Just took PT61 and discouraged... Forum

[xqhp82]

So that was my last PT before saturday, and I scored the lowest ever since I revisited LSAT after the October test, which, ironically, was the same as my real score (163). I took the Oct test in an overseas center so the PT was completely fresh for me. I struggled a lot in the last RC passage (got a -4 from that passage alone), didn't get -0 for LG, and I was surprised by the -7 in LR1. I thought LR was quite easy when I took it

Anyone having the same problem as me?

I really don't look forward to getting the same score after all the hard work, I just want to get 3 points higher arghhH!!

[icouldbuyu]

So that was my last PT before saturday, and I scored the lowest ever since I revisited LSAT after the October test, which, ironically, was the same as my real score (163). I took the Oct test in an overseas center so the PT was completely fresh for me. I struggled a lot in the last RC passage (got a -4 from that passage alone), didn't get -0 for LG, and I was surprised by the -7 in LR1. I thought LR was quite easy when I took it

Anyone having the same problem as me?

I really don't look forward to getting the same score after all the hard work, I just want to get 3 points higher arghhH!!

I'd do one more PT, take a test that you have already taken and scored well on. It's good to go into the test with a positive mindset. It worked for me on the real thing. Best of Luck.

[RedItalus10]

This EXACT same thing happened to me for the Oct. test. I was scoring 166-177 consistently for two weeks before and then hit a 162 the Wednesday before on PT60. I did not take another PT. I just put the 162 behind me and continued on with my plan. Reviewed/studying Thursday, did nothing Friday (except for get a massage, which i highly recommend for relaxation) and I scored a 166 on Saturday. Don't let one bad test upset your mental confidence. Another thing that reassured me was that when I did have a drop in score in the past it never happened twice in a row. Consider it a good thing that this was just a PRACTICE test and not the real thing. GOOD LUCK on Saturday!

[xqhp82]

Glad to know that someone had the same experience! RedItalus10, are you settling with your 166? Coz you've scored really high in your PTs. I'm scoring 163-168 for new tests and 173-177 for the ones I did before...so I'm not sure what to expect.

I'll surely do more practice tomorrow and probably half day on Friday, at this point should I spend any more time on drilling RC or should I just work on LR as much as possible?

[SchopenhauerFTW]

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[croggs]

Everything I read suggested that LR was pretty standard, but I did extremely poor on logical reasoning on the Oct exam as well. I got -7 and -7 (and I average around -4). I reviewed logical reasoning hard for about a month and retook the sections without ever reviewing what answers I had wrong in the first place, and I got a combined -7(-2 and -5). I found the LR to be tricky too on test day (it probably didn't help that I had RC,RC,LR to start). But, I wouldn't fret. Just because you had one bad score, it isn't a indicator of how well you know the material. I'm sure you would, on average, score better now than you did in October. Just review what you did wrong, and make sure you understand where you went wrong in your thought process.

By the way, if 163 is your low, you are on the average better than I am at the LSAT (I'm averaging about 166 now, but I got a 164 on the October), so you don't have to take my advice to heart as much as these LSAT gurus. However, 1 test is such a small sample size, just focus on how to get the answers right the next time there is a similar problem. Don't dwell on doing poorly on one test.

[lakers3peat]

Here is my break down of PT 61 as I just took it today also...


RC1-Very easy, Got question #1 wrong which is very embarrassing because its probably the easiest question on the entire exam. I thought I was being smart and thinking of "purely programmatic" in too abstract of terms when I should have just gone with what I thought was the right answer.

RC2-Easy passage to understand but the answers were relatively tough for me to find. #11 really stumped me, I could not choose between B & C for the life of me; I also thought E was tempting but too strong of wording.
#12-I have no idea how I never recognized that the painting the entire passage was referencing was a complete forgery and not a copy of the other guys work so I never even considered the CR(E). Felt pretty stupid after reading the first couple sentences again
RC3-Skipped over at first then came back; not too bad, got lucky on a few guesses at the last minute(actually really lucky- ran out of time and guessed 2/4 right)

RC4-pretty tough passage but I counted the # of questions, saw it was 8, so I spent a lot of time on this one(hence me running out of time)
Only hard question I thought was #27 which I got wrong.

I'd recommend doing this if you are the type of person who runs out of time.. . Better to read and completely understand the passage with 8 questions then the one with 5.


First LR section: I missed 5,17, 23, 24; 5 and 17 are really easy and shouldn't have been missed; 23 and 24 are pretty hard.. I don't see myself getting these right and still being able to finish the entire section on time. I'd settle with -2 though. Which ones did you have problems on?

