LSAT Burnout Forum

[bbalcrzy23]

Has anyone had any experience with LSAT burnout?

I was crushing LR for a while. I felt great about it. As I would read the stimulus I would see the abstract patterns in my head. I have been studying every single day for about 5 weeks. Now for some reason I feel like my mind is fried. I am finding my self reading the stimulus multiple times and not comprehending what I'm reading. This is also killing me in RC (time and comprehension).

In the meantime I've switched to LG because it entails less reading and I actually enjoy doing them.

Is this typical burnout? Should I take a few days off?

Thanks

[gaud]

burnouts are very common. I would take AT LEAST a few days off to completely forget about the LSAT and anything that involves it.

2 pt's ago i scored a 163 and was in shock because i had scored higher on the june lsat.... took like 4 days off then BOOM, 174 on the next pt


also, I would not recommend studying every day. take some days off during your prep.. some common patterns that people seem to have are like PT-Review-OFF or like PT-Review-PT-Review-OFF......

[bbalcrzy23]

Thanks for the advice.

A day and a half off and I am already feeling a bit better.

Anyone else?

[mattviphky]

definitely a good idea to take some time. I don't know how some of these people can study for 6 hours a day seven days a week without burning out. I'm more of a 3 on 1 off sort of guy. However, from here until October I will be doing pt-review-light review-repeat. Heavy review being 4 hours, light being like 2. Taking a day whenever I need it as well.

[RaleighStClair]

Rant:

I sat for the June test, cancelled, pretty much decided to take a break from studying for a while (knowing I would be jumping back into it for the October test). Good idea or bad? I don't know.
First PT when I started studying again (late July): personal high. Stoked. This was followed by another personal high, and then another one. (164,165,166)
After that...downhill. I'm PTing worse now than I ever have before (155-159). It's overwhelmingly attributed to LR. The same thing is happening to me - I read stimuli sometimes 3 or 4 times! WTF. It's like my brain is not functioning nearly as well as it was when I started back up studying. Granted, my LG and RC is improving marginally. I honestly think I might just drill games for the next 5 weeks and let the rest fall into place.

...OK I'm not actually going to do that, but it seems logical enough.

FML.

[buckythebadger]

Rant:

I sat for the June test, cancelled, pretty much decided to take a break from studying for a while (knowing I would be jumping back into it for the October test). Good idea or bad? I don't know.
First PT when I started studying again (late July): personal high. Stoked. This was followed by another personal high, and then another one. (164,165,166)
After that...downhill. I'm PTing worse now than I ever have before (155-159). It's overwhelmingly attributed to LR. The same thing is happening to me - I read stimuli sometimes 3 or 4 times! WTF. It's like my brain is not functioning nearly as well as it was when I started back up studying. Granted, my LG and RC is improving marginally. I honestly think I might just drill games for the next 5 weeks and let the rest fall into place.

...OK I'm not actually going to do that, but it seems logical enough.

FML.

This is exactly what burnout is. It is a horrible cycle and will harm your score. I was taking a PT everyday for 3 weeks up to the June exam. Easy enough to predict, but I did not perform up to my ability. After the 3 week wait for scores and an additional week off, my first PT that I took for the retake in October was 11 points higher than my June score. I've been limiting myself to 1-2 PT's a week and 1-2 days of absolutely no LSAT related studying. I know after a disappointing PT, you want to come right back and take another but it is a bad idea.Give yourself scheduled days off, it will only help in the long run.

[JamMasterJ]

I just scored a 169 after a string of mid 170s. The major thing I noticed: I was exhausted when I took the test.
Get yourself a little time off, and attack the next PT under optimal conditions - not after work or class or a day of studying.

You'll be fine; I had a drop about a month ago from low 170s to a 167 right before my big jump.

[msuz]

Im having the same problem, except I just recently finished the LR bible and was expecting a huge increase in my LR score. Instead I feel like Im doing worse than before on LR.

I havent had that much time to drill since I started studying late, but I also need to work on timing. Any advice on how to best do this before the October 1st LSAT, while avoiding burnout?

[msuz]

Part 2 of my question:

Would it be ok to take a rest from certain sections of the LSAT? IE, I enjoy logic games, and I only feel burnt out on LR and RC. Would taking time off from only part of the LSAT defeat the purpose of trying to relieve my burnout?