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Related Discussions
LSAT scores 10 pts lower than pretests
My average pretest score is 166. Pretest scores have been fairly consistent (165-169).
I've taken the LSAT twice now. First score 157, today's score 156. Are other people seeing a practice test discrepancy like this? So frustrating. I deleted the 157, as it was my first attempt and significantly lower than my practice test scores. But today's score is lower.
Is anyone else seeing a discrepancy like this?
Comments
I'm sorry to hear about your situation, but I wanted you to know that you are not alone in this outcome. I just received my score and it was about 10 pts lower than my last 20 practice tests. This was my first time taking the LSAT and I have to be honest, I'm disappointed in my score. I've studied for a year, used 7Sage as well as the LSAT Trainer and The Loophole, and I felt pretty confident with my consistent PTs going into the exam. Nothing especially unusual happened on test day, and while my last RC passage was difficult, I thought the easier LG section balanced out overall. It's frustrating to see such a discrepancy in outcomes between preparation and exam, and this is doubling discouraging since the exam is undisclosed. I share your disappointment and frustration, and hope you find ways to practice self-care in the days ahead.
Same. Was PTing in the 170s and today I found out that I got drastically lower than that. I wish LSAC would at least let us know what we missed so we'd know what to work on...
But if you're taking it again, there's still plenty of time to get a great score. I'm planning to retake in November, and hopefully this disappointment will provide the motivation to do well next time.
Thanks for your reply. Sorry to hear the outcome was similar for you. I felt the same way about the RC and LG on test day. I generally do better on RC than LG, so a particularly difficult RC section might be the explanation. Not knowing is frustrating. On to Oct!
same boat here, I got 7 lower than the average of my last 30 preptests.
I'm also in the same situation. This was my first time taking the test and my average PT score was in the high 160s. I thought I was on the right track, but I'm more than disappointed in this performance.. I wish this was a disclosed test so I can learn from the experience. I'll probably retest in January (I plan to apply next fall), but I really need some time to re-evaluate before throwing myself back into the studying process. This situation isn't the best, but there is comfort in knowing there are others experiencing the same thing right now. I hope we can all use this experience as motivation to keep working hard and achieve our goals!
I scored 8 points lower than my average PT score and 2 points lower than my diagnostic a year ago. I've been studying full time, so these results were baffling and demoralizing. For what it's worth, I had the double RC section. Going off of Reddit, it seems like the folks with that iteration of the test saw the biggest deviations from their average PT score, for some reason. (Of course, my LR training tells me this could just be a coincidence.)
I repeatedly had this same problem of a large test day drop and had to take the test 5 times to eventually get 177. There is no single solution that will work for every student but it can be overcome. The main things that eventually helped me were to simplify my process for each section and also finding ways to keep test day anxiety under control. For example, I made a very simple checklist for each type of LR question (see my old post on checklist) which had only two items on the checklist for each type of LR question. Checklists help one to stay focused under the stressful conditions on test day. This in turn, reduces anxiety. Anxiety on test day releases more adrenaline than you have on PTs at home and this can cause tunnel vision and make it harder to process complex problems (once the fight or flight reaction is triggered your brain is just focused on "running away from the tiger" and shuts off pathways that would help you reason out a LR stimulus). Thus, you have to simplify your process as much as possible and keep it very consistent. Also, find ways to reduce anxiety that work for you.
@kryskrys I am on the same boat! August was my first test. Do you regret canceling your score? I am trying to decide if I should cancel mine.
I faired the same. Pretesting in the low 160s, scored in the low 150s. I had two RC, and I though the RC was my hardest sections. Overall, I thought RC was tough, LR was average, and LG was easy, but apparently I was wrong. Now trying to figure out if I want to take it again or not.
Many thanks to those who replied (and commiserated). I have found out that for me the discrepancy is explained by the difference between the old LSAT format and the LSAT flex. My practice tests had two LR sections, which is my best section. I didn't think it would make that much of a difference. For me, it does. And yeah, I regret deleting the higher score.
I took the test four times because my score was so much lower on my first three LSATS than my practice tests. Maybe this isn't the best way to go for everyone, but I went from a 160 or below on three tests (I was scoring 165-170 on practice tests) to a 171. The biggest change I made the fourth time was taking significant measures to cope with test anxiety. For me, this included not telling anyone I was studying for or taking the test for a fourth time. I think it helped a lot. Reduce as much pressure as you can!
Thanks! I've been taking practice tests while practicing breathing exercises. Hope it helps on test day! Congrats on your 171!
I agree with this 100%, my testing experience was so much better when I didn't tell anyone I was taking the test. I didn't feel the pressure of other people's expectations weighing on every question.