Any way to know which is the experimental section? Forum

[Larrymitchell808]

Is it true that the experimental section is always one of the first 3 sections?

[xn3345]

No

[stego]

No, I don't think that's true. No, you shouldn't peek at the later sections. No, you can't assume that. Just try your best on every section.

[Po$eidon]

I'm sure we've all thought of this, is it true that the experimental section is always one of the first 3 sections? If yes then if I peek at the last 2 sections and see a RC or LG can I safely assume the RC or LG in the first 3 is the experimental?

You will kicked out of the testing center and every law school will be informed that you're a cheater if you 'peek'

[roflsat]

Related question: most of the individual PrepTests have a table of contents at the start showing which section is which (not experimental vs. not, but whether each is LG, LR, or RC). I'm assuming there's nothing like that on the real test?

[emkay625]

Also it's not true that the experimental section is only in the first three sections. That used to be the case many, many years ago, but not anymore.

[Alexandros]

.

[emkay625]

Related question: most of the individual PrepTests have a table of contents at the start showing which section is which (not experimental vs. not, but whether each is LG, LR, or RC). I'm assuming there's nothing like that on the real test?

You are correct, there is not. (I mean....otherwise no one would do the section and would just take a mental break....wouldn't be much of an experiment)

[MediocreAtBest]

Might want to delete your post

[Slippin' Jimmy]

My mentor took the LSAT way back when the sections were constantly changing. He saw a section type that he had never seen before so he took a 35 minute nap guessing it was the experimental, and he was right. Doing something like this now is nearly impossible, there's no way to determine in a short time that a section is experimental unless you see something that is 100% not LR, RC or LG. But the odds of that happening are slim to none.

[Neil_Gorsuch]

My mentor took the LSAT way back when the sections were constantly changing. He saw a section type that he had never seen before so he took a 35 minute nap guessing it was the experimental, and he was right. Doing something like this now is nearly impossible, there's no way to determine in a short time that a section is experimental unless you see something that is 100% not LR, RC or LG. But the odds of that happening are slim to none.

If you see that section on the upcoming exam with high-school level geometry and algebra - pilot for full content merger with GRE - it's a pretty safe bet that you can skip.

[Lexigator]

My mentor took the LSAT way back when the sections were constantly changing. He saw a section type that he had never seen before so he took a 35 minute nap guessing it was the experimental, and he was right. Doing something like this now is nearly impossible, there's no way to determine in a short time that a section is experimental unless you see something that is 100% not LR, RC or LG. But the odds of that happening are slim to none.

If you see that section on the upcoming exam with high-school level geometry and algebra - pilot for full content merger with GRE - it's a pretty safe bet that you can skip.

Lol

[dm1683]

I'm sure we've all thought of this, is it true that the experimental section is always one of the first 3 sections? If yes then if I peek at the last 2 sections and see a RC or LG can I safely assume the RC or LG in the first 3 is the experimental?

You will kicked out of the testing center and ever law school will be informed that you're a cheater if you 'peek'

I bet there have been cases of people with fat fingers flipping to the wrong page. I wonder if they kick them out.

[Neil_Gorsuch]

I'm sure we've all thought of this, is it true that the experimental section is always one of the first 3 sections? If yes then if I peek at the last 2 sections and see a RC or LG can I safely assume the RC or LG in the first 3 is the experimental?

You will kicked out of the testing center and ever law school will be informed that you're a cheater if you 'peek'

I bet there have been cases of people with fat fingers flipping to the wrong page. I wonder if they kick them out.

They don't.

[Alexandros]

.

[Larrymitchell808]

I'm sure we've all thought of this, is it true that the experimental section is always one of the first 3 sections? If yes then if I peek at the last 2 sections and see a RC or LG can I safely assume the RC or LG in the first 3 is the experimental?

You will kicked out of the testing center and ever law school will be informed that you're a cheater if you 'peek'

I bet there have been cases of people with fat fingers flipping to the wrong page. I wonder if they kick them out.

They don't.

Wouldn't assume so. I know people who were kicked out for fairly minor things.

Friend of mine got chucked bc mid section he got thirsty and out of habit took a sip from his water bottle and going...Going... GONEEEEE!

[MangoPapi]

I'm sure we've all thought of this, is it true that the experimental section is always one of the first 3 sections? If yes then if I peek at the last 2 sections and see a RC or LG can I safely assume the RC or LG in the first 3 is the experimental?

You will kicked out of the testing center and ever law school will be informed that you're a cheater if you 'peek'

I bet there have been cases of people with fat fingers flipping to the wrong page. I wonder if they kick them out.

They don't.

Wouldn't assume so. I know people who were kicked out for fairly minor things.

Friend of mine got chucked bc mid section he got thirsty and out of habit took a sip from his water bottle and going...Going... GONEEEEE!

You can't drink water while writing the lsat?

[Neil_Gorsuch]

.

[34iplaw]

Much like men's suiting, you can do the pinch and roll test to determine the fake section from the real McCoy.

