the next time, then you made progress, and I've heard a lot about how much admissions officers love to see some progress.

ilianaves

I scored a 162 on the August test and am also so disappointed since I was scoring 167 / 168 on my practice tests. Feeling so discouraged and nervous for the October test!

raceanu91

Thank you to everyone who left encouraging words, I really appreciate it. I am not seeing an option to reply to comments individually, so I am going to try to respond to everyone in this comment via tagging.

@darman45 Thank you for sharing your friends' story! I'm so glad they persevered and ended up with the score they wanted. Hoping my story will be similar. Good luck to you whenever you end up testing!

@ntrepanier5 Thank you so much for the kind words! I will do my best to keep that mindset going forward.

@7sage.getup560 It's not that 163 is a "bad" score per say, it is just lower than I usually perform and low for the schools I will be applying to, so I am hoping to do better next time

@cdot9000 I have as well! It is a bit discouraging, but hopefully that means if I can manage to improve a couple more points on practice tests that I will hit my goal on the October exam.

@ilianaves and @Rachel K. Sounds like we are all in the same boat! All we can do is keep drilling and trying to improve. Best of luck to you lades in October! We can do this!

@albertoriojose24 I studied using mostly 7 Sage. Started with the core curriculum and tried to make sure I understood everything well before moving on to the logical reasoning and reading comp lessons. Often times throughout the logical reasoning lessons I found myself going back to the core curriculum to brush up on those lessons. It helps a lot because once you get to logical reasoning you will see how important all of the core lessons are, and it gives you something concrete to apply them to. I often did 7sage drills on my weaker areas. Once I was about half way through the LR lessons, I started taking one practice test per week through LawHub. After each practice test, I would review every single question, whether I got it right or wrong. If I got it right I would try to remember the reason i picked that answer and reinforce that reasoning in my brain, if i got it wrong I would watch the explanation videos on 7sage to understand why. I also keep a wrong answer journal, so when I would get a question wrong, I would print it out and write down why the answer I picked was wrong AND why the correct answer is right. When choosing an answer, focus first on eliminating the ones you know are wrong and then assess the answers that are left. Sometimes it's easier to spot answer choices you know for sure are incorrect than to spot the correct one right away.

Good luck in your studies!

cjoystanna

same! I was averaging 162 but got a 156 on August. Im struggling to find out what went wrong. All I can think of is the RC section was particularly difficult for me and I felt less confident on it (but still confident on all of the LR). I find so many people have been saying that was a particularly difficult RC section, more than the usual PT.

mas441

If you scored as high as 170 on a PT, that's proof of what you're capable of! Don't be too hard on yourself for one off performance; it's not the measure of what you are.