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Retake Questions

flinch8flinch8 Alum Member
in General 23 karma
Alright, I'll try to make this as short as possible. I'm trying to decide whether or not to take the Oct. 2015 test, which would be my third time. I sat in both Feb. (159) and June (164). I got a solid boost, but I was really wanting 167+ for the schools I want to go to. As soon as I left, I knew that the games destroyed me (my worst section), but I ended up with -4 (not too bad for me), and -7 on RC (normally my best section, -3 or -2). I also got the LG/LR/LG first three sections, which drained me mentally and may have killed my morale a bit. I've completed the 7sage curriculum and taken every test from 36-74 except for # 72 (and I heard that there's a previously undisclosed one out now?), so I won't have any fresh PT's to study with. The average over my last 10 tests was a 165.8 (which is right on target supposedly), but the range is huge: from 161-173, with a 171 in there also.

I feel like I should retake just on the fact that I did worst on my historically best section and the chance that I get a test that meshes with me better (like the 170's I hit). But the average is where it's supposed to be, and I pretty much have nothing to study with except one PT, so I thought I'd ask you guys. Thanks for reading!
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Comments

  • ddakjikingddakjiking Inactive ⭐
    2116 karma
    I'm in the same situation (took Feb->June->now Oct). Even as a "mentor", I'm in a new position where I have seen almost 100% of all LSAT materials.

  • flinch8flinch8 Alum Member
    23 karma
    @ddakjiking Yeah it's definitely going to be harder to study now if I do retake. I guess reusing the same stuff will have some benefit, if even just to keep me sharp until Oct.
  • PacificoPacifico Alum Inactive ⭐
    8021 karma
    You can all definitely get a lot out of reusing the materials that you've tested on before. Hopefully you have some sort of chronological representation of when you took each PT previously. I would save PT 72 (and any other untouched PTs you can find) for the week or two prior to the test. Then go back to the test you took longest ago and work your way forward. Or as an alternative, just pick up with PT 52 and join us for the group BR next Wednesday and just go forward with those.

    Additionally, odds are the October will be a 101 question test and have a far better curve than the most recent one. That alone should help bump you a point or two, and then hopefully you can get back to your usual work on RC. And in the end, the thing that I think will most help you between now and October is just maxing out your BR score. If you've been prepping for almost a year then it's highly unlikely you remember more than a handful of the answers on your earliest PTs, so while retaking will help keep your test taking skills sharp, getting your BR into the 99th percentile consistently will really help you step up your game for October.
  • Dr. YamataDr. Yamata Member Inactive ⭐
    578 karma
    Welp.. if previous tests are truly useless, then you should get 180 on each and every one, correct? Chances are that's not going to happen.. I went back thru a lot of old materials that I once used and still got several questions wrong. Taking a previously-used PT will most likely go a lot quicker than if it was your first run, though, so maybe a built-in handicap of a couple minutes on the timer would be one way to make it harder. The ones you get wrong after going back to the same test will really help expose those weaknesses, because this is already your second time looking at it.
  • PacificoPacifico Alum Inactive ⭐
    8021 karma
    @"Dr. Yamata" said:
    Welp.. if previous tests are truly useless, then you should get 180 on each and every one, correct?
    So much this. For extra credit, translate to lawgic!
  • flinch8flinch8 Alum Member
    23 karma
    @Pacifico Thanks for the tips, and I should have mentioned that for a while (at least those last 10 tests), I had only been doing BR on the questions I missed. I started doing this because in the past (PT's 36-55 maybe), I would consistently find myself switching correct answers to incorrect ones. I don't know how much value doing BR for questions you know that the answer you picked is wrong adds, since you can normally narrow it down to 2 choices anyways. You would recommend going back to the full-section BR? Thanks again!
  • flinch8flinch8 Alum Member
    edited July 2015 23 karma
    @Dr.Yamata Thanks for replying and that's a great point about the old tests. I'm sure I wouldn't get a 180 on them, and I love the idea of reducing the time limit. Looks like it's back to work!
  • ddakjikingddakjiking Inactive ⭐
    2116 karma
    good stuff @Pacifico @"Dr. Yamata" I definitely noticed on retakes I would finish 2-5 minutes earlier than on a fresh test. Moving forward, I will be reduce my time limit to 34->33->and so forth.
  • PacificoPacifico Alum Inactive ⭐
    8021 karma
    You could mix it up between full test BR and just circled BR, but the most important thing is that it is blind. Don't ever check your answers prior since doing so will invariably prejudice you against actually learning and understanding the logic in play since you will just switch your answer to the other probable choice.
  • nicole.hopkinsnicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    7965 karma
    @Pacifico said:
    I would save PT 72 (and any other untouched PTs you can find) for the week or two prior to the test. Then go back to the test you took longest ago and work your way forward. Or as an alternative, just pick up with PT 52 and join us for the group BR next Wednesday and just go forward with those.
    Woohoo! This is great advice.
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