Taking a PT one section at a time Forum

[granger]

How legitimate do you consider scores from a PT you took one section at a time? I ask because I scored two points above my highest PT on PT58, and I do think I've progressed enough to justify the improvement, but it was my last PT I had and the test is Saturday, so I don't have anything to verify that. Obviously each section was timed, but when I sat down to take the test originally, something came up, and I've been busy since, so I've done one section a day.

I took the December test and endurance wasn't a problem. My last section was my strongest (though order was also a factor in that). But I also haven't taken a full PT since then -- I went through the LGB, most of the RCB, and took sections and sections worth of PTs, but I didn't have any PTs left in the 50s or high 40s to take other than 58. I've been doing much better on the individual sections than ever before, but I'd obviously more confident in these results if they came in the context of full PTs.

Thoughts?

[DannyBoy_07]

Interesting question.

If you feel like when you take a full PT, whether it be 4 or 5 sections, and feel fatigue set in, then your score may not be legititmate.

For me, I am totally used to the pacing, I can take the 4 section PT straight through, or take a 5 section with the break and yada yada.

In summary, if you feel like fatigue isn't an issue, then no I don't think it is a big deal. With that said, you shouldn't base your LSAT average around that score, but it is still telling.

[Perjury]

Your score is not legititmate, you have the luxury of prolonged mental rest between sections which is not afforded during the real battle.

[onthecusp]

During the real test, you will literally have 8-15 seconds between sections. It's a horrible idea to take PT's one section at a time. Unless your drilling individual sections, make an effort to take PT's under strict conditions.

[februaryftw]

When I moved from individual sections to full length practice tests, I started getting about 2-3 mistakes extra per whole test. I had zero problem with fatigue/endurance; what tripped me up was moving from section to section, which is an additional mental hurdle.

You mileage may vary, of course.

The way I eventually reduced those mistakes was by finishing my sections below time. I'll see if the strategy can be maintained on test day this Saturday. So the answer, I think, is it depends on too much to give a real answer. If you also finished your individual sections below time (e.g. 30 minutes), I would say they probably are closer to your real score than if they were 35 minutes all out for each section.