How often should I be taking PT’s (practice tests)?

Question

I get asked a lot by my clients “how often should I be taking PT’s (practice tests)?” This is actually a really important question because PT’s are an essential element of any LSAT prep plan. As a coach, it’s my responsibility to make sure you’re optimizing PT’s to your advantage.

Answer 1

I find that students are often too eager to take full tests without thinking about why they're including them as part of their practice. The LSAT is a skills based test and with any skill it's important to practice them under a variety of conditions. You don't learn to play the piano by just spamming Moonlight Sonata at full speed over and over again. You work in scales, you play it slowly, you build it up.

While taking full tests is a great way to synthesize what you've learned and work on pacing, most students get more out of doing individual sections.

My advice: whenever you sit down to do any section, go into it with a specific objective. I want to work on _________. Examples:

1. Finding conclusions (the goal is to highlight every conclusion, underline premises. Or use a strategy you have for testing whether you have the right conclusion. If this is a struggle for you, maybe do it untimed.
2. Crossing off wrong answers. Go into a section and highlight and underline the word(s) that make an answer wrong. Best done untimed.
3. Flagging hard questions. Keeping your pacing up by recognizing when you're stuck. Best done timed or with a stopwatch.

That being said, being able to juggle all these skillsets in test conditions is also worth practicing, especially when you're <6 weeks out. At that point I usually recommend one timed and one untimed test a week as a baseline. But spend plenty of time reviewing how you did afterwards.

Answer 2

I agree with Hovik's response about saving "fresh" practice tests so that you don't run out of study material prematurely. The more recent practice tests released by LSAC are the closest indicators of the kinds of questions you are likely to encounter on test day, so the value of this material cannot be overstated. That being said, I am of the belief that taking regular practice tests is the best way to study for the LSAT.

I advocate taking a practice test every other week or even weekly, depending on the time you have available to study. It's always a good idea to set a study schedule with some room for flexibility so that you have a general idea of when you will be taking full tests, single sections, or reviewing past attempts. After completing any test or section, return to the questions you missed until the right answers are crystal clear. The questions you miss are the most critical tools for improvement. Between practice tests, I recommend returning to earlier practice tests to complete timed sections in the areas of the test you found the most challenging.

Here's how it might look in practice: You take a practice test on a Saturday. You devote your study sessions to poring over the material that you missed or otherwise flagged until everything makes sense (this is usually a good time to meet with a tutor). You realize that Logical Reasoning posed a particular challenge this time around, and take a timed LR section from an earlier practice test in order to sharpen that skill set. Rinse and repeat.

Answer 3

Great question! It is important to differentiate between full-length practice tests and individual practice sections. It is important to incorporate full length practice tests into your study plan because it allows you to build testing stamina and mimics the actual testing experience. However, taking a full-length test can seem daunting and requires a significant investment of time. As a result, many students will go days without studying or will be too tired to review their mistakes after they are done. Therefore, it is not the best way to learn the material.

Instead, I recommend that students complete an individual timed section every day. Afterwards, you should thoroughly review any questions you answered incorrectly or were unable to get to. The entire process should take about an hour which is much more manageable. This daily practice should be supplemented with tutoring sessions and the occasional full-length test.

Answer 4

It’s crucial to save as many “fresh” PT’s as possible for the latter part of your prep plan. Practice tests serve two functions: (1) they give us a decent idea of how well prepared you are and which aspects of the test you might need to focus more on, and (2) PT’s also allow you to get experience taking full timed tests. But once you expose yourself to the questions in anyone of these tests, you can’t fully get either of these benefits since the material will no longer be new to you.

That is why after taking your first diagnostic test, I recommend not taking any other full tests until you have covered most of the fundamental curriculum. Typically, I have my clients take a PT every other week. This gives us an opportunity to focus in on areas that need the most improvement. Then, as the big day approaches, we start to take a PT 1-2 times a week.