LG1-My diagram was absolute shit, if you have a good one or a suggestion, I'd be interested to see how you set it up--this took me about 9/10 minutes which is too long.
LG2-Got #9 wrong because I couldn't figure out for the life of me what must be second. I eliminated D and E right off the bat then freaked out because my watch was showing 15 minutes left and I was on game 2 still. So I guessed(wrongly) and moved on(I finished the other two questions already though).
LG3-Thought this one was a little tough but I rushed through it and managed -2.
LG4-Probably the most time consuming of them but easily solvable got -2 here due to rushing.

My plan is to definitely practice some more games/passages tomorrow to work on my timing a little more then at night review over some of the LR questions I've gotten wrong and written out explanations for just to refresh my memory on certain concepts I've glossed over and what not. Personally, I do not think taking another practice test will do anything other then make me/you too tired to study more important things. Everyone has their bad days man, you have to just shrug it off. This one was one of my lower scoring tests also and this could definitely happen on Saturday, but like I realized on the second LR section, if you get down on yourself, you will beat your score into the dirt. I was pretty upset that I couldn't get through all the games quick enough and I had already thrown in the towel before LR2 and ended up sucking hard on it(so hard I don't even want to break it down haha) The point being shrug off the score and move on.

Also, I don't know about you, but I wasn't too happy at the type of games that were on this one. They weren't my good ones =\

[emjay]

Same EXACT experience as you had. I took an undisclosed test in October, then took PT 61 today and bombed it, scored 7 points lower than my average.

I guess we need to just put it behind us and focus on the real thing, I think we'll be OK.

[EvanC]

Started doing my Bibles work earlier last week. Took PT57 essentially cold after about 9 months with practicing and got a 151 after quitting after five LG questions. Took a 2003 PT the other day and got a 161, took PT56 yesterday and got a 164, took PT61 today and got a 166. Wish I started a couple weeks earlier, I'd be up to 170+ by now. :/

My advice on LR and RC is simple. Seriously take a deep breath, exhale, and make everything slow down. I did it and finished all LR and RC early, just -3 on RC. -8 on LG I think. Would have had 169 if it weren't for those stupid games. I want this 170... bad.

[xqhp82]

Hey guys, thanks for the input, I am almost finished reviewing this test now and just want to point out some things I didn't do well on.

My breakdown for this test is RC:-8, LR:-7, LG:-3, LR:-3, Exp. RC: -8

Yea, my RC has always been that bad I never hope to raise my score by improving RC, I think there is just something about me reading long passages, probably because English is not my first language. I got 4 wrong from the last passage, -2 from the first and -2 from the second. I ran out of time working on the first one hence the -2 from a relatively easy passage. And Oh, I missed that #12 as well, never realised the forgery is not a complete replicate of an original work of art. Luckily that didn't affect the overall understanding of the passage. Also I still have problem understanding #23 - can someone help me here?

I am really really scared about RC, I freak out every time I reach the RC section, and lose my heartbeat everytime I encounter a difficult passage. Although I rarely run out of time during my PTs, I was seriously rushed during my October test because the 8-question passage was too difficult and I ended up guessing 4-5 questions. That really destroyed my confidence as well. I tried to pace myself, roughly a 10-9-7-7minute split, but that doesn't really work out well in the real thing. Any better strategies?

For LR in this test, I figured that most questions aren't really that difficult, I was just being careless. I came down to two possible answers and always ended up choosing the wrong one. I think for the remaining time I will do as many questions as possible from the 'Cambridge most difficult LR questions' packet.

On the Oct test, I also ran out of time for LR and guessed 4 questions. It was really atypical for me, I usually finish with 1-2 minute spare. I found the LR sections in my test extremely difficult, I'd like to revisit them but sadly my test is nondisclosed.

As for LG, I agree with laker3peat that I don't like the games in PT61 very much. LG is my best section and usually I could finish with 5 minutes left. But I took the entire 35 mins and still got 3 wrong.
For Game #1 I don't have a particular helpful diagram, but I think it is helpful to note that either F or G must be one of the drivers, and there can be 3-3 or 2-4 split. Other than that I was literally trying every answer choice. The same goes for game #2 and game #4. They are so time-consuming arent they!

Now I only wish I can nail the LG section in the real deal and do my best for LR!
My ideal breakdown = LG-0 LR-3 LR-3 RC-7 (a -11/-12 curve)

Edit: if someone can explain LR2 #23 as well that'd be fab!

[EvanC]

I seriously recommend making yourself take a 5-10 seconds to breathe deep on the RC. Read slowly and fully comprehend what it is saying - its better to read slowly and grasp what the passage is about than traverse back through after already having read it.

Also, I have a final now, but when I get back I'll come in with my copy of the test and see what I can do to help on some of the Qs.