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Hi there,

i've heard feb/un-disclosed lsats are more difficult/different from other lsats? anyone can debunk this?

Never taken the Feb LSAT. All tests are curved to account for variations in difficulty so that they are all equal. That said, expect the curve to be at best -12 and no worse than -10 since this cycle's curves have been just that.

Some people are gonna say Feb test is easy. Some are going to say it was hard. Different people have different opinions. You're better off spending your time prepping than wondering how hard the test will be. It is what it is.

If you want sample Feb tests, then take the Superpreps. But those are old and may not be accurate indicators.

I took it and I didn't find it more difficult than the PTs I practiced with. However, I read somewhere that LSAC uses the Feb. administration to 'test' material they plan on using in the future. So in a sense it may be the least predictable, though not necessarily more difficult.

facile princeps wrote:I took it and I didn't find it more difficult than the PTs I practiced with. However, I read somewhere that LSAC uses the Feb. administration to 'test' material they plan on using in the future. So in a sense it may be the least predictable, though not necessarily more difficult.

The four scored sections of Feb tests are the same as any other LSAT and have been pre-tested prior to becoming scored sections to equate their difficulty with sections from other tests. There is nothing different about a Feb test-form other than it is non disclosed so you never get to see the questions again or your section breakdown. They don't test experimental stuff in the scored sections, only in the non-scored experimental section, just like all other tests of the year.

Even though it is not disclosed, the scale for feb tests is equated to the test form to adjust for any minor overall difference in difficulty than other test forms so that a 170, 165, etc. from a feb test means the same thing as a 170, 165, etc. from any other administration.

People freak out and speculate about Feb tests being different/something to be afraid of, but that is just LSAT stress speaking combined with fear of the unknown because the tests are kept secret instead of being disclosed.

Jeffort wrote:

facile princeps wrote:I took it and I didn't find it more difficult than the PTs I practiced with. However, I read somewhere that LSAC uses the Feb. administration to 'test' material they plan on using in the future. So in a sense it may be the least predictable, though not necessarily more difficult.

The four scored sections of Feb tests are the same as any other LSAT and have been pre-tested prior to becoming scored sections to equate their difficulty with sections from other tests. There is nothing different about a Feb test-form other than it is non disclosed so you never get to see the questions again or your section breakdown. They don't test experimental stuff in the scored sections, only in the non-scored experimental section, just like all other tests of the year.

Even though it is not disclosed, the scale for feb tests is equated to the test form to adjust for any minor overall difference in difficulty than other test forms so that a 170, 165, etc. from a feb test means the same thing as a 170, 165, etc. from any other administration.

People freak out and speculate about Feb tests being different/something to be afraid of, but that is just LSAT stress speaking combined with fear of the unknown because the tests are kept secret instead of being disclosed.

Hmm. I want to wholeheartedly agree with you on this but somehow I believe the LSAC keeps the test private because of its content. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that they sprinkle in more 'testing the waters' kind of questions across all sections. If the results aren't what they expected, they could easily scrap a few questions from scoring, equate the test, and no one would be the wiser. I can't help but to think that there is something quite peculiar about an undisclosed test when the others are all made public. I'd like to believe that they only 'test' things out in the unscored sections but I wouldn't be surprised if the Feb test is different in that respect.

Either way, I didn't find the test to be any different, and that's all that really matters.

facile princeps wrote:

Jeffort wrote:

facile princeps wrote:I took it and I didn't find it more difficult than the PTs I practiced with. However, I read somewhere that LSAC uses the Feb. administration to 'test' material they plan on using in the future. So in a sense it may be the least predictable, though not necessarily more difficult.

The four scored sections of Feb tests are the same as any other LSAT and have been pre-tested prior to becoming scored sections to equate their difficulty with sections from other tests. There is nothing different about a Feb test-form other than it is non disclosed so you never get to see the questions again or your section breakdown. They don't test experimental stuff in the scored sections, only in the non-scored experimental section, just like all other tests of the year.

Even though it is not disclosed, the scale for feb tests is equated to the test form to adjust for any minor overall difference in difficulty than other test forms so that a 170, 165, etc. from a feb test means the same thing as a 170, 165, etc. from any other administration.

People freak out and speculate about Feb tests being different/something to be afraid of, but that is just LSAT stress speaking combined with fear of the unknown because the tests are kept secret instead of being disclosed.

Hmm. I want to wholeheartedly agree with you on this but somehow I believe the LSAC keeps the test private because of its content. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that they sprinkle in more 'testing the waters' kind of questions across all sections. If the results aren't what they expected, they could easily scrap a few questions from scoring, equate the test, and no one would be the wiser. I can't help but to think that there is something quite peculiar about an undisclosed test when the others are all made public. I'd like to believe that they only 'test' things out in the unscored sections but I wouldn't be surprised if the Feb test is different in that respect.

Either way, I didn't find the test to be any different, and that's all that really matters.

ha ha, you are falling for LSACs evil dark side of the force jedi mind tricks! They got you suspicious about their secretive druid like activities they hide from us.

I've sometimes wondered if they purposely conceal certain unusual things here and there in Feb tests for whatever reasons since the few previously undisclosed Feb tests that were disclosed years later (SuperPrep tests A, B & C and Feb. 97) were a little bit different than most other tests in a few ways.

The games in the SuperPrep tests are brutal compared to other tests in the surrounding years of when they were administered, the RC was notably easier, and a few of the games were funky. One of them had a circular sequencing game and that type had not appeared in a disclosed test since 1991, so up until October 2003 (prior to when SuperPrep was released) when circular sequencing appeared again, based on disclosed tests available at the time, it appeared that circular sequencing was dead with only a single appearance in June 1991, which was not the case.

The trees in the park in/out grouping game is by far the hardest in/out grouping game in released tests due to a very tricky rule structure that hasn't been seen before or since. One of the tests (I think the trees one) had a much more generous scale than other tests, indicating it was more difficult overall. However, those few examples of previously undisclosed tests is a bit too small to make a generalization from about all feb tests. For all we know, just to mess with peoples minds, LSAC could have intentionally chosen those three Feb tests to publish in SuperPrep because they are slightly different than most other tests in order to create a false perception/fear based on over generalization. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

Your bolded comment above is really the important part, the rest is just fun and games with speculation. They really couldn't litter experiments in feb tests that they don't do in disclosed tests though, since that would blow apart the whole purpose of the LSAT being a standardized test with scores that are comparable across various different test-forms over a several year period.

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If it's not different, why is it not disclosed?

TERS wrote:If it's not different, why is it not disclosed?

LOL

TERS wrote:If it's not different, why is it not disclosed?

yea i LOL'ed too.