Take 77 before Monday?

StopLawying

Trying to decide whether I should take PT 77 before Monday. This would be my last PT. I've been scoring lower on these 70s tests, and I really don't wanna score low a few days before the real thing.
On the other hand, the 70s tests are different than the 60s and 50s IMO.And the test I'll be taking Monday will likely be most similar to the past 5 exams. Taking this test also has some other advantages: will help to see how I deal with the curveball game, newer LR and RC, etc. What do you all think?

Pacifico

Take it and don't score it.

Pacifico

Or take it untimed... But that's not as good as the above option...

BruiserWoods

I'm taking 77 as timed drills this week and not as a whole test. But I mean - mostly just because I don't want to take another full PT this close to game day.

StopLawying

@Pacifico thanks!
@BruiserWoods I actually have the opposite view. I think taking a full test a few days before game day is important. When I'd take a PT after like a week off, my timing and stamina were a bit off. For me at least, it's hard to just go straight into a 6 section test (included WS) after not taking a full PT in 4-5 days. Everyone is different though.

Nicole Hopkins

@StopLawying said:
I actually have the opposite view. I think taking a full test a few days before game day is important.

Many of us advise strongly against this.

Fish0701

So for the days leading up to Monday (basically this weekend), general advice would be to just review and take it easy?

Nicole Hopkins

https://7sage.com/lsat-final-stretch-what-to-do-the-final-week/

twssmith

@StopLawying said:
the 70s tests are different than the 60s and 50s IMO.And the test I'll be taking Monday will likely be most similar to the past 5 exams

Not sure of your circumstances for time to take PT's leading up til Monday. If you are aware of a shift in focus in the later PT's that might affect your performance, why are you wanting to take the most current PT at the last minute and not take full advantage of taking it earlier with time to thoroughly BR?

@StopLawying said:
I think taking a full test a few days before game day is important. When I'd take a PT after like a week off, my timing and stamina were a bit off.

Great self-awareness to recognize that you need to stay test-sharp! Take this with a grain of salt - I have been around too long studying - please be careful to not put undue stress on yourself this close to test day. One of the few factors that you can control is your confidence in your abilities when you sit for the test. I would avoid anything that could potentially undermine my personal ability to perform at my optimum.
There are a "few" people that I know that pushed themselves to the limit leading up to test day and excelled and others regretted that choice. Only you know which camp you are in. If you feel compelled to take 77, @bruiserwoods had a good strategy to split it into sections, otherwise I recommend @Pacifico's advice to not grade it.
All the best:)

krushee.patel

I'd just like to add my own experience here since I also struggled with the decision to take/not to take PT 77. I ended up taking it this morning and scoring it, even after so much advice to the contrary on this and other forums. There were a couple reasons why I think it was a really useful exercise for me personally:

1) I've been taking full practice tests for a while, but even as my score started evening out I would come out of every single test feeling like "okay I got this score but it was totally a fluke - I won't be able to perform like this on game day". One of the reasons I felt this way was because I was taking the test without distractions on my large desk in my comfortable chair in the comfort of my own home. I felt that I needed to take a test in a distracting environment (i.e. using the 7Sage app's proctor function with distractions on a high level) in order to make sure that I felt comfortable with the unknown going into the exam. I think sitting down for a test one last time in a totally different environment was nice, because it helped me see that I could handle going from taking PTs in my own home to taking a PT in a weird setting I'd never experienced before.

2) This one felt more stressful. The truth is that every PT is going to get inevitably more stressful leading up to game day. I literally have trouble sleeping the night before a PT now haha. For me, feeling the stress and having the experience of channeling it helped me figure out how I might handle a situation during the actual test where I'm stuck and don't know what to do. Personally, knowing I'm not going to score a PT doesn't replicate that stress in quite the same way.

Please don't take this post to mean that you should necessarily take and score PT 77 this week before the June test. There are many more people who believe that taking a full PT and then scoring it this close to the test isn't a good idea, and they probably know more about the LSAT and the experience of taking it than I do. I just thought I would offer you some reasons why I found it really helpful to take the test.

Good luck this week and on Monday!!

LSAT AZTEC

Maybe take it but without the exp section? I am thinking about doing that tomorrow. You do have a 1/5 chance of the exp section being last anyway.

mtf612

I was planning to do PT75 tomorrow (my last PT in the 70s) but I intend to not score it. Instead I'm going to BR each section and watch the video explanations for questions I circle. I'm also going to take nice breaks between sections because there is no need to stress on this PT - I'm doing it just to keep my mind moving. My last few PTs have all been in a really solid range (albeit a couple points below my target) but I want to at least have the knowledge that I've done all of the most recent tests. Saturday I'll finish up reviewing before 5:00pm and from then until my test starts on monday I'll be in total relaxation mode

twssmith

@krushee.patel said:
I just thought I would offer you some reasons why I found it really helpful to take the test.

heatherelizabeth

I wish that I had looked at this forum before I took PT 76 today. I was advised to take this last one under more relaxed conditions, so I did it without the experimental and took short breaks between sections. I was feeling confident until I scored it, and well... I think we all can guess how this story ends. I went from an average of -1 in LR to -8 in one LR section. I would STRONGLY recommend avoiding the mistake I made, and staying away from a possible shake in confidence this close to Monday.

@twssmith said:
One of the few factors that you can control is your confidence in your abilities when you sit for the test. I would avoid anything that could potentially undermine my personal ability to perform at my optimum.

This.
Everyone's different, but I know what I would do if I could go back in time. Good luck on Monday, regardless!

twssmith

@heatherm93 said:
I was advised to take this last one under more relaxed conditions, so I did it without the experimental and took short breaks between sections

Of course your score fluctuated, you were not in your normal PT mindset.

No worries:)
You will be in Full LSAT Beast Mode on Monday!!