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Benefit of retaking PTs?

petitigrepetitigre Member
edited September 2015 in General 227 karma
About a month ago, a user posted that they had scored in the high 170s on a fresh PT. Their method of studying was to take and retake a group of modern PTs. Does anyone know where I can find this post and/or can you tell me what the benefits of retaking PTs are? I have simply been taking new PTs.
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  • DumbHollywoodActorDumbHollywoodActor Alum Inactive ⭐
    7468 karma
    After I hit 20 PTs ( at 15 currently), I plan on alternating between retakes and new tests . Will let you know how that goes .
  • amipp_93amipp_93 Alum Member
    585 karma
    I would love an answer to the question of this thread as well! And if you do retake, what tests would you suggest? (still 38 plus right? I was thinking 41-60 is would be a solid 20 to retake)
  • harrismeganharrismegan Member
    2074 karma
    I took a retake yesterday. I'm working through the 160s now (as fresh PTs... I'm almost in the 170s), so I retook PT 50 last night.

    I think it's good for a number of reasons:
    1. You still get that timed practice in.
    2. Although questions feel "familiar" you definitely still have to apply the reasoning to get to the right answers, so it reinforces some concepts.
    3. It gives you a confidence boost.

    Especially that last one for me. #50 didn't feel familiar at all, aside from 1-2 of the LR questions that I knew stumped me before, but I ended up scoring a 177. I know that score is inflated, but it feeeeeeels good to know that, with time and practice, a 177 isn't completely out of reach.

    I fully recommend retakes, as long as you're also taking fresh ones.

    @nicole.hopkins takes lots and lots of retakes, so she'll be best able to chime in about this!
  • petitigrepetitigre Member
    edited September 2015 227 karma
    "2. Although questions feel 'familiar' you definitely still have to apply the reasoning to get to the right answers, so it reinforces some concepts."

    I like this. Especially, with some of the very first PTs I took, I think I would hardly remember them.

    I will try re-taking PTs soon after I get a few more fresh ones in :).
  • sarkisp23sarkisp23 Alum Member
    374 karma
    I retook a preptest today (about a month old) and found that some questions I got wrong both times and for the same reasoning errors. To me, that's gold because now I know certain areas of weakness that haven't been addressed. LSAC writers got me twice. Fool me twice, how does the rest of that saying go?
  • lsatblitzlsatblitz Alum Member
    521 karma
    I've thought of doing this as well. I might try it out a couple times in the next week or so as well. It sounds like a great way to zero in on those curve breaker questions that might fool you twice as the above poster mentioned.
  • c.janson35c.janson35 Free Trial Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    2398 karma
    Worried about the merits of retakes? Retaking is definitely beneficial and really humbles you. A perfect example of this is the unicorn/centaur question on PT52 (which, if you've been through all the material... The North Remembers).I got it wrong the first time around and got it wrong on a retake, too. This is just proof that there is still much to learn! If you never retake tests you might not have the opportunity to uncover some clear weaknesses or less-than-stellar thought processes that are holding you down.

