LSAT performance on little sleep Forum

[quantumk]

I took my LSAT for the second time in June after several very stressful days with very little sleep.

The night before the test, I literally woke up from a nightmare at 3am to phone my ex gf and found out something she had done that kept me up all night and into the morning. I rolled around bed for about 8 hours trying to sleep. The previous two nights I had a similar number of hours of sleep.

My second score is two points worse than the first score, and at this point after having put so much effort and work into this exam, I am feeling hopeless despite the fact that I was averaging well in the 168-172 range during practice tests.

Combined with my hopelessness, I am having a very hard time assessing how much of my performance was actually an effect of the little sleep I'd had, and whether or not it will be worth taking the LSAT for the third time.

My question is, for anyone out there who has any first-hand experience with taking the LSAT on little sleep, how much do you think taking the LSAT on little sleep actually affects your performance?

PS - I also forgot to mention that I've literally run out of practice exams to take. Do you think it'll be reasonable to take the old tests again to prep for the LSAT if I do decide to take it again?

[ladybug89]

I don't know anything about retaking, and I only took the LSAT once, but I know that whenever I did a PT with too little sleep, I did anywhere from 5 to 10 points worse than usual. For some people, sleep doesn't make a difference, but for others it really has a huge impact on performance (like us). When I'm tired, my brain just feels...foggy, and even though I might feel alert from the adrenaline of the test, I'm actually not functioning properly. You sound similar.

Do you usually have trouble sleeping, or was it a nerves thing?

[rinkrat19]

I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before my test, and I scored 3 points higher than my PT average. One bad night is not a killer if you are otherwise feeling pretty good. But I don't think I would have done as well if it had been several consecutive days of sleepless nights and other stress unrelated to the LSAT.

[splitmuch]

I took my LSAT for the second time in June after several very stressful days with very little sleep.

The night before the test, I literally woke up from a nightmare at 3am to phone my ex gf and found out something she had done that kept me up all night and into the morning. I rolled around bed for about 8 hours trying to sleep. The previous two nights I had a similar number of hours of sleep.

My second score is two points worse than the first score, and at this point after having put so much effort and work into this exam, I am feeling hopeless despite the fact that I was averaging well in the 168-172 range during practice tests.

Combined with my hopelessness, I am having a very hard time assessing how much of my performance was actually an effect of the little sleep I'd had, and whether or not it will be worth taking the LSAT for the third time.

My question is, for anyone out there who has any first-hand experience with taking the LSAT on little sleep, how much do you think taking the LSAT on little sleep actually affects your performance?

PS - I also forgot to mention that I've literally run out of practice exams to take. Do you think it'll be reasonable to take the old tests again to prep for the LSAT if I do decide to take it again?

We had a party teh night before I took my LSAT. I didn't drink at all but it did mean I got about 3.5 hrs of sleep. I ended up scoring 2 points lower than the score I had gotten on my last 5 PTs in a row, with my first section of the test. I would definitely retake if I were you and, as a general rule, unless its a booty call do not phone ex gfs at 3 am, and ABSOLUTELY do not do it the night before the LSAT.

I think taking old tests again will be alright unless you've marked up the books.

[quantumk]

I don't know anything about retaking, and I only took the LSAT once, but I know that whenever I did a PT with too little sleep, I did anywhere from 5 to 10 points worse than usual. For some people, sleep doesn't make a difference, but for others it really has a huge impact on performance (like us). When I'm tired, my brain just feels...foggy, and even though I might feel alert from the adrenaline of the test, I'm actually not functioning properly. You sound similar.

Do you usually have trouble sleeping, or was it a nerves thing?

It was due to issues with my now (ex) gf. I was unbelievably stressed during those few days leading up to the test. Before that, I'd been following a regular sleep schedule, jogging every morning and eating meals at regular times.

[quantumk]

I don't know anything about retaking, and I only took the LSAT once, but I know that whenever I did a PT with too little sleep, I did anywhere from 5 to 10 points worse than usual. For some people, sleep doesn't make a difference, but for others it really has a huge impact on performance (like us). When I'm tired, my brain just feels...foggy, and even though I might feel alert from the adrenaline of the test, I'm actually not functioning properly. You sound similar.

Do you usually have trouble sleeping, or was it a nerves thing?

I actually felt like I was very alert from the adrenaline, and after the exam I was somewhat glad that I hadn't been too unfocused (though I knew I'd done poorly on the RC) but I was absolutely shocked when I found out my score.. about 12 points lower than my average.

[quantumk]

I don't know anything about retaking, and I only took the LSAT once, but I know that whenever I did a PT with too little sleep, I did anywhere from 5 to 10 points worse than usual. For some people, sleep doesn't make a difference, but for others it really has a huge impact on performance (like us). When I'm tired, my brain just feels...foggy, and even though I might feel alert from the adrenaline of the test, I'm actually not functioning properly. You sound similar.

Do you usually have trouble sleeping, or was it a nerves thing?

I actually felt like I was very alert from the adrenaline, and after the exam I was somewhat glad that I hadn't been too unfocused (though I knew I'd done poorly on the RC) but I was absolutely shocked when I found out my score.. about 12 points lower than my average.

[Kilpatrick]

so you had a dream about your gf, called her and then it turned out the dream was real?

[quantumk]

so you had a dream about your gf, called her and then it turned out the dream was real?

yes, a nightmare rather!!

[Kilpatrick]

I would definitely retake. You don't want to go the rest of your life wondering what might've been if only you hadn't had a psychic dream about your girlfriend cheating on you the night before the LSAT. I'm sure your performance was affected as much by that as by your lack of sleep.

[CanadianWolf]

I only took the LSAT once. I slept for almost 3 hours the night before the test, but I made up for it by falling asleep briefly during the test.

[EarlCat]

I only took the LSAT once. I slept for almost 3 hours the night before the test, but I made up for it by falling asleep briefly during the test.

WIN!