Is PT 40s and 50s harder?

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• 1 Like

  Sprinkles Alum Member ⭐

  October 2016 11542 karma

  The newer PTs will more closely resemble what you will see on the day you sit for the LSAT. Many people have issues with the lower PTs, but your difference isn't severe I don't think, so don't worry about that.
• 1 Like

  desire2learn Member

  October 2016 1171 karma

  There are some shifts over time. If you take the recent PTs and learn from their style you will be fine. I don't think any of them are objectively harder or easier, but you do have to adjust to the different styles.
• 1 Like

  Alex Alum Member ⭐

  October 2016 23929 karma

  The odd thing about the LSAT--and maybe it isn't so odd at all--is that people tend to think whatever tests they are acclimated to are easier. A friend of mine only focused on the newer tests (PTs 52-61 and 62-71, 72-75)
  
  She used The LSAT Trainer and followed one of the guides I think. When we were talking about the differences between the older and newer tests when I first started prepping, she thought that the older tests were much harder.
  
  Then I read that most people experience a test drop with the newer tests (PT 65+)
  
  So I'm left thinking that you will do better on the era of tests you are most experienced with.
  
  Like @montaha.rizeq said, though; don't be too worried by that drop, probably normal. After all, +5/-5 is about a normal average.

  @zybhlyz said:
  I got PT 60s raw score around 165, but when I review PT 40s and 50s, I still got 159 and around. Really upset about that it. What will happen on PT 70s and on the real test?
  

  I think you will score more closely to the 165 on the real test. However, some people do experience a bit of the drop when they hit the 70s. It is normal and usually before long people get used to the changes in LR and RC.
  
  What tests and books/course did you used to prep @zybhlyz ?
• Not Ralph Nader Alum Member Inactive Sage Inactive ⭐

  October 2016 edited October 2016 2098 karma

  @zybhlyz this is just a guess, I think different people design LSAT in a time span of 10 or 20 years and although they test the same skills and logic they probably have a different style in designing the questions. People get used to the changes as Alex pointed out. If you are really worried to the extend that it is effecting your prep why not try one of 70s and see the differences yourself.
• 2 Likes

  nessa.k13.0 Inactive ⭐

  October 2016 edited October 2016 4141 karma

  @zybhlyz Yeah I think it is highly probable that you will see your score go down a bit when you first take a test in the 70s. Not because they are "harder" per se but because the LSAT makers started changing how they frame stimuli and where they put in the levels of difficulty. @"Alex Divine" hit the nail on the head

  people tend to think whatever tests they are acclimated to are easier.

  The more experience you get with the 70s PTs and the more quality BRs you do, the more you'll acclimate to the 70s PTs.
  
  I've taken PTs 71, 72, 73, 76, and 77. Here are some things I've noticed and discussed with some 7sage ppl.
  
  Yeah I definitely agree with @nader.parham get some experience and just take a earlier 70s PT. This way you can BR it in advance and go back to particular lessons to brush up so that you can build habits that will help you crush the LSAT.
  
  Regarding what will happen in the 70s PTs, this is what I've noticed. The 70s tests start demanding a higher level of attention to particular skills and so they are just different than the 40s and 50s PTs. In LR the 70s tests specifically start playing with one's ability to focus on the particulars in the language. For example, you could have a MBT question with a question stem like: 'Unpopular people like cats and no person who is not popular dislikes dogs.' (this is not a real stimulus and thankfully this one is more annoying than most of the MBTs I've seen hehe) You have to figure out where the LSAT is okay with you making a dichotomy ---are "unpopular people" the same as "not popular people"? For the LSAT world yes, but this can mess with your understanding of groups and not-groups. This made me so annoyed because I was so used to not making those kinds of inferences for the LSAT. I love how @dumbhollywoodactor put it during a group BR call last week: 'you have to understand what kinds of inferences and assumptions the LSAT wants you to make'. If things like paying attention to the particulars in intersectional logic and language is a weakness for you, the 70s tests will exploit that weakness. Make sure you have a really good understanding of the basics like conditionality because the 70s test really play on what you think you know. I've also noticed that having a pre-phrase for 70s tests is CRUCIAL because the answer choices will mess with your head a lot more. For me I've noticed that more answer choices take advantage of you not having a clear understanding of the reasoning in the question stem. I do think the answer choices are much more relentless in punishing your vague or rushed understanding of the stimulus and so the attractive answer choices are more alluring because they prey on the assumptions you are more likely to make under such conditions.
  
  The LG games are less defined and strange like the older 10s, 20s, and 30s PTs.
  
  RC is similar to LR in the sense that your understanding of the passages has to be solid. I've seen more comparative passages. The good thing is that I don't think the RC section differs as much as the LR sections in the 50s and 60s PTs. I find myself having to be much more meticulous with the 70s tests though.
  
  So the 70s PTs can be tough in that sense. Once you get a feel for those tests though, it won't be too bad and you may even find it annoying to go back to the 50s and 40s. I find that I get annoyed with the convoluted language of the 50s and below tests because I don't like the roundabout question stems anymore. You've definitely got this and it won't be long before you adjust to the 70s PTs!