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Older and Newer tests
I’m currently using the Premium pack and I was wondering if I should practice the older tests (37-58) first then use the newer ones (72-81) closer to the exam or vice versa? I obviously won’t go through all of them so I’m also trying to decide which specific tests I should use for PTing then keeping the extras for fool-proofing and experimentals.
Thanks!!
Comments
If you're going with one or the other, I would recommend going through the older ones first and saving the newer ones for closer to your test date. While your scores likely won't change drastically between old and new tests, there seem to be subtle shifts in newer PTs (like comparative passages in RC in the 50s, substitution-equivalence questions in the 60s, more misc games since the 70s) that you might benefit from getting practice with closer to the actual test day.
But better than that, is skipping every other PT. For example, the June study group did evens. I believe the September study group is doing odds (right, @keets993?). Whether you're joining a study-group or not, doing every other (or skipping a couple, or maybe even jumping around a bit randomly like I did) will leave you a range from old to new tests that you can go back to if you need to retake, while still allowing you to experience newer tests.
I personally saved PTs36-40 to use for my experimental sections, though I only took 5-section tests once a month, twice max.
I recommend first foolproofing 1-35. There are a lot of misc LG games in the early PTs (1-10 in particular) that are solid practice considering the resurgence of misc games on exams. I highly, highly recommend not breaking up newer PTs just to foolproof/drill. PTs (especially 36+) are a precious resource, so I would take them timed and foolproof them afterwards.
@"Habeas Porpoise" Thank you for your reply! I think that makes the most sense to PT using the “every other” strategy that way I can get a good feel. I have PTed 60-71 previously and I did notice things were slightly different from the older ones. I’ll probably have to buy PTs 1-10 online. I think I’ll follow your strategy saving my 30s for experiementals + fool proofing!
Would you advise then starting off with 41-58 for my older test stack then 60 upwards for my newer tests or should I skip to 71-81?
Hello,
Yes the September SG BR will be doing odds and it definetly won't be every other test. I believe Ashleigh is part of the group
. Regardless, it's good to plan out which PT's you want to do so you can save the others. I would recommend starting with the slightly older PT's beginning from 36 and maybe doing a couple from 40s or 50s. You can save the others from 36 onwards to the 40s for drilling sections or as your experimental section. There's a lot of tests out there now, so you can play around with your schedule so that you get a taste of each type. Just as @"Habeas Porpoise" mentioned there are nuanced differences between the 60s and 70s but I think that's just LSAC playing around. In the end, the tests are more similar than they are different so you don't want to just blow through resources. You can always come back to tests that you haven't done afterwards.
If you're going for september then I would not recommend skipping to 71-81. No one wants to think they might have to re-take but it might be a reality and you want to prepare for that by leaving fresh PTs and you especially want to leave some of the newer ones. You can do every other test so that you still have some of the 70s fresh, but save that towards closer to your test date instead of at the beginning.
Also, instead of purchasing PT's 1-10 I think it might be easier to upgrade to ultimate+? I'm not sure of the price difference. However, I will say, they are probably helpful for LG because of weird games but I found the LR so odd when I did PT1. I just skipped to PT 17 for drilling LR because that's where JY's explanations started. Which also reminds me! You can use the PTs that are covered in the curriculum for drilling. Even though there are some repeats, it's a good test of your reasoning and timing. You might come across a question and be like "oh this one!" but chances of you remembering the actual answer might be low depending on where in the curriculum you came across it. It will also help with timing strategies, i.e. doing sections as opposed to individual games/questions/passage.
Save the newer ones. You can try saving the older ones, but chances are you will join the ranks of those Amazon reviewers who decided to use the 10 Actual, Official LSAT PrepTests (PTs from early 90s) to prepare for their LSATs in 2010s. They weren't very happy with their LSAT experience.
Oh, yeah, I have the Ultimate+ package so I have access to all the PTs, 1-83 and the letter PTs. I'm not actually sure of the price difference to upgrade, either, but it might be more cost-effective to just upgrade than to try and purchase individual PTs or LSAC's PT books.
Yeah, I think it would be good to start in the lower numbers and work your way up, but I wouldn't skip the 60s. And I totally agree with @keets993 about not skipping straight to 71+. Maybe do half of them or so in the last couple months before the September exam, but make sure to leave some in case you decide to retake. If you're joining the study group then I think it would be good to match at least some of your PTs with the group plan.
