Skipping the experimental section? Forum

[lakers3peat]

I'll be straight honest with you---moral considerations aside---If your ballsy enough, by all means, there are ways you can cheat on the LSAT through the experimental section. Look ahead and see if the 4th or 5th section is logic games or reading comp. If one of them is, then if you see a repeated RC or LG in the first section, it's going to be the experimental. You can relax mentally, OR if you are even ballsier than that, flip back to an earlier section and work on questions you didnt finish/want to double check. Chances are that nobody around you will notice because they are too focused on the test themselves. You run the risk of the proctor spotting you--and I believe that is why every section says in big numbers 1. 2 3 etc. A proctor can easily spot a different number across your test booklet.

Is it guaranteed they will catch you? No.

Is there that chance? Yes.

Is it unethical? Probably.

Is it guaranteed to work? No. If your experimental is LR, then there's no way to tell on the face of things which one is experimental and odds are, since there are two LR's per test, that you will get an LR experimental. If they use the experimental for future tests, you have to assume that there are going to be twice as many experimental LRs. So you run the risk of flipping ahead and getting caught and having it not even be worth it.

Will it disqualify you from going to Law school? Probably not but they will throw out your exam and asterisk your account.

Would i risk doing it? No chance.


Do as you please. I'm going to try my best on all the sections because I'm prepared for whatever the LSAT has to throw at me. I'm not going to condone or condemn you for doing it though because I'm sure many others do it and frankly, if the LSAC didn't want people to have this opportunity to cheat, then they would take preventative measures like no experimental section or put the experimental in sections 4 or 5.

[Capitol A]

I would skip all three of the first three sections. You wouldn't want to accidentally waste your time on the experimental section.

TITCR. /thread

[Capitol A]

At least, at least 15% of your prep time should be spent developing the ability to determine which is the experimental section. This time will absolutely pay off with the reward of having an extra break that other people, who aren't properly prepped don't get the luxury of taking.

LOL. And how exactly should we be developing this ability? Taking the real LSAT multiple times?

If you need me to explain that then you have no chance of doing well on the LSAT anyway. Don't bother going to law school at all.

[boosk]

haha is this for real?

[rinkrat19]

At least, at least 15% of your prep time should be spent developing the ability to determine which is the experimental section. This time will absolutely pay off with the reward of having an extra break that other people, who aren't properly prepped don't get the luxury of taking.

LOL. And how exactly should we be developing this ability? Taking the real LSAT multiple times?

If you need me to explain that then you have no chance of doing well on the LSAT anyway. Don't bother going to law school at all.

And what stellar score did you get to be accepted to the hallowed halls of ASU?

[OhOkay]

haha is this for real?

lol, clearly not, we're all getting trolled

[Capitol A]

At least, at least 15% of your prep time should be spent developing the ability to determine which is the experimental section. This time will absolutely pay off with the reward of having an extra break that other people, who aren't properly prepped don't get the luxury of taking.

LOL. And how exactly should we be developing this ability? Taking the real LSAT multiple times?

If you need me to explain that then you have no chance of doing well on the LSAT anyway. Don't bother going to law school at all.

And what stellar score did you get to be accepted to the hallowed halls of ASU?

Are you super dumb? or just completely humorless? Just in case your answer to my first question is yes, I got a 165.
ASU is the top ranked law school in a growing state, and is the only law school in one of the largest cities in the Country.

[BackToTheOldHouse]

I would skip all three of the first three sections. You wouldn't want to accidentally waste your time on the experimental section.

TITCR. /thread

TITCR

[Tainted_Praise]

This can't be real life....

[youknowryan]

Since your experimental will be a real section next time, and your real sections were all experimental sections on a past test, this is an idiotic statement to make. You can't just "tell" which section is experimental.

Not all experimental sections/questions make the cut. There would be no need to include them if they were already known to be "real section" quality. They presumably test for something that varies, and you might be able to identify outliers.

That said, I had two RC passages before the break and was positive I knew which one was fake. I was wrong.

At least, at least 15% of your prep time should be spent developing the ability to determine which is the experimental section. This time will absolutely pay off with the reward of having an extra break that other people, who aren't properly prepped don't get the luxury of taking.

