does anyone else feel completely unsure of their score? Forum

[rsophia]

Hey TLS! I've been a lurker on this site for a while now and finally had a decent enough question to ask so I decided to join.

I just took the June LSAT and right up until a few days ago I was fine. Granted, I spent most of it on vacation and now I'm back to job hunting and interning so it could be added stress BUT I suddenly feel like I have NO idea how I scored and it's freaking me out. I'm prepared for whatever my score ends up being but I'm getting paranoid!

Anyone else have this at all?

[imbored25]

yea, b/c of the reading section i have no idea

[TheFutureLawyer]

I've felt unsure about every test I've ever taken in my entire life. I've usually come out okay somehow.

[pkrtbx]

Yes, at this point I feel that there are equal chances that I will open the e-mail and see a 167 or a 174.

[NCB166]

yea, b/c of the reading section i have no idea

Yes, this. I'm somebody who is pretty consistent (my last twelve practice tests were all between 163 and 168), but I could legitimately see anything from -4 to -15 on that reading section, depending if I understood the sea floor passage and the Kate Chopin passage. I didn't expect to be stressed out while waiting for the score, but here I am posting on a law school forum because I am so nervous about my score.

[beachbum]

It's normal. I was wavering on my score prediction for quite a while before scores were released, until I finally convinced myself that I had drastically underperformed (thanks to a blown logic game). I prepared for the worst when I received the notification e-mail, but I ended up hitting my PT average on the nose, and then later getting accepted into my top choice school. So... well, there ya go. Try not to think about it too much; scores will be released soon, and then you can take it from there.

[rsophia]

i'm glad i'm not alone! Good advice though. I'm always prepared for a plan B and I'm confident things always work out. hitting your exact PT score? that would be so awesome. Honestly, my last few test scores were hitting 161-165 and i'd be happy with 160 +/- 3. I'm impressed by all these 165+'s you all seem to have going on!

However, i'll still be using my "stress over my lsat score" to persuade my friends to buy me drinks at the bars tonight haha

[Finalflash013]

Yeah, it could go either way. I thought I bombed the December 2010 one, but I ended up with a 160. (Still a bit worse than my PTs but I'm not too worried about that.) For this one I came out feeling confident, but I could see myself doing less than my expectations because of that RC.

[vissidarte27]

I have no idea. No freaking clue. Some moments, I'm worried that I scored lower than my 163 in February and others I think I got a 174 or something.

Honestly, I felt really good about the test right afterwards. It wasn't until I got on TLS and saw everyone freaking about the reading (which I didn't think was that hard) that I got worried, wondering if I missed something massive.

We'll see pretty soon, I guess.

[apeopleshistory]

.

[3v3ryth1ng]

I felt so shitty right after the test because of that RC. When I was taking it, I could literally feel my dream of attending a TLS "melting." Then I took out a calculator and asked myself honestly, "what's WORST and BEST I could have done on each section?" At worst I could have scored a 160 (which I can live with, somehow), and at best I scored a 168 (which I would be very happy with). I probably didn't do as bad or as good as I could have possibly done, so my score will probably be around 164, my recent PT average. Therefore I decided to keep my score.

And that's how I stopped worrying about my score. Even if I'm wrong, it's pretty nice not to walk around with nagging doubts.

[yngblkgifted]

It is extremely normal. I was literally "shell-shocked" after the test and didn't remember a single question. I was completely in the dark and I assumed that I did terribly. I ended up scoring a little below my PT average but higher than I expected. It was enough to get me into my top choice. Just try to relax.

[Yeshia90]

My PT range was 169-179. My biggest cluster was 171-174.

I could score anywhere from 165 to 175 on this. I have zero feel for it.

[mattviphky]

No flippin idea. PT range was 162-167, but I think this might have been more like 159-164....probably on the lower end of the spectrum. the more i wait the worse i think i did, right now a 162 would make me happy.

[Ernert]

I was feeling awesome on the test until RC, like a lock for 170+, but then RC came and I have no idea on the last two passages... I have never had to re-read a passage so many times as that freaking sea floors one, and then was pretty rushed for time on the last passage as a result.

Basically like several of the above, I'm feeling anything between 165-175 seems feasible... and at some point in the last three weeks I've rationalized every one of those scores.

But at this point, there's not much to be done other than to wait... either 1) score will rock, LS admissions success, 2) score will be bad, retake.

[zakohl]

No idea. It doesn't help that a tornado hit my house two weeks before the test. My PT average went from 167-172 before the tornado, to 161 to 166 after.

[omninode]

Yes, that RC was an unpleasant surprise for me as well. I have never ever had trouble with the RC before. Somehow, this one seemed insanely difficult. Of course, if it was difficult for everyone, that could affect the curve enough to eliminate any difference.

[rht82688]

No idea. It doesn't help that a tornado hit my house two weeks before the test. My PT average went from 167-172 before the tornado, to 161 to 166 after.

How in the world does a tornado reduce your PT average by some 6 points?

[zakohl]

It becomes a little harder to maintain confidence and control your emotions for testing after an incident like that.

[KevinP]

Yes, that RC was an unpleasant surprise for me as well. I have never ever had trouble with the RC before. Somehow, this one seemed insanely difficult. Of course, if it was difficult for everyone, that could affect the curve enough to eliminate any difference.

Just pointing that that the test isn't technically a graded on a "curve". The "curve" is preset through a statistical process known as equating so how people performed on the actual exam won't affect the curve.*

*The only time it'll make a difference is if one the questions on the test produces a distribution that is so skewed from the expected distribution that LSAC will throw that question out.

[fltanglab]

No idea. It doesn't help that a tornado hit my house two weeks before the test. My PT average went from 167-172 before the tornado, to 161 to 166 after.

How in the world does a tornado reduce your PT average by some 6 points?

That's a pretty severe trauma...

[gggrra]

Yes, that RC was an unpleasant surprise for me as well. I have never ever had trouble with the RC before. Somehow, this one seemed insanely difficult. Of course, if it was difficult for everyone, that could affect the curve enough to eliminate any difference.

Just pointing that that the test isn't technically a graded on a "curve". The "curve" is preset through a statistical process known as equating so how people performed on the actual exam won't affect the curve.*

*The only time it'll make a difference is if one the questions on the test produces a distribution that is so skewed from the expected distribution that LSAC will throw that question out.

But how previous test takers performed could affect the equated curve, assuming that the sample of test takers in June is not significantly different than that of other test administrations (namely the one(s) for which this RC was experimental). In this case, it could be that previous takers also struggled with this RC, which would affect the "curve".

at least, that's what I'm hoping

[Bildungsroman]

Nah, everybody but you knows exactly what score they'll be getting.

[KevinP]

Yes, that RC was an unpleasant surprise for me as well. I have never ever had trouble with the RC before. Somehow, this one seemed insanely difficult. Of course, if it was difficult for everyone, that could affect the curve enough to eliminate any difference.

Just pointing that that the test isn't technically a graded on a "curve". The "curve" is preset through a statistical process known as equating so how people performed on the actual exam won't affect the curve.*

*The only time it'll make a difference is if one the questions on the test produces a distribution that is so skewed from the expected distribution that LSAC will throw that question out.

But how previous test takers performed could affect the equated curve, assuming that the sample of test takers in June is not significantly different than that of other test administrations (namely the one(s) for which this RC was experimental). In this case, it could be that previous takers also struggled with this RC, which would affect the "curve".

at least, that's what I'm hoping

Of course, that's my point exactly. I just meant to point out that when he referred to everyone, that everyone didn't include the current test takers.

[tng11]

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