Am I at all on track to get a U of T competitive LSAT in Jan score based on my PT history?

[Cicero31]

I just took another PT, and although I think I have improved since August I am not sure if I will be able to get into U of T. My Nov LSAT was a 161. My CGPA is a 3.91, I think I wrote a strong PS, but I only have my part time retail job and some merit scholarships as softs 

Below are all my PT scores excluding the offical LSAT I took in nov (161). I am studying everyday and doing PTs every Monday. Do you think I am on track to get accepted to U of T? 

[chaboywb]

You’re asking us to predict your LSAT score, which nobody can do. It looks like your PTing well and if you can recreate that on test day, then you’re likely good.

[scooter]

At this point I'd recommend doing more practice tests. Based on your schedule you're only going to do like 2 more before the real test. Personally, I might start doing one every other day and stop a few days before your test date.

[YEGstudent]

The LSAT has something like a +/- 4 band. So it looks like you could score reasonably above or reasonably below their median. I don't think anyone can tell you with confidence what to expect.

However, I would advise against increasing your rate of practice testing. That might be more exhausting than educational. Just keep working to improve your weak spots.

[SNAILS]

Your PT's actually indicate that your next LSAT will probably be somewhere near 161 (which is your existing score). If I were to gamble, maybe a 163? People PT higher, usually, than on the real test.

Your GPA is pretty normal for a serious U of T hopeful. Your existing 161 is decent, but there is no guarantee of improving it this cycle. Your softs mean nothing (most people have had a part time job and a small merit scholarship). A truly impressive soft would be competing on a national level in a sport, or having founded/contributed to an influential political movement or something.

For this cycle, your chances at U of T are maybe 50/50 maybe slightly better. If you applied broadly, you'll almost certainly have some other nice law school offers.

*** Nobody knows anything for sure, of course

[Cicero31]

3 hours ago, SNAILS said:

Your PT's actually indicate that your next LSAT will probably be somewhere near 161 (which is your existing score). If I were to gamble, maybe a 163? People PT higher, usually, than on the real test.

Your GPA is pretty normal for a serious U of T hopeful. Your existing 161 is decent, but there is no guarantee of improving it this cycle. Your softs mean nothing (most people have had a part time job and a small merit scholarship). A truly impressive soft would be competing on a national level in a sport, or having founded/contributed to an influential political movement or something.

For this cycle, your chances at U of T are maybe 50/50 maybe slightly better. If you applied broadly, you'll almost certainly have some other nice law school offers.

*** Nobody knows anything for sure, of course

Oh perhaps I should mention that my 161 on the Nov lsat was done with 35 min sections and I missed 5 questions per each of the 4 sections cause of time (I guessed them). 

However, in Jan I have been approved for time and a half which should give me enough time to actually do all the questions 

[MyWifesBoyfriend]

OP it’s clear you’re here for affirmation, since no one can actually confirm whether you’re “on track” to getting a median U of T score, even with accommodations. It’s a standardized test. No one can approximate how you’re going to do on game day.

 

You’ll be fine. You already took the test and got a solid score under your belt. U of T is one of many great schools in Ontario. Even if you don’t get the score you want, you’ll land on your feet at another competitive school.

 

Edited January 1 by MyWifesBoyfriend

[Yogurt Baron]

I like your chances better now that I'm reading your scores as being the "scores" column and not the "test" column.

Look, I'm a dinosaur. When I decided to write the LSAT, I registered and then went in and wrote it. Practice tests and prep books existed in some inchoate form, but I certainly never took one. Much less...seven? Much less having some kind of...software that makes some kind of spreadsheet? So I'm not familiar with the specific type of appicant anxiety thing you're doing. But, boy, am I familiar with the applicant anxiety thing. And I can tell you, fretting about whether you'll get in will not be what gets you in.

If I understand your spreadsheet correctly, you're capable of a 171 if you're having a good day and a 155 if you're having a bad day. Frankly, you're capable of a 180 if you just fill in random bubbles and they just happen to be the right bubbles, or a 120 if you get hit with an attack of violent diarrhea three minutes into the test. There's no "track". What you're asking us is, "What kind of day am I going to have on test day?", and MWB's given you a pretty good answer to that. You'll be fine. Good luck!

[SNAILS]

On 1/1/2025 at 12:41 PM, Cicero31 said:

Oh perhaps I should mention that my 161 on the Nov lsat was done with 35 min sections and I missed 5 questions per each of the 4 sections cause of time (I guessed them). 

However, in Jan I have been approved for time and a half which should give me enough time to actually do all the questions 

Guessing questions is pretty normal for everyone. Very few people complete the LSAT without running out of time (though many may pace themselves so as not to allow maybe 30 seconds for the questions they are "guessing").

