Strange "phenomenon" today with a recent PT

Comments

• Alex Alum Member ⭐

  July 2017 23929 karma

  @LSATcantwin said:
  So as I do every Saturday, I sat down and took a full (5 section) timed test. This test "felt" much different than normal for me though and my score by section confirmed it. It got me curious as to what is going on.

  The test I took is PT 78....(Yes, yes it is recent sue me) and my sections did not line up how they normally do.

  Recently my scores look like;

  LG: -1 to -2
  LR; -4 to -5 per section
  RC; -6 to -9

  with a score on the test of about a 167ish.

  Today everything changed!

  LG; -3
  LR; -7 and -3
  RC; -2

  Of course my score was a 167 still, I just felt a dramatic shift in the way the test felt. LG have been something I always finish early. Today I felt pressed for time. LR still felt fairly typical but the first section seemed difficult. and RC always baffles me but today it was just so clear.

  I understand the test is variable and that scores will change and sections will change. I also can not describe exactly what "felt" different because it is such a subjective term. What scares me is that this is a more recent test. (the reason I took it was to get an idea of where the more current test put me).

  Another thing I noted is I almost always miss flaw questions. Today I missed none and instead missed a ton of RRE. I also noted that it felt like there were way more NA questions than normal.

  Is this common to have a test that feels like such an out-liar to your norm?

  I'd say it is normal and wouldn't worry too much about it. The newer tests seem to have more RRE explain questions that many have claimed to be a bit more challenging than the older tests.

  You also have to account for your mindset when taking PTs. I haven't really taken many, but I know sometimes when I'm in a certain mindset it greatly affects how I do on RC especially. Not sure why, but if I'm antsy or it's the last section of a PT, I tend to do a bit worse.

  Also, from what I know PT78 RC wasn't exactly consider easy by many, so kudos on the -2! The fact that you scored what you're used to says a lot. The LSAT tends to balance out the sections, so if you have an extremely challenging RC then sometimes they seem to give you an easier games sections. So in a way, it makes sense.

  A few weeks back I took PT B just because. I thought the LR sections were pretty darn easy and even finished with a few minutes to spare. Then the games which I usually go -4/-6 on ended up killing me. In the end, I scored right around where I had during my last test. It seemed to all equal out.