Page 1 of 1

experimental question for those who took lsat already

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2011 11:14 pm
by senorhosh
Are experimentals noticeably different than actual sections? Are they "harder" or "easier"?
I'm worried the experimental might be so different it might throw me off..

Also, are experimental section randomly picked out of RC, LR, LG (equal chance of each section)?

Thanks

Re: experimental question for those who took lsat already

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 1:50 am
by horrorbusiness
what you're saying doesn't even make sense. if the experimental was much harder or much easier than everything else, why would that throw you off? you'd just ignore it that section - you'd tell it was the experimental and wouldn't care how you did on it since it's not scored.

edit: yes, even chance of lg/lr/rc.

Re: experimental question for those who took lsat already

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 1:56 am
by rowingmyboat
Personally, I couldn't tell a difference. But I was going through it quickly, so maybe there were differences I didn't pick up on. They are experts on making LSAT questions though so I don't know why they would deviate from their way of writing them enough to be noticable.

The experimental has always been in the first three sections though. So if you went against the instructions and looked at the last sections, you could figure it out. If caught, there would be bad consequences.

Even if you did find out thought, I don't know what you'd do with yourself for the thirty-five minutes. Might as well just do it.

Re: experimental question for those who took lsat already

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 2:03 am
by AffordablePrep
My experimental was a reading comp that had a passage comparing dolphin and dog iq's. I found it fascinating, and would have read that in my personal time. Too good to be graded.

Re: experimental question for those who took lsat already

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 2:35 am
by Tiago Splitter
Your experimental will show up as a future real section. All of the real sections you will end up doing were once experimentals. HTH

Re: experimental question for those who took lsat already

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 2:37 am
by Moomoo2u
mine was LG on the first LSAT and LR on the second. The only thing to worry about it getting the section you're least good at as I could see how that might throw you off.

But as the 2nd poster said, it's not noticeably different from the other sections, otherwise it would defeat the purpose.

Re: experimental question for those who took lsat already

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2011 3:14 am
by Redzo
My experimental section was RC and it was the only section on the test that I didn't feel very confident about afterward; it had some very tricky questions and it felt kind of "off" and I was already suspecting that it was the experimental section before I ever found out.

Re: experimental question for those who took lsat already

Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 11:17 am
by bp shinners
Personally, I found the experimental section on my test to be significantly 'harder', in that I felt many of the questions were poorly worded (logical reasoning). I almost canceled my score until I found out it was experimental.

So long story short, if you have a single section that feels harder, just shake it off as the experimental section and keep on trucking.

Re: experimental question for those who took lsat already

Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 11:34 am
by rinkrat19
Tiago Splitter wrote:Your experimental will show up as a future real section. All of the real sections you will end up doing were once experimentals. HTH
+100
People seem to have a really hard time comprehending this.

The "curve" (which is not really a curve) of your test is determined by the scores people got when they had it as experimental sections on their real test. The score you get on your experimental section is not disclosed, and will be used to determine the "curve" on a future test made up of the experimental sections from your administration.

If you think you can identify which section is experimental just by difficulty or style or whatever, you're wrong.

Re: experimental question for those who took lsat already

Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 2:37 pm
by mattviphky
on my first one i have no idea, on my second lsat it was def an lg section cause it was toooo easy

Re: experimental question for those who took lsat already

Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 2:41 pm
by Tiago Splitter
mattviphky wrote:on my first one i have no idea, on my second lsat it was def an lg section cause it was toooo easy
rinkrat19 wrote:The "curve" (which is not really a curve) of your test is determined by the scores people got when they had it as experimental sections on their real test. The score you get on your experimental section is not disclosed, and will be used to determine the "curve" on a future test made up of the experimental sections from your administration.

If you think you can identify which section is experimental just by difficulty or style or whatever, you're wrong.

Re: experimental question for those who took lsat already

Posted: Fri Sep 16, 2011 3:04 pm
by polaris769
My LSAT had an insane experimental LG. That experimental cost me a minute or so on the next section when I initially had trouble focusing because I was thinking of cancelling the LSAT. Persevered and ended up with a 170.