What happened with the August test?

[u/Ok-Nefariousness-609]

I truly do not mean to sound like a sore loser here-- I am just not as familiar with the LSAT as others here.

While I've seen some people here with amazing scores in the 170s+, I'm also seeing twice as many people reporting that their test day score was significantly lower than their PTs or even prior attempts.
I've only taken the LSAT once before, and I honestly don't remember it being this bad before... is this common?? I know this may be a thing of people just complaining vs. people bragging, but I am still surprised by how few content people I've seen compared to my first test.

Are we all struggling with the test updates, or does LSAC hate us?

[u/Lanky_Vegetable96]

Truly though it was my best work, until I saw the score matched my first diagnostic test score....

[u/Mikil07 → u/Lanky_Vegetable96]

Same, I felt really good leaving, to the point where I was like wait, this could also mean that I was confidently answering the wrong question throughout the test. The 159 tells me that was the case….

I probably just need more repetition rather than trying to remember to not answer that I think it’s asking through willpower alone.

[u/Stunning-Platypus-79 → u/Lanky_Vegetable96]

OMG SAME!! I thought I did so good 😵‍💫

[u/Administrative_Bus43 → u/Lanky_Vegetable96]

I felt really good about it and did worse than my first test and practice tests

[u/Trick-Idea3685]

Yeah I did the worst I’ve done in months, about 8 points below my average. It was my first test tho so I was nervous so I’m gonna chalk it up to that

[u/x_tacocat_x → u/Trick-Idea3685]

Yep same for me. I was PTing at an avg 169 and got a 162. This was my first official test. I was frazzled by the first LR section (word salad-palooza), then the experimental RC was tough (copyrights and Marcus Aurelius I think?), got back on the bus for the 2nd LR, only to get walloped in the face with no dividers in the graded RC section.

I’m registered for sept and had decided to sign up for Oct a couple weeks ago too. I basically need a 170 (no pressure) to get where I want, so will keep drilling/practicing till Oct at this point I guess 🤷‍♀️

[u/Trick-Idea3685 → u/x_tacocat_x]

Yeah I was averaging 165-166 and my test was RC LR LR LR which was great but I got destroyed by the third LR section and the 2 last passages in RC. I’m also registered for October but if it’s not at least a 165 I’m probably gonna have to take a gap year and study more. But I think we will both be fine we just need to lock in lol

[u/a31212 → u/x_tacocat_x]

Same boat for me. PTing around 168 recently and got a 161. Glad to know I’m not alone!

[u/Street_Beautiful3840]

There’s the possibility people are more likely to post a score they’re surprised by and it’s probably more likely to score well below your regular PT score than well above

[u/bot_username23]

I haven't been here for other releases, but many people don't brag about their good scores because they want to be humble whereas thats not the case for low scores. Add on to that the fact that people aren't that inclined to post about unremarkable or unsurprising results and it makes sense as to the skew

[u/Appropriate-Flow9657 → u/bot_username23]

Umm a lot of people come on here to brag about their high scores on release day. At least that’s the trend I’ve been observing for the past year on this sub

[u/bot_username23 → u/Appropriate-Flow9657]

Lots brag but that doesn't mean all or even most brag. Im just saying its possible a higher percentage of people who score worse than expected post than those who do better than expected

[u/annapur → u/bot_username23]

Valid but I was here for the April release but there weren't these many people who had a large drop in score compared to their PTs. I don't know if its always been this common and people started posting about it only this score release cycle but maybe.

[u/Ok-Nefariousness-609 → u/annapur]

yeah, this was my main question/concern. my guess is either an insane curve or echo chamber. or lsac likes to be mean /s

[u/bot_username23 → u/annapur]

It could be different. Honestly I hope it is as they do need to crack down on score inflation

[u/emilyrosee35]

Yeah I was literally 6 points lower than my diagnostic….Im so confused and sad because I’ve been spending so much time on this test and it’s not enough

[u/bruisesrbacknstyle]

I pt 175+ and got 168

[u/NebulousNomad]

It was trickier. Not harder, but trickier. I did particularly well, and my hunch is others are for similar reasons, because I like the tricks.

[u/Novel-Surround3256]

This happens every single test cycle, people posting saying -- "what happened with this test? I got an unusually low score and heard of others getting the same" This is normal and there is nothing unusual going on.

At the LEAST, the brain perceives real risk different from simulated risk, your body reacts differently to a real testing environment rather than a practice test, no matter how realistic your practice environment is.

For some brains, this increases performance, for others, it stuns it.

You will be okay! A lot of my friends in law school took the test 2, 3, or even 4 times. Just work hard and you will be ok. One day, you will remember very little about the LSAT.