Hi all,
I am studying for the October 2012 LSAT.
I have already gone through powerscore LG and LR bibles, and I am currently doing every released LSAT PT's in chronological order under strictly timed conditions.
However, I was wondering if I should add a dummy section on each PT that I do. Is this really helpful? Any advice? Should I add real LSAT PT as a dummy section?
Please help.
Any advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Yes. Use older PTs to pull sections from. Occasionally do 6 section tests because it's the only way you can build up concentration that lasts for 4 hours.

Some people do well even without the dummy section.

Put it in if you have time. It may be pretty helpful, but it is not necessary.

It's a lot more important at this stage to just concentrate on individual sections making sure you understand all the concepts involved. I usually took 4 section tests and on a few occasions, two tests (8 sections) in one sitting with a 10 minute break at halftime.

After taking this past June test, working on endurance wasn't really worth it. The adrenaline I had on test day was enough to work through three full tests back to back.

Unless you have a really hard time staying focused throughout four, you might want to try adding a section. In my opinion it's much better to take it by section, going over mistakes thoroughly or taking a four section test with review. Both of those usually works out really well with a high focus on mistakes and why you're making them.

HTH

If you have a glaring weakness, use whatever section you suck the most at.

I never bothered. I could see it being useful, though, if mental stamina is something you think you need to work on.

I always thought it would be too much work to sneak one in in a way that wouldn't make it glaringly obvious which was the dummy.

I tried a couple, but it made no difference to me whether it was a 4 or 5 section test. With all the adrenaline I had going during test day, I feel like I could have taken an 8 section test before my brain really started to hurt. I think it all depends on your current stamina level. My tests in UG seemed to prepare me well to be mentally taxed for hours at a time. If yours didn't, then by all means, use an extra section.

Yes, also you need a way to keep it secret from yourself which is the dummy section

You don't have to fool yourself. Just grade it with the other sections, obviously it won't effect your final curve, but you should grade the section anyway to see how you did. If you scored a 174 but went -8 in the experimental, you shouldn't feel good about your 174!