Differences between LSAT PTs 60s v. 70s v 30-59?

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• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  October 2016 edited October 2016 23929 karma

  @zkchrumz said:
  So can anyone, without spoiling anything in the PTs I haven't seen, explain a bit about why people are having more trouble with the 70's and how I can avoid it?
  

  From what I know, I think the LR sections have questions that are a bit more convoluted; the stims are a bit longer, and the answer choices can seem a bit more tricky. Basically more words per question...
  
  I have also been told that conditional heavy questions like MBTs/S.A. appear less frequently. For people who are good at these, they are basically "freebies" and so people might have more weaknesses exploited in lieu of these questions appearing.
  
  People have also told me that the LSAC has been putting in harder questions earlier and throwing people off their pace... I'm not sure if that would at all account for some of the drop with the newer tests.
  
  For RC people have said that the sections are harder. I'm not sure how true it is because everyone I have talked to about it had trouble articulating exactly what is making these newer RC sections more challenging. Obviously the comparative reading passage was introduced with PT 51, so that would be a difference when compared to the earlier tests. As far as the 60s, I'm not exactly sure what and how, or even if they are more difficult.
  
  For LG I think there have a been a couple odd ball games, but nothing crazy or that was really different from the 60s. I've also been told that older games from PTs 1-35 are becoming more relevant again...
  
  Again, these are just things I have been told from friends who are ahead of me in their studies.
  
  There is also an entire school of though that says the new test aren't any more difficult than the old(er) ones. They are testing the same exact things, but perhaps just differently. After all, it is a standardized test, so it wasn't like the LSAC with ambivalence and dour decided at PT 70 to make the tests markedly more challenging. I think this is more or less my feeling on the whole 60s vs 70s debate, but it sort of comes from a place of ignorance since I haven't taken any 70s yet.
• Sprinkles Alum Member ⭐

  October 2016 11542 karma

  @"Alex Divine" said:
  There is also an entire school of though that says the new test aren't any more difficult than the old(er) ones. They are testing the same exact things, but perhaps just differently. After all, it is a standardized test, so it wasn't like the LSAC with ambivalence and dour decided at PT 70 to make the tests markedly more challenging. I think this is more or less my feeling on the whole 60s vs 70s debate, but it sort of comes from a place of ignorance since I haven't taken any 70s yet.
  

  Truuuu
• desire2learn Member

  October 2016 1171 karma

  I think the newer ones can be less balanced (you may get a lot more LR questions of a specific type in one exam, whereas before you could more or less count on the same type of question mix from PT to PT). I think the newer ones are using different types of curvebreaker questions in LR (very subtle in strengthening/weakening questions for example). But overall, the basic fundamentals are the same. You just learn to apply them in slightly different ways.
• 3 Likes

  nessa.k13.0 Inactive ⭐

  October 2016 edited October 2016 4141 karma

  @zkchrumz I've taken PTs 71, 72, 73, 76, and 77. Here are some things I've noticed and discussed with some 7sage ppl.
  
  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. Yeah the question stems get longer (especially towards the end). There are quite a few extremely short and seemingly easy question stems. They are deceptively easy though. 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 is more annoying than most of the MBTs I've seen) 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. 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. Thus the attractive answer choices are much more alluring because they prey on the assumptions you are more likely to make under such conditions. You could say the LSAT has upped its psychological warfare game in that sense.
  
  The LG games are more random and strange like the older 10s and 20s 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. With more exposure you can adjust and overcome the changes!
• seungheer Alum Member

  October 2016 40 karma

  I don't particularly find PT 70s that different from PT 60s. I actually saw a boost in my score when taking PT 72. I was initially very afraid to take the test after hearing about all kinds of horror stories related to PT 72. Contrary to my expectation, it was not really that bad. I think it really depends on people's feeling.
• 1 Like

  zkchrumz Free Trial Member

  October 2016 164 karma

  Thanks for the comments! I will keep an eye out for some of these things during my foray into the 70s. Hopefully everything goes well.
• 1 Like

  Dark Knight V Member

  October 2016 194 karma

  Thanks for asking this question! I was wondering the same thing. Am going to take my first PT in the 70s this week.
• zkchrumz Free Trial Member

  October 2016 164 karma

  @"Dark Knight V" Glad to hear I'm not alone. Let me know what your thoughts on the 70s are when you're done with BR?
• combsni Free Trial Member

  October 2016 652 karma

  @zkchrumz , it depends on your strengths. If you enjoy and are good at flaw questions, the 70's shouldn't be an issue. Also, if you have studied unconventional games, the 70's aren't too bad. Personally, I struggled on in the 50's but found the 60's and 70's to be much more comforting