What are the hardest LSAT tests ever released?

Comments

• Sheri123 Alum Member

  October 2015 1196 karma

  I am really not qualified to answer this since I have only taken 5 timed exams so far, but the hardest so far for me was 72.
• lschoolgo Member

  October 2015 274 karma

  pt-72 amongst recent PTs.
• 3 Likes

  Accounts Playable Live Sage ⭐

  October 2015 edited October 2015 3107 karma

  PT 55. Curve is -9. I took it yesterday, and it was the lowest PT score in a month (by 4 points). First LR section is brutal, last 2 RC passages are impossible (especially the 3rd one where I went -4), and game 4 is really hard (somehow pulled a -0 on it though). Easily the hardest exam I have taken (and I went -0 on the second LR section and -0 on the LG).
• 2 Likes

  paramedikisto Member

  October 2015 11 karma

  I thought 36 was bad. Game 3 took J.Y. 15 minutes to complete ("ridiculously hard"), and the RC were, to me, way harder than anything else I've seen.
  
• 7 Likes

  DumbHollywoodActor Alum Inactive ⭐

  October 2015 7468 karma

  I tell this to my ACT and SAT students all the time: The test is standardized, YOU are not.
  
  Sometimes a test exploits a specific fundamental element, like a particular inference in a Logic Game or understanding abstract language in an RC passage. If your facility with that exact fundamental element is lacking, you might see a drastic change in that individual test score. I think that the big takeaway when you do poorly on a particular test is that there’s a skill in that test that you are lacking in.
  
  Putting on my tinfoil hat: My pet theory about PT 72 is that since so many 7Sage students have made complaints about that test and since PT72 doesn’t have a particularly obscene curve, it’s entirely possible that it exploits a weakness in 7Sage’s curriculum (Sorry JY! ). But since I haven’t actually taken that test, please take that theory with the tiniest grain of salt.
• c.janson35 Free Trial Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  October 2015 2398 karma

  @DumbHollywoodActor your first piece of advice there is particularly great. And FWIW, I think the only thing unusual about 72 is the last game, everything else seems pretty standard-fare LSAT stuff.
• Jonathan Wang Yearly Sage ⭐

  October 2015 edited October 2015 6869 karma

  Yeah, nothing special about 72. Even with the last game, it didn't seem any different to me difficulty-wise than any of the last 10 or so tests. Even the last game, unprecedented as it was, was no different than any other game that hinges on a key inference or a complete setup. If you spend 7 minutes setting it up, you'll be done in 8.
  
  Plus, you have to remember that the scale takes care of this and is empirical-data-driven, not guessed, so your scaled score should remain relatively consistent. If you suffered a big drop, that's on you, not the test.
• 2 Likes

  Pacifico Alum Inactive ⭐

  October 2015 8021 karma

  @"Jonathan Wang" said:
  that's on you, not the test.
  

  T-shirt material right there.
• deleted account Free Trial Member

  October 2015 393 karma

  I don't think that there's a hardest test, but I think the sections are variable. RC is definitely hardest in the mid-60's. I think it's got brutal after comparative was introduced and was toned down a bit in PT 67+ or so.
  
  LR is easy and concrete in the early tests, progressively more difficult and abstract in the later tests.
  
  LG I think need to be considered on both mechanical difficulty and difficult with respect to understanding what's going on. Early LG (up to the 50's or so) were weird and hard to understand but easy mechanically. Later LG were difficult mechanically but easy to understand (mauve dinosaurs, jugglers). I think in recent tests they have gotten slightly easier mechanically again but harder to understand, like the fourth game of PT 72.
  
  Agreed re PT 72 not being all that bad otherwise.
  
  If I had to go for the hardest test ever, I'd say for me PT 53. It had some weird games (numbers 2 and 4 game me a bit of trouble) and the LR gave me much more trouble than normal, although I couldn't say why. I definitely underperformed on that test.
  
• combsni Free Trial Member

  August 2016 652 karma

  PT 55, 53, and 52 have been the most brutal for me. 55 was my cold diagnostic, 53 and 52 have been taken in the last 24 hours. Mid-late 2000's were difficult
• 1 Like

  Alex Alum Member ⭐

  August 2016 edited August 2016 23929 karma

  @combsni said:
  53 and 52 have been taken in the last 24 hours.
  

  Make sure you are taking time to do a proper BR 2 tests in 24 hours sounds like a lot! Just saying...
  
• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  August 2016 edited August 2016 23929 karma

  @DumbHollywoodActor said:
  The test is standardized, YOU are not.
  
  Sometimes a test exploits a specific fundamental element, like a particular inference in a Logic Game or understanding abstract language in an RC passage. If your facility with that exact fundamental element is lacking, you might see a drastic change in that individual test score. I think that the big takeaway when you do poorly on a particular test is that there’s a skill in that test that you are lacking in.
  
  

  
  Such wisdom! Much Wow!
  
  I seriously love the way you explained that @DumbHollywoodActor
  
  Your students are lucky to have such a wise teacher.
  
  Anyways, I agree with this entire theory about there not really being harder tests bur rather ones that exploit your personal weaknesses.
  
  
  
  
• combsni Free Trial Member

  August 2016 652 karma

  @"Alex Divine" I haven't really gotten the chance to do it.
• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  August 2016 23929 karma

  @combsni said:
  I haven't really gotten the chance to do it.
  

  Oh, I see. Well just make sure you get around to it before you score it, that is all. I bet you killed em'
• Mitchell-1 Member

  September 2017 756 karma

  PT71 had a -14 curve (you could miss 14 and still get a 170). I think the largest curve ever was -16 so this would be in the running. As always though, difficulty is subjective. So I like to go by the curve given because there should be some statistics to back it up on their end.
• TheMikey Alum Member

  September 2017 4196 karma

  @"Mitchell-1" said:
  PT71 had a -14 curve (you could miss 14 and still get a 170). I think the largest curve ever was -16 so this would be in the running. As always though, difficulty is subjective. So I like to go by the curve given because there should be some statistics to back it up on their end.

  Difficulty def is subjective. One test may play to someone's strengths while the same test plays to someone's weaknesses.

  But then I guess it's partly the person's fault for not working on their weaknesses, haha!