Feb 2010, Too easy? Forum

[frankdevans]

I have a quandary I would like to float to the community and especially to the other people that took the LSAT in Feb. (last week). I honestly felt that the test was comparatively very easy. I had the LR/LG/LR/RC/LR test.

I am by no means one of these 180 geniuses. I prepped for about 3 months, got hardcore in the last 3 weeks. Total, I did PowerScore LG/LR Bibles and Nova's Master book (recommended from TLS, awesome book), along with 12 PTs (4 untimed, 2 @ 40 min/section, 2 @ 37 min/section, 4 at 35 min). I did pretty well with them, my average was hovering in the 168 range. I also usually finished the sections with about 1 min left (except for LG which I was always 3-4 questions under at time).

On the actual test though, I finished all sections (except LG) with 3-5 min left, and did not feel rushed in the slightest. I went back over all of the ones I was a bit sketch about, and still had time. On the LG section, I did the 4th section 3rd, and the 3rd section last (the one about the infomercial products and the presenters), and only had to guess on one question (which looking back I think I likely missed).

I wanted to know if anyone else thought this test was particularly easy? I've seen a couple posts about people that said they thought it was hard, and I hope so because the curve will be in my favor. Or, just maybe it happened to have a lot of the type of questions that I happen to be good at and I just got lucky (it would be the first time).

I guess we'll all find out in a week when that fateful email shows up in our inbox. I certainly hope that my score reflects how I felt on test day.

[HiLine]

Good thing you're confident about your performance on the test! Better yet if you achieved the score you desired!

[frankdevans]

I sincerely hope so, I hope that good feeling isn't an indicator that I missed something fundamental and thus score down.

[birD]

I had the LR/LG/LR/RC/LR test.

On the actual test though, I finished all sections (except LG) with 3-5 min left, and did not feel rushed in the slightest.

On the LG section, I did the 4th section 3rd, and the 3rd section last (the one about the infomercial products and the presenters), and only had to guess on one question (which looking back I think I likely missed

I had the same test as you (LR, LG, LR, RC, LR) and I also did the 3rd LG last and I am feeling the same exact way. I finished with time to spare on all sections except LG and I thought the whole test was surprisingly very easy. It's kind of freaking me out. Maybe we just got lucky with how our test sections were laid out and it somehow made it easier for us. Also I think we were smart to know to do the 3rd game last because it was the one most people got messed up with. I took the test last june and I came out feeling awful and I did pretty awful, this test I came out feeling really good and calm so I'm hoping I did well!!

[Bruiser]

I found the LR sections pretty easy, I think I had about 5 questions total that I had to read a few times and am still unsure of my answers. I had 2 LGs and spent too much time on the one, more complicated game in each instead of skipping it and going to the easier game (s). I don't think I did very well on the LG. The RC passages were pretty easy but a few of the questions were odd (or tricky for me).
I think I found the LR easier because I have done so much prep and done soooo many questions. I used the Bibles and once I thought I had games down, I focused on LR. So, the week before the test I reviewed the LR Bible, focusing on my weakest areas.
I think I either did really well on the LR or really bad. I am hoping for really well (obviously). I sure hope the 26th gets here quickly. I hope your good feeling is right also. Guess we'll find out soon enough.

[eudaimondaimon]

Where did you take the practice tests? I practiced both at home, where it was quiet and distraction-free, and at a coffee shop full of people talking. Contrary to what I expected, the ones I took at home I tended to finish more slowly than the ones I took around people.

Perhaps whatever test-day-stress you experienced had a positive effect instead of a negative one.

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Edit: I also had LR/LG/LR/RC/LR. I'm hoping the 2nd was the experimental, as it was right before the break and I *know* one of my answers was wrong on it. I caught it while reviewing and was about to erase and correct it when the proctor called time .

[birD]

the LSAT is such a mental test I feel like most people think that every real LSAT they take is impossible simply because they came into the test super stressed out and nervous and that messed them up. I think if you approached the test calm and stress free like I did you would see that the test really wasn't that hard. I don't want to sound like a bitch but I really think these people that think the test was impossible just psyched themselves out. Then again maybe I did awful I guess we have to wait and find out!

[frankdevans]

I had the LR/LG/LR/RC/LR test.

On the actual test though, I finished all sections (except LG) with 3-5 min left, and did not feel rushed in the slightest.

On the LG section, I did the 4th section 3rd, and the 3rd section last (the one about the infomercial products and the presenters), and only had to guess on one question (which looking back I think I likely missed

I had the same test as you (LR, LG, LR, RC, LR) and I also did the 3rd LG last and I am feeling the same exact way. I finished with time to spare on all sections except LG and I thought the whole test was surprisingly very easy. It's kind of freaking me out. Maybe we just got lucky with how our test sections were laid out and it somehow made it easier for us. Also I think we were smart to know to do the 3rd game last because it was the one most people got messed up with. I took the test last june and I came out feeling awful and I did pretty awful, this test I came out feeling really good and calm so I'm hoping I did well!!

