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Depends on the individual defining it, but last month before the test date for me.

What Laws said ^^ - for me it was the last 10ish scores or so I could quickly remember. It's not a precise score but really more of a benchmark indicating a range you expect to score within.

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were these completely fresh never-before anything-seen PTs under strict test timing conditions for average?

appind wrote:were these completely fresh never-before anything-seen PTs under strict test timing conditions for average?

For me, yes.

eta: I only took six PTs the month before the actual test.

I think KMart's method (final 10 PTs) is right on the money.

what's the point of an average? obviously, if you really mean average pt score, then you need to include all scores. but i think the real point of calculating your average is to help you get your best score. if thinking in terms of a (likely) lower average helps you perform better on the real thing, then consider the full range of pt scores. that's what i considered my average. if thinking you're gonna kill it because your last 5 were awesome helps more, then think of that as your average. whatever is the biggest boost to your psychology.

Well instead of trying to mentally psych myself out I was actually just trying to see what I should use as an average so I know what to expect...

downbeat14 wrote:I averaged the last 5 PTs, ended up 2.5 below.

I also counted my average as the last 5 PTs. On my second LSAT I ended up with a score 3 points below my average, although still an reasonable improvement over my fist test.

I think it would depend on when you take your PTs. The second time I took the LSAT, I insisted on taking several PTs the week before the test (which happened to be the Feb exam, so I was also very busy with school). I think the anxiety of being so close to the test and "running out of time" made me underperform on my PTs to the point where I actually almost backed out of taking the exam. Surprisingly, on the actual exam I ended up scoring 3 points higher than my highest PT the week before. I had however scored above this previously, so I didn't just get lucky and over-perform on my exam.

I think when it became time to take the exam, I had come to a realization that I was as ready as I was going to be and the pressure was lifted. I can't speak for everyone, but to answer your question based on my own experience, I would recommend looking at your scores throughout the month before the exam. If you cram several exams in right before the test, it might not be a true representation of what you can achieve.

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zacboro wrote:Well instead of trying to mentally psych myself out I was actually just trying to see what I should use as an average so I know what to expect...

Makes sense. Which is why you should use the previous month/last 5/last10/some kind other configuration of your more recent PTs. The scores you had when you started studying likely don't come close to representing your abilities now, which is what you are trying to measure.

laurvb wrote:I think it would depend on when you take your PTs. The second time I took the LSAT, I insisted on taking several PTs the week before the test (which happened to be the Feb exam, so I was also very busy with school). I think the anxiety of being so close to the test and "running out of time" made me underperform on my PTs to the point where I actually almost backed out of taking the exam. Surprisingly, on the actual exam I ended up scoring 3 points higher than my highest PT the week before. I had however scored above this previously, so I didn't just get lucky and over-perform on my exam.

I think when it became time to take the exam, I had come to a realization that I was as ready as I was going to be and the pressure was lifted. I can't speak for everyone, but to answer your question based on my own experience, I would recommend looking at your scores throughout the month before the exam. If you cram several exams in right before the test, it might not be a true representation of what you can achieve.

It'd be nice if this is how it turns out for me.