My practice scores range from 165-176, and I was hoping some of you could provide me with some last minute advice on how to best prepare in the remaining month.
These are my individual section ranges:
LG: -(0-1)
LR: -(1-4)/Section - My goal is to bring this to 0-2 @ most
RC: -(4-9) - My goal is to bring this down to 0-4 @ most
I think one of my biggest issues is endurance/concentration, especially with regards to the RC section. I find myself taking about 3-4 minutes reading each passage and in many instances misinterpreting the passage.
Inconsistent Practice Test Scores Forum
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Re: Inconsistent Practice Test Scores
same situation here. waiting for suggestions.Arad wrote:My practice scores range from 165-176, and I was hoping some of you could provide me with some last minute advice on how to best prepare in the remaining month.
These are my individual section ranges:
LG: -(0-1)
LR: -(1-4)/Section - My goal is to bring this to 0-2 @ most
RC: -(4-9) - My goal is to bring this down to 0-4 @ most
I think one of my biggest issues is endurance/concentration, especially with regards to the RC section. I find myself taking about 3-4 minutes reading each passage and in many instances misinterpreting the passage.
- malleus discentium
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- Joined: Sun May 26, 2013 2:30 am
Re: Inconsistent Practice Test Scores
Does it get worse if RC is the last section or are you just repeatedly tanking RC? Consistently going at least -4 on RC is probably not an endurance issue, though it might be contributing the times you go -9. If you're looking to fix that you should focus less on full PTs and much more on what you're doing wrong in RC.Arad wrote:My practice scores range from 165-176, and I was hoping some of you could provide me with some last minute advice on how to best prepare in the remaining month.
These are my individual section ranges:
LG: -(0-1)
LR: -(1-4)/Section - My goal is to bring this to 0-2 @ most
RC: -(4-9) - My goal is to bring this down to 0-4 @ most
I think one of my biggest issues is endurance/concentration, especially with regards to the RC section. I find myself taking about 3-4 minutes reading each passage and in many instances misinterpreting the passage.
As to your more general question, I had a lot of variance in my test scores as well. The last five or so PTs I took before I sat the exam ranged from 171 to 180. The LSAT is a pretty tightly made test, but you'll just click with some forms more than others.
Last edited by malleus discentium on Sat May 10, 2014 5:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- LSAT Hacks (Graeme)
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Re: Inconsistent Practice Test Scores
I don't think practice test scores are ever consistent. There's a lot of randomness in this process. My dad's a golfer. He plays the same course every day during the summer. His scores vary. It's the nature of things.
We're inconsistent in many areas, you just notice it more with the LSAT because you're tracking it quantitatively.
We're inconsistent in many areas, you just notice it more with the LSAT because you're tracking it quantitatively.
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Re: Inconsistent Practice Test Scores
Hey guys I was in the same boat as you. Things didn't get "consistent" until about 3 weeks before the exam where I didn't score less than 170 (average was 165-172). However, my average was still low. After a while, things "clicked" and my range went from 170-180.
After my first test (~172), my PT range started becoming smaller, going from 170-180 to 175-180.
It's the first step to improvement. You have to raise your ceiling first before you can move the floor higher. Pretty soon, you'll be able to minimize the gap.
As for tips
Just like you guys, I had LG down. I stopped practicing for LG individually (only on full PT's).
For LRs, I was probably exactly the same as you. What i did was I kept retaking LR sections. I had a record of every question I got wrong (since I took my exams on an excel sheet, it was easy to keep a record). Then I retook and looked to see why I didn't get 100%. If it's the same mistake, there's your weakness. Pinpoint it and figure out why. Did you read the Q incorrectly? Did you just not "understand" it? Keep practicing.
After doing this, I was able to get my LR down to 0-2.
As for RC, that was my weakest section (~4 to 13). Again, it went from ~4-13 incorrect to 0-12, then 0-7, then 0-4, then lower and lower.
This is pretty much the same method. However, it's more difficult since RC is more complicated. Take sections, then really pinpoint why you got it wrong. Then figure out how you would improve next time. Did you not understand the passage fully? There's always a reason. Maybe one or two transition sentences didn't make sense or you misunderstood it, so it threw the rest of the passage off for you. Make sure you understand why that occurred and how to fix it. OR maybe you need to build your vocabulary. The good thing is, the RC passages reuse the same words often. Hence, if you don't know a word, look it up.