When you find out your score post it, I'll do the same. We'll see if we're in the money.

[frankdevans]

Where did you take the practice tests?...

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Edit: I also had LR/LG/LR/RC/LR. I'm hoping the 2nd was the experimental, as it was right before the break and I *know* one of my answers was wrong on it. I caught it while reviewing and was about to erase and correct it when the proctor called time .

I took all my practice tests at home and made sure to be one of the last to check in so I would be seated near the front so there would be no one in front of me I could see.

I agree, I think that section 3 (2nd LR) was the experimental. I don't really think I did badly on it, it just seemed that section had a few questions that felt experimental in their form, but hindsight is always 20/20.

[frankdevans]

the LSAT is such a mental test I feel like most people think that every real LSAT they take is impossible simply because they came into the test super stressed out and nervous and that messed them up. I think if you approached the test calm and stress free like I did you would see that the test really wasn't that hard. I don't want to sound like a bitch but I really think these people that think the test was impossible just psyched themselves out. Then again maybe I did awful I guess we have to wait and find out!

I agree. I am usually notorious for my test anxiety even though once a test begins I usually calm down and do pretty well. However, I really never felt anxious during this one. In fact, I felt slightly more at ease than I did during most of my practice tests. I think part of this is the location I took the test was terrific. I took the test at the University of Oklahoma and I think essentially everything that could have been optimal was.

[birD]

I am usually notorious for my test anxiety even though once a test begins I usually calm down and do pretty well. However, I really never felt anxious during this one. In fact, I felt slightly more at ease than I did during most of my practice tests. I think part of this is the location I took the test was terrific. I took the test at the University of Oklahoma and I think essentially everything that could have been optimal was.

Same with me! Somehow I was totally calm and the place that I took it (northeastern) was amazing, much better than where I had taken it previously, (BU). I had taken a practice test at the northeastern library and checked out the location of the test the week before and I think that helped calm me down a lot.

Good Luck! waiting for my score is killinggg me

[tomwatts]

I said on test day and continue to believe that the test was pretty typical for an LSAT. It wasn't that it was especially easy or hard, just that the challenges it presented were the same as those on any other test. So it might've seemed easy just because if you do the right things you can achieve the score that you want. It might've seemed hard because the LSAT is a hard test all the time. But by comparison to the other tests from the past year, it was pretty much what you'd expect: not too easy, not too hard.

[existenz]

I would caution against overconfidence. Sure, maybe everyone scored 175+ but I find that highly unlikely. During PTs I remember doing sections where I felt like I killed it, only to check my answers and see 3 or 4 wrong.

I'm worried most about my LG performance. Something was off for me in the trails game, and I could easily see myself missing 5 or more after PTing with usually -0 or -1.

I felt good about LR, but I felt that way in Dec and missed a total of -7 on those sections. Hell, in Sept. I missed -12 on LR after thinking I only missed 4 or 5!

So no, I'll wait until I get my score before deciding if I kicked butt or not.

[thunder 85]

The test was similar enough to the december test that I think it wil be a -12 curve, even though we'll never actually know. -12 is rather difficult test by current standards. Much of that comes from the increasingly difficult RC passages chosen as well as the new LG pattern started with December's test. Without going into detail, the LG is time consuming and a lot of test takers panic when confronted with those question types.

If you feel confident I would say thats a good sign. Many people pace better on the actual test than practice exams because they are epecially focused. If you studied the December test I would also say you are in a good position.

However, the test was not "easy".

[HiLine]

There are actually no serious points in trying to speculate the score or estimate the difficulty of the test after the cancellation deadline. Be overconfident, moderately confident, or totally scared as you wish. It doesn't matter. Your score is determined already.

[iShotFirst]

I felt the same. I was a bit surprised when everyone was complaining about how hard it was after the test. The only weird thing is, I usually feel terrible about tests, papers, etc and end up doing well, but after this one I felt really good. I hope that isnt a bad sign!

[frankdevans]

There are actually no serious points in trying to speculate the score or estimate the difficulty of the test after the cancellation deadline. Be overconfident, moderately confident, or totally scared as you wish. It doesn't matter. Your score is determined already.

Oh, I know it is determined already. But since we have to wait, I figured it would be good to burn off some nervous energy while seeing what the pre-score pulse of some other test takers was.

[s0ph1e2007]

I think these disagreements over the difficulty of the test sometimes arise from what we expect of ourselves.
For instance, someone shooting for that 180 might have said that this test was 'difficult' but if they were only shooting for 175 would have said it was 'easy'.

But I definitely agree that so much of it is mental.
This was my first LSAT and I was almost sick on the way to the center the day before (when I went to scout it out) I was so nervous. So obviously, I got very little sleep and was both tired and full of anxiety on my first section, which was LG, and therefore found LG very difficult. I found the rest of the test very easy though so maybe you're right. Maybe it's just nerves and that's why I found LG particularly hard... although it does seem that quite a few people had this impressions as well.

So maybe it's a combination of LG was harder than usual and nerves play a huge role in how you do on your first couple sections.

[bakemono]

I think these disagreements over the difficulty of the test sometimes arise from what we expect of ourselves.
For instance, someone shooting for that 180 might have said that this test was 'difficult' but if they were only shooting for 175 would have said it was 'easy'.

But I definitely agree that so much of it is mental.
This was my first LSAT and I was almost sick on the way to the center the day before (when I went to scout it out) I was so nervous. So obviously, I got very little sleep and was both tired and full of anxiety on my first section, which was LG, and therefore found LG very difficult. I found the rest of the test very easy though so maybe you're right. Maybe it's just nerves and that's why I found LG particularly hard... although it does seem that quite a few people had this impressions as well.

So maybe it's a combination of LG was harder than usual and nerves play a huge role in how you do on your first couple sections.

truth. My friends and I were just talking during break, aiming for our 170, and some random dude joined in on the conversation and asked if we were really aiming for a 170, cause he's just aiming for a 155. Diff. expectations, diff. rules.

[tomwatts]

This is one thing that I'm supposed to think about when I work a new test for the first time (e.g. recently PT 58 and probably 59 soon). I'm supposed to think: how would this test have been for students going for a 175? How would this test have been for students going for a 165? How would this test have been for students going for a 155? Those are three totally different answers sometimes. After all, to get a 175, you have to work every question and get just about all of them right, so if there is a particularly tricky game or a particularly tricky reading passage, that can screw you up, but if you're going for a 155, you just have to work a little over half the questions, so all you care about is whether there are two easy games in the section that you can work in 17.5 minutes each (and then guess on everything else) — and the same on RC, and more or less the same on LR.

One way that this plays out is that I think that the games from the past year or two have been awful for the 150's crowd. Think of PT 41's last game (dresses on hangers) or PT 43's first game (civic parade with gymnasts and jugglers, etc.). These are the sorts of games that the 150's crowd thrives on. However, in the past year, that's been a problem. In PT 58, for example, the two easier games are the first and second, but questions 3, 5, and 12 throw all that to hell. For students who have serious conceptual problems with procedures on games (which is a reason that they're struggling to score in the 150's, usually), all three of those questions, especially 5, are worded in such a way as to screw up their whole process and they don't know what to do. Now, there's nothing unusual about these questions, and in a course, I will have taught them how to do these sorts of questions in the past. However, they're just struggling to handle questions like 7 and 8, which are far more common, and they don't remember how to handle less frequent questions. So, as a result, they find that even in the two easy games, they can't do some of the questions. The same has been true of pretty much every other test this past year (including February).

[februaryftw]

This is one thing that I'm supposed to think about when I work a new test for the first time (e.g. recently PT 58 and probably 59 soon). I'm supposed to think: how would this test have been for students going for a 175? How would this test have been for students going for a 165? How would this test have been for students going for a 155? Those are three totally different answers sometimes. After all, to get a 175, you have to work every question and get just about all of them right, so if there is a particularly tricky game or a particularly tricky reading passage, that can screw you up, but if you're going for a 155, you just have to work a little over half the questions, so all you care about is whether there are two easy games in the section that you can work in 17.5 minutes each (and then guess on everything else) — and the same on RC, and more or less the same on LR.

One way that this plays out is that I think that the games from the past year or two have been awful for the 150's crowd. Think of PT 41's last game (dresses on hangers) or PT 43's first game (civic parade with gymnasts and jugglers, etc.). These are the sorts of games that the 150's crowd thrives on. However, in the past year, that's been a problem. In PT 58, for example, the two easier games are the first and second, but questions 3, 5, and 12 throw all that to hell. For students who have serious conceptual problems with procedures on games (which is a reason that they're struggling to score in the 150's, usually), all three of those questions, especially 5, are worded in such a way as to screw up their whole process and they don't know what to do. Now, there's nothing unusual about these questions, and in a course, I will have taught them how to do these sorts of questions in the past. However, they're just struggling to handle questions like 7 and 8, which are far more common, and they don't remember how to handle less frequent questions. So, as a result, they find that even in the two easy games, they can't do some of the questions. The same has been true of pretty much every other test this past year (including February).

I definitely second this. A good example on the February exam was the first game; usually when there are throw away games, then game 1 is a gimme. In February, even if you caught the key inference and rules quickly (and avoided a key faulty inference!), they had a rare question type that doesn't come naturally to most test takers. I was fine on the games, but there was no game--like there are in the 40s--where I thought anyone who had 10 minutes could finish it.