The time and a half thing is HUGE. Are you PTing with time and half?

When I weas doing LSATs, I often took extra time after the times PT to try to see how high of a score I would have with extra time (this was also recommended by 7sage.com; they said not to look at the answers before you have tried to figure out the answers on your own with unlimited time). I scored literally 10 points higher with extra time (i.e. {PTing at 170-175).

Edited January 4 by SNAILS

[CroffleKing]

Some advice:

Echoing snails on 2 points - test as close to your test day conditions as possible. Use the same space you'll use on test day and the same computer, and then set things up based on the actual allotted time you will have. I'd even go as far as if you plan to use earplugs, put those in, and also use any of the things you might get for accommodations on your PTs. Secondly, blind review is key - I wrote it off thinking there were better uses of my studying time and when I did do blind review as recommended by 7sage my scores increased dramatically and quickly before plateauing again (blind review = reviewing your test and redoing any questions you weren't absolutely certain about without the constraint of time).

New advice based on looking at your actual scores: it's a fine balance to strike between speed and accuracy. If you use the blind review technique, you can actually practice managing the timing side of the exam and getting comfortable with making educated guesses before moving on when you don't know something. It's good to build the skill of knowing when to trust your reactions regarding things like 'does this feel right' and 'none of these feel right but this one feels the most right and it's ok to get some wrong' without losing your mind while writing - particularly when you get several questions in a row which you don't know for certain what the right answer is. Then, when you go back for blind review, you can build your abilities with becoming more accurate and also more confident. 

One last thought - you should be paying close attention to which tests you do better on - ones with 3 LR, or ones with 2 LR and 2 RC. Try to practice more in the format you are weaker on. The fatigue is real in my opinion if you end up with 2 RCs on test day and for some people it feels harder with 3 LRs. I think I got screwed on my test day out of a few points because I was genuinely not prepared enough to manage my  timing and fatigue when getting 2 RCs - I obviously practiced a lot in that format, but looking back there were more PTs I did with only 1 RC.

I will also say that you look relatively on track to land in the 160s based on your trend, but depending on how you do with test day you could land in an outlier score based on your data - some people do better with the pressures of test day, some people do worse, but I think it is reasonable to expect you're going to land in the 160s.

Edited January 22 by CroffleKing

[Cicero31]

5 hours ago, CroffleKing said:

Some advice:

Echoing snails on 2 points - test as close to your test day conditions as possible. Use the same space you'll use on test day and the same computer, and then set things up based on the actual allotted time you will have. I'd even go as far as if you plan to use earplugs, put those in, and also use any of the things you might get for accommodations on your PTs. Secondly, blind review is key - I wrote it off thinking there were better uses of my studying time and when I did do blind review as recommended by 7sage my scores increased dramatically and quickly before plateauing again (blind review = reviewing your test and redoing any questions you weren't absolutely certain about without the constraint of time).

New advice based on looking at your actual scores: it's a fine balance to strike between speed and accuracy. If you use the blind review technique, you can actually practice managing the timing side of the exam and getting comfortable with making educated guesses before moving on when you don't know something. It's good to build the skill of knowing when to trust your reactions regarding things like 'does this feel right' and 'none of these feel right but this one feels the most right and it's ok to get some wrong' without losing your mind while writing - particularly when you get several questions in a row which you don't know for certain what the right answer is. Then, when you go back for blind review, you can build your abilities with becoming more accurate and also more confident. 

One last thought - you should be paying close attention to which tests you do better on - ones with 3 LR, or ones with 2 LR and 2 RC. Try to practice more in the format you are weaker on. The fatigue is real in my opinion if you end up with 2 RCs on test day and for some people it feels harder with 3 LRs. I think I got screwed on my test day out of a few points because I was genuinely not prepared enough to manage my  timing and fatigue when getting 2 RCs - I obviously practiced a lot in that format, but looking back there were more PTs I did with only 1 RC.

I will also say that you look relatively on track to land in the 160s based on your trend, but depending on how you do with test day you could land in an outlier score based on your data - some people do better with the pressures of test day, some people do worse, but I think it is reasonable to expect you're going to land in the 160s.

Thanks for the advice, I took my lsat last week though, however before I did the official test I did do 2 more PTs after the ones listed here and got a 171 and a 175 

[CroffleKing]

1 hour ago, Cicero31 said:

Thanks for the advice, I took my lsat last week though, however before I did the official test I did do 2 more PTs after the ones listed here and got a 171 and a 175 

Hope you get a good result! Those are some great scores for your last PTs. Best of luck for your admissions cycle.