September Curve

Comments

• 1 Like

  polscken Alum Member

  September 2014 199 karma

  I struggled with RC, but felt ok on LR and LG. Honestly though, I just have no fricking clue how I did. After months of instant gratification with the LSAT Analytics here on 7Sage's page this three weeks is going to be a monster.
• msmith85 Alum Member

  September 2014 213 karma

  Felt exactly the same. LG was difficult. No way to know what the curve will be. that will be determined by how the entire population performs. My guess would be a low curve though were it a practice test.
• daniel.lewis9196 Free Trial Member

  September 2014 5 karma

  Felt good about everything except the 26 question LR (completely lost mental focus and don't feel certain about the last several questions). Nonetheless, I'd say a -10 or -11 seems pretty likely (but definitely hoping for a -13)!
• 2 Likes

  jeffreimer Alum Member

  September 2014 edited September 2014 12 karma

  I think everybody panics a bit on the games.
  
  The only thing I know for sure is we should all have a beer tonight!
• 1 Like

  indiaholt Alum Member

  September 2014 edited September 2014 31 karma

  Oh my god the games! Usually that's my best but I got so rattled. Also, is the experimental section always in the same place for everyone?
• [Deleted User] Free Trial

  September 2014 edited September 2014 310 karma

  yeah the 2nd and 3rd passage in RC were a bit tricky. I am not that great with those topics and they are quite dry.
  
  Games went well
  LR went pretty well too
  
  hoping for -13 scale or -12. -10 would be quite strict. Hope they don't go to that scale.
• leelisee Alum Member

  September 2014 92 karma

  I.. have a really dumb question. What does it mean for a curve to have -10 or -12?
  
  I'm not sure if I'm being hard on myself or if I should cancel my score. I wish they would at least tell us which section was the experimental a few days after the test so we know how to better predict our scores
• 1 Like

  [Deleted User] Free Trial

  September 2014 310 karma

  -10/-12 indicates how many questions you can miss and still score a 170. its the cutoff basically.
  
  
  what were you scoring on your PTs? if its 150 or around there, and your goal is to score above 160 or mid 160s. just cancel, study again, and retake in february or June
  
• 1 Like

  joegotbored-1 Alum Member

  September 2014 802 karma

  Hi @rkg,
  
  The "curve" is the number of questions you can get wrong and still score a 170. You get your raw score, say 101 right (I wish!!!) and they translate that to be 180 or perfect. For each raw score, they calculate an equivalent normalized score (your LSAT score in the 120-180 range). Remember there are only 101 questions usually, but the scale starts at 120, so of course they have to do some math to get there. That math... for lack of a better way to describe it, is the curve.
  
  If the curve is big, say -14, then that typically means you could get 170 which is towards the top of the bell curve with 14 wrong. On the last few, you could only get say 11 or 12 wrong to earn a 170. The softer the curve, the easier it is to get 170 (relative to the number of raw questions you got right). The harder the curve, the more you have to get right for that same 170.
  
  For those of us who have taken a huge number of prep tests, we can usually tell within about 4-5 raw points how we did. If I think for example that I got a raw score of 90 (in my dreams!), then with a -10 curve, I would earn a 170. Does that make sense?
  
  Also, don't be hard on yourself. The test is over, no sense in second guessing. The experimental section isn't supposed to me much different from the other sections...otherwise the questions would have little value as we would all spot it and treat it like nothing which would throw off their metrics. You'll of course know which section type was the experimental: 2 RC sections? 3 LR sections? 2 LG sections? But within those, if they're doing their job well, you shouldn't be able to tell.
  
  If you feel you did well in general, save for one section, then I'd say keep the score. If you're not satisfied, you can always retake. However, with no score to judge, you won't know where to focus your improvements.
• leelisee Alum Member

  September 2014 92 karma

  Ah, thank you so much to both @ttunden and @joegotbored-1 for the fast, comprehensive and friendly replies to my ignorant question!!
  
  I was hoping the -10 meant we could get that many incorrect and still have a 180. If only right, haha.
  
  I've actually taken every pt in existence save for June 2006 and still have no idea what my score will be. My nerves made me skip too many questions and so I didnt have enough time to read them all thoroughly when I went back. My average is usually around 168-172 but I feel like I could've scored muchh lower.
  
  But given I have no more pts to work with (Ive thoroughly reviewed them all), I really am at a loss for what to do. Advice?
• joegotbored-1 Alum Member

  September 2014 802 karma

  Hm, that's a tough one. I tend to lean on the side of more information being better, but I know some folks go the other way. I think I would want to keep my score, even if I did poorly, just so I'd be able to see my errors so I'd know how to study for the next one.
  
  That said, if you're not interested in the data, you could cancel and call it a live practice. Remember though, schools can see if you cancel and might wonder why. Talk with your mentor about it and see what they think. They will be in a better place to provide personalized advice. I hope you did better thank you think!
• leelisee Alum Member

  September 2014 92 karma

  Got it, thanks again!!
• dudelsat99 Alum Member

  September 2014 94 karma

  Dude on TLS was saying that the October curve for the past couple of tests is the same or better than June. He's even willing to put money on it not being less than 12. I hope he's right.
• kellysmelly Alum Member

  September 2014 edited September 2014 84 karma

  I hope the curve is on the bigger side-still thinking of cancelling my score. I was more nervous then I thought I would be and finally when I got in the grove my watch went off during RC and soon after that there was some music playing outside (what a bummer test day--given all the prep work).
  
  
• dudelsat99 Alum Member

  September 2014 94 karma

  Feeeeeeels. I think you'll be allright. I was freaking out for a while but I'm feeling kinda confident now. Was RC your only problem?
• 1 Like

  TheMusa Alum Member

  September 2014 35 karma

  Lol, I had my score down to a conditional, If finished LGs, then 172+ for almost every PT. But i failed the sufficient, so ,as you guys know, the necessary could or could not follow. Anyway i feel better now than i did the day of the test. The RC and LR didnt really stand out to me and that kind of worries me, i still remember a few questions that tripped me up, but Im not sure how i'll score for any of them. i could really see myself falling anywhere below or above the curve. I dont, however, want to cancel because there have been many PTs that i didnt feel too hot about that I ended doing perfectly fine or even above my average on. these 3 weeks will, however, kill me.
• dudelsat99 Alum Member

  September 2014 94 karma

  Word. I don't know how I'll make it.
• [Deleted User] Free Trial

  October 2014 310 karma

  you make it by not caring, not visiting any LSAT related website, and going outside.