Number of PTs and peaking Forum

[drawstring]

What do you consider a small number of practice tests (e.g. 1-3), a moderate number of practice tests (e.g. 4-10), and a large number of practice tests (e.g. 10+)? I've taken 7 and I'd like to know how that stands compared to other people's classifications.

Also, and I understand it can differ by person, is there a range such as the ones above in which people generally peak?

[mvonh001]

I would assume that you dont peak and then fall, as your implying. As you learn the material you get better, so I would think that the more PT's you take the better you will do, assuming of course you dont burn out.

[drawstring]

I don't mean to imply that one falls, just that there may be a common point in which people become as skilled as they can be, and improvement is then not possible or at least very difficult.

[elterrible78]

I don't mean to imply that one falls, just that there may be a common point in which people become as skilled as they can be, and improvement is then not possible or at least very difficult.

This is actually a pretty interesting question. I definitely fall into the "more is better" camp, because I really think that even if you've peaked in terms of acquired knowledge (diagramming strategies, reading comp nuggets of wisdom, general test-taking strategies), you can really consolidate gains by continuing to practice. In my case, for example, my actual LSAT score equaled what I got on my 9th PT, but if I had just stopped then, I think it's far less likely that I'd have achieved that score on test day. In other words, my AVERAGE for my last ten tests was higher than my average for my first ten tests (with a lot less deviation from the mean), and with each additional PT I increased my chances of scoring to my full potential on test day.

My two cents

[arcanecircle]

I am of the mind that there is a predictable score-band that will correlate with your current intuition of the test. There is not necessarily a point where you are never able to improve, but rather, a point at which, if you aren't adjusting the way you practice and effectively addressing your weaknesses with the test, a stagnant PT score will reflect that.

[Skill Game]

When you reach your peak performance will also depend on how much studying you've done before with Manhattan or Powerscore, etc. It's also going to vary widely for each person, but I would say after about 30 PTs you should be scoring where you want to. 7 is not nearly enough unless you're going for like 160-162.

[nyjets2090]

Took PT 167 yesterday, had a big drop because I screwed up my games section.

RC: - 3 (1 passage)
LG: -7
LR1: -2
LR2: -2

Going to drill games heavily these last two weeks. Was doing great on games but I had a flub up when I misread a rule on game 3 and got thrown off with zones. Off to review.