Placement of Experimental Sections in PT's

[moshei24]

Hi,

When it comes to placing experimental sections in PT's, where should I place them? I know that they could appear as an section except for the fifth section, but I would assume that they appear in some sections more often that others. I would guess that they are the first section the least often. Is there a list somewhere online that has the placement of all the past experimental sections? How would you suggest placing them? The last two tests that I took, I placed them in the third section, because I'm guessing it's probably in that section most often, but how would suggest I break them up going forward?

Thank you for your help.

[Jon Denning]

Historically I believe the third section has been the most common place for the experimental section. Keep in mind though that for nearly all of the past 20 years it was confined to the first three, and that's recently changed, meaning sections 4 and 5 could now potentially be experimental as well.

Truth is, the main reason to include it in practice tests is to build stamina, so it doesn't really matter where you put it provided you're going to do your best to treat it as though it were real (full effort). Still, I'd place it early--first 3 sections, generally--to make sure I was taking a significant portion of the scored exam in a more fatigued state. Seems like the best way to get the maximum benefit out of having it in there.

JD

[moshei24]

Aha, any particular breakup of how often I should put it into each of those?

And by the way, I listened to your Reading Comp Strategy 1 Module. It was really good, thanks!

[Jon Denning]

Hmmm, you know I've never really given it much thought, as truthfully it shouldn't matter. But just alternate I suppose: 1st section, 2nd section, 3rd section, 4th...repeat. Like I said, I just wouldn't put it 5th because you lose the benefit of having it if you know it doesn't count and it's last (the fatigue aspect won't affect your score/performance, which is the whole point). Maybe someone else can think of some compelling argument for keeping it consistent or a more defined pattern, but I can't think of anything...

Glad to hear you enjoyed the RC module! There's a wealth of supplementary info in the student center so please continue to take advantage!

[Adam Tyson]

I'll add to Jon's advice, with which I agree completely. If you have someone that can help you, try having them place the extra section for you, and tell them not to tell you which one it is. Then, don't spend even a moment trying to figure it out - just take the full five-section test and do your best on every section. That will give you an even more realistic testing experience, and will give you the opportunity to build up your stamina the way Jon suggests. Don't worry about the fact that you may notice that one section of your practice test doesn't have a section number at the top - tune that out, just like you want to practice tuning out noises, smells, movement.

By the way, I don't know if you've had this advice yet or not, but it's one I give all my students: Try taking at least one practice test somewhere very distracting - the food court at the mall, a coffee shop during the morning rush, McDonalds at lunch hour, etc. If you can perform well in that environment, with the smells, noises, movement, even the vibration of the table and chair as crowds pass, then you will be able to function well in the more controlled atmosphere of the real test (which still won't be perfect - the guy in front of you won't have showered, the girl behind you will hum and tap her toe, someone will be sneezing and coughing the whole time, etc.) It's like building up a callous as you learn to play guitar, but in this case it's a mental callous.

Good luck!

Adam M. Tyson
PowerScore LSAT Instructor

[moshei24]

Thanks.

I've taken one in the library where it had a nice amount of noises and distractions.

Do you think I should taken another one sometime in September in a noisy place?

And in terms of the experimental, I take it seriously. The only issue is that some pressure is relieved on that section because I know it doesn't count, and even if someone does put it in for me, every section would need to have the numbers blackened out, and have the numbers placed on the back, which I may end up unintentionally seeing.

Is there really a difference in the fact that I have some stressed relieved on that section?

[moshei24]

Just noticed Jon's response (overlooked it, sorry).

Yeah, you haven't heard of any place online where they release which section was the experimental for all of the old tests? Because then I could just find the percentages.

And yeah, that's one of the things I'm adding to my studying. I want to learn as much as I can about RC, and the online modules, etc. are great additional help. I did one of the comp focuses today, finished in 7 mins 38 secs, and got all six right (this was after listening to your module). I've been improving there. I've been doing three passages a day almost every day since I did awful in that section last Thursday, and I have been seeing improvement. I'm taking another test tomorrow, so I'll see how it transfers to the real thing!

Thanks!

[Dave Killoran]

Just fyi, you and I had discussed this issue recently: http://forum.powerscore.com/lsat/viewto ... 1992#p4587

Thanks!

[moshei24]

Very true - we did. And I took your advice. I'm just trying to see how often I need to vary the experimental because I've been consistently putting it as the third section.

[Dave Killoran]

I covered that too in that exchange: "I'd vary the placement in your tests, putting it in different places each exam."