Huge drop in PT score Forum

[nutsforboalt]

I'm a long time lurker on this site and don't usually post, however, I'm in need of some serious advice as my confidence is shot. The past 20 PT's I have taken from 39-58 I've score between a 172-178, usually between the 175-178 range. Yesterday I took PT 59 and dropped all the way down to a 167. Has this happened to others? Was PT 59 especially difficult? Any insight would be awesome, thanks!

[mhaas]

I'm a long time lurker on this site and don't usually post, however, I'm in need of some serious advice as my confidence is shot. The past 20 PT's I have taken from 39-58 I've score between a 172-178, usually between the 175-178 range. Yesterday I took PT 59 and dropped all the way down to a 167. Has this happened to others? Was PT 59 especially difficult? Any insight would be awesome, thanks!

Randomly enough, I actually took PT 59 last night and managed to squeak out a 170 despite a -8 RC section. I definitely thought it was a pretty tough test, but it also made up for it with a -14 curve. To me, the games section was a bit different than all the rest. There was no one game that was overwhelmingly difficult, but there were no "gimme" games either. So if you are bad at games, I could see how this might have led to a timing issue and a few more misses than normal. The RC was brutal for me. The Noguchi passage went right over my head. All in all, if it is just one abnormally low score, I wouldn't be too worried about it. However, if this becomes a pattern (especially in the more recent PTs) you might have cause for concern. What was your section breakdown on 59?

[lawschool22]

It happens - have you been prepping hard lately? It could just mean you need a day's break. It could also just be an anomaly. Review the PT to see what tripped you up, and if it is something you normally do fine with, I wouldn't think much of it.

[nutsforboalt]

Randomly enough, I actually took PT 59 last night and managed to squeak out a 170 despite a -8 RC section. I definitely thought it was a pretty tough test, but it also made up for it with a -14 curve. To me, the games section was a bit different than all the rest. There was no one game that was overwhelmingly difficult, but there were no "gimme" games either. So if you are bad at games, I could see how this might have led to a timing issue and a few more misses than normal. The RC was brutal for me. The Noguchi passage went right over my head. All in all, if it is just one abnormally low score, I wouldn't be too worried about it. However, if this becomes a pattern (especially in the more recent PTs) you might have cause for concern. What was your section breakdown on 59?

My breakdown was so random. I'm always -0 on games and I went -3, LR I was -6 total, and RC -7 which was the worst I've ever done. I'm hoping it was just a bad test day since I missed all over the board. Going to take PT 60 now, let's hope this isn't the start of a pattern.

It happens - have you been prepping hard lately? It could just mean you need a day's break. It could also just be an anomaly. Review the PT to see what tripped you up, and if it is something you normally do fine with, I wouldn't think much of it.

I haven't been prepping too hard but I definitely could use a break, my mind was all over the place and I feel like I'm starting to get in an LSAT fog. I'll definitely try to put it past me and chalk it up to an anomaly, thanks!

[Nonconsecutive]

I had almost the exact same thing happen to me (different PT than 59), however, my scores quickly stabilized afterwards and that one low number is the worst I've had in 10+ PTs now. Try not to let it affect your confidence, and maybe give a bit of consideration to a short break, even if you haven't been prepping too hard.

If you keep scoring low (relative to your average), then that is indicative of some other issue, but just one low score as an outlier is no big deal. Try to isolate what happened, if possible, and learn from that. It could very easily just have been a bad day, as you mentioned.

[ampm]

Take a break. had the exact same thing happen to me the week before the exam. I was pt'ing 172-174, pt like 6 days before exam and I got a 165 or something. Day of, got a 172.

Step away from the test for a day or two.

[Dr. Dre]

rest, sleep

[nutsforboalt]

176 on PT 60 and 177 on PT 61, looks like it was just random error. Thanks for the input!