<p>My brother took ten practice tests (the ones that are from the people who make the LSAT) [the legitimate tests!!] and yet he scored like 8 points lower when he took the real test.</p>
<p>On practice exams his scores ranged from 156-160.
Yet on the real test (he took it twice) he scored a 149, and a 151.</p>
<p>Is this normal? Has anyone here used the practice tests? Why are his scores different [he says he timed himself]. I'm hoping for someone with personal experience here, who has actually used the LSAT's practice tests, and then taken the real thing, please tell me, did your score vary significantly?</p>
<p>Stories like this are definitely not rare. I’ve known several folks who experienced such drops – some of it has to do with the differences in the tests, some of it has to do with the stress of test day, some of it is probably just statistical fluctuation. (Don’t forget, a standard deviation on the LSAT is three points, which is a lot.)</p>
<p>My experience is probably too long ago to be relevant, but some people take their practice exams alone at home or in a library. It can be more difficult to focus with the noise of a couple hundred other people taking the test around them–coughs, sneezes, shuffling papers, etc. It’s much easier to get distracted.</p>