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Hey guys this is my first time posting and I had a question regarding how previous test takers (of the official LSAT) felt after taking the exam vs. how they actually performed.

This will be a big help since I'm currently stressing over whether or not I should keep or cancel my December 2011 LSAT.

LG 1st section: Not too bad. Answered everything with time towards the end.
LR 2nd section: Towards q. 18 got nervous. Forced myself to think about the questions and answer but I'm sure I missed a couple.
LG 3rd section: Possibly experimental.

BREAK

RC 4th section: Answered everything. Passages were ok but definitely missed prob 2 to 3.
LR 5th section: Much better than the first LR. Pretty sure I got at least two wrong though.

I only want to keep it if I have a good chance of getting at least a 170. If not, I'm faxing them the form by 8 pm PST.
Thanks!

When I took the tests I received scores that were in the lower bracket of my expected scores. However my results were quite unpredictable, my strongest section which was games turned out to be my weakest on all tests. My advice is to wait it out and see what you get. Even if you score in the 160's you can retake.

Thanks for the reply!

Did you feel confident with the exam afterwards? I'm thinking if I did keep this score then I'll have a standard to compare future test taking confidence vs performance and I'll have a cancellation for leverage.

Otherwise, I'll have to keep any test I take in the future but I have the chance of scoring higher.

Also, after the two year period are your scores still on record or does that simply mean you can take more exams (not something I plan on doing. Just wondering).

I think it depends on how well you know your own performance. When I walked out of the test I was sure I got between a 169 and a 172, and I ended up with a 171.

If you've taken a lot of practice tests and know what you feel like after you receive certain practice scores, I would say trust your gut on how you felt after this test. You seem to have a pretty good sense of about how many you may have missed, I would just compare this to recent curves and make the best guess you can about your chances of having gotten at least a 170.

Good luck, I hope it works out for you!

ampm wrote:Thanks for the reply!

Did you feel confident with the exam afterwards? I'm thinking if I did keep this score then I'll have a standard to compare future test taking confidence vs performance and I'll have a cancellation for leverage.

Otherwise, I'll have to keep any test I take in the future but I have the chance of scoring higher.

Also, after the two year period are your scores still on record or does that simply mean you can take more exams (not something I plan on doing. Just wondering).

Your scores stay on record for 5 years, but i do know some schools only accept scores that are at most 4 years old. Regarding my last exam, I walked out confidently thinking I scored anywhere from a 170 to a 180. As soon as I walked out I knew I got two questions wrong in games when I realized I made a mistake with a rule. Somehow I managed to get another two silly mistakes in games but I made up for the mistakes by doing in upper range for me on LR and RC. I got a total of 2 wrong on lr where I averaged 3 in practice and I received 3 wrong in RC, which was also my average. Anyway I think you should keep your score and analyze how you did, retake if you aren't satisfied. When I retook I felt much more relaxed and knew what to expect on the actual test day and did my closer to my practice average.

1- LR. Smoked it
2- LG. Thought it went well, though pretty slowly
3- LR. Got out of my rhythm, but it seemed ok.
4- LR. Thought it was kinda tough, but not terrible
5- RC. Went OK, but could've ranged from -2 to -7
Overall, thought I got 171-177

Ended up missing two on LG, one on the third LR, and 3 on RC. -6 for a 176

JamMasterJ wrote:1- LR. Smoked it
2- LG. Thought it went well, though pretty slowly
3- LR. Got out of my rhythm, but it seemed ok.
4- LR. Thought it was kinda tough, but not terrible
5- RC. Went OK, but could've ranged from -2 to -7
Overall, thought I got 171-177

Ended up missing two on LG, one on the third LR, and 3 on RC. -6 for a 176

Lol, this is so similar to my results. I did the same on second lr and reading comp, but also made a mistake in first lr and got a minus 4 in games. I just looked at your profile and we also have the same GPA, same major and I also have one year of work experience. Also I got waitlisted at Duke two days before you. Anyway, good luck with the rest of your cycle and the ED to Chicago!

LR1- Smoked it
LG2- Knew I missed 1
LR2- Smoked it
LR3- Thought -2 at most
RC- Worried. Bad at predicting my RC scores. Thought between -0 and -5.

Ended up missing 1 on LG, 1 on LR3, and 1 on RC.

Right after exam - I felt awful because of one section that I bombed and thought about cancelling my score.
Day after exam - Found out the section I thought I bombed was the experimental; did some cartwheels in my front yard.
Score day - Scored a few points higher than I though I would.

American_in_China wrote:LR1- Smoked it
LG2- Knew I missed 1
LR2- Smoked it
LR3- Thought -2 at most
RC- Worried. Bad at predicting my RC scores. Thought between -0 and -5.

Ended up missing 1 on LG, 1 on LR3, and 1 on RC.

wow, I never found out how well you did after the waiting thread turned to shit. Congrats

IMO, you should never cancel unless you got violently ill or didn't bubble a whole section, or something. A low score will only hurt you with Y, S and maaaybe H, and it may not even be a low score.

...

Interesting information. Well I ended up cancelling since I had a gut feeling tell me that I might be getting between 165 to 167.

I'll definitely be using some of the tips and tricks on tls to prepare my mindset for the next time I write it.

LG: thought i bombed
LR: thought i did really well
LR: thought i did really well
RC: i was in a total haze at this point

actually ended up doing about as well as a usually do on logic games, had the worst LR performances in my LSAT history, aced the RC

I took it twice and my expectations were spot on both times.
First time i bombed it and was thinking 160, got a 158 (would have guessed lower but i thought sub 160 was just impossible )
Second time thought i got a 168, got a 166. I was thinking that if the 3rd section didn't count 168, if it did 165: It counted
4th section experimental

..

LR: Figured I missed 1-2
LG: Knew I missed 0
LR: Figured I missed 2-4
LR: Figured I missed 2-4
RC: Sure I missed at least 3-4

Missed 3 total.

I thought 168 both times. Got a 163 and 173