As for the PTs you've already done, retakes can be a useful part of your prep, especially if you didn't BR the first time around. For reference I recommend Sage Josh's AMA regarding retaking PTs for practice:
Maybe throw in a retake every 3 or so PTs? That way you'll get some more familiarity with the nuances of newer exams without unnecessarily burning through the 70s.
I've re-taken PT sections to practice timing/skipping strategies, especially for LR. You can also use RC passages you've already done to practice high/low-res summaries and identifying the main point, primary purpose, and author tone.
If it might give you some ideas, I can share what I did when I started out:
My first five tests post-CC were 45, 50, 60, 71, 51, with some drilling in between (I was planning for the December exam at the time, but ended up cancelling). Regardless, I still saved almost all of the 70s for closer to the June exam knowing I might need to retake after December, and still have some left now.
When I started out I took two PTs the first week to get some data, then I took PTs once every two weeks. Then, as I felt more comfortable and my BR went up I began PTing once a week. Finally, I began going back and forth between 2 PTs/week and 1 PT/week depending on how I did on the previous exam and whether I felt I needed to do some focused drilling. Of course, there was a 1-month break, a 2-week break, and a couple 3-day breaks in between all of this. I also had one month where I did just one PT and spent most of my time drilling/foolproofing.
If I were to do it again, I would probably start with PT36 as my first post-CC exam, then a few PTs in the 40s to get into the groove. Then I would take a couple in the 50s and 60s to get exposure to comparative passages and substitution-equivalence questions. After that I would continue to jump between the 40s-60s, saving the 70+ exams for closer to the exam date (say a month or two before). Most of all, always BR and drill/foolproof between exams, since that's where most of the learning takes place.
@keets993 Yes I am! I feel special you remembered :')
. But thank you for your input. I think a mistake I made last time I took the exam was that I didn't take enough time to make my way through the tests in a good manner. I really jumped around and I would get so discouraged with how my scores fluctuated but the truth was, I didn't dissect each exam and recognize the differences each had. For example, when I did older tests I honestly didn't even notice any differences in RC. But, I noticed some weird grammar on LR in newer tests and the "wtf" games occurring. It's about $200 for an upgrade from Premium to Ultimate so I might bite the bullet and spend the money. I think it'll be a waste for me to buy the workbooks again and not have JY explain certain things to me lol.
@FixedDice Ha that was a main issue I had last time! I bought 40-82 and I jumped around so inconsistently because as a first timer ( I didn't discover 7Sage at the time) I didn't think there would be any major differences. I thought "well it's all the LSAT the more the better". I'll definitely save the newer ones for my PTing about a month before the September exam. Thanks for your response!
@"Habeas Porpoise" That sounds like you had a good strategy. I was PTing 5 sections every time I did PTs and it burned me out. But, I must say it did help building my endurance for the actual exam. I'm taking a two week break because I'm going to Thailand in July but I am planning to drill sections while I'm on the flight. I don't think I'll be able to do full length PTs while I'm there just because well.. I'm on vacation and 2. I'll be visiting family in rural areas so wifi won't be an option. I'll definitely follow this plan. I wasn't sure what was the best way to maximize my resources, which order to take the PTs, and the best way to continue my learning when I'm not PTing. I do think I want to take at least 1 PT a week for the time being until I leave to Thailand with the exception of the first week (I'll take a similar approach you did taking 2 the first week for some data). Then, the rest of my time I'll fluctuate between 40s-60s after I get past the late 30s just to kick start. I do believe that saving the recent PTs for August (I'm taking the September exam) will be the best approach. I found LR to be easier on the older exams, LG to be harder, and RC to be easier. For newer exams, I found LR to be harder, LG easier, and RC really depends. What about you?
@"Habeas Porpoise" Oh yeah, I didn't know about BRing before so I'll definitely do that this time around. I started BRing with my problem sets and it really helps! Plus, it kinda gives me a confidence boost because it proves to me what I'm capable of. :P
Oh nice! Thailand sounds fun, I've always wanted to visit! I'm actually going to be traveling soon, too, after the June exam. I'm taking a full on break though, even though I'm registered for September (in case I have to retake). I would definitely recommend using your vacation as an opportunity to rejuvenate -- maybe a section a day? Logic games are pretty low-pressure, imo, I just do a couple on my "break" days. But yeah, I definitely wouldn't do full PTs.
Honestly, I'm not sure. I think I noticed a bit of a difference in the way questions were written in the beginning when I had just gotten out of the CC and was suddenly doing post-35 tests. With LR, for example, the stimuli in newer questions seemed to be written more clearly and with fewer funky assumptions.