    Worried about your retake scores? Depending on how long ago you've taken a test, it may be almost as representative as a new one. There's times when I do retakes and think to myself, "Oh I sort of remember this question about the refrigerator membrane" but have no idea what it's asking me to do and have no idea what form the correct answer takes. Sometimes there will be tests that I retake and as soon as a start reading the stimulus I know about where in the answer choices the right answer is and what it's going to say; with these I still try to articulate reasons why each answer is wrong while i'm taking the test, at the same time knowing that the score I get isn't going to be as important as the process of practicing.
  • PacificoPacifico Alum Inactive ⭐
    8021 karma
    Hmmm I feel like I've read that before.... 7Sage copy pasta?
  • c.janson35c.janson35 Free Trial Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    2398 karma
    @Pacifico unlike my diaper game, my copy pasta skills are on point
  • jyang72jyang72 Alum Member
    844 karma
    I am retaking several PTs that I took 2 months ago. It is unlikely that you remember too many questions after you take 20+ PTs. It is great process to reinforce your concept and use the right method to attack the questions once you got wrong. You can also exercise RC method on retakes. I knew a guy who took PT1 to PT68 3times and he got 180! I know this is a flaw of making a generalization based on a few extreme examples. But I just want to stress the importance of retake.
  • PacificoPacifico Alum Inactive ⭐
    8021 karma
    I make spreadsheets of every question I get wrong in LR and then once I reach 25 I make a new LR section to use as a fifth section and let me tell you even though I reviewed all those questions and watched the videos they are still the hardest LR sections I have ever done. Even getting 18/25 on those sections feels amazing. And it makes the rest of the LR seem wicked easy by comparison so it's a great confidence booster.
  • nicole.hopkinsnicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    7965 karma
    @jyang72 said:
    I knew a guy who took PT1 to PT68 3times and he got 180!
    Crazy!!!
  • nicole.hopkinsnicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    7965 karma
    @Pacifico said:
    once I reach 25 I make a new LR section to use as a fifth section and let me tell you even though I reviewed all those questions and watched the videos they are still the hardest LR sections I have ever done.
    Plz 2 share spreadsheet, bro?
  • jyang72jyang72 Alum Member
    844 karma
    @nicole.hopkins , I know! And he also has 4.0 GPA in undergraduate. He said the only myth of LSAT is a lot of hard work. Seeing is believing. Look at him......
  • PacificoPacifico Alum Inactive ⭐
    8021 karma
    @nicole.hopkins why would you want a spreadsheet of all the questions I got wrong? What're you up to?
  • nicole.hopkinsnicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    7965 karma
    @Pacifico said:
    why would you want a spreadsheet of all the questions I got wrong?
    WELL I was thinking it would be fun to do a brutally hard section but then I remembered that I could easily make a sheet of my OWN misses ... but then again, I tend to chew all the meat off the bone with Q's I miss.
  • ENTJENTJ Alum Inactive ⭐
    3658 karma
    @nicole.hopkins You got me hankering for steak now. Thanks...
  • nicole.hopkinsnicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    7965 karma
    @ENTJ said:
    You got me hankering for steak now.
    Brisket makes up about 30% of my diet. So. I understand.
  • ENTJENTJ Alum Inactive ⭐
    3658 karma
    @nicole.hopkins Is that mandated by Texas law? If so, that's a good law.
  • nicole.hopkinsnicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    7965 karma
    @ENTJ said:
    Is that mandated by Texas law? If so, that's a good law.
    We don't like to "mandate" many things here. I believe you're thinking of California or Massachusetts or some other place. We just culturally enforce brisket consumption at non-food pyramid levels.
  • logicfiendlogicfiend Alum Member
    118 karma
    @c.janson35 AGH I know exactly what you mean! I have gotten questions right the second time and questions wrong twice on the retake, like the unicorn/centaur question. It's a great way of measuring your learning. Even if you already know the answer, try to work backwards to figure out how the test takers came to THIS answer choice. You will really learn the ins and outs of the test.
  • nicole.hopkinsnicole.hopkins Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐
    7965 karma
    @logicfiend said:
    You will really learn the ins and outs of the test.
    It's how I learned the (conflating) belief/existence flaw!
  • 7sagelsatstudent1807sagelsatstudent180 Alum Member
    932 karma
    It was the only way I escaped my plateau
  • petitigrepetitigre Member
    227 karma
    @Pacifico said:
    I make a new LR section to use as a fifth section
    @Pacifico how do you actually make these sections? Do you use a photo editor to cut out squares of questions from PTs? Or do you just re-type them?
  • PacificoPacifico Alum Inactive ⭐
    8021 karma
    I have a MacBook and I have the PDFs so I just use Preview to copy questions as blocks and paste them into a PowerPoint presentation.
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