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Early Practice Test Question

Posted: Fri Apr 12, 2019 10:59 am
by kidkasparov123
Hello! I started studying in late March. Using the 2007 diagnostic test, I got a 159. I took LSAT 4 yesterday, and got a 165. This seems odd for just over two weeks. Are the early tests inaccurate? What's the consensus on their relevance to the modern LSAT? Thanks.

Re: Early Practice Test Question

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 6:20 pm
by Blueprint LSAT
First off I wouldn't be too spooked by the variance. It is actually very normal for PT scores to vary +/- 3 or 4 points from your average meaning that a 6-8 point swing is totally going to happen from time to time.

To answer your actual question the test has changed a little over time, but the older PT's are just fine for learning/practicing. Especially at the early stages you shouldn't waste too much energy worrying about your overall score on any individual PT. Worry more about looking for patterns in your results that let you target concepts or question types you can work on to improve.

The LSAT today tests the same logic/concepts as the early PTs. There are some differences in form/style/emphasis. The test is getting "harder" because it is getting better at making sure you understand and can competently apply the same concepts it always has been testing for.

So yeah, you probably can't credit yourself with a 6+ point bump in understanding over a small span of time, but the fact that you took an older PT isn't necessarily the reason why not. Variance between PT scores can come from a lot of places and diagnosing that isn't usually as useful as just plugging along and learning what you need to learn. If you see a consistent drop in score you may be burning out. If you see a consistent gain you are learning. Beyond that it isn't really worth focusing on.

Andrew McDonald, Blueprint Instructor

Re: Early Practice Test Question

Posted: Mon Apr 15, 2019 6:30 pm
by BrainsyK
RC is significantly easier. LG gets progressively harder over time but on a less steep curve than RC. LG has bigger variance in that more points will be tied to less inferences so if you see the big thing you need to figure in the beginning, you might end up getting like 4/6 points just based on that one thing, but if you miss it, you might end up getting 2/6 because the other 4 points are all tied to that one inference.

That's my impression. YMMV.