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Less than a month out and still experiencing some unnerving inconsistencies
So throughout my (definitely rocky) studying process I've made lots of gains in the various sections of the test while also hitting various hiccups (many of which I've come here to complain or ask about). However, the PTing I've done in the last week exemplifies the worries I have for the October test coming up very soon.
So up until mid last week I was in a huge slump for a while, having really hard times on LR particularly (which had always been my good section), missing way more questions than usual (peaking at like -5 or -6, up from the usual -1 or -2, which I posted here about). At the same time, however I had made some definite gains on LG (missing between 0 or 1 per test) and RC (which shocked me because I heard it was very hard to improve on and I went from consistent -4's to -1's or -2's). So I was super stressed about that and being able to improve in time. Around this time I was fluctuating pretty heavily around 171ish a low of 170 to a high of 174 (so obviously still not bad at all, but what was worrying me more was the weird distribution where I was doing so badly on a section that I had historically done really well on)
Something suddenly clicked last week though. After two particularly rough tests at the beginning of last week, I had some kind of breakthrough and scored two 178s in a row. Obviously I was ecstatic. It was the first LR that had gone back to "normal" for me while I maintained my gains in LG and RC. This week's PTs started on Monday and I got a THIRD 178 in a row (again, ecstatic) while still maintaining consistency on all three sections (missing only 1 LR question, 1 RC question, and 1 or 2 LGs).
So my worries are mainly to do with what happened on yesterday and today's PTs which were radically different from the three 178s. Yesterday I went from only -1 on the previous 6 or 7 RCs to getting a whopping -6. At the same time, I got -4 on the LG section which, though admittedly harder, was still way more than I'm used to. Today basically the same thing happened, with another huge -5 on RC and -3 on LG (which was particularly frustrating because it is supposedly only a level 2 RC and the game that basically made me run out of time was only a level 3). The good news was that I maintained my LR strength and only missed 2 on each of yesterday and today, which was fantastic and in line with what I was doing before my huge slump. So yesterday's score was a 172 (obviously not bad at all, but admittedly lower than I'm comfortable with) and today was even worse, a 170 (one of my lowest scores I've had in a long time).
Now, obviously my scores have not been bad. I'm fully aware that my scores, even my so-called bad day today of 170, are incredible scores that are approaching the high 90th percentiles. So, I'm not trying to complain about them at all. What my primary concern is is my inconsistency this close to the test day. My personal goal is to come away from the actual test with a 175. If I could score a 175 on test day I would be over the moon, so it's not like I'm aiming for a perfect 180 here or anything. But with my GPA and the school's I'm looking at, a 175 would obviously be ideal and put me in an incredibly comfortable position. And the thing is is that the three 178s (plus the fact that after every test I blind review at or near 180) I just score tell me that I am at least CAPABLE of doing really well on test day and achieving my goal, but the fact that I can vary by sometimes up to 8 points in the span of a day, and the fact that I can go nearly 10 tests with an average RC score of only -1 or -2 max and then suddenly have two full tests in a row where I go -6 scares the living hell out of me and stresses me out. Obviously every test is different, people have bad days, and even a great LSAT taker's scores are going to fluctuate test to test, but it just seems that such a drastic difference, particularly in RC these last two days, is something other than that.
Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much, this forum has been a really great resource for when this test has gotten me really stressed!
So up until mid last week I was in a huge slump for a while, having really hard times on LR particularly (which had always been my good section), missing way more questions than usual (peaking at like -5 or -6, up from the usual -1 or -2, which I posted here about). At the same time, however I had made some definite gains on LG (missing between 0 or 1 per test) and RC (which shocked me because I heard it was very hard to improve on and I went from consistent -4's to -1's or -2's). So I was super stressed about that and being able to improve in time. Around this time I was fluctuating pretty heavily around 171ish a low of 170 to a high of 174 (so obviously still not bad at all, but what was worrying me more was the weird distribution where I was doing so badly on a section that I had historically done really well on)
Something suddenly clicked last week though. After two particularly rough tests at the beginning of last week, I had some kind of breakthrough and scored two 178s in a row. Obviously I was ecstatic. It was the first LR that had gone back to "normal" for me while I maintained my gains in LG and RC. This week's PTs started on Monday and I got a THIRD 178 in a row (again, ecstatic) while still maintaining consistency on all three sections (missing only 1 LR question, 1 RC question, and 1 or 2 LGs).
So my worries are mainly to do with what happened on yesterday and today's PTs which were radically different from the three 178s. Yesterday I went from only -1 on the previous 6 or 7 RCs to getting a whopping -6. At the same time, I got -4 on the LG section which, though admittedly harder, was still way more than I'm used to. Today basically the same thing happened, with another huge -5 on RC and -3 on LG (which was particularly frustrating because it is supposedly only a level 2 RC and the game that basically made me run out of time was only a level 3). The good news was that I maintained my LR strength and only missed 2 on each of yesterday and today, which was fantastic and in line with what I was doing before my huge slump. So yesterday's score was a 172 (obviously not bad at all, but admittedly lower than I'm comfortable with) and today was even worse, a 170 (one of my lowest scores I've had in a long time).
Now, obviously my scores have not been bad. I'm fully aware that my scores, even my so-called bad day today of 170, are incredible scores that are approaching the high 90th percentiles. So, I'm not trying to complain about them at all. What my primary concern is is my inconsistency this close to the test day. My personal goal is to come away from the actual test with a 175. If I could score a 175 on test day I would be over the moon, so it's not like I'm aiming for a perfect 180 here or anything. But with my GPA and the school's I'm looking at, a 175 would obviously be ideal and put me in an incredibly comfortable position. And the thing is is that the three 178s (plus the fact that after every test I blind review at or near 180) I just score tell me that I am at least CAPABLE of doing really well on test day and achieving my goal, but the fact that I can vary by sometimes up to 8 points in the span of a day, and the fact that I can go nearly 10 tests with an average RC score of only -1 or -2 max and then suddenly have two full tests in a row where I go -6 scares the living hell out of me and stresses me out. Obviously every test is different, people have bad days, and even a great LSAT taker's scores are going to fluctuate test to test, but it just seems that such a drastic difference, particularly in RC these last two days, is something other than that.
Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much, this forum has been a really great resource for when this test has gotten me really stressed!
Comments
People have been telling me that it's probably just burnout and I'm hoping wholeheartedly that I'm gonna recover by test day. Good luck to you mate.