On the top of each section, there are several shapes with numbers on them. Between the center and rightmost number, gently roll the paper between your fingers and pinch the two sides and carefully pull them apart. As it separates, you should be able to feel a thin third layer that appears to be floating between the two layers in your fingers. If you feel no such layer, it's a fake section. Fill all E's and enjoy your break. You beat the system. Suck it LSAC. If you feel such a layer, get to work; it's the real deal. The reason for this is LSAC is trying to save money. They print the fake sections on lesser paper that is simply fused, or glued, together. It lasts far less time and doesn't fall as nicely on the desk. For the real sections, they do not hold back. They use paper painstakingly crafted by professionally trained Italian paper makers that hang a third layer to give the paper more heft and a nicer drape on the desk.

I hope that helps.

[BruiseWillis]

Much like men's suiting, you can do the pinch and roll test to determine the fake section from the real McCoy.

On the top of each section, there are several shapes with numbers on them. Between the center and rightmost number, gently roll the paper between your fingers and pinch the two sides and carefully pull them apart. As it separates, you should be able to feel a thin third layer that appears to be floating between the two layers in your fingers. If you feel no such layer, it's a fake section. Fill all E's and enjoy your break. You beat the system. Suck it LSAC. If you feel such a layer, get to work; it's the real deal. The reason for this is LSAC is trying to save money. They print the fake sections on lesser paper that is simply fused, or glued, together. It lasts far less time and doesn't fall as nicely on the desk. For the real sections, they do not hold back. They use paper painstakingly crafted by professionally trained Italian paper makers that hang a third layer to give the paper more heft and a nicer drape on the desk.

I hope that helps.

180

[Larrymitchell808]

Much like men's suiting, you can do the pinch and roll test to determine the fake section from the real McCoy.

On the top of each section, there are several shapes with numbers on them. Between the center and rightmost number, gently roll the paper between your fingers and pinch the two sides and carefully pull them apart. As it separates, you should be able to feel a thin third layer that appears to be floating between the two layers in your fingers. If you feel no such layer, it's a fake section. Fill all E's and enjoy your break. You beat the system. Suck it LSAC. If you feel such a layer, get to work; it's the real deal. The reason for this is LSAC is trying to save money. They print the fake sections on lesser paper that is simply fused, or glued, together. It lasts far less time and doesn't fall as nicely on the desk. For the real sections, they do not hold back. They use paper painstakingly crafted by professionally trained Italian paper makers that hang a third layer to give the paper more heft and a nicer drape on the desk.

I hope that helps.

You will go far in life my friend.

[Pozzo]

Much like men's suiting, you can do the pinch and roll test to determine the fake section from the real McCoy.

On the top of each section, there are several shapes with numbers on them. Between the center and rightmost number, gently roll the paper between your fingers and pinch the two sides and carefully pull them apart. As it separates, you should be able to feel a thin third layer that appears to be floating between the two layers in your fingers. If you feel no such layer, it's a fake section. Fill all E's and enjoy your break. You beat the system. Suck it LSAC. If you feel such a layer, get to work; it's the real deal. The reason for this is LSAC is trying to save money. They print the fake sections on lesser paper that is simply fused, or glued, together. It lasts far less time and doesn't fall as nicely on the desk. For the real sections, they do not hold back. They use paper painstakingly crafted by professionally trained Italian paper makers that hang a third layer to give the paper more heft and a nicer drape on the desk.

I hope that helps.

At first, I was upset to see that this thread was still going. Then I read this, and all has been redeemed.

[34iplaw]

@Pozzo/Willis, always glad to brighten your day.

@Mitchell, I appreciate the sentiment! That said, I think you have your answer. The only way to 'know' what sections count (I don't know if order typically allows for this and I'm not sure it was mentioned here) is once you know what type of section was fake... i.e if one and three (or one and two) are both LG or RC, you know everything else is real. That's about all you can do.

[guynourmin]

I had an exp games section that I knew was experimental because all the games were the same easy type (simple linear ordering). There's no way they would put together a real section that was THAT easy. I was right, it was experimental, but knowing that didn't help me at all: I still needed to do as well as I could on that section because if it happened to be real it would be among the easiest games sections ever given and would have probably one of the most harshly curved LSATs because of it. You need to kill at 5 sections and move along.

[Future Ex-Engineer]

I had an exp games section that I knew was experimental because all the games were the same easy type (simple linear ordering). There's no way they would put together a real section that was THAT easy. I was right, it was experimental, but knowing that didn't help me at all: I still needed to do as well as I could on that section because if it happened to be real it would be among the easiest games sections ever given and would have probably one of the most harshly curved LSATs because of it. You need to kill at 5 sections and move along.

I had a ridiculously hard LG section as section 2 on the Dec16 test. It almost made me want to cancel mid-test (still finished it, but LG I'm usually done in 23-25 minutes). Then I got to another LG on section 5 (the real one) and blew it away. I should have known it would be experimental. That tough one threw me on sections 3/4 though