But now I've jumped around enough and seen enough questions from across the different "eras" that I don't find much of a difference in terms of "difficulty" -- difficult questions are just difficult no matter when they were written. I do think there are more obviously difficult and obviously hard overall sections in newer exams, while the individual section difficulty seemed to be more equal in older exams.
With RC, I think the RC sections from pre-35 PTs are really similar to recent passages, if not harder in terms of overall section difficulty. But again, I think the individual passages and the types of questions asked aren't that different.
That's why I love BR, too!
But yeah, make sure to BR your tests. You haven't gotten everything out of it if you haven't BRed.
Definitely agree that thorough BR is crucial. Personally, I hate how time-consuming and boring it is, but it's helped so much with developing a strong understanding of the test.
What I do is print out two copies of the PT I plan on taking. I take the practice test under normal testing conditions on the first copy. Afterwards, on the second copy, I do my BR. for LR, I go through each question without time constraints and once I'm confident I have selected the right answer, I use several online resources that have explanations to make sure I understood everything right. For RC and LG, I do individual passages/games timed so that I can get more practice with timing, then I make sure afterwards that I'm confident with my answer choices. The final answers are what I use when calculating my BR scores. Afterwards, I review each passage/game with explanations from various online resources.
I know a lot of people will only do BR questions that they circled while taking the PT that they were unsure of, but I think it's important to review the easier questions as well. I found that this has helped me go through the early questions faster when I'm taking PTs timed.
I actually just finished up blind reviewing PT 64 this morning and while my original score under test-taking conditions was a 171, I got every question right during my BR. This was my first time not getting any questions on BR and it was a pretty good feeling. Over the last several months, I've been doing one PT a week chronologically (started at 42) using this BR method. I've been able to push my average PT score from the high 160s into the low 170s with consistency and attribute a lot of that increase to the thorough BR that I've been doing.
@"Habeas Porpoise" Where are you heading? I just found out I'm going to NY next week for a late birthday gift too so I guess I'll have more breaks than anticipated lol! But definitely I'll do sections. I agree, I tend to prefer LG as my break sections. Plus, it can also serve as part of the process of fool-proofing. I try to avoid LR on my break days because it's such a drain but I'm going to start drilling them since it's my weakness. I didn't know BRing or fool-proofing was a thing until I started 7Sage so I'm excited to start so I can really see my weak areas and improve accordingly! Are you done taking the LSAT now?!
@sakox010 That's amazing! How long did this process take you on average? I completely agree with you about it being time consuming but I do think it has its benefits. Usually after I finish the section I work on, I HAVE to take a break. Even if it's just a few minutes to get up and get something to drink it really just drain you mentally but it helps to see what questions you KNOW you got wrong/ unsure of. I have to start looking at the explanations for the answers I got correct again. I used to but then I got lazy and only looked at the ones I either got wrong or was unsure of regardless of whether or not I got the answer right (being stuck between two answer choices). I notice a lot on LR especially, some of the questions I miss or BR correctly is always questions that I'm between two contenders, one being the correct answer and the other being a trap answer. Sometimes I pick the correct one, others I don't and after I hear the explanation I write WHY the answer was wrong/ correct and then I make a note to myself why I didn't pick it. Was it because I didn't understand the wording? Was it because I missed something? Or did I just not understand what was in the stimulus?
I'm headed to Japan!
I lived there for a while and it's been some time since I've been back. I'm visiting some friends again (my former soccer teammates! I was terrible at the sport, but I'm glad they're still excited to see me, lol), possibly seeing some of my professors and staff at the university I was at.
And that's awesome! Happy (late?) birthday! Have a safe trip and hope you have an great time there!
No, I'm signed up for the June exam next week! ~_~ Feeling a bit nervous but trying to make sure that I don't burn out this week. I'm just sticking to a couple hours of studying a day, and I'll likely take my last PT tomorrow.
Ahhh you're so lucky! Whereabouts are you heading and where did you live? That'll definitely be a good break for you but I can't imagine you facing the long trip again. What does one even do on the plane that long besides sleep or watch movies?! I have a 3 hour layover at Narita but not sure if I'll be able to explore or not. Regardless, I'm planning a graduation trip next summer and I'm aiming for Japan! If you have any places in mind that I MUST see please pass it on!
Thank you! Yeah, please don't. A big mistake of mine was burning out because I thought the more PTs the better and I went crazy doing them lol. What does your study schedule look like now nearing the exam? Just remind yourself once it's done you'll be elsewhere probably eating some ramen