What is the "curve?"

Comments

• LSATcantwin Alum Member Sage ⭐

  September 2017 edited September 2017 13286 karma

  How many questions you can miss to still receive a 170 on the test. For instance a -9 curve means you can only miss 9 questions to receive a 170, obviously the rest of the test is then structured around that.

  the less you can miss for a 170, the less you can miss for any score
• OlamHafuch Alum Member

  September 2017 edited September 2017 2326 karma

  @LSATcantwin said:
  the less you can miss for a 170, the less you can miss for any score

  Not necessarily true. You can have differences in the amount of misses to get 170 between two tests, but the amount of misses to get to, say, 157 are the same. You can take a look here:

  https://www.cambridgelsat.com/resources/data/consolidated-score-conversion-charts/
• TheMikey Alum Member

  September 2017 4196 karma

  the curve refers to how many you can get wrong for a 170.
• Nikkkkkkk Live Member

  September 2017 250 karma

  To clarify, a higher curve usually means the exam was more difficult, and a lower curve means it was easier, right? Or do I have it the other way around?
• 1 Like

  TheMikey Alum Member

  September 2017 4196 karma

  @Nikkkkkkk said:
  To clarify, a higher curve usually means the exam was more difficult, and a lower curve means it was easier, right? Or do I have it the other way around?

  yeah, that is what typically happens

  so a curve os -14 is assumed to be a test that is harder than a test with a -10 curve
• acsimon Alum Member

  September 2017 1269 karma

  @uhinberg said:

  @LSATcantwin said:

  >

  the less you can miss for a 170, the less you can miss for any score

  Not necessarily true. You can have differences in the amount of misses to get 170 between two tests, but the amount of misses to get to, say, 157 are the same. You can take a look here:

  https://www.cambridgelsat.com/resources/data/consolidated-score-conversion-charts/

  Yeah, but in all fairness I don't think that @LSATcantwin intended to claim that the curve for 170 always covaried with every score. The facts you cite are due to LSAC trying to maintain a certain distribution among scores for any given test population. Sometimes that requires putting the score for 157 at x for one test and and y for another (where x and y aren't identical), while having the score needed for 170 be identical for both tests. But the curve is a useful rule of thumb and is a "benchmark" score for a lot of testakers (even if it's not the score they're aiming for).
• 1 Like

  LSATcantwin Alum Member Sage ⭐

  September 2017 13286 karma

  @acsimon said:

  @uhinberg said:

  @LSATcantwin said:

  >

  the less you can miss for a 170, the less you can miss for any score

  Not necessarily true. You can have differences in the amount of misses to get 170 between two tests, but the amount of misses to get to, say, 157 are the same. You can take a look here:

  https://www.cambridgelsat.com/resources/data/consolidated-score-conversion-charts/

  Yeah, but in all fairness I don't think that @LSATcantwin intended to claim that the curve for 170 always covaried with every score. The facts you cite are due to LSAC trying to maintain a certain distribution among scores for any given test population. Sometimes that requires putting the score for 157 at x for one test and and y for another (where x and y aren't identical), while having the score needed for 170 be identical for both tests. But the curve is a useful rule of thumb and is a "benchmark" score for a lot of testakers (even if it's not the score they're aiming for).

  Yes, this is exactly what I meant. I just didn't say it very elegantly haha
• swish029 Member

  September 2017 15 karma

  I'm still confused lol let's say I get a 155 but the curve is -11 or something. What does this mean/do to my score? Examples would be helpful!!!
• LSATcantwin Alum Member Sage ⭐

  September 2017 edited September 2017 13286 karma

  @swish029

  https://www.powerscore.com/lsat/help/correct_targeted.cfm

  Use this and look at the different "missed" questions for each score. Hopefully this can help clear it up.