How does one study as you suggest? What is the process? Please explain. I am very curious.

[JamMasterJ]

Are you super dumb? or just completely humorless? Just in case your answer to my first question is yes, I got a 165.
ASU is the top ranked law school in a growing state, and is the only law school in one of the largest cities in the Country.

I'm retaking a higher score than 165 and I have no idea how to tell which is experimental, so...?

[Paraflam]

At least, at least 15% of your prep time should be spent developing the ability to determine which is the experimental section. This time will absolutely pay off with the reward of having an extra break that other people, who aren't properly prepped don't get the luxury of taking.

How does one study as you suggest? What is the process? Please explain. I am very curious.

He was kidding, you tools.

[westinghouse60]

What you're going to want to do is dexterously drop your test book in such a way that it "accidentally" opens up to one of the last sections. If you're caught, just say it was an accident. Its fool proof.

/Sarcasm

[clay7676]

why would the test makers purposefully put the expiremental sections in the last two sections..? And how does anyone know that that is the case? Seems odd to me.

[Jeffort]

why would the test makers purposefully put the expiremental sections in the last two sections..? And how does anyone know that that is the case? Seems odd to me.

LSAC decided to start occasionally placing the experimental section after the break. Why? you'd have to ask them but I suspect one big reason is to make it harder for people to figure out which section is experimental until after scores are released.

So far there have been two recent administrations where regular test takers had the experimental section after the break instead of within the first three sections. It's been verified that it happened, it is not a rumor.

Treat all sections as if they are real on test day and forget that one of them doesn't count.
/thread

[Clearly]

yeah, experimental does not have to be in the first three, in an october test recently it was section four for many people, I wanna say Oct 2010?

[neprep]

yeah, experimental does not have to be in the first three, in an october test recently it was section four for many people, I wanna say Oct 2010?

This. Too risky.

Also being able to "just tell" which questions are experimental-y is quite the skill: perhaps the LSAC should just hire someone with this superpower so it doesn't have to have an experimental section in the first place. Just have this person go through the item pool and knock out answers s/he thinks are "off." Top notch psychometrics right there.

[guano]

Great Necro

When I took the test, I'm pretty sure section 4 was experimental.

[ScottRiqui]

Great Necro

When I took the test, I'm pretty sure section 4 was experimental.

You would have known for certain after the scores were released, right? Section 4 was experimental for me in June 2013.

[guano]

Great Necro

When I took the test, I'm pretty sure section 4 was experimental.

You would have known for certain after the scores were released, right? Section 4 was experimental for me in June 2013.

I haven't looked in a while, which is why I'm not 100% sure.

I do remember that my test had 3 LR sections and that I noticed that some questions weren't as polished as the other sections, which made me suspect it was the experimental section, and that my suspicions were confirmed when I got the results.

[jk148706]

Wait wwuuuuut?? Thin thread. Just...

[bbkk]

I would skip all three of the first three sections. You wouldn't want to accidentally waste your time on the experimental section.

TITCR. /thread

TITCR

This. Haha.

[rinkrat19]

Great Necro

When I took the test, I'm pretty sure section 4 was experimental.

You would have known for certain after the scores were released, right? Section 4 was experimental for me in June 2013.

I haven't looked in a while, which is why I'm not 100% sure.

I do remember that my test had 3 LR sections and that I noticed that some questions weren't as polished as the other sections, which made me suspect it was the experimental section, and that my suspicions were confirmed when I got the results.

Hello confirmation bias.
The experimental isn't "polished" between the time it's used as an experimental and the time it's used as a real section. Otherwise the scores they get from it when people take it experimentally wouldn't be valid for creating the "curve" later.

[JamMasterJ]

yeah, experimental does not have to be in the first three, in an october test recently it was section four for many people, I wanna say Oct 2010?

2011. I took that test

[objection_your_honor]

The experimental section could be any section of the test. It used to be one of the first three, but LSAC has since started mixing experimentals towards the end.

You will not be able to identify the experimental section from the graded sections, so there is no way to reliably skip it.