What is the most common answer choice on the LSAT?

Comments

• 42 Likes

  LSATKingsman Alum Member

  May 2016 1024 karma

  I am convinced JY never sleeps. He stays up all day and night plotting how he can further conquer the LSAT.
  
  
• 4 Likes

  Accounts Playable Live Sage ⭐

  May 2016 edited May 2016 3107 karma

  The LR data for the last 5 questions is pretty much in line with my anecdotal evidence. For the last 5-6 questions on LR, I usually find myself reading answer choice E first and reading my way up to A. I think there is a discontinuity with E due to the parallel reasoning question typically falling in these last 5 questions, and I "feel" like the answer to those (with no actual hard data to test my hypothesis) is usually D or E and not A. For parallel reasoning questions, I always think about the poor guy who had to write 4 lengthy wrong answer choices, and if it were me writing the question, I'd make the test taker have to sift through A-D first.
• 2 Likes

  BruiserWoods Member Inactive ⭐

  May 2016 1706 karma

  @"Accounts Playable" said:
  4 lengthy wrong answer choices, and if it were me writing the question, I'd make the test taker have to sift through A-D first
  

  HAAAAHHHAAAAA. This is so true though.
• 2 Likes

  Nicole Hopkins Alum Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  May 2016 4344 karma

  @LSATKingsman said:
  I am convinced JY never sleeps. He stays up all day and night plotting how he can further conquer the LSAT.
  

  While JY is constantly plotting, he's also in a very different timezone than those of us in the US
• 2 Likes

  MrSamIam Inactive ⭐

  May 2016 2086 karma

  @"Accounts Playable" said:
  For parallel reasoning questions, I always think about the poor guy who had to write 4 lengthy wrong answer choices, and if it were me writing the question, I'd make the test taker have to sift through A-D first.
  

  They do that all the time! It happened twice on one PT (can't recall which). Honestly, it left such a bitter taste in my mouth that I now read ACs A and E first on all parallel questions.
• 3 Likes

  Cant Get Right Yearly + Live Member Sage ⭐ 🍌 7Sage Tutor

  May 2016 27900 karma

  Wow the stat on RC last 5 is surprising. That's borderline statistically meaningful.
• dreamlawschool Alum Member

  November 2016 139 karma

  @"J.Y. Ping" can you please post an updated version of this for folks taking the December test this weekend? Would be massively helpful!
• Stevie C Alum Member

  November 2016 edited November 2016 645 karma

  @"Cant Get Right" said:
  Wow the stat on RC last 5 is surprising. That's borderline statistically meaningful.
  
  
  
  

  Agreed. If the true chance of B were 20%, we'd expect to see some serious mean regression in the larger data set (all RC questions). Yet even in the set with 500+ questions, B is ~5% more likely than any other letter.
  
  
  
• steve-10 Alum Member

  November 2016 192 karma

  For the "last five question" results, why aren't the sample sizes a multiple of 5?
• mcmlaw36 Alum Member

  November 2016 631 karma

  @"steve-10" I'm pretty sure it's because the frequencies of the letter choices have been converted into percentages ... That's my assumption anyhow.
• mcmlaw36 Alum Member

  November 2016 631 karma

  Oops, you said sample SIZE, I'm not too sure. Lol. Good question. @"steve-10"
• steve-10 Alum Member

  December 2016 192 karma

  @"steve-10" said:
  For the "last five question" results, why aren't the sample sizes a multiple of 5?
  

  For what it's worth: PT 58 through what was current when the original post was made, PT 77, is 21 PTs --- 20 numbered ones plus the C2. The "last five question" sample sizes are 126 for each section, which is 21 times 6.
• 2 Likes

  lakersgirl24 Member

  January 2022 66 karma

  Out of curiosity, do we have updated stats?
• 1 Like

  Publiclydisplayedname-1 Member

  January 2022 edited January 2022 182 karma

  https://www.powerscore.com/lsat/help/guessing.cfm
• 3 Likes

  Juliet - Student Service Member Administrator Student Services

  January 2022 5740 karma

  @lakersgirl24 said:
  Out of curiosity, do we have updated stats?

  Hi there,

  Yup, these stats have just been updated using the data from PT 58 through PT 92.

  Let me know if you have any questions!
• Justicerequiresconsequences Core Member

  January 2022 187 karma

  And RC last 5 is the only "borderline" answer of any value, and that is, in all likihood worthless as well.
• LSATStudent-9 Member

  January 2022 edited January 2022 257 karma

  @"Juliet --Student Service--"

  Hi Juliet, so I am confused on what to guess because 7Sage and PowerScore use different Data for what to guess on....

  For example, Dave Killoran says to choose "D" on 1-20 on LR when in doubt, and "E" on the last 5. JY says to choose "B" when in doubt on 1-20 and "E" on the last 5 for LR.

  Note, JY uses data from PREPTEST 58 (Sept 2009 ) onwards, while Dave uses data from Nov 1991. Which one is more reliable?

  Here is the PowerScore:

  Powerscore: https://www.powerscore.com/lsat/help/guessing.cfm

  Hope you guys can address this! That would super helpful.

  Thanks,
  Matthew
• 1 Like

  Juliet - Student Service Member Administrator Student Services

  January 2022 5740 karma

  Hi @mweinberg9,

  Thank you for your question! I will check this with my team, and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
• rigelxi67-1 Member

  January 2022 26 karma

  Hi! really helpful information. Also would like to know do you have data on the LAST Question of each section??? I think this might be much more helpful.
• Juliet - Student Service Member Administrator Student Services

  January 2022 5740 karma

  Hi @rigelxi67

  I gather you are looking for data per question type. Please let me know if I misunderstood. Sorry, we do not have the data on each question type per section.

  The numbers we ran are for all questions in each section using data from PT 58 through current.
• 4 Likes

  J.Y. Ping Administrator Instructor

  January 2022 14207 karma

  Just to clear things up. This is for curiosity only. It's not meant to be a guide to guessing because there isn't a statistically reliable way to guess better. The LSAC would never allow that to happen.

  But more importantly, thinking about the test in those terms misses the point. You're far more likely to edge out an additional question by not focusing on "how to guess better." Rather, focus your attention on the things that have a causal impact on improving your score: logic, grammar, etc. in other words, focus on the reasons why right answers are right and wrong ones are wrong.
• 6 Likes

  itonydelatorre Core Member

  January 2022 158 karma

  Instructions unclear, selecting B on LSAT
• rigelxi67-1 Member

  January 2022 26 karma

  @"Juliet --Student Service--"
  Hi! I mean the Answer Choice of the last question of each section. Apologize for any misunderstanding.