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So, here's my problem: I was doing fine on the older practice tests, with scores of 170+ and regularly perfect sections on RC and LR. And I thought, "The new ones can't really be that much harder. Besides, I'm rocking these sections now, so after I read the LRB I'm sure I'll do even better." The PTs I've taken in the past week (from the late 40s) have proved me very, very wrong. I'm now averaging in the mid-160s, which simply doesn't cut it (I need the LSAT to make up for my weak GPA of 3.4). My LG sections are strong (regularly getting -0), my RC sections are weak (3-5 missed), but it's LR that is destroying me. I keep falling for trap answers because I'm not reading closely enough. I'm going to read through the LRB again today, but I'm doubtful that will help; my mistakes seem to be from carelessness rather than lack of comprehension. When I go back to review the tests, the correct answer immediately jumps out at me and I'm surprised that I chose such an obviously wrong answer.

I know that making up those points within the next three weeks is unlikely. I'll stay registered for the test in October in case my score miraculously jumps up but will plan to take it in December (even though applying that late is going to hurt my admission chances). What I'm concerned about is how I should manage the use of these problematic LR sections from the new tests (I haven't touched 50-60). Should I break them down into sections? Take them as PTs before going over them multiple times? Save them for December? Help!

I've had the same problems with selecting dumb A/C's...really, what seems to have made the difference for me is just being more awake. Sleeping at least 8 hours, eating some decent food, etc. If you're testing at a different time of day/under different circumstances than you previously were, that may be part of your problem.

Otherwise...I don't think the LR is noticeably harder, but it is definitely different. For example, more recent tests will use parallelism questions in which the credited response is logically equivalent to, but differently ordered than, the stimulus. Older tests usually stick with parallel logic and structure. Adjusting to the new techniques the testmakers are using may just be a matter of taking a little more time...although the sections haven't seemed harder per se (and my scores have been steady on LR, if not better), my extra time has decreased from 10-15 minutes on tests in the 30's to ~5 minutes on tests in the 50's. Try adjusting your pace to accommodate reading all the A/C's.