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Huge score drop the week before the LSAT

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2016 7:50 pm
by 20170322
Hey, all!

So, I've been studying for the LSAT since May, and I am freaking out.

My scores have been consistently over 174, with my 10 PT average (before today) being a 177. This past weekend I PT'd on PT 77 and got a 179.

Today, after class, I took PT 78... and got a 171.

The worst part is, there isn't one specific thing that did me in. I had a sloppy -2 on LG, sloppy -3 on LR, and got whomped by a passage in RC so I went -4. I felt fine taking the test, not exhausted or stressed, so idk what happened.


What do I do from here? I'm considering just taking off from now until the LSAT and hope that it was an issue of burnout.

Re: Huge score drop the week before the LSAT

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2016 7:57 pm
by bearedman8
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Re: Huge score drop the week before the LSAT

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2016 8:28 pm
by rpupkin
It's called random variation. Be glad that it happened in a practice test instead of on test day.

Don't make any major changes to your routine because of this. You're fine.

Re: Huge score drop the week before the LSAT

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2016 9:35 pm
by SunDevil14
Probably burn out or nerves. I had a similar situation were I went from 171, 162, 170, 163 which really freaked me out. It occurred during a really stressful week and a half.

I wish I were good enough that I'd be freaking out over a 171. Good luck man.

Re: Huge score drop the week before the LSAT

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2016 10:31 pm
by 20170322
rpupkin wrote:It's called random variation. Be glad that it happened in a practice test instead of on test day.

Don't make any major changes to your routine because of this. You're fine.

So, don't take time off? I've noticed that my scores drop after doing a good amount of prep.

Re: Huge score drop the week before the LSAT

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2016 10:56 pm
by rpupkin
SweetTort wrote:
rpupkin wrote:It's called random variation. Be glad that it happened in a practice test instead of on test day.

Don't make any major changes to your routine because of this. You're fine.

So, don't take time off? I've noticed that my scores drop after doing a good amount of prep.
I think it's fine to take a day off here or there. I just wouldn't make any huge changes to your routine. You're obviously doing very, very well. Look, aberrant scores (in either direction) can happen. Frankly, you'd expect someone with a mid-170s PT average to occasionally score a 170 or a 171. This doesn't mean anything. Chill.

Re: Huge score drop the week before the LSAT

Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2016 11:30 pm
by asuddenarborealstop
I wouldn't worry. Same thing happened to me about 10 days out. I dropped from 177 to 169 on consecutive tests, despite averaging like 175 for the final two weeks. I took two days off and went back to my routine. I ended up with a 179.

Re: Huge score drop the week before the LSAT

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2016 1:56 pm
by RamTitan
rpupkin wrote:
SweetTort wrote:
rpupkin wrote:It's called random variation. Be glad that it happened in a practice test instead of on test day.

Don't make any major changes to your routine because of this. You're fine.

So, don't take time off? I've noticed that my scores drop after doing a good amount of prep.
I think it's fine to take a day off here or there. I just wouldn't make any huge changes to your routine. You're obviously doing very, very well. Look, aberrant scores (in either direction) can happen. Frankly, you'd expect someone with a mid-170s PT average to occasionally score a 170 or a 171. This doesn't mean anything. Chill.
This; all is good.

Biggest thing is to not let it screw your mental mindset

Re: Huge score drop the week before the LSAT

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2016 2:03 pm
by 20170322
RamTitan wrote:
rpupkin wrote:
SweetTort wrote:
rpupkin wrote:It's called random variation. Be glad that it happened in a practice test instead of on test day.

Don't make any major changes to your routine because of this. You're fine.

So, don't take time off? I've noticed that my scores drop after doing a good amount of prep.
I think it's fine to take a day off here or there. I just wouldn't make any huge changes to your routine. You're obviously doing very, very well. Look, aberrant scores (in either direction) can happen. Frankly, you'd expect someone with a mid-170s PT average to occasionally score a 170 or a 171. This doesn't mean anything. Chill.
This; all is good.

Biggest thing is to not let it screw your mental mindset

SO, here's my gameplan. PT on Saturday, get a dank score to improve confidence, then do only moderate prep until the actual test.

Re: Huge score drop the week before the LSAT

Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2016 2:11 pm
by RamTitan
SweetTort wrote:
RamTitan wrote:
rpupkin wrote:
SweetTort wrote:
rpupkin wrote:It's called random variation. Be glad that it happened in a practice test instead of on test day.

Don't make any major changes to your routine because of this. You're fine.

So, don't take time off? I've noticed that my scores drop after doing a good amount of prep.
I think it's fine to take a day off here or there. I just wouldn't make any huge changes to your routine. You're obviously doing very, very well. Look, aberrant scores (in either direction) can happen. Frankly, you'd expect someone with a mid-170s PT average to occasionally score a 170 or a 171. This doesn't mean anything. Chill.
This; all is good.

Biggest thing is to not let it screw your mental mindset

SO, here's my gameplan. PT on Saturday, get a dank score to improve confidence, then do only moderate prep until the actual test.
That sounds about right; I'm actually doing the exact same thing lol