As for the questions, RC has a lot of "trick" answers. I find some of the RC questions usually have 5 options: 1 that makes no sense, 2 that may make sense, and 2 that are most correct. I found out I was ALWAYS picking the "correct but not the most correct" answer by retaking RC passages and seeing that I was picking the same answer over again. The reason was some of the sentences can be misconstrued in another way, and the writers know that. They try to trick you by adding that answer. These answers are usually ones that most people would construe the passage as. It might be a metaphor (ie: passage says something that some people take literally when they shouldn't) or it might be something else. I haven't taken the LSAT in over a year so I can't really think of another example right now.
All in all, I would just keep drilling sections and find out your weak spot and try to fix it. Half the battle is recognizing what you did wrong. It's going to be hard and you'll keep making mistakes (the same ones over) but if you keep trying, you'll be able to fix them.
Take full PTs once in a while for stamina prep if you want. However, when you get better at RC, you'll do better on average. Basically, if you've perfected RC or any other section, stamina will affect you less and less until it's barely a factor.
After my first test (~172), my PT range started becoming smaller, going from 170-180 to 175-180.
It's the first step to improvement. You have to raise your ceiling first before you can move the floor higher. Pretty soon, you'll be able to minimize the gap.
As for tips
Just like you guys, I had LG down. I stopped practicing for LG individually (only on full PT's).
For LRs, I was probably exactly the same as you. What i did was I kept retaking LR sections. I had a record of every question I got wrong (since I took my exams on an excel sheet, it was easy to keep a record). Then I retook and looked to see why I didn't get 100%. If it's the same mistake, there's your weakness. Pinpoint it and figure out why. Did you read the Q incorrectly? Did you just not "understand" it? Keep practicing.
After doing this, I was able to get my LR down to 0-2.
As for RC, that was my weakest section (~4 to 13). Again, it went from ~4-13 incorrect to 0-12, then 0-7, then 0-4, then lower and lower.
This is pretty much the same method. However, it's more difficult since RC is more complicated. Take sections, then really pinpoint why you got it wrong. Then figure out how you would improve next time. Did you not understand the passage fully? There's always a reason. Maybe one or two transition sentences didn't make sense or you misunderstood it, so it threw the rest of the passage off for you. Make sure you understand why that occurred and how to fix it. OR maybe you need to build your vocabulary. The good thing is, the RC passages reuse the same words often. Hence, if you don't know a word, look it up.
As for the questions, RC has a lot of "trick" answers. I find some of the RC questions usually have 5 options: 1 that makes no sense, 2 that may make sense, and 2 that are most correct. I found out I was ALWAYS picking the "correct but not the most correct" answer by retaking RC passages and seeing that I was picking the same answer over again. The reason was some of the sentences can be misconstrued in another way, and the writers know that. They try to trick you by adding that answer. These answers are usually ones that most people would construe the passage as. It might be a metaphor (ie: passage says something that some people take literally when they shouldn't) or it might be something else. I haven't taken the LSAT in over a year so I can't really think of another example right now.
All in all, I would just keep drilling sections and find out your weak spot and try to fix it. Half the battle is recognizing what you did wrong. It's going to be hard and you'll keep making mistakes (the same ones over) but if you keep trying, you'll be able to fix them.
Take full PTs once in a while for stamina prep if you want. However, when you get better at RC, you'll do better on average. Basically, if you've perfected RC or any other section, stamina will affect you less and less until it's barely a factor.
- twitterati
- Posts: 108
- Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2014 6:25 pm
Re: Inconsistent Practice Test Scores
Thanks for the input iliketurtles123.
I am trying to be patient with reducing variance over time but the June test date is starting to feel like it's right around the corner!
I like what you said about "raising the ceiling" before "moving the floor higher". I scored my all time best of 176 about 2PTs ago, which was great. Until I got a 171, and then 168 on the following tests. But hopefully I was just tired and a little burnt out from the non-stop studying.
It's just very frustrating when my diagnostic was 162 and scoring only 5 or 6 points higher after two months of intense studying...
I am trying to be patient with reducing variance over time but the June test date is starting to feel like it's right around the corner!
I like what you said about "raising the ceiling" before "moving the floor higher". I scored my all time best of 176 about 2PTs ago, which was great. Until I got a 171, and then 168 on the following tests. But hopefully I was just tired and a little burnt out from the non-stop studying.

It's just very frustrating when my diagnostic was 162 and scoring only 5 or 6 points higher after two months of